The thyroid has control over the most basic functions of the body. It produces hormones that regulates the metabolism, heart rate, digestive function, muscle control, brain development, and bone maintenance. Who knew that a little butterfly shaped gland has so much control over the body?
Hashimoto’s Disease is an autoimmune disorder in which a person’s immune system is attacking the thyroid and pretty much killing it. This disorder affects mostly women but can occur in children and men.
The symptoms include: fatigue, constipation, dry skin, brittle nails, hair loss, increased sensitivity to the cold, unexplained weight gain, weakness, depression, memory lapses, and excessive or prolonged menstrual bleeding.
I spent many hours looking up everything there was to know about Hashimoto’s; and after all of my research I thought I would post my story so other people know that they are not alone in how they feel with Hashimoto’s.
I learned that autoimmune disorders take on average 10 years to be diagnosed- and that being said I would have been 13 when all of these symptoms started to appear. At first I thought that was crazy and there was no way that could be true but looking back on it I certainly believe I have been living with this much longer than I thought.
My Story: I have suffered from depression for quite some time and most of the time there would be no reason for me to hate life as much as I did. After middle school I started to gain weight and after high school (I graduated in 2012) I gained almost 75 pounds. I blamed it on being in a relationship (because who doesn’t sometimes get fat when they are dating someone?!), I put the blame on being really depressed. I thought that not having much time to exercise or eat real meals because of work and college was to blame also. And yes all of those things played a role in the weight gained but now there is another reason as to why it was so much and why I couldn’t get the weight off no matter how hard I tried.
I also have migraines. And if you’ve never had a migraine you truly do not know pain. On top of having migraines I would suffer from tension headaches from stress. On a daily bases throughout high school I would have a headache and on the bad days it would lead to having a migraine, getting sick, throwing up, and having to have someone take me home and put me to bed (no Hashimoto’s does not cause migraines but it can cause a person to have frequent headaches).
In 2013-2014 (sometime around that time) I became really weak and sick for months with no answers. I went to my PCP and two other doctors and got no answers except with one. I had a doctor tell me that I had hepatitis (Hepatitis at 20?!) and that moment scared me more than anything. I did so many tests, had so much blood work done, research, crying, and had so much anger with my life which led to more depression. After about a year, the doctor told me that she had made a mistake and I didn’t have hepatitis (needless to say I never went back to doctor’s office again- but all the symptoms I had point to Hashimoto’s).
I got “better” from being so sick right after high school but in reality I was just hiding all the symptoms of something different.
A couple of weeks ago I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s and quite frankly it sucks.
Is there a cure? NO
Will I have to take medicine forever? YES as well as going to have blood drawn and tested every 4 to 6 weeks!
I have good days and I have bad days:
There are days when I wake up from sleeping 8-10 hours and I am still exhausted. And by exhausted I don’t mean I’m sleepy but can make it through the day fine- I mean I can’t keep my eyes open, my body hurts, my legs are weak, and I can’t function. I am so tired I have been trying to complete homework and fallen asleep. I try and go out with my friends and I can’t make it past 10:30 (and do you know how much that sucks?! I’m 23, I’m supposed to be out until 2 a.m., right??). I have days where I can’t remember my password to log into my computer at work because of foggy brain (I no joke had a list of passwords on my phone because I can’t do it without it). I can’t remember simple homework assignments- I have my life planned out in my planner and on my phone calendar. Some times if I am talking to my mom and she asks what I did last night- I cannot remember. I have days where I am so tired but when it is time to go to bed I am wide awake because not only does Hashimoto’s cause fatigue- it causes insomnia (because that makes sense right?).
The biggest thing I have dealt with so far is being cold ALL THE TIME. I wear long sleeve shirts to work daily, even if it is 75 degrees outside. I am so cold sometimes that I am miserable. I try to go to ice hockey games with my friends and can’t stand to sit in a cold arena for longer than a hour. My friends know when a spot is too cold for me and tell me to bring inside a sweatshirt and coat. My hands are always cold, we can’t have the fans on at work when everyone else is hot because I can’t stand to have the cold air blowing on me. BUT not only am I cold all the time- I have hot flashes because of Hashimoto’s.
And yes there are some good days, but even in the more difficult days I try and not let anyone else know that something is wrong. I make sure not to get upset about not remembering something unless I am alone (and I do get really frustrated and cry because of this). I try and not express how cold and miserable I am. I try and stay out as long as possible and push my body hard to do things that I still want to do (even though pushing myself only makes my body more tired). But all I can do is try and continue to tell myself that tomorrow might be better and I have to keep moving forward.
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