My Story (Ulysses B)

[Guest guest]

I am a 30 year old, female from Australia who suffered from chronic, severe

constipation from 0 to 12 years of age - it continued, although usually less

severely, into adulthood, started experiencing hypothyroid symptoms (including

things like swollen ankles, cold intolerance, aches and pains, anxiety and

depression and hair loss) at the age of 15 (1994), contracted Epstein-Barr virus

in first year university (1997) which took me 3 months to recover from due to

chronic fatigue - once recovered I was left with my first symptoms of 'brain

fog/living in a cloud' and I experienced my first depression which was left

undiagnosed and untreated. I thought it was simply 'low self esteem' and I

blamed myself. It was at this time I started going on and off the pill - every

time I took the pill I got anxious and depressed - I didn't make the connection

until recently. Yasmin was the worst for this and I have recently taken my

Implanon contraceptive implant out - this has helped, I feel.

I experienced bad anxiety throughout university and in my final year (1999) I

was finally diagnosed with anxiety and depression and unfortunately treated with

Zoloft which I went on and off, in ever increasing doses, (I felt it made me

'too happy' but when I went off it I got depressed again), until May 2001 when I

had a hypomanic episode, whilst taking 200mcg of Zoloft a day, and was

subsequently diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

For the bipolar, I was put on Epilim to begin with (an anti-epileptic/mood

stabilizer) but it did not work and by November 2001 I went into my biggest

depression yet. Zoloft was added to the Epilim and I was switched to from

Epilim to Lithium (another mood stabilizer) by remaining on all three

medications then reducing the Epilim and Zoloft slowly. I was on about 20

tablets a day at one point, maybe more.

Since being diagnosed with bipolar in May 2001, I had gained 30kg and lost

nearly all of my hair by the time I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism by very

nice but super pro T4, pro TSH, endocrinologist in March 2002. My thyroid

anitbodies (I assume it was only the Anti-TPO tested) were in the normal range

at this time - as are they today (testing both Anti-TPO and Anti TgAb). However,

I still strongly believe there is a connection between thyroid, adrenals, female

hormones and the bipolar symptoms I experienced then. I always have. And

funnily enough, a good friend of mine was also diagnosed with bipolar only to be

diagnosed with hypothyroidism very soon after, like me.

I have not experienced bipolar symptoms since commencing levo-thyroxine

(Oroxine/Eutroxsig) 100mcg, 1 daily which I took, with completely normal TSH

levels (always under 1) until discovering STTM and switching to NDT in March

2010. The T4 helped a lot at first - I lost the weight and felt much better.

However, I experienced worsening, lingering symptoms of hypothyroidism and a mix

of low and high cortisol, depending, since then... always put down to nothing

or, of course... the bi-polar disorder/my personality.

In May 2010 it was discovered I have an issue with reverse T3 and I commenced

'natural T3' - I am now up to 90mcg of T3 and have switched to

'Tertroxin'(Australia's synthetic T3). Energy and mood has increased - eyebrows

are starting to grow back already. Still about 6 - 9 weeks to go.

This is of course, a very summarized version of a much longer story.

Thanks for listening - perhaps others can relate to it or gain from it from

posting it here.