I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism at the end of December 2010 after living with some pretty disruptive symptoms for far too long.  The list of symptoms of a under active thyroid are extensive, ranging from migraine headaches, blurry vision, nausea, painful periods,  ringing in the ears.  I had all these and thought I could explain them away by stress, getting older and more stress.  When I actually started writing them all down, I saw a pattern and a problem worth dragging myself to the doctor over.  I’m not alone in the fact that many women with hypothyroidism don’t seek help because they think they are going through menopause or just getting older in general.  Or if you are younger, your thyroid can get out of whack after childbirth.   You have a newborn and are exhausted.   Not uncommon.   Why go to the doctor?

Luckily for me, my doctor spotted the problem in my first round of blood work.   Even so, it was a long road to feeling better.   The first things I read said that all you have to do is take the prescribed medicine, 88 mcg of levothyroxine in my case, and I would be back to normal, whatever that may be.  At least that’s what I wanted to read.   There might have been something about taking time to get my levels adjusted but I had a Pill and wanted immediate results.

My first surprise was that my temperature was crazy low.  My doctor suggested I  take my temperature to see if it spikes with the medicine.   When I was getting consistent levels in the 95 to 96 degree range, I bought a new thermometer.   Suddenly my need to dress for a polar expedition to walk the dog made sense even if I do live in San Diego!   And then there was the inability to stay awake for my own life. Cold and sleepy still describes me more often than I’d like.

I originally wanted to make this blog about all the groovy scientific info I gleaned to understand and tame what’s going on with my health.   Ten months later I feel like I understand less than when I started.  Though I do feel a significantly better, I still feel like a work in progress.   My tsh levels are in the low normal ranges but I’m certainly not bouncing off the wall.   Just the first slight shift in seasons has had me donning sweaters and wool socks.  Though I’ve gone gluten-free, take kelp supplements and upped my vitamin D intake to 5000 IU (all on my doc’s recomendations), I’m still cold and fatigued if I get less than nine hours of sleep a night.   Nor do I really know what caused my thyroid to burn out in the first place except that it is hereditary and my grandmother had thyroid problems.

What have I learned since my diagnosis?   Don’t take the generic brand.    Wait a full hour before coffee in the morning.  I have a special clock by my bed with a little light you can push so I can tell exactly when I take the pill.   I try to take it when I’m half awake or else it’s the longest hour of my day.   Most importantly I learned to be patient and gentle with myself. Thing’s have changed and there is no quick fix.  I think that’s a lesson we could all use these days.