Fatigue? Insomnia? Mood swings? Anxiety? Depression? Memory loss? Lack
of concentration? Appetite change? Weight gain? Hair loss? Dry and brittle
nails? If any of these symptoms are ringing a bell then you might benefit from
reading this blog post as this is something that I have been suffering with
since 2014 and as of January 2016 which is ironically Thyroid disease awareness
month I finally got rid of a few of these beast hanging on my back.
I studied biomedical sciences so of course I knew how the thyroid
functioned but as a lot of the symptoms were synonyms with anaemia. I had been
diagnosis with anaemia (low iron levels) a few years prior so I just needed to
keep onto of my iron tablets despite the dreaded side effects of them. A quick
side note in regards to anyone who is suffering the horrible side effects of
taking iron tablets. I’ve discovered an amazing liquid supplement called Spatone
it can be purchased at most pharmacies. I use the non-flavoured version but
they come in apple flavour just add it to your morning orange juice and hello
iron, goodbye constipation, darken stools and nausea.
I will talk you through a few of my symptoms before I talk about
diagnosis. My thyroid really started kicking my ass, well neck (Bad pun I know
I shouldn’t) last year. I was in my final year at university and suffering from
extreme fatigue the only thing that
got me out of bed and into lectures was the thought of a Starbucks grande
vanilla spiced latte (extra hot) by my side. I could literally nap all day but
still be excited to sink into my nice, warm bed. However, instead I would find
myself tossing and turning with insomnia until about 4 am.
I’ve always been a pretty merry person however I found that my mood swings would be terrible. I would
find myself getting irritable at the smallest thing for example I remember a
lecture where this person decided to ask 101 questions and I was rolling my
eyes so much I literally looked like an emoji. I’ve always been quite a quiet
person but I get so anxious or nervous
about entering a room if there were less than two people I didn’t know.
The most physical symptom was my hair
loss. Two years prior to all of this started bleaching my hair but had
stopped a year before I started to experience my symptoms. I have always had
thick hair regardless of bleaching my hair and although my hair still has
length. I was shedding hair fast than your Persian cat.
Another physical symptom would be my acne I would get the worst hormonal acne all over my face. I would have a new break out every week all over my face like a hormonal 13 year old and considering I didn't really have acne in high school it is fair to say I didn't cop with this very well. The acne was so painful and no amount of Origins face mask or spot treatment could rescue
me. Excessive sweating a random one
but I am a sweaty Betty but to any of you suffering with this please get
yourself down to Boots and pick up Perspirex,
best £8.49 spent and it last forever. I also had the added bonus of weight gain as a result of increased
appetite although the average person with overactive thyroid actually loses
weight as a result of increased metabolism despite the increased appetite I was
once again the exception to the rule. I have a visible lump on the left hand side of my neck which feels like a button when you run your finger over it which turned out to be one of the nodules. The neck lump is one of the biggest indicators for thyroid disease and whenever I would visit a Dr they would get up close and personal with my neck. So I would highly urge any reader to stop reading and check your neck.
All of this led to me feeling incredibly depressed and although which is
something linked with hypothyroidism however, I think it was more of the fact
that I felt like I was watching someone else life in my own body. I would have zero energy and not want to pick myself out of bed but the funny
thing is that on the outside whilst at university and with family I would just
paint a smile on my face so no-one would know and be the "best version" of myself because I hate people feeling sorry for me. I wouldn't advise this to be the best method because by summer 2015 I couldn’t
pretend anymore and basically had an emotional breakdown (don't worry I wasn't carted off in a white suit) but I decided to completely come off the radar (goodbye personal Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Whats-App) I just didn’t want to talk to anyone
pretend everything was handy dandy when inside I felt like shit. I looked back at a picture I posted on Instagram from May and behind the bright smile my eyes look so tired and I flash back to how unhappy I felt. At the ripe
age of 23 my body had failed me.
Diagnosis was the toughest part of all of this because as with a lot of
people my results kept coming back as “slightly out of range” so the GP didn’t
think there was a major problem. After repeating the blood test a few times my
free thyroid hormone levels indicated a hyperactive thyroid were within the
normal range but after eventually testing for TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone)
they found that it was low suggesting mild hyperthyroidism.
A few episodes of heart palpitations, which led to me being
hospitalised, sped the whole process up and I was eventually sent to a
specialist where an ultra scan was preformed where they found a toxic multi nodular goitre. Thank God everything was benign and there was nothing
abnormal apart from a cyst. After about 3 months, countless blood test, an ultra scan,
a couple of ECG's I was diagnosed with an overactive thyroid! I was given 2 options of either have surgery to completely remove my
thyroid or radioactive iodine. I decided to go for radioactive iodine.
I hope that this blog post was able to shed some light on the issues
related to hyperthyroidism and the signs to look out for. It isn’t a very publicised
disease despite affecting so many people. I was very lucky that it was hyperthyroidism and not thyroid cancer but it could have been so ladies the same way you check your breast for lumps please check your neck. If you would like to know more about
my treatment process and things to be aware off there will be a part 2 for this
series.
That Little Black Blog x
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