Hi fellow nice person.
Dropped Simon off at school this morning and stopped by the credit union to deposit a check. At the teller's counter was a framed sign that said,
hi fellow nice person
I love that. Seriously. How can you read that and not smile just a bit? I think it is a brilliant form of putting out there what you want to see in the world. I wonder if it has made an impact on how people treat the tellers? Or if a grouchy person has gone in and come out just a tad less grouchy?
A week ago Chris and I had an interaction with a very nice woman who made a pretty big impact on me. She is definitely on my nice person list.
We were at a local place that sells rocks and mulch and such (we are having our backyard landscaped). After looking around at all the different sorts of pavers we went into the office to talk about price and ask a couple of other questions. At the end of our conversation with the woman at the counter she asked me my name and said the following, "May I say something personal to you?"
Um, ok, thinking maybe she reads the magazine or has a child or relative with autism or wants to know what it is like being married to a politician.
"Sure." I said with a sideways glance over to Chris.
"It looks like your thyroid is enlarged."
First thought: um, what is my thyroid? And where do you see this? She touched her neck to show where it is and I touched mine (thinking I have always just had a big neck which Chris confirmed later on that was what he was thinking at that moment too). My response, "Oh, really?"
She went on to tell us about her mother and her daughter who have both had issues related to their thyroids. She talked about some of the symptoms of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism and other related issues such as Graves Disease and thyroid cancer. She mentioned words like depression, weight gain, and fatigue and I found myself listening a bit closer.
I could tell that she was somewhat uncomfortable bringing this all up but that she felt she needed to. She was kind and genuine and even though it was strange, it did not feel intrusive.
"You should call your doctor and get it checked out." She said.
I told her that I really appreciated her bringing it up (even though I still really didn't know what she was talking about) and that I would get it checked out. I think I said something cliche along the lines, "better safe than sorry."
Chris and I said goodbye and walked out to the car. Of course I am totally touching my neck the whole time.
We get home and the first thing I do is jump on the computer and google information on enlarged thyroid.
I start reading about goiters and then go into the bathroom and look at my neck in the mirror. My thyroid is totally enlarged. Not noticeable enough to me as I looked at myself every morning and evening while brushing my teeth, but now that I was aware it was definitely there.
So I call my doctor. Get an appointment for that afternoon. And yep, she tells me, I definitely have an enlarged thyroid. I tell her the story of what brought me to this point. We laugh. She schedules an ultrasound to see what's happening with the enlargement and I go have my blood taken to check for hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism.
I call my mama. Of course I do. She tells me that my Grandmother has hypothyroidism and that she has taken medication for years and years. I call the doctor back and have that information added to the file.
The doctor called two nights ago to let me know that the blood test did show that I do have hypothyroidism (low functioning thyroid) and that I will need to take medication (and probably will for the duration of my life). Based on what she saw on the ultrasound results she is also sending me in for a couple more tests (iodine uptake scan) related to the growth issue and to figure out the underlying problem more clearly.
How long have I had this? Who knows? When I look at the classic symptoms of hypothyroidism, depression has been an issue for me for quite a few years now and I take medication to regulate that part of myself. Fatigue? Sure thing, who isn't tired these days? I am busy with a crazy schedule. Weight gain? Check. Irritability? I definitely have my moments...sometimes worse than others. In learning more about hypothyroidism it sounds like people can have any number or combination of symptoms ranging from barely noticeable to severe.
So why in the world am I sharing all this? Come to find out, hypothyroidism (not necessarily the actual enlargement of the thyroid - there are potentially two things going on here with me) is fairly common and often goes undiagnosed. It occurs more often in women than men. Maybe one of you out there will be helped by the information. I guess you could say I am paying it forward.
All of this because a nice woman at the rock yard decided to say something.
Not only was it great of this woman to mention it to you but also for you to take it seriously. So many people get offended by someone making a comment etc. but they don't realize that it really could help them.
I have Hashimoto's Thyroidism. I had problems with my thyroid in my early teens but it pretty much cleared up after a few years of medication. But my dr's have always checked it every year to be on the safe side. Which I'm glad they did because now I have to be on Synthroid for the rest of my life.
Hope the rest of the test come back ok and you start feeling better once on the medication.
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Ali, thank you for sharing this personal information. (As I am feeling my neck and throat.) :) I commend you for sharing this vital information, and by looking at your comments this is a common problem that I was not aware affected so many people. I am grateful for the kind lady who went out on a limb to share concern for you. Hugs to you Ali. ¥
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i too have hypothyrodism and have been taking medication since the birth of my first child 13 years ago. this disease often goes untreated or mistreated, since the depression is often the first thing docs diagnose. hypothyroidism can often be brought on my pregnancy and is often ignored by doctors or diagnosed as post-partum depression. i was lucky enough to have known about a friend who had it after pregnancy and after six months when my baby was sleeping through, i was exercising, hardly eating and gaining weight, being very depressed i went to my doctor and insisted that they did the blood tests, the doctor actually phoned me at home and apologized that i had to be so insistent with what i thought i had. it's been under control now, not sure if my constant weight battles are related to this disease, but overall i feel good. thank goodness for that lady for being so brave to talk to you about that. who knows ali, you may be able to get off the other medication once they regulate the thyroid! hang in there.
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Hey Ali - I read your blog faithfully. I have gone the route that you're going to go down. . I've had the ultrasound, but haven't been back to the Dr. for treatment, yet.
I believe they found 3 or 4 small goiters in my neck. It was a bit scary, but I love getting on top of these health issues and DEALING with them. Your story was very inspiring to me.
Thanks for your everyday wisdom, wit, and inspiration. I'll be praying for you as you travel down this road. Looking at the comments before mine, it's obvious that you (or we) won't be traveling alone!!
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i am sure, as i can see already, that you will get alot of comments on this. yes, alot of us have hypothyroidism. it would have been detected during your pre-natal visits if you had it then. your mother may very well have some form of it as well, as it is a bit hereditary. i have dealt with it for years, and even with taking meds (and even a low anti-depression on top of that one) i can still sense when my levels are even lower than they should be. there are better ways to deal with it then just typical meds. you should look into armour therapy if you want to be more pure about your meds. just a thought. and thanks for sharing. you are not alone...lol.
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Ali
Love your blog and reading about the sweetest sounding little boy in the world, simon.
When i was pregnant with my one and only, jack, i found out my tsh was 30. i hope they told you how to take the medicine...by itself and first thing in the morning.
it's a long and sometimes frustrating road b/c levels vary. some of us never really feel good from hypothyroidism. i hope you are one of the lucky ones. really, i do. great post and awareness.
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I am so glad you had that checked out Ali! My friend Lisa (Boo who was with me at CKU-Detroit) has dealt with this...I can get you her email in case you have any questions.
M
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How good that kind lady mentioned it to you. I didn't know I had it until my ankles started to swell, then I went to the docs and he said haven't you noticed how large your thyroid is. I could only see it if I looked in the mirror and tilted my head back. I was diagnosed with Graves Disease. My Doctor was from Japan and I thought he said I had Grapes Disease. No lie. I was confused for a few days til I called back and talked to a nurse. Anyway, I must say again I am glad you had it checked. I worked for an attorney who passed off the symptoms as work related. Well, by the time she went to the doc's her eyeballs were popping out. No lie, ask your doc to show you photos - you will NEVER miss a dosage!! As I had to continue working, I chose the Iodine radiation. The weight gain - its SO HARD to lose!! You are such a wonderful person. Thanks for sharing your life with so many of us.
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Hi Ali,
We met at Split Rock in January. I must say that I did not notice anything unusual about your neck! This "nice person" must be in tune with health and wellness vibes. You are so fortunate to have crossed paths.
It took me two years of going from doctor to doctor to get a diagnosis. The doctors told me my levels were "normal" for the average population, however not normal to me. After making me feel like it was all in my head, I went to an endocrinologist who did the thyroid antibody test and sure enough, I have Hashimoto's disease.
As it turns out, the endocrinologist was the worst of all the doc's I had seen up to that time. It has been a long and frustrating road to get the right medication. I was put on levoxyl (a synthetic hormone) and my body just could not take it. After a few weeks on that stuff I had the most gawd awful muscle pain. I took a giant step back before going forward.
Things are great now. I changed doc's and I now take Armour (the oldest med around does not have fillers/dyes) and I feel great and my tsh level is right for me to feel like me.
Finding the right med's or combo of med's is very unique to each individual so be patient and listen to your body ~ good luck and take care :)
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She wasn't a nice person - she was an angel.
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First, I am really impressed that the woman at the store said something to you, and second, that you acted on it! That's amazing. I, too, am in the hypothyroid club and it has been a serious trial for me over the last 9 years. It wasn't diagnosed until I had gained 50+ pounds in less than 6 months and was so tired all the time that I just wanted to cease to exist. As a previous person mentioned, the medication should be taken by itself around the same time daily. Here's the reason for this (that I didn't find out until years later when my husband was in med school) - Calcium and some other minerals can inhibit the uptake of the thyoird medication. They tell you on the bottle to not take it with food, but that's not really helpful in my opinion. I was trying to get all my supplements, etc. taken at the same time and was taking my thyoird (without food) along with my calcium supplement pills each morning! No wonder I was feeling like crap all the time even though I was supposedly on the correct dose.
I have found it difficult to find doctors really willing to help me get my thyroid to the level it needs to be at for me to not feel the symptoms of it constantly. So my advice to you would be to make sure to stand up for yourself and be pretty adament about it if you feel the dose is not high enough. Plus be sure to check our recent research in this area that says that levels should be closer to 1 or 2 instead of 5, like they previously thought.
Good luck with all of this! I'm glad you were able to get it diagnosed now and be able to do something about it. And thanks for being such an inspiration to so many people. I, too, have struggled with depression for years and I certainly have not been able to rise to the optimistic and inspiring level that you have! Keep it up!
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Hi Ali, I have hypothyriodism too...the doctor found it when we were having trouble getting pregnant..it is a cause of infertility too. I take my synthroid everyday...I am still tired though (3 kids). Good luck with it all! For others reading...a regular tsh blood test might not always detect it...you need the TSH and the free t4 - ..well, that is what my doc does anyway!:)
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Ali,
Thank you for the courageous post and personal share. It's probably somewhat of a relief to have a medical, physiological condition to blame for things that otherwise seemed so "off" in your life.
Peace, Cara
Philomath, OR
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Wow. Except for the rock lady bit, I could have written this. I started on thyroid meds two weeks ago for low thyroid. I'm just starting to see a very teeny tiny improvement in my energy. The doc said six weeks, so hey, I'll be patient. I finally went and got myself checked because I figured there HAD to be a reason I was so exhausted 24/7 and laying it all at the feet of my challenging son wasn't fair. Hopefully as I improve, things will improve with him as well. My good health=more patience=more improvement with him. Good luck. This is so treatable.
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Wow. My mother was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism after the birth of my younger brother. They gave her radioactive iodide to try to control her thyroid and basically overdosed her on that by accident and basically killed her thyroid. She now has hypothyroidism and has been taking synthroid everyday for about 26 years now. She is in fantastic shape and aside from taking that pill everyday, has no other medical conditions so don't freak out!
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Just futher proof that God sends us what we need and that there are no coincidences. Wow! What an amazing story.
Thank you for sharing!
Be well.
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I have hypothyroidism now, but it began as hyperthyroidism, & was diagnosed as Graves disease.
As in one of the above posts, I was shaky, tired (but couldn't sleep), anxious, depressed, lost ALOT of weight & got so weak, that if I was down on the floor, I had to crawl over to a chair to pull myself up like a baby would. My heart was racing so much, that the Dr. put me on heart medication for awhile.
I had never been around anyone with thyroid issues, so didn't suspect this. Mine was actually caught in a kind of different way. I had been drinking a diet drink to lose weight. When I quit drinking it I had continued losing weight. I had excuses for all of my symptoms. "I was weak & tired as I hadn't exercised & taken care of myself like I felt I really should have." "I attributed my shakiness to the early beginnings of Parkinson's disease (it runs in my family & I thought I was just getting it early)" There was always an excuse for me to explain my symptoms as I didn't realize what your thyroid could do to your body.
When I got a cold my voice got raspy. After the cold went away the raspiness didn't. When I went to the Dr to get cough syrup, she had me hold out my hands and looked at how shaky I was. She ordered blood work, and the day they got it back they had me go to an endocrinologist for treatment of it. They did "kill" my thyroid with radioactive iodine & I will have to be on medication the rest of my life for hypothyroidism. It did take awhile for them to get it regulated, so don't get discouraged in that process.
There is controversy as to if this is hereditary, however, my daughter had the exact thing as me. Hers was diagnosed about 2 years after mine was, and earlier due to my issues with it. And at the age of 24 she had her thyroid killed also. The Dr. said I am more of the abnormal for having it later in life, than my daughter was for having it earlier in life.
I also ended up with Thyroid eye disease, and had 2 different eye surgeries last fall.
This was something that they had to wait to treat until I was regulated & things weren't going to change.
You will be in my thoughts and prayers, and thank you for bringing this issue to the people of this site, & reading my story.
I met you in Hermiston at the Daisy Bucket about 2 years ago & enjoyed your classes & meeting your Mom & Simon. I was working on the baby onesie tux's for my son's wedding, & they turned out cute.
Have a great day!
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Yep, I'm the same. Hypo. I have read that it is best to take the real stuff...synthroid, rather than a generic. My Doc told me that it makes a difference. The dr also has to request that the pharmacy only gives synthroid, otherwish they automatically exchange a generic.
I also had Hyper ParaThyroid disease. What a long story that was. Finally had surgery 3 years ago and I had no idea how horrible I had been feeling.
Glad you are getting this figured out. Good luck.
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Looks like you touched a nerve with the thyroid issue. When my son was 5 months old I also joined "the club". It's not uncommon after the birth of a child to develop this. But who would know, since moms of newborns have these symptoms anyway? I wasn't diagnosed for another 4 months, since I didn't think my symptoms were anything other than new baby stuff. I saw my doctor because I was getting my period every other week, and PMS the week I wasn't on my period. Yuk! When your thyroid crashes, it effects ALL of your hormones. I was shoved into pre-memopause, hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, mood swings. I am on medication, and after a couple of years was able to lower my dosage somewhat. Getting enough magnesium seemed to help me. The mood swings have leveled out, but I still suffer from insomnia - usually brought on by night sweats. I finally was put on a low dose antidepressant to help me sleep through the night and it has made a huge difference with my insomnia. From 4-5 days a week, to a couple of days a month. I'm glad youtook this nice person's advice seriously. And as always, you are touching peoples lives. Wish you well on this new journey. Therese
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I have to say please call that woman and thank her for speaking up. All too often we forget to do that---and she did have a profound impact on your life !!
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I totally related to your post because the same thing happened to me. It was my mother, though, that noticed my enlarged thyroid. I have since been diagnosed with hypothyroidism, had a thyroidectomy and take medication. If it were not for my mother that sometimes notices "too much" in my opinion, I might still have the problem and never would have know it. Good luck with your tests.:-)
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It's a good thing she said something!
Once you get on medication,you should be fine. I have Grave's Disease and once I started the meds, my TSH was regulated.It sucks I'm probably going to have to take a pill for the rest of my life, but I would much rather be alive!
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Small world isn't it? And so comforting to know we're not alone. Found out I had HYPO by chance when my doc (he's so good looking I enjoy going!) ordered the test while running routine bloodwork. He put me on Armour as well and so far I haven't noticed a lot of change (good or bad). Some minor sensitivies to cold and @ night I seem to be warmer than a 38 yr old should be at times. I didn't seem to have any noticeable symptoms that appeared to impact my life on a daily basis prior to diagnosis. Certainly I had gained about 20 lbs. over the last few years and I am bigger now than ever, but still feel good. No major depression issues. Energy is good. I did have dry skin that seemed new, but I blamed that on changing hormones as I approach 40. So for me nothing much has changed other than I take a tiny little pill in the morning 30 mins. prior to breakfast. I'm still in the early stages though. I'll be interested to read about your experiences Ali. And funny enough I never noticed before, but I do have a "thicker" (lovely word) neck than an average size 12 girl. And the beginnings of that turkey gobbler deal (gotta love that!)... Wonder if it's all connected. I'd like to put in a request for a higher dosage of Armour if it will thin the neck, reduce the gobbler and take a couple pounds off!!! Okay, I'm being funny!!! Good luck to you... TFS!
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OK this is amazing. To read all these comments that are dealing with the same thing, shows you how common it is. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Disease when I was pregnant with my daughter. I thought the symptoms were pregnancy related, but the blood test showed otherwise. I've been on the same medication for two years and I have felt fine . . .until recently. I am feeling overly tired and have gained some weight, while making an effort to lose. I've been thinking about calling the doctor just to do a re-test but have been blowing it off. Not anymore. I will call him today. This January my son was diagnosed with it at his 8 year check up. His Pediatrician noticed a slight enlargement and ordered test based on my history. His results were low too. We took him to a Pediatric Endocronologist and now he is on medication. Never really saw the symptoms with him. Taking our medication is something that the two of us "get" to do together every morning.
Good luck to you and thank you for inspiring me to not let these little sympotms go unchecked.
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Amazing.
My allergist for years kept telling me he felt a bump on my thryoid... so I had my Primary Care doctor take blood. When I was pregnant I had my OB take blood. I was always borderline so nothing was done + they wouldn't do an ultrasound. See, great health care system we have here :)
Well recently I was hospitalized for some random disease that attacked my kidneys and I asked the doctors, since they were giving me ultrasounds for every inch of my body, could they please do one for my thyroid. And sure enough, there was a growth on there and my blood levels were elevated.
I have hypothyroidism and I have been on the meds for a month. Looking forward to feeling better soon :)
Thanks for posting this. As you can see your post has really resonated with a lot of people!
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