THYROID GLAND

My Personal Experience

( YOU CAN SCROLL DOWN TO SEE MY OWN LIST OF SYMPTOMS – AND A GENERAL LIST TOO)

 

I could kick myself, why didn’t I see it?   Why didn’t I make the connection?

 On hind-sight I can remember having similar thoughts and feelings fifteen years ago.

Around about 1998/99,  I was the owner of , and working in a busy fish and chip restaurant, as well as looking after teenage children, one springer spaniel and a crazy chocolate Labrador. My husband at the time was what you would call a hard worker,  he lived on his nervous energy and my thoughts at the time that whatever I did was never enough.

I felt worn out, weary, exhausted and looked for reasons as to why I felt this way.

I was being treated at the local Doctor’s  surgery for Constant migraines, Irritable Bowel Syndrome and other weird symptoms, so intense that I paid a regular 3 x monthly subscription to avoid high prescription costs. I felt like a Hypochondriac.

Personal and work life was super  busy and I vividly remember the time the Endeavour Replica Ship entering Whitby Harbour for the first time on it’s voyage from Australia.

Whitby Town was full of people all eagerly anticipating the arrival into the harbour of Captain James

Cook’s Endeavour, well at least the replica. I can remember the day so well, our restaurant emptied out as the cannon sounded, meaning myself and the staff could take the opportunity of seeing  the ship enter the port  outside our café doors. I had tears rolling down my cheeks which seemed weird and I had  no idea where they came from,  except the emotion of seeing what looked like a ghost ship returning home after a very long voyage…

Then it was back to work and reality.

Our 100 cover restaurant was full from 7am to 9pm. Yes this was great for trade and profit, bu, being early season in May, half of our staff were away at university. It was bloody hard work for the skeletal staff available. My brother came over from West Yorkshire to help out on the weekend, chipping and rumbling potatoes in the cellar and It was literally all hands on deck, bringing in anyone we could muster to wash up and clear plates to keep up with the high demand.

Stress levels were high, maybe that was a contributing factor to my later diagnosis. My mum had died quite suddenly four years earlier and I was still missing her terribly,  added to that the guilt of having my dad living in a care home weighed heavily on my mind.

Whatever the case, by the end of 1999 my marriage was over and I was living in a remote village, residing in a converted piggery and licking my emotional wounds. At the same time, I thought I was dealing with the separation really well as I had developed an insatiable appetite for food. This was strange as usually when I am stressed my digestive system closes down and I can’t eat to save my life!

I was also losing weight, which was a bit weird with the amount of food I was shovelling into my mouth! and then I began to feel ill, my throat became really sore and I struggled to swallow. I dreaded going to my local Doctor as I didn’t relish discussing my marriage break up.

Eventually my friend convinced me I needed to get checked out so I booked an appointment. I saw the ‘locum’ as she was the only Doctor available, she was a beautiful Spanish girl who looked very worried as she booked me in for an immediate throat scan. The results showed a multi-nodular goiter on my thyroid and cancer was on my mind and I think the Doctor’s mind too by the look on his face.

I was referred to an endocrinologist.

At my first appointment a month later I felt really well., telling the consultant that I felt like a bit of a fraud, thinking  I was wasting his time as I was better.

The endocrinologist was a lovely man in his late fifties, who said not to worry and that he still wanted to do more tests.  Surprising  me when he asked what my personal life had been like for the past year or so?I looked at him sheepishly, giving him a very brief description. He said he wasn’t surprised and confirmed that his last patient had also split with her husband.

More tests were arranged and I left the clinic with an appointment in a month’s time.

A month later, I would never have believed the difference in me if I had not experienced this for myself. I had gone from the early days,  with a sore throat, feeling highly anxious and not being able to think straight,  to the depths of a depression, shedding lots of tears and couldn’t function properly.

At my next appointment the endocrinologist showed me a diagram in way of explaining my illness.

My thyroid gland had been over active for at least 12 months and the levels had been climbing higher and higher till eventually it had ‘exploded’. Stopped working! (his actual words)

At the time of my first appointment the thyroid levels  had dropped to normal, hence my feeling ok. Then I left the clinic and they continued to drop till they were off scale at the other end.

He said I was a rare case! Typical!!

The only treatment required, as the thyroid was now not functioning,  was 150mcg of thyroxine to be taken on a daily basis.

Within three days I felt NORMAL!

Over the next two years the dose was decreased to 100mcg and I stayed at this dose till now.

From then on my need for prescriptions disappeared, no longer having migraines, no sign of irritable bowel or other ailments. Like magic the whole myriad of symptoms disappeared!

Life moved forward with me feeling wonderfully healthy with the thought of migraines just a distant memory…

Four and a half years ago I became interested in running and in the last two years have run four half marathons and two full marathons. When I ran last year my energy levels were high and I felt fabulous.

Then, before Christmas last year something changed, I was low in energy, felt depressed and looked for reasons as to why I was feeling this way.

Although I was and am still running, my energy is low, I can feel my heart pounding in my chest at times and feel weak.

I have been using my mind training skills to keep going and fight through the fog in my head, the lack of concentration, lack of motivation, feelings of guilt and general malaise.

Its funny how our minds always come up with reasons and some are valid but I hadn’t thought about having my thyroid checked.

Then whilst training for this years marathon I had an appointment with my doctor as follow up from my breast cancer treatment and had blood tests carried out. My thyroid TSH was quite low and this can indicate too much medication, but as I know and my doctor knows from previous experience that I can get false readings when training so we decided to wait till after the marathon and retest.

So this week the results came back and my TSH is 0.01 again indicating hyperthyroidism.

So from this weekend I am reducing my thyroid medication over a 12 x week period and see how this changes the TSH readings and more importantly for me my energy levels.

I want me back!

Interestingly, I have been doing a little research and realize I have more In common with Paula Radcliffe other than our love of running.

Check out the quote below:

“I thought something was badly wrong with me. I couldn’t run hard any more. I couldn’t do my sessions and I started to get very down. I was asking a lot of questions about myself and I wasn’t enjoying it any more. So it was a huge relief when I finally got the diagnosis. At least I knew it wasn’t just that I was too old and couldn’t do it any more. That helped me get through it.”

• PAULA RADCLIFFE

My personal symptoms (although they too can vary) are:

a foggy head

inability to concentrate

Lack of motivation and enthusiasm to things I usually love!

Weakness ( still get out there and run but miss my turbo button!)

General anxiety (ask Simon how on edge I am when he is driving!)

Depression (really frustrating as I am arguing in my head all the time and get annoyed with myself!!)

Aches and pains, mainly affecting the right side of my body.

Scanty eyebrow hairs.

Itchy dry skin on my throat area.

Tired all the time,  a fatigue that is hard to explain 🙁

Irritability (again, just ask Si ;-))

Annoyed with little things that really are not important.

Feeling paranoid at times.

Get lonely but can’t be bothered to contact friends who I know would be at the end of a phone.

Weight – seems stable (just had a bone density check and weight is exactly the same as it was two years ago. (evidence that you just can’t rely on a list of symptoms as they are so changeable!

INDECISIVE!!!!

More sensitive to heat than usual  – especially when running.

Heart palpitations.

wake up every morning feeling hot and sweaty ( gone through menopause)

Can’t remember things.. half way through a conversation can’t remember what I wanted to say!!! scary!

Probably a whole load more symptoms …but can’t remember just now (LOL)

For those of you interested the links below go into much more detail about the various weird and wonderful symptoms and why it can be so difficult to diagnose and treat a dodgy Thyroid gland!:-

 http://www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/thyroid/how-your-thyroid-works

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/hyper-symptoms/

http://hypothyroidmom.com/hypothyroid-mom-top-resources/

http://www.sarahwilson.com/2013/10/how-to-heal-auto-immune-disease-20-weird-thyroid-symptoms-for-your-comfort/

https://www.cognitune.com/best-natural-thyroid-supplements/

 Hyperthyroidism

has many different symptoms. In general, they relate to a speeding up of your body’s metabolism and include:

• feeling nervous, irritable or emotional
• tremor (shaking)
• sleeping poorly
• Being intolerant of heat and sweating more than usual
• losing weight despite having an increased appetite (although around 10 percent of people will gain weight)
• feeling tired
• muscle weakness
• increased heart rate or palpitations
• having infrequent periods or problems getting pregnant
• having more frequent bowel movements or diarrhoea
• shortness of breath, especially when exercising
• loss of hair or finer hair than usual
• swelling of your thyroid gland (goitre)

Around one in 20 people will experience some form of thyroid dysfunction in their lifetime

Hypothyroidism can cause your eyebrows to thin, and you may lose the outer third of them

(I personally have thick hair on my head but struggle with a few straggly eyebrow hairs!

This website has some useful hints and tips for supplements to support the Thyroid Gland:

https://www.cognitune.com/best-natural-thyroid-supplements/