Re: Hello from Midland

[Guest guest]

I never did get my hypothyroid diagnosis. My TSH was 3.4. "Normal" was the word I hated most. Then the doc found nodules. One turned out to be cancerous. I was actually glad to have thyroid cancer, because I knew that entitled me to thyroid meds for the rest of my life. $ynthroid was only a little better for me than taking nothing at all. I got sicker and sicker on ever increasing doses. After twelve years, I found out about Armour. After blackmailing my internist and wrestling him to the ground, he wrote me an Rx for Armour. I am the one who said, "They can take away my Armour when they pry the bottle from my cold, dead fingers. . . ." But yes. "Normal" is a dirty word in my book, too. Amy Swanson wrote: Hi everyone! My name is Amy and I'm a 36-year old divorced mother of three kids who has finally gotten my answer: no I'm not going mental. Yes I have a treatable illness! It may sound weird, but I'm happy to have hypothyroidism! I was diagnosed only last week. I have had the following symptoms gradually worsen over the last 10 years: unexplained weight gain, loss of memory, sluggish thinking, hair loss,

skin dryness, frequent strep-throat, unexplained digestion problems, worsening PMS, unexplained extreme fatigue. I would describe it to anyone who would listen as rapid aging. I was in my late twenties, early thirties and felt and acted like I was in my early 70's. My parents have had more energy than I have as an adult and I tried to follow their healthy lifestyle as much as possible. I jokingly described my mental symptoms as "I breast-fed three kids and they've just completely sucked the smart outta me!" Earlier this year I started having fits of muscle weakness where I would just drop whatever I was holding or collapse on the floor because my legs gave out. I've had to start getting bi-monthly massages because my muscles were just all-the-time tense. My boss would come into my office and find me

staring into space and I would realize that it had been more than 30 minutes of me being in some sort of "fugue" - my hands would be poised over the keyboards or on the phone as if I was about to make a call and I had completely spaced out. I've had attacks of anxiety (from out of nowhere - I've never had anxiety of any sort my entire life before this year) such as turning the corner while driving and all-of-the-sudden forgetting which side of the line I was supposed to be driving on . . . or starting to walk down the stairs of my apartment and all of the sudden having a vivid image of me falling and laying at the bottom with my head bloodied and my ankle broken. I would not be able to continue my trip down the stairs until I took many deep breaths and "talked myself out". Stuff like this was driving me insane. Then a month ago I woke up one morning and felt like I had been hit by an 18-wheeler in the night and was all broken-bones inside.

Thought I was coming down with the flu but had no cold-symptoms or upset stomach. After spending days only being able to work half-days I finally went to the doctor - a new doctor here in town - and he checked my thyroid. I have had it tested for more than 7 years now and each time it was "a little low but normal - no need to worry". This doctor actually listened to me tell my "life-story" of symptoms and instantly said, "I really think we'll find your thyroid is dying. You're too young to be having all those symptoms and otherwise be so healthy and I can tell from talking to you that you're not a hypochondriac. Don't worry - we'll get this straightened out." He gave me the name of a book and I left his office before the bloodwork came back, found the book at the bookstore, started reading, and sat in & Nobles and cried for an hour. All the symptoms rang true and I know without the shadow of a doubt that my problems are

all due to my underactive thyroid. I guess the blood tests proved it. Sorry that seemed to ramble - this is the first time I've tried to sit down and write my thoughts about the whole thing. It's just good to know I've found someplace I can ask questions and not feel alone or stupid! I've read four books this last week on hypothyroidism and have done tons of research on the internet. My doc started me on 50 mcg of Levothyroxine per day and I've taken them each morning when I hit the snooze button on my alarm clock with a full glass of water. I then snooze awhile, get ready for work, and eat breakfast about an hour later at the office. So far I haven't noticed any difference in my health, I'm still dragging and anxious and fat (LOL on the fat part! - I know that's gonna take a while regardless), but

I'm going to give this drug a whole month to see what it does to me. I'm not making any other changes right now - I want to see if the drug does any good on its own. Thanks for reading, thanks for letting me join, and I look forward to reading each and every single post on this place!

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