Live It: My Thyroid Journey Pt. 1

I have been absent for a while while dealing with health issues but it's been pressing on me to write and share this with you all for a few weeks.

Last November after experiencing some scary heart palpitations, I found out I had hyperthyroidism. My primary care physician first told me I had hyperthyroid and Hashimoto’s Disease which, and I could be wrong, but don’t believe you can be hyper and have Hashi’s.  I have no medical degree but I have never seen that before.  I was sent to an endocrinologist and was then told no Hashi’s but I did have Graves Disease.  Oh yes, Graves.  What a great name for a medical condition, right?

Since my thyroid levels were so high, I was put on twice the manufacturer’s recommended dosage of methimazole, the medication given to treat hyperthyroid issues.  This is not a great medication to be on.  It can affect your liver and having already had liver surgery in the past, I was concerned about staying on this for a long period.  The goal was to try and get my body into remission so the meds could be reduced or dropped completely.  Over the next few months though, I gained back the 20 pounds I had lost before I was diagnosed and then another 20 pounds on top of that.  My hair started falling out in clumps.  It truly looked like I was going through chemo or something.  I lost half of my hair.

The medicine had thrown me into medically-induced hypothyroidism.  I felt so fatigued and moody all the time. I didn’t want to do anything or talk to anyone. Trying to make complete sentences some days was really an effort.

I went back to my endo and she was very wishy-washy about it all.  “Maybe the hair will stop falling out soon.”  “Maybe the weight gain will level off soon.”  “Maybe you should take this much dosage or you might need to take this much.”  I got no real answers and felt no better.

So I did what any medically licensed by Google and WebMD person would do.  I stopped taking the medicine.  Completely.

Read Part 2 of My Thyroid Journey tomorrow.