thyroid awareness
January is Thyroid Awareness Month. Please, if you have symptoms of thyroid disease, go to the doctor and get tested.
I have a family history of hypothyroidism. (In fact, my maternal grandmother, her daughters, and their daughters, plus my paternal grandmother and several other blood relatives have all been treated for thyroid, although some only needed it during pregnancy or old age.) My thyroid hormone levels got tested every few years, starting in childhood. I grew up knowing that the question was not if, but when, it would start. By the time I developed hypothyroidism myself, I had mostly forgotten the symptoms, so I didn't recognize it!
My doctor had made a note in my file, though, and when I went in thinking I might have mono, I came out with a diagnosis and a prescription. It was liberating to know that my permanent exhaustion, dry skin, and weight gain were not my fault!
I have been taking Synthroid for most of my life now, and I will continue taking it or a similar medication until the day I die. That might sound dire, but it really isn't at all. Life with treated hypothyroidism is so much better. It doesn't fix everything - I am still not skinny and my skin remains dry, even in summer - but being treated means I have the energy to furiously scrub the hard water marks in my shower, run after energetic toddlers at family gatherings, maintain my weight instead of gaining rapidly, and live my life like anyone else.
Please, if you think you might have a thyroid problem, get tested. Especially if you have a family history of thyroid disease. (Got an aunt with a goiter? That's a thyroid thing, too. Get tested.) I don't know the costs offhand, but neither tests nor pills for hypothyroidism should be prohibitively expensive, and there are generics. It's worth finding out.
I have a family history of hypothyroidism. (In fact, my maternal grandmother, her daughters, and their daughters, plus my paternal grandmother and several other blood relatives have all been treated for thyroid, although some only needed it during pregnancy or old age.) My thyroid hormone levels got tested every few years, starting in childhood. I grew up knowing that the question was not if, but when, it would start. By the time I developed hypothyroidism myself, I had mostly forgotten the symptoms, so I didn't recognize it!
My doctor had made a note in my file, though, and when I went in thinking I might have mono, I came out with a diagnosis and a prescription. It was liberating to know that my permanent exhaustion, dry skin, and weight gain were not my fault!
I have been taking Synthroid for most of my life now, and I will continue taking it or a similar medication until the day I die. That might sound dire, but it really isn't at all. Life with treated hypothyroidism is so much better. It doesn't fix everything - I am still not skinny and my skin remains dry, even in summer - but being treated means I have the energy to furiously scrub the hard water marks in my shower, run after energetic toddlers at family gatherings, maintain my weight instead of gaining rapidly, and live my life like anyone else.
Please, if you think you might have a thyroid problem, get tested. Especially if you have a family history of thyroid disease. (Got an aunt with a goiter? That's a thyroid thing, too. Get tested.) I don't know the costs offhand, but neither tests nor pills for hypothyroidism should be prohibitively expensive, and there are generics. It's worth finding out.