According to the American Thyroid Association, “hypothyroidism is an underactive thyroid gland. Hypothyroidism means that the thyroid gland can’t make enough thyroid hormone to keep the body running normally. People are hypothyroid if they have too little thyroid hormone in the blood.” What does that mean for people with hypothyroidism? Having an underactive thyroid gland tends to cause weight gain, brain fog, hair loss, fatigue, depression, mood swings, and the list goes on.
I suffered FIVE whole years undiagnosed. The moment I started my menstrual cycle at the age of 13, my journey with hypothyroidism began. Beginning at the age of thirteen, I started having hot flashes. HOT FLASHES!
Imagine having a sleepover with your seventh-grade friends and you’re dying of heat while all your other friends are enjoying the sleepover. Imagine missing multiple days of school because your cramps are so painfully excruciating that they cause you to vomit. Imagine being thirteen and not understanding why your body hates you.
Let’s move on to high school… This is where all HELL breaks loose. My freshman year alone I gained 15 pounds. I gained 15 pounds and my height did not change. My face grew fuller, my jeans fit tighter, and stretch marks became a thing. Through my time undiagnosed with hypothyroidism, I gained a whole FORTY pounds. Imagine what that does to a young girl’s self-esteem. FORTY pounds that I couldn’t explain or understand. My diet never changed nor did my activity levels. I have always been an active person, from golf to yoga to dance to tennis, I have always been involved in some type of sport, but yet weight kept coming on.
Next comes the brain fog and fatigue. Imagine studying for HOURS and you did not retain anything. Imagine going to tutorials and tutoring TWICE a day every day and still not understating the material. Imagine having a FULL NIGHTS SLEEP and feel like you are running off of ZERO. Imagine going from a straight A GT (gifted and talented) registered student to struggling just to pass your classes.
Self-confidence, depression, and panic. Imagine going from always participating in your school plays and dancing in dance recitals to having just the thought of prom and prom pictures made you want to vomit. Imagine getting to a test and your palms start sweating, your head starts pounding, and you have a knot in your throat and you haven’t even made it past the first question.
Imagine living like this for FIVE years. Going to your doctor and they say that “you’re fine,” when you know good and well that you are not. According to the Hotze Health and Wellness Center they “hear from people all the time who share with us their thyroid symptoms, but are then quick to say that their doctor already checked their thyroid and it is fine. This is frustrating because their doctor has dismissed their symptoms of hypothyroidism in lieu of one blood test result, the Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) test. The doctor totally ignores the patient’s symptoms which are clearly indicative of low thyroid function. This is due to the mindset cultivated by mainstream medicine that the TSH blood test is the “gold standard” used to diagnose hypothyroidism, while this blood actually fails the majority of patients.” I was one those who was FAILED. I was failed for five years. “The “normal laboratory range” of thyroid hormone is an arbitrary value, defined statistically as plus or minus two standard deviations from the mean. This so-called “normal range” is as wide as the Grand Canyon and as tall as the Empire State Building. In practice, it means that approximately 90-95 percent of the population will always fall within the normal range. However, it’s assured that 90-95 percent of the population does not feel healthy, well, or full of energy. There is another reason why lab tests should not be the sole factor in determining whether an individual has hypothyroidism: thyroid hormone levels decline with age, with predictable effects on energy and well-being. It is the relative decline in your thyroid hormone level that matters, not your level compared to some arbitrarily defined standard.”
It wasn’t until May 2014 when my life was changed thanks to the Hotze Health and Wellness Center. At the Hotze Health and Wellness Center, I was finally diagnosed with hypothyroidism. Why is the Hotze Health and Wellness Center different? Their “goal is to change the way women and men are treated in midlife through the use of bioidentical hormone therapy.” LOL I might not be in midlife, but hey I sure felt like it.
“It is common for traditional doctors to prescribe prescription drugs for each symptom a patient is experiencing, such as sleep medication, anti-anxiety medications, and antidepressants. None of these drugs solve the underlying cause of the problem. When the cause is a hormone deficiency, why would you take a prescription drug, which is foreign to the human body, when what you really need is the very hormone you are missing? At Hotze Health & Wellness Center, our approach is to correct these imbalances by replenishing the bioidentical hormones for women such as progesterone in premenopausal women and with both bioidentical progesterone and estrogen in post-menopausal women. These bioidentical hormones for women are molecularly identical to your body’s naturally occurring hormones. Just as we are each made with unique fingerprints, we are also each designed with estrogen and progesterone levels that are optimal for us as individuals. We work with you to find your body’s natural sweet spot by beginning with the lowest dose and slowly increasing until symptoms are resolved and your body is back in balance.”
I can attest to an alternative medication. No, I am not completely “fixed,” but I have made far strides from where I started. The summer before college started I was doing so well, but also that was with the help of my mother. Being away from home I have definitely fallen off the wagon a few times by not always taking my medications properly (HIGHLY DO NOT RECOMMEND, PLEASE TAKE ALL MEDICATIONS PROPERLY), not taking my vitamins, eating things I should not be eating such as dairy and gluten (both food triggers for people with hypothyroidism), having too much caffeine in my body when my medication is already a stimulant (AGAIN, I DO NOT RECOMMEND), and a lack of exercise and sleep. I have learned from my mistakes and I try my best every day to do everything properly. Yes, sometimes it feels like a nuisance, but I rather deal with it than to feel sick again.
Having hypothyroidism has truly opened my eyes to many things. I have learned how food REALLY affects your body, mind, and soul. I FEEL the difference when I eat foods that are PROCESSED and that are not WHOLE and NUTRITIOUS. I understand how caffeine and lack of sleep affect my body. I know ways to control my anxiety and how to calm it. I have learned that you cannot control the past, but you have control of your future.
If you would like to learn more about hypocorism and bioidentical hormones, check out the links below!