For all the HYPOTHYROIDers out there....

[Pam G]

Hi. My name is Hashimoto's. I'm an invisible autoimmune disease that attacks your thyroid gland causing you to become hypothyroid.

I am now velcroed to you for life. If you have hypothyroidism, you probably have me. I am the number one cause of it in the U.S. and many other places around the world.

I'm so sneaky--I don't always show up in your blood work.
Others around you can't see me or hear me, but YOUR body feels me.

I can attack you anywhere and any way I please.
I can cause severe pain or, if I'm in a good mood, I can just cause you to ache all over.

Remember when you and energy ran around together and had fun?

I took energy from you, and gave you exhaustion. Try to have fun now.

I can take good sleep from you and in its place, give you brain fog and lack of concentration.

I can make you want to sleep 24/7, and I can also cause insomnia.

I can make you tremble internally or make you feel cold or hot when every one else feels normal.

I can also give you swollen hands and feet, swollen face and eyelids, swollen everything.

I can make you feel very anxious with panic attacks or very depressed. I can also cause other mental health problems. You know crazy mood swings? That's me.Crying for no reason? Angry for no reason? That's probably me too.

I can make your hair fall out, become dry and brittle, cause acne, cause dry skin, the sky is the limit with me.

I can make you gain weight and no matter what you eat or how much you exercise,I can keep that weight on you. I can also make you lose weight. I don't discriminate.

Some of my other autoimmune disease friends often join me, giving you even more to deal with.

If you have something planned, or are looking forward to a great day, I can take that away from you. You didn't ask for me. I chose you for various reasons:

That virus or viruses you had that you never really recovered from, or that car accident, or maybe it was the years of abuse and trauma (I thrive on stress.)You may have a family history of me. Whatever the cause, I'm here to stay.

I hear you're going to see a doctor to try and get rid of me. That makes me laugh. Just try. You will have to go to many, many doctors until you find one who can help you effectively.

You will be put on the wrong medication for you, pain pills, sleeping pills,energy pills, told you are suffering from anxiety or depression, given anti-anxiety pills and antidepressants.

There are so many other ways I can make you sick and miserable, the list is endless - that high cholesterol, gall bladder issue, blood pressure issue,blood sugar issue, heart issue among others? That's probably me.

Can't get pregnant, or have had a miscarriage?

That's probably me too.

Shortness of breath or "air hunger?" Yep, probably me.

Liver enzymes elevated? Yep, probably me.

Teeth and gum problems? TMJ?

Hives? Yep, probably me.

I told you the list was endless.

You may be given a TENs unit, get massaged, told if you just
sleep and exercise properly I will go away.

You'll be told to think positively, you'll be poked, prodded, and MOST OF ALL,not taken seriously when you try to explain to the endless number of doctors you've seen, just how debilitating I am and how ill and exhausted you really feel. In all probability you will get a referral from these 'understanding'(clueless) doctors, to see a psychiatrist.

Your family, friends and co-workers will all listen to you until they just get tired of hearing about how I make you feel, and just how debilitating I can be.

Some of them will say things like "Oh, you are just having a bad day"or "Well, remember, you can't do the things you use to do 20 YEARS ago", not hearing that you said 20 DAYS ago.

They'll also say things like, "if you just get up and move, get outside and do things, you'll feel better." They won't understand that I take away the 'gas' that powers your body and mind to ENABLE you to do those things.

Some will start talking behind your back, they'll call you a hypochondriac, while you slowly feel that you are losing your dignity trying to make them understand, especially if you are in the middle of a conversation with a"normal" person, and can't remember what you were going to say next.You'll be told things like, "Oh, my grandmother had that, and she's fine on her medication" when you desperately want to explain that I don't impose myself upon everyone in the exact same way, and just because that grandmother is fine on the medication SHE'S taking, doesn't mean it will work for you.

They will not understand that having this disease impacts your body from the top of your head to the tip of your toes, and that every cell and every body system and organ requires the proper amount and the right kind of of thyroid hormone medication for YOU.

Not what works for someone else.

The only place you will get the kind of support and understanding in dealing with me is with other people that have me. They are really the only ones who can truly understand.

I am Hashimoto's Disease.<o></o>

[Ann2]

Hullo there. I don't have you. But I do have hypothyroidism -- have taken medication for it since my mid-thirties, which seems to do the trick -- metabolic-wise, mood-wise, and energy-wise.

(Pam, if you do have Hasmimoto's, I'm sorry.)

[Shirl]

A few months back I went to see my doctor who was monitoring me during the pre op process because I had flu like symptoms last over a week, and I currently do not have health insurance. I took my labs from my PCP physical back in October. He noticed that my TSH was on the high-end of normal, and asked if I was being treated for Hypothyroidism. The answer was no, and my PCP never mentioned it or seemed concerned. He ordered a comprehensive thyroid panel which included TSH, T4, and T3. I spoke to him a week later and said that TSH came back about same level, and the others were in normal ranges as well, we both agreed that I didn't need medication as of right now. He does want to monitor closely though.

I have a lot of the symptoms of Hypothyroidism, and the super low weight loss makes sense, I have low blood pressure lately 95/60, and if I don't take my multivitamins (mv) I can tell my energy levels are low, if I miss mv and supplements regularly my hair gets dry and limp too. I have read that even with Thyroid therapy for hypothyroid it doesn't guarantee weightloss if one continues to eat unhealthy.

I started taking a Selenium supplement recommended by a alternative health nutritionist I follow. I take Super Selenium Complex 200mcg with VitE. I have also read that we can eat two Brazil Nuts a day to get the same Selenium benefits. I have also read that the right combo of Selenium and Iodine can help hypothyroid, I bought the Iodine recommended but have not started taking because it One reading I came across opposed it, and another said that Iodine supplement should not be started until you have taken Selenium for a few months.

...If anyone has more information on Selenium and/or Iodine to treat hypothyroid holistically or alternatively please send information my way! it it is greatly appreciated!!!

[Pam G]

yeah, I do and so does my 25 yr old daughter (found out when she was a teenager). You're the minority, though, as Hashi's is the cause of most hypothyroidism.

I discovered it accidentally. I got very sick with some weird inflammatory thing that moved around in my joints. Had a fever, and could hardly move. I finally went to the doc and she did an antibody panel and found the antibodies, but I hadn't expressed any hypothyroid symptoms yet.

A few months later, the front of my neck felt big, and that's when I started on thyroid hormones. I was 31 yrs old. Since I know it can be hereditary, I' insisted my girls were tested periodically, too.

Hullo there. I don't have you. But I do have hypothyroidism -- have taken medication for it since my mid-thirties, which seems to do the trick -- metabolic-wise, mood-wise, and energy-wise.

(Pam, if you do have Hasmimoto's, I'm sorry.)

[RehabNurse]

I also don't have Hashimoto's...but I've had hypothyroidism for 12 years.

It started as the opposite problem: hyperthyroidism due to Graves disease. I became hypothyroid soon after taking radioactive iodine to ablate my thyroid tissue in 2005.

But yes, many of the feelings and symptomatology described in the original post still resonate with me since I've experienced most of them at one time or another.

[Linda51]

Very interesting discussion, ladies. I have also been diagnosed as hypothyroid and am wondering if I should push my doctor to do more testing, since many of those symptoms described in the original post sound all too familiar.

[Pam G]

It doesn't really matter what is causing the hypothyroidism, it's treated the same way.

Although it's nice to know if you have Hashi's because having one autoimmune disease predisposes us to other autoimmune illnesses.

Very interesting discussion, ladies. I have also been diagnosed as hypothyroid and am wondering if I should push my doctor to do more testing, since many of those symptoms described in the original post sound all too familiar.

[Merry Mary]

I've had hypothyroidism for about 40 years and don't have Hashimoto's. Mine is well controlled by medication and didn't seem like it negatively affected my mood or energy level. I'm fine if I miss one day of medication but the second day I'm exhausted. I would guess I haven't missed taking my medication more than 4 times.

Hashimoto's doesn't sound like something I want.

[Sandra3]

I'm so sorry Pam....so many symptoms!
I do have many from that list too, my immune system is for sure messed up for other reasons. But the worth is realizing that we gave our diseases to our children. I do feel guilty that they're going to suffer like I do.

[Christie13]

Have you gotten improvement since having the sleeve or do you still deal with all the symptoms. Just curious.

[ghost_ryder]

Wow, disguised as many things. How awful that must be. Wishing you and your daughter the best.

I have neither. Knock on wood!!!

[Pam G]

I'm pretty well controlled with thyroid hormones, but yeah, no change after WLS. WLS doesn't really affect the thyroid.

Have you gotten improvement since having the sleeve or do you still deal with all the symptoms. Just curious.

[Pattimelt]

Hi all, I too have hypothyroidism, caused by lifelong thyroid disease and eventually thyroid cancer. I had my entire thyroid removed, along with all the lymph nodes on the right side of my neck a few years later. Since I have no thyroid at all, supplementation is critically important for me, and it's taken a long time for me and my doctor to get my levels right. I take Armour thyroid currently, but since I've lost weight due to my sleeve, my prescription will probably change to a somewhat lower dose. I just had labs drawn last week and I'm waiting to hear the results of my tumor marker, as well as my TSH levels.

Unfortunately, I ALWAYS have chronic fatigue, which is partly due to my lack of a thyroid, and partially due to having Lyme disease some years back. In my opinion, no type of supplementation can substitute for actually having your thyroid intact. I just never have energy! I've lost 40 pounds so far, and I still don't feel any more energy yet, though I'm as active as I can be. If anyone has any ideas about how I can boost my energy, please let me know!

[Shirl]

Pam, I ordered the book by the guy who invented the bulletproof coffee. I am learning soooo much!

I'm very early into the book, but came across this info on Hashimoto's
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