HIPPOthyroidism

A few years ago, my body started changing in some pretty crazy ways. I had a whole variety of weird symptoms, and nobody seemed to have any idea what was happening to me. During the course of several years, I visited countless specialitists including a cardiologist, an endocrinologist, a gynecologist, and and ear, nose and throat doctor. My family doctor commented that my medical chart was the size of the chart of his patients in their 70s before I had even turned 30. It was frustrating and devastating when time and time again no one could pinpoint what was wrong.

My symptoms actually started waaay back during my pregnancy with Peanut in 2002, but my OB kept reassuring me that they were pregnancy related and would surely go away after the baby was born. But instead of going away, they only intensified during the following months and years, and I started wondering if I was losing my mind!

So what exactly was happening to me? What was the mysterious disease that sent me to every doctor in town, through lots of uncomfortable tests and even landed me in emergency room after I passed out and fell down our steps? It was something so simple. So easy to fix. Something so common in young women that I can't believe it was missed. But it was. It was hypothryoidism.
And it affected almost every area of my life and my well-being.

I wanted to share my story because thyroid disease is so incredibly common in young women, especially after childbirth. There are different types of thyroid disease, hyperthyroidism and hypothryoidism. Hyperthyroidism means that you have an overactive thyroid gland. Hypothyroidism means that you have an underactive thyroid gland. Unfortunately, hypothyroidism, if left untreated, will lead to weight gain. A lot of weight gain! That's how we came up with the lovely term, HIPPOthryoidism:)

If I can save one other girl from going through the medical nightmare I did, writing this post will be completely worth it. Because, when your thryoid gland slows down, so do many of your bodily functions. And you start feeling like total crap!

Being a nurse, I knew about thyroid disease. And, having a mom and grandma with thryoid disease, I knew I was at high risk for it myself. (This is a big red flag!).
I even brought it up to my family doctor over and over, but my bloodwork was borderline and so he didn't want to treat me. It was only when my labs went off the charts two years ago that I got the much needed medication I needed to replace the hormones that my body no longer makes. And what a HUGE difference in my life!!

So what were my symptoms? I've written a list of my symptoms, which are all very common in HIPPOthyroidism. I'm listing them in the order they appeared for me because they all weren't there at the beginning. But, by the time I was officially diagnosed, I was in danger of falling into a thyroid-related coma. Scary stuff!

My symptoms....

Lightheadedness, especially in the morning
Syncopal episodes (passing out)
Exhaustion
Night sweats
Frequent infections (sinus infections, tonsillitis, bronchitis)
Hair loss in the front of my scalp
Weight gain (About 40lbs)
Depression
Loss of sex drive
Decreased ability to concentrate and think quickly
Shortened periods (Lasting only 1-2 days)
Puffiness in my face
Swelling in my hands and feet
Slowed reflexes


Just writing that list brings tears to my eyes. It was really hard to write that for some reason. I just didn't realize how bad things were until I look at it like that. And yet, my body was shutting down, system by system. How did all this get missed?? Thankfully, I found a new family doctor who has been my guardian angel ever since my diagnosis. She truly has saved my life! There's so much more to my story, but I realize this is getting long. I'll post this today and write more in the next days to come. But if you're reading this list and see things that sound familiar, please stay tuned. HIPPOthyroidism is usually easily treated and many of these symptoms will disppaear once you're taking thryoid replacement therapy!