Hi, I have Hashimoto's Thyroid Auto Immune disease. It took a lot of heartache, sleepless nights and wasted money to get to this diagnosis. Let me tell my story.
I have had a lot of stress, severe chronic stress in my life. I was an avid 2 hour exerciser. I ate a lot of gluten, sugar, dairy, eggs. I have severe chronic marital and family stress. I have 8 kids including twins. So I've been pregnant 7 times from age 21-39. After my 8th child special needs was born, my health started to decline. I was diagnosed by a young doctor with depression and GAD(General Anxiety disorder) and put on Lexapro and sleeping pills and other drug for my panic attacks. My youngest child had health conditions which caused me to be very stressed and I was basically a single parent trying to raise 8 children.
I gained 20+ pounds on Lexapro and it started to effect me as a mother. Iwas more angry and NOT myself. I lost all desire to exercise. I ate tons of sugar. I was also diagnosed with Meniere's disease in my left ear. I was dizzy after eating high salt (fast food burgers) or high sugar(cotton candy) and couldn't walk for 2 days. The ENT(ear nose throat) doctor told me no more than 1000 mg of salt per day. This led me to start researching about Menieres and how it is auto immune disease. I also decided to get off all drugs. My medical doctor had me go to have my kidney's looked at . She had me have a vaginal ultrasound by a man which was totally embarrassing and also that showed one of my kidneys to be larger than the other . So she wanted me to have an Xray when they pump you full of iodine. She did this KNOWING I had been diagnosed with Hashimoto's. She had me get a thyroid test which turned out to be normal. Then she had another thyroid test a year later since my symptoms got worse and my thyroid turned out to be not normal so she sent me to a endocrinologist and he did an ultrasound and found out I had the beginning's of Hashimoto's. So she KNEW I had Hashimoto's before the kidney xray. My insurance didn't cover the vaginal ultrasound which cost over $1,000 and the kidney xray which caused me to have a panic attack in my car was over $5,000. The endocrinologist put me on 120 mg of Levythorixine.(I can't spell) and 1/2 my hair fell out and had horrible body odor. I called him and he told me to stop all medication for a week and start again with 1/2 the dose. I was fed up!!!
So after remembering those painful horrible days, I finally switched doctor's to a naturopath doctor. She switched me to Armour thyroid and I finally started feeling better and losing weight.
As I sit here and type this with my Thyroid throbbing and aching after I had a smoothie with raw kale, I wonder, why is my thyroid hurting? Why are my ears ringing with tinnitus?
Stress? The gluten I ate 3 days ago? I want to talk about what I have learned and what has helped me.
I still haven't lost all the weight from my last pregnancy. The intense 2 hour exercise has dwindled to barely 30 minute of cardio and this has to be low impact. and even lifting weights can cause a auto immune flare up.
I need to get more serious about Food being my medicine. I don't really take it as serious. I think, oh, I can have a bite of cake or a bite of pie and end up eating the gluten. I even wrote on my palms, NO GLUTEN, NO SUGAR. Afterall, its my hand that feeds me. It's my will to put my hand to my mouth and feed myself. That is also why I'm starting this blog. To show myself how serious I am!!!
I have recorded some of my favorite parts of the auto immune summit...bad quality from my phone but the best part of it.
I've gained a wealth of knowledge from other people off the internet to help me with my suffering and how I've slowly gotten over my anemia which I have suffered with for many years.
There are some things I can't change with my lifestyle like having 8 children but there are some things I have the power to change like my eating. Food is my medicine. I live in a home full of gluten and sugar. A spouse that eats this way. I have to have my own list of things I can eat. Sometimes the depression that comes with Hashimoto's gets to me and I feel like giving up. But I pick myself off the floor and dust myself off and start again.
This blog will be helpful to me in that I can journal things I have learned and get them out in the open. I can put out links that have helped me and also help me in the future. And maybe someone will be helped.
I have just switched to a holistic dentist and I found out I have a lot of mercury fillings and some of them are bleeding into my gums. I have an appointment with my doctor tomorrow to be tested for mercury sensitivity. I will be taking out all my mercury in my mouth. I've learned from a dentist on the auto immune summit that he has had patients take out there mercury fillings and the auto immune symptoms went away. So I am willing to try anything to get better.
So far...
I have cut out gluten, eggs, dairy, caffeine(although I do drink jasmine green tea but my doctor said that this amount of caffeine is not a problem)
I have replaced dairy with So Delicious Coconut creamer for tea and Coconut milk for my smoothie.
I want to start having coconut butter on my gluten free toast.
I try to go to be before 10pm
I will also share the books that have helped me.
I have brain fog very bad. Very tired. Throbbing aching thyroid. Cry easily. Anxiety and impatient(not myself. I'm usually happy funny loving person. But just clothing getting stuck on hanger and not coming off will make be get so angry. Or dropping something on the floor will cause me to groan outloud. Also I get headaches with an occasional migraine which starts in my eye as an ocular bright electric bolt in my eye transferring to the other eye and I can't see for 10 minute. Then the migraine comes in my neck and back of my head. I have to take 3 advil and go to bed. although just recently, I found out Advil is toxic for the ear and auto immune disease.
I have read that people can recover from this and I hope to be one of those people.
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