My Symptoms - Hashimoto's, Hypothyroidism and Anemia (Health)
I'm back with another health post about my "recent" diagnoses...is 8 months still considered recent? I can't believe it's October already, anywho...I'm back with another post, this one being all about the symptoms that I've been dealing with that come along with having Hashimoto's, Hypothyroidism and Anemia. I've since also found out that I'm severely Vitamin D deficient as well, but that's a story for another day.
Anywho, if you saw my previous health/update post: https://ahnspired.blogspot.com/2018/05/update-where-ive-been.html then you know that this is something that's apparently been building for years. I just didn't know because to me the symptoms seemed so benign and not like a symptom of anything, and also because as you'll see below I was embarrassed or in denial, so I didn't think anything of it at the time. I've also learned, through research, that these diagnoses often go unnoticed as the symptoms are so mild and progress so slowly and gradually over the course of years the only way to know is through a blood test, until it progresses enough and gets severe from not being treated...like in my case.
But first, what exactly is Hashimoto's, Hypothyroidism and Anemia?
Next we Hypothyroidism. What is it? According to the Mayo Clinic, it's "a condition in which your thyroid gland doesn't produce enough of certain important hormones". It can be caused by a variety of things, but in my case it is caused by my Hashimoto's...by my own immune system attacking my thyroid. Again, not good since your hormones control so much of your body's functions...particularly your body's metabolic functions.
Last, but not least, we have anemia, which according to the Mayo Clinic, "is a condition in which you don't have enough healthy red blood cells to carry adequate oxygen to the body's tissues." So yeah...my body was basically starving for oxygen because I didn't have enough of the healthy red blood cells to distribute the oxygen throughout my body, and then to also carry the carbon dioxide from my body back to my lungs to be exhaled. This too can have a variety of causes but according to my endocrinologist, my anemia stems from my Hypothyroidism, which in turn stems from my Hashimoto's.
Now that we have a very basic understanding of what all these things are, what are the symptoms? Well there are way too many to list every single one, but the ones that I've specifically been dealing with (which is still a lot, so buckle up and get ready for a super long post) are, in alphabetical order...
ABNORMAL MENSTRUAL CYCLE (TMI ALERT)
Caused by my hypothyroidism (which remember affects your hormones) my menstrual cycle got out of control. Sorry if this is TMI, but for informational purposes I will divulge.
So, I had my last normal cycle in August 2017. Then I skipped the month of September 2017 before starting my next cycle mid-October of 2017. Now, it's rare, but I have skipped my period before in the past. It always came back normally though, so I didn't really think anything of it at the time, but when my cycle started up again...it would not stop. I was bleeding day in and day out. My normal cycle usually lasts for 6 maybe 7 days, but my cycle that started in October...it lasted for 25 days. Of course me being me, I was like oh it's probably cause I'm really stressed out and the stress is messing with my hormones. I'm sure it'll go back to normal and I forgot about it. Annoying as it was.
Then my cycle was dormant for 5 weeks before starting up again mid-December of 2017. This time it lasted for 13 days. Again, I dismissed it and didn't think much of it at the time because I was like oh it's much shorter than last time, so it's on it's way back to normal. My body probably just needs time to get rid of the last of the stress and readjust. I'm sure it'll be back to it's normal 6-7 day cycle by the time my next cycle happens. That was my logic and reasoning at the time.
Then my cycle went on hiatus for 2 weeks before starting up again. This time for 37 days...37!
Do you know how miserable it is to have your period for 37 consecutive days?! Anywho, obviously, I finally gave into the fact that something wasn't right and that I should probably get this checked out, so that's what I did. About 15 days into my, unbeknownst to me at the time, 37 day cycle I finally went to the doctor's.
Even after starting treatment though I had issues for awhile as it takes time and pills don't just magically fix everything right away, so yeah...this cycle lasted for a total of 37 days before going dormant again...but just for a short 2 weeks before my cycle started up again. Thankfully though it only lasted for 8 days this time.
Then I had a 3 week hiatus before my next cycle came, which lasted 7 days, and while I was happy that I was no longer having such prolonged cycles and it had shortened and gone back to "normal", in terms of the length of my period, my flow got out of hand. I have never bled so heavily in my life. Sorry for the extra TMI, but I was basically changing my pad every hour otherwise I would soak through and I was using the heavy pads. Not fun. I couldn't go anywhere or do anything because I couldn't stray away from the bathroom and I couldn't sleep either cause I was getting up every hour to change my pad.
The next day it slowed down a bit, so I wasn't changing it every hour, but I was still changing it frequently every 2-3 hours, but then it slowed down and got lighter each day until it stopped. Then a month later I got my next period, which also lasted 7 days. Again my flow started off really heavy, but not as bad as it was previously. I was changing my pad like every 2-3 hours instead of every hour. Still sucked, but it was an improvement.
Then another month went by and my cycle came and went after the normal 7 days. My flow more or less remained the same, but as time passed, it seemed to incrementally (aka very slowly) improve and get better. Each month has been a bit better than the previous month, so it seems my cycles are finally leveling out and getting back to normal, but I'm still on the heavier flow side when I first start my period. It's not nearly as bad as it was, but still not my normal level of "heavy" still to this day, so it's still a work in progress but it has been improving.
Caused by my hypothyroidism (which remember affects your hormones) my menstrual cycle got out of control. Sorry if this is TMI, but for informational purposes I will divulge.
So, I had my last normal cycle in August 2017. Then I skipped the month of September 2017 before starting my next cycle mid-October of 2017. Now, it's rare, but I have skipped my period before in the past. It always came back normally though, so I didn't really think anything of it at the time, but when my cycle started up again...it would not stop. I was bleeding day in and day out. My normal cycle usually lasts for 6 maybe 7 days, but my cycle that started in October...it lasted for 25 days. Of course me being me, I was like oh it's probably cause I'm really stressed out and the stress is messing with my hormones. I'm sure it'll go back to normal and I forgot about it. Annoying as it was.
Then my cycle was dormant for 5 weeks before starting up again mid-December of 2017. This time it lasted for 13 days. Again, I dismissed it and didn't think much of it at the time because I was like oh it's much shorter than last time, so it's on it's way back to normal. My body probably just needs time to get rid of the last of the stress and readjust. I'm sure it'll be back to it's normal 6-7 day cycle by the time my next cycle happens. That was my logic and reasoning at the time.
Then my cycle went on hiatus for 2 weeks before starting up again. This time for 37 days...37!
Do you know how miserable it is to have your period for 37 consecutive days?! Anywho, obviously, I finally gave into the fact that something wasn't right and that I should probably get this checked out, so that's what I did. About 15 days into my, unbeknownst to me at the time, 37 day cycle I finally went to the doctor's.
Even after starting treatment though I had issues for awhile as it takes time and pills don't just magically fix everything right away, so yeah...this cycle lasted for a total of 37 days before going dormant again...but just for a short 2 weeks before my cycle started up again. Thankfully though it only lasted for 8 days this time.
Then I had a 3 week hiatus before my next cycle came, which lasted 7 days, and while I was happy that I was no longer having such prolonged cycles and it had shortened and gone back to "normal", in terms of the length of my period, my flow got out of hand. I have never bled so heavily in my life. Sorry for the extra TMI, but I was basically changing my pad every hour otherwise I would soak through and I was using the heavy pads. Not fun. I couldn't go anywhere or do anything because I couldn't stray away from the bathroom and I couldn't sleep either cause I was getting up every hour to change my pad.
The next day it slowed down a bit, so I wasn't changing it every hour, but I was still changing it frequently every 2-3 hours, but then it slowed down and got lighter each day until it stopped. Then a month later I got my next period, which also lasted 7 days. Again my flow started off really heavy, but not as bad as it was previously. I was changing my pad like every 2-3 hours instead of every hour. Still sucked, but it was an improvement.
Then another month went by and my cycle came and went after the normal 7 days. My flow more or less remained the same, but as time passed, it seemed to incrementally (aka very slowly) improve and get better. Each month has been a bit better than the previous month, so it seems my cycles are finally leveling out and getting back to normal, but I'm still on the heavier flow side when I first start my period. It's not nearly as bad as it was, but still not my normal level of "heavy" still to this day, so it's still a work in progress but it has been improving.
ANEMIA
As I stated above, there are a number of causes for anemia, but according to my endocrinologist, my anemia is caused by my hypothyroidism...which in turn is caused by my Hashimoto's. There are lots of symptoms that stem from anemia itself, caused by a lack of red blood cells, some of which you will see in this list, but for me the anemia itself was also a symptom of my Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism, so I'm listing it as such.
BRAIN FOG
Oh the brain fog and cognitive impairments that stem from the hypothyroidism and anemia. From memory loss to poor concentration, my brain was/is still not firing on all four cylinders. Again, this happens and progresses so gradually that I can't even begin to pinpoint when this first started happening.
I'm someone that used to have a very sharp memory...my brain just naturally seemed to have a knack for memorizing and retaining information and I had a sharp mind. I was a creative thinker and I grasped things quite easily and was quick to pick things up and learn new things, but somewhere along the way I lost that and I never realized until now...until I lost it, just how much it made my life easier and sail smoother and how much I relied upon my memory and brain power until now. I just took it for granted.
Nowadays, my memory has become absolute crap and I cannot depend on it at all. To compensate I'm constantly making and taking notes of every single thing in my life and am constantly plagued with that annoying feeling of not being able to recall something / something being on the very tip of your tongue, but not being able to verbalize it...but thank goodness for Google search, Google Calendar and the notes app on my phone. That's the only way I've been able to function...or rather even function at all.
What's worse though is not being able to remember people's names...or in the case of meeting new people, their names AND faces. I feel so bad and terrible about that because I feel like I'm being so rude...there's only so many times you can say and get away with "oh I'm bad with names and/or faces"...especially during the course of one meeting. Also, not remembering what people said makes it seem like I wasn't listening or paying attention, which is also rude.
Also, I just feel stupid. I feel like I've literally gotten stupid over the years, like my IQ has actually gone down because...well because a) I can't remember anything and b) things that used to come so naturally and easily to me are not so easy anymore and I'm so busy trying to compensate for my shortcomings (that's where all my energy and brainpower goes...towards trying to compensate) that there's nothing left over and I'm constantly frustrated, frazzled and stressed out...which is probably why I'm not as patient as I used to be and more easily irritated. I'm definitely not as easy going as I once was. I try to hide it as much as I can, especially to the outside world, but my poor mother. I always invariably end up blowing up at her because it needs to get released somehow. So lately, and by lately I mean the past few years, I was often bickering with my poor mother, which never used to be the case.
Funnily enough...or not funnily, but ironically, a lot of the bickering stemmed from my mom noticing my symptoms. She was pointing things out to me way before my diagnoses that she thought was weird or odd and that I should get checked out (for example why I was being so forgetful at my young age or why I was shedding so much hair) and of course I just found it annoying and irritating and was in denial about everything and thought I'm an adult leave me alone stop telling me what to do, so I would bicker with her about those things, which of course now we know better, but man...Mother's intuition is no joke. I hate to admit it, but mom is always right.
Thinking back, she's always known when I was gonna get hurt or if something bad was going to happen. Not specifically what was going to happen, but she would always warn me to be extra careful or something because she just had a bad gut feeling and would just be on edge for no reason and on those days something always ended up happening...but I digress.
I never realized just how much my memory and brain function made my life calmer and easier and made me easy going...not only that but how much confidence it gave me...the confidence to do and face whatever came my way, but now that I'm not functioning on all cylinders I've lost that confidence because I can't depend on my memory and my mind anymore and am always feeling unsure of myself.
Anywho, now that I know better, I'm consciously aware and trying to be better about it and handle myself better, but man I can't wait for my brain function to return to normal. I feel like it's FINALLY starting to come back a tiny bit...my memory doesn't seem to be as completely useless and atrocious as it was, I mean it's still pretty bad and nowhere near how it used to be, but very slowly at a snail's pace improving and my brain function also seems to slowly be improving. I feel like my creative juices are starting to flow again, which is slowly starting to reignite my passion and zest for life...which is another thing I apparently lost along the way due to the cognitive deficits.
It's kind of crazy, but when you really sit down and think about it, it totally makes sense, but my cognitive impairments...it totally made me a shell of who I was. I lost my confidence, my creativity, my passion...my zest for life. Everything was about compensating and keeping up appearances and just subsisting and making it through another day.
Depression is another symptom that is often mentioned and something I didn't think I had, but sitting here right now sorting through my thoughts and writing this out for you guys...writing about my experience...I probably did suffer from it without even realizing it/being in denial about it...I had a lot denial going on throughout this whole ordeal. Anywho, enough about this and on to the next symptom!
I'm someone that used to have a very sharp memory...my brain just naturally seemed to have a knack for memorizing and retaining information and I had a sharp mind. I was a creative thinker and I grasped things quite easily and was quick to pick things up and learn new things, but somewhere along the way I lost that and I never realized until now...until I lost it, just how much it made my life easier and sail smoother and how much I relied upon my memory and brain power until now. I just took it for granted.
Nowadays, my memory has become absolute crap and I cannot depend on it at all. To compensate I'm constantly making and taking notes of every single thing in my life and am constantly plagued with that annoying feeling of not being able to recall something / something being on the very tip of your tongue, but not being able to verbalize it...but thank goodness for Google search, Google Calendar and the notes app on my phone. That's the only way I've been able to function...or rather even function at all.
What's worse though is not being able to remember people's names...or in the case of meeting new people, their names AND faces. I feel so bad and terrible about that because I feel like I'm being so rude...there's only so many times you can say and get away with "oh I'm bad with names and/or faces"...especially during the course of one meeting. Also, not remembering what people said makes it seem like I wasn't listening or paying attention, which is also rude.
Also, I just feel stupid. I feel like I've literally gotten stupid over the years, like my IQ has actually gone down because...well because a) I can't remember anything and b) things that used to come so naturally and easily to me are not so easy anymore and I'm so busy trying to compensate for my shortcomings (that's where all my energy and brainpower goes...towards trying to compensate) that there's nothing left over and I'm constantly frustrated, frazzled and stressed out...which is probably why I'm not as patient as I used to be and more easily irritated. I'm definitely not as easy going as I once was. I try to hide it as much as I can, especially to the outside world, but my poor mother. I always invariably end up blowing up at her because it needs to get released somehow. So lately, and by lately I mean the past few years, I was often bickering with my poor mother, which never used to be the case.
Funnily enough...or not funnily, but ironically, a lot of the bickering stemmed from my mom noticing my symptoms. She was pointing things out to me way before my diagnoses that she thought was weird or odd and that I should get checked out (for example why I was being so forgetful at my young age or why I was shedding so much hair) and of course I just found it annoying and irritating and was in denial about everything and thought I'm an adult leave me alone stop telling me what to do, so I would bicker with her about those things, which of course now we know better, but man...Mother's intuition is no joke. I hate to admit it, but mom is always right.
Thinking back, she's always known when I was gonna get hurt or if something bad was going to happen. Not specifically what was going to happen, but she would always warn me to be extra careful or something because she just had a bad gut feeling and would just be on edge for no reason and on those days something always ended up happening...but I digress.
I never realized just how much my memory and brain function made my life calmer and easier and made me easy going...not only that but how much confidence it gave me...the confidence to do and face whatever came my way, but now that I'm not functioning on all cylinders I've lost that confidence because I can't depend on my memory and my mind anymore and am always feeling unsure of myself.
Anywho, now that I know better, I'm consciously aware and trying to be better about it and handle myself better, but man I can't wait for my brain function to return to normal. I feel like it's FINALLY starting to come back a tiny bit...my memory doesn't seem to be as completely useless and atrocious as it was, I mean it's still pretty bad and nowhere near how it used to be, but very slowly at a snail's pace improving and my brain function also seems to slowly be improving. I feel like my creative juices are starting to flow again, which is slowly starting to reignite my passion and zest for life...which is another thing I apparently lost along the way due to the cognitive deficits.
It's kind of crazy, but when you really sit down and think about it, it totally makes sense, but my cognitive impairments...it totally made me a shell of who I was. I lost my confidence, my creativity, my passion...my zest for life. Everything was about compensating and keeping up appearances and just subsisting and making it through another day.
Depression is another symptom that is often mentioned and something I didn't think I had, but sitting here right now sorting through my thoughts and writing this out for you guys...writing about my experience...I probably did suffer from it without even realizing it/being in denial about it...I had a lot denial going on throughout this whole ordeal. Anywho, enough about this and on to the next symptom!
CONSTIPATION (TMI ALERT)
Again, sorry if this is TMI, but it is a symptom that one can experience. Although mine isn't actually a symptom of my hypothyroidism, but rather a side effect of the iron pills that I had to take for my anemia...but I thought I would mention it anyways since it is a symptom that can be caused by hypothyroidism and it is something I'm dealing with despite mine not actually being caused by my hypothyroidism...which I'm not going to elaborate on this because I'm sure you know what constipation is, but oh my god I had no idea how painful it could be.
I knew...or rather not knew but heard cause I hadn't actually experienced it before now, that it can be very uncomfortable, but the pain...that I had no idea about and for someone who has always been regular and never had any problems with my bowel movements (aside from, again sorry for the TMI, but like food poisoning or something)...boy oh boy was this a rude awakening. Thank goodness my hemoglobin leveled out and I was finally able to kick my iron pills to the curb because I was not a happy camper. Plus, it probably didn't help that I was on a crap ton of iron...my anemia was really really bad, like bordering on needing a blood transfusion bad, so my doctor had me on a super high dosage of iron.
If you are also suffering from constipation though, I found that drinking apple cider vinegar helped...well it helped me in my situation. It didn't cure it or anything, but it helped me deal with the symptoms and made it not as severe and painful. I would just dilute about 2 tbsp of it into room temperature water and drink it before my first meal of the day and once before bedtime and that really helped me a lot. Anywho...enough talk about constipation and bowel movements and on to the next symptom!
Again, sorry if this is TMI, but it is a symptom that one can experience. Although mine isn't actually a symptom of my hypothyroidism, but rather a side effect of the iron pills that I had to take for my anemia...but I thought I would mention it anyways since it is a symptom that can be caused by hypothyroidism and it is something I'm dealing with despite mine not actually being caused by my hypothyroidism...which I'm not going to elaborate on this because I'm sure you know what constipation is, but oh my god I had no idea how painful it could be.
I knew...or rather not knew but heard cause I hadn't actually experienced it before now, that it can be very uncomfortable, but the pain...that I had no idea about and for someone who has always been regular and never had any problems with my bowel movements (aside from, again sorry for the TMI, but like food poisoning or something)...boy oh boy was this a rude awakening. Thank goodness my hemoglobin leveled out and I was finally able to kick my iron pills to the curb because I was not a happy camper. Plus, it probably didn't help that I was on a crap ton of iron...my anemia was really really bad, like bordering on needing a blood transfusion bad, so my doctor had me on a super high dosage of iron.
If you are also suffering from constipation though, I found that drinking apple cider vinegar helped...well it helped me in my situation. It didn't cure it or anything, but it helped me deal with the symptoms and made it not as severe and painful. I would just dilute about 2 tbsp of it into room temperature water and drink it before my first meal of the day and once before bedtime and that really helped me a lot. Anywho...enough talk about constipation and bowel movements and on to the next symptom!
DANDRUFF
Caused by my Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism, this just started happening last year and to be honest I was more embarrassed by this than concerned about it because, I don't know about you, but I never in a million years would have guessed that this could be a symptom of something bigger. Instead I spent so much time and effort trying conceal the fact that I had dandruff that I never stopped to think and ponder what was causing my sudden onset of dandruff to begin with because I didn't want anyone to notice I had it. I guess it worked because no one did, at least I think no one noticed, but I knew and was constantly stressed out that people would notice it...but I'm happy to report that after 8 months of treatment it seems to have gone away. I am dandruff free again! I think it was like the very first symptom to go away. It was the last symptom to appear and the first to go away.
Caused by my Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism, this just started happening last year and to be honest I was more embarrassed by this than concerned about it because, I don't know about you, but I never in a million years would have guessed that this could be a symptom of something bigger. Instead I spent so much time and effort trying conceal the fact that I had dandruff that I never stopped to think and ponder what was causing my sudden onset of dandruff to begin with because I didn't want anyone to notice I had it. I guess it worked because no one did, at least I think no one noticed, but I knew and was constantly stressed out that people would notice it...but I'm happy to report that after 8 months of treatment it seems to have gone away. I am dandruff free again! I think it was like the very first symptom to go away. It was the last symptom to appear and the first to go away.
DRYNESS
My entire body was dry...dry like the Sahara Desert...maybe even more. My body, my face, my scalp (hence the dandruff), my eyes, my mouth EVERYTHING. Now, if you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know how much I hate heavy emollient lotions and products...I'm someone that doesn't like to feel her skincare, but I actually resorted to those things. That's how bad it was and just how desperate I was...even though in the end those things did absolutely nothing to help or heal my dry skin.
Now the body was not too terrible, but the extremities...my hands and feet, particularly my hands. Oh my god my hands were absolutely atrocious (not exaggerating or being overdramatic) and nothing helped. My poor poor hands were so dry they were literally flaking and cracking from dryness. It was so disgusting and painful. I had so many cuts or rather cracks (both little and large) on my hands it felt like I had a thousand paper cuts. My hands stung so badly...I wish I would've taken photos of my hands at their worst, but I was not in a state of mind to think to do that, but trust me...they were absolutely horrendous. There was actually a moment where I wondered if it was possible for my hands to just fall off my body, but after months of suffering, thanks to the help of my mother, I finally found a routine that worked for me and helped to finally start to heal my hands, which I will do a separate post about at some point because it was a godsend. I don't know why I didn't consult my mom earlier...she always seems to know all.
But beyond my hands, my eyes were super dry as well, so I was using my eye masks like crazy in conjunction with eye drops, which helped, but at a certain point even that wasn't enough...I was still having issues, so I ended up wearing my glasses a lot, which I hate to do. I definitely much prefer wearing contacts over glasses, but I had no choice and on top of that my mouth was obnoxiously dry as well, so I had to switch to using dry mouth toothpaste and mouthwash, which is not cheap...that stuff is expensive, but I must say it is effective and helped out a lot, but it was so bad to begin with I was still suffering terribly despite the fact that these things were helping. It was just...everything was just so dry and miserable. The winter of 2017/2018 was definitely the worst winter on record thanks to my Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism.
Hopefully, fingers crossed, this winter is not so bad now that I'm getting treatment and my thyroid is leveling out.
Oh, and I did find this pic of the side of my hand that I took when my hand was doing sooooooooo much better.
Can you believe my hand was actually like 10x worse than this? This is my hand like 90% better than it was. Before this I had BIG gapping crevices on the side of my hand from where my skin cracked. It was horrible...and this is just one little section of one of my hands, but onto the next symptom!
Usually when you keep doing something your body will start to adapt and get used to it and get conditioned so the same task becomes easier, but that wasn't the case for me last year. Each and every hike was a struggle. I still did it and it took me longer, much longer, than normal to complete my hikes, but it never got easier. Not even 0.000000000000000000001% easier. Now I know why...it's because my body was starved for oxygen due to my anemia, which is apparently what also caused my altitude sickness when I was at higher elevations. My body was already starved for oxygen and being at a higher altitude where the air is thinner...not a good thing.
My entire body was dry...dry like the Sahara Desert...maybe even more. My body, my face, my scalp (hence the dandruff), my eyes, my mouth EVERYTHING. Now, if you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know how much I hate heavy emollient lotions and products...I'm someone that doesn't like to feel her skincare, but I actually resorted to those things. That's how bad it was and just how desperate I was...even though in the end those things did absolutely nothing to help or heal my dry skin.
Now the body was not too terrible, but the extremities...my hands and feet, particularly my hands. Oh my god my hands were absolutely atrocious (not exaggerating or being overdramatic) and nothing helped. My poor poor hands were so dry they were literally flaking and cracking from dryness. It was so disgusting and painful. I had so many cuts or rather cracks (both little and large) on my hands it felt like I had a thousand paper cuts. My hands stung so badly...I wish I would've taken photos of my hands at their worst, but I was not in a state of mind to think to do that, but trust me...they were absolutely horrendous. There was actually a moment where I wondered if it was possible for my hands to just fall off my body, but after months of suffering, thanks to the help of my mother, I finally found a routine that worked for me and helped to finally start to heal my hands, which I will do a separate post about at some point because it was a godsend. I don't know why I didn't consult my mom earlier...she always seems to know all.
But beyond my hands, my eyes were super dry as well, so I was using my eye masks like crazy in conjunction with eye drops, which helped, but at a certain point even that wasn't enough...I was still having issues, so I ended up wearing my glasses a lot, which I hate to do. I definitely much prefer wearing contacts over glasses, but I had no choice and on top of that my mouth was obnoxiously dry as well, so I had to switch to using dry mouth toothpaste and mouthwash, which is not cheap...that stuff is expensive, but I must say it is effective and helped out a lot, but it was so bad to begin with I was still suffering terribly despite the fact that these things were helping. It was just...everything was just so dry and miserable. The winter of 2017/2018 was definitely the worst winter on record thanks to my Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism.
Hopefully, fingers crossed, this winter is not so bad now that I'm getting treatment and my thyroid is leveling out.
Oh, and I did find this pic of the side of my hand that I took when my hand was doing sooooooooo much better.
Can you believe my hand was actually like 10x worse than this? This is my hand like 90% better than it was. Before this I had BIG gapping crevices on the side of my hand from where my skin cracked. It was horrible...and this is just one little section of one of my hands, but onto the next symptom!
EXERCISE TOLERANCE
I may be overweight, but I like to be active and I love to go hiking. Though I may fall off the exercise wagon and it takes me a moment to get back in shape when I start up again, last year I just couldn't get back into the groove of it no matter how active I was trying to be. I still haven't got my travel/adventure/hiking posts up from last year, but no matter how much I was hiking consistently I couldn't get acclimated. It was just as hard each and every single time I went.
Usually when you keep doing something your body will start to adapt and get used to it and get conditioned so the same task becomes easier, but that wasn't the case for me last year. Each and every hike was a struggle. I still did it and it took me longer, much longer, than normal to complete my hikes, but it never got easier. Not even 0.000000000000000000001% easier. Now I know why...it's because my body was starved for oxygen due to my anemia, which is apparently what also caused my altitude sickness when I was at higher elevations. My body was already starved for oxygen and being at a higher altitude where the air is thinner...not a good thing.
LOSS OF ENERGY
Fatigue, lethargy, lack of energy, tiredness, drowsiness, exhaustion whatever you want to call it I was suffering from it. Whether I got 5, 8, 12,16...any amount of hours of sleep I was always tired and never felt fully rested or wide awake. The snooze button was my best friend and I was always taking naps...sometimes even without realizing I was taking a nap. I would just fall asleep at my desk without realizing it.
At the time I didn't think much of it. Again, I would always make excuses. I would think oh I'm tired because I didn't get enough sleep, or I'm tired because I got too much sleep, or I'm still tired because my body's trying to catch up from not getting enough sleep, or because I'm stressed out and stress is draining on the body, or because I had food coma etc. I always had a reason and an excuse and never thought to think my chronic and inescapable fatigue and lack of energy was indicative of something else.
Fatigue that got worse so slowly and gradually that I didn't even realize how bad it was getting until it reached a point where it was so bad there was no denying there was a problem, aka I was basically sleeping all day everyday, but of course that point coincided with my car accident last year, which made me think it was due to that and not because of something else...which if you read my post about my car accident, no it was not caused by my fatigue.
I know that sleep deprived driving is just as bad as drunk driving, but as bad as my fatigue was during that time period I was not driving tired at the time, and if there was ever a moment I felt I was too tired to drive I always pulled over to a safe spot to take a power nap, which that has happened before...I have pulled over to take a power nap, so no I was not driving irresponsibly...I always try my best to be a responsible driver. Anywho, if you'd like you can read about my accident here: https://ahnspired.blogspot.com/2017/09/apologies-for-being-mia-and-big-thank.html, but back to the main point, I was basically turning into a bear hibernating during winter. I was always so exhausted and drained and never had any energy to do anything.
Fatigue, lethargy, lack of energy, tiredness, drowsiness, exhaustion whatever you want to call it I was suffering from it. Whether I got 5, 8, 12,16...any amount of hours of sleep I was always tired and never felt fully rested or wide awake. The snooze button was my best friend and I was always taking naps...sometimes even without realizing I was taking a nap. I would just fall asleep at my desk without realizing it.
At the time I didn't think much of it. Again, I would always make excuses. I would think oh I'm tired because I didn't get enough sleep, or I'm tired because I got too much sleep, or I'm still tired because my body's trying to catch up from not getting enough sleep, or because I'm stressed out and stress is draining on the body, or because I had food coma etc. I always had a reason and an excuse and never thought to think my chronic and inescapable fatigue and lack of energy was indicative of something else.
Fatigue that got worse so slowly and gradually that I didn't even realize how bad it was getting until it reached a point where it was so bad there was no denying there was a problem, aka I was basically sleeping all day everyday, but of course that point coincided with my car accident last year, which made me think it was due to that and not because of something else...which if you read my post about my car accident, no it was not caused by my fatigue.
I know that sleep deprived driving is just as bad as drunk driving, but as bad as my fatigue was during that time period I was not driving tired at the time, and if there was ever a moment I felt I was too tired to drive I always pulled over to a safe spot to take a power nap, which that has happened before...I have pulled over to take a power nap, so no I was not driving irresponsibly...I always try my best to be a responsible driver. Anywho, if you'd like you can read about my accident here: https://ahnspired.blogspot.com/2017/09/apologies-for-being-mia-and-big-thank.html, but back to the main point, I was basically turning into a bear hibernating during winter. I was always so exhausted and drained and never had any energy to do anything.
HAIR LOSS
I feel like I've mentioned it a lot on my blog about how much I shed my hair, but I may have only mentioned it when I reviewed the Ryo Shampoo: https://ahnspired.blogspot.com/2017/07/ryo-haircare.html. It's something that I complain about a lot in real life, so it may just feel like I talked about it a lot on my blog, but who knows. Again, my memory has become absolute crap, so I honestly can't say.
Anywho, like I mentioned in that review, I shed an excessive amount of hair...like ridiculous amount of hair and I have for a long time. I'm trying to remember if I shed that much hair during high school...I don't think I did, but again I honestly can't remember...at any rate, somewhere along the way I started shedding lots and lots of hair and I often joke that it's amazing I haven't gone bald yet considering how much hair I shed, but again it didn't occur to me that this could be a symptom of something bigger. I just thought I shed a lot of hair. If anything, I thought I might have a vitamin deficiency since I am a very picky eater, but that was about it. I didn't really worry about it...I just found it more of a nuisance and annoyance.
Now that I've let it go on for so long though, before finally getting help earlier this year, I feel like I sorta am going a little bald...not in that there's a glaring bald spot or anything like that, but my hair has thinned out A LOT. I really hope that I can get some volume back in my hair. My endocrinologist says that hair is slow and takes a lot of time so it can take a while for me to finally stop shedding so much hair, even though my thyroid has finally leveled out, but fingers crossed that it happens soon...sooner rather than later.
HEADACHE, DIZZINESS/LIGHTHEADEDNESS
AND SHORTNESS OF BREATH
All caused by my anemia, the lack of oxygen not only led to shortness of breath, but it also caused me to often times get dizzy and lightheaded and/or also have a headache (hence all the Tylenol popping that I did, which was bad for my liver as you'll see below) due to the lack of oxygen getting to the brain...apparently my brain was literally starved for oxygen (thereby causing the headaches), which of course did not help with my memory and brain function.
When it got really bad, back in January of this year, I was constantly on the verge of fainting and passing out and so was basically bed-ridden except for going to the bathroom, which was a huge struggle because getting out of bed to walk to the bathroom...even that was too much for my oxygen deprived body. My heart would race like crazy, I would be short of breath and I would get so dizzy and lightheaded and felt like I wanted to pass out...all from the simple task of getting out of bed and walking the 6 or 7 steps that it takes to get to my bathroom. It was bad and what prompted me to finally seek medical attention because at this point there was no denying there was something wrong.
HEART RATE ISSUES
My resting heart rate is on the low side, but still within the "normal" range, so I didn't really think much of it, although I'm not an athlete so I should've known better...athletes naturally have a lower resting heart rate than the normal person, but I am not an athlete or someone who is super active and works out a lot so the fact that my resting heart rate was so low should've made me ponder why that was, but again didn't think much of it at the time...turns out hypothyroidism can cause a slow and sluggish heart rate since it affects your metabolic functions and slows down everything in the body. Kind of like hibernating.
My resting heart rate is on the low side, but still within the "normal" range, so I didn't really think much of it, although I'm not an athlete so I should've known better...athletes naturally have a lower resting heart rate than the normal person, but I am not an athlete or someone who is super active and works out a lot so the fact that my resting heart rate was so low should've made me ponder why that was, but again didn't think much of it at the time...turns out hypothyroidism can cause a slow and sluggish heart rate since it affects your metabolic functions and slows down everything in the body. Kind of like hibernating.
But on the flip side, due to the anemia, my heart would also race every time I got up and/or moved because the anemia made my body starved for oxygen so my heart tried to compensate and work that much harder by beating extremely fast in an effort to distribute the blood in my body and therefore the oxygen to the various parts of my body. This was an immediate alarm and what prompted me to finally go to urgent care and get checked out (that and the wanting to pass out mentioned above) because the persistent racing heart thing...that freaked me out and was hard to ignore or make excuses about. Clearly something was going on and it wasn't normal.
INSOMNIA
I have crazy bad insomnia...so much so that I actually had to start taking melatonin tablets to help me sleep at night, which I took after consulting with my doctor and endocrinologist of course.
I've always been a night owl, but the insomnia has slowly gotten out of control to the point where I'm still awake in bed at 3AM-4AM...sometimes even 5AM or 6AM trying to sleep. Not me getting into bed at that time, but me tossing and turning in bed trying to sleep for hours up until that point. It would drive me crazy because I was tired and exhausted and I wanted to sleep, but ironically couldn't fall asleep.
As much as I love to sleep, falling asleep has always been a bit of an issue for me. I'm someone who's brain is constantly going and I have a hard time shutting it down, so when I'm laying in bed at night trying to fall asleep I can't because I have a million things going through my brain. Then on top of that to also have hypothyroidism compounding the problem...it was bad.
I'm not exactly sure what it is about hypothyroidism that affects sleep but apparently it does. My endocrinologist mentioned something about maybe having sleep apnea in passing and there are articles online mentioning it being caused or having a link to anemia and hypothyroidism, but it always seems a bit vague or it could be my brain fog not allowing me to comprehend the information being presented, but I can't tell what exactly it is...what the link is between insomnia and hypothyroidism, but regardless I feel like my impossible to cure insomnia has been slowly getting better as my thyroid function has been improving. I'm not so reliant on my melatonin pills anymore, which is a good thing.
I feel like as I'm becoming better balanced my energy levels and insomnia are also becoming better balanced...instead of being exhausted, tired and fatigued during the day and having crazy insomnia at night, I'm more energized and alert throughout the day and better able to fall asleep at night, so clearly there's a correlation there and fixing the thyroid is fixing this issue.
Now, my insomnia isn't 100% completely cured...yet, but I feel like I'm making progress and actually in the past couple days has gotten significantly better. I still need to be diligent about making sure I set myself up for success and by that I mean shutting EVERYTHING down and keeping my room at a comfortably chilly temperature where I can snuggle under the covers. I've also switched out my mattress and pillows as well, which has made a huge impact for me personally. Apparently my body doesn't like the expensive Tempur-pedic mattress. It much prefers the cheaper stiff and firm mattress.
Anywho, I still may not be able to fall asleep right away, but I'm no longer taking the melatonin tablets and now it only takes about an hour or so of tossing and turning vs. hours of tossing and turning like before and like I said in the past couple days it has actually significantly improved, so I've been pretty good about falling asleep right away...within like 30 min of laying down and the quality of my sleep has been better as well, so things are on the up and up in the insomnia department. Fingers crossed that this trend continues.
I have crazy bad insomnia...so much so that I actually had to start taking melatonin tablets to help me sleep at night, which I took after consulting with my doctor and endocrinologist of course.
I've always been a night owl, but the insomnia has slowly gotten out of control to the point where I'm still awake in bed at 3AM-4AM...sometimes even 5AM or 6AM trying to sleep. Not me getting into bed at that time, but me tossing and turning in bed trying to sleep for hours up until that point. It would drive me crazy because I was tired and exhausted and I wanted to sleep, but ironically couldn't fall asleep.
As much as I love to sleep, falling asleep has always been a bit of an issue for me. I'm someone who's brain is constantly going and I have a hard time shutting it down, so when I'm laying in bed at night trying to fall asleep I can't because I have a million things going through my brain. Then on top of that to also have hypothyroidism compounding the problem...it was bad.
I'm not exactly sure what it is about hypothyroidism that affects sleep but apparently it does. My endocrinologist mentioned something about maybe having sleep apnea in passing and there are articles online mentioning it being caused or having a link to anemia and hypothyroidism, but it always seems a bit vague or it could be my brain fog not allowing me to comprehend the information being presented, but I can't tell what exactly it is...what the link is between insomnia and hypothyroidism, but regardless I feel like my impossible to cure insomnia has been slowly getting better as my thyroid function has been improving. I'm not so reliant on my melatonin pills anymore, which is a good thing.
I feel like as I'm becoming better balanced my energy levels and insomnia are also becoming better balanced...instead of being exhausted, tired and fatigued during the day and having crazy insomnia at night, I'm more energized and alert throughout the day and better able to fall asleep at night, so clearly there's a correlation there and fixing the thyroid is fixing this issue.
Now, my insomnia isn't 100% completely cured...yet, but I feel like I'm making progress and actually in the past couple days has gotten significantly better. I still need to be diligent about making sure I set myself up for success and by that I mean shutting EVERYTHING down and keeping my room at a comfortably chilly temperature where I can snuggle under the covers. I've also switched out my mattress and pillows as well, which has made a huge impact for me personally. Apparently my body doesn't like the expensive Tempur-pedic mattress. It much prefers the cheaper stiff and firm mattress.
Anywho, I still may not be able to fall asleep right away, but I'm no longer taking the melatonin tablets and now it only takes about an hour or so of tossing and turning vs. hours of tossing and turning like before and like I said in the past couple days it has actually significantly improved, so I've been pretty good about falling asleep right away...within like 30 min of laying down and the quality of my sleep has been better as well, so things are on the up and up in the insomnia department. Fingers crossed that this trend continues.
IRRITABILITY
Again, I used to be someone who had all the patience in the world. I was always a calm and patient person, but over the past several years I feel like my patience has not only worn thin, but has disappeared entirely. I've become so easily irritated and frustrated and annoyed. If I'm being honest, it doesn't take much. It's something that I've realized and have tried to reign back in to the way I used to be, but it's still a work in progress and now realize there was a reason for the irritability. Hopefully now that my hormones are finally back in check I can go back to being the calm, patient and super chill person that I used to be. In the meantime I just try my best to reign myself in, but if i can't I just do my best to warn people that I'm hormonal and in a snippy mood and to not take it personally.
Again, I used to be someone who had all the patience in the world. I was always a calm and patient person, but over the past several years I feel like my patience has not only worn thin, but has disappeared entirely. I've become so easily irritated and frustrated and annoyed. If I'm being honest, it doesn't take much. It's something that I've realized and have tried to reign back in to the way I used to be, but it's still a work in progress and now realize there was a reason for the irritability. Hopefully now that my hormones are finally back in check I can go back to being the calm, patient and super chill person that I used to be. In the meantime I just try my best to reign myself in, but if i can't I just do my best to warn people that I'm hormonal and in a snippy mood and to not take it personally.
LIVER
Apparently, according to my blood tests, I have elevated liver enzymes. It was crazy high when I first got tested, but apparently that was due to the Tylenol I had been popping for my headaches (I am no longer allowed to take Tylenol because it affects my liver too much), so I stopped taking that and it came back down A LOT, but it still never went all the way down to normal.
Everytime I go to get my blood tested though it comes down a little more each and everytime and I am almost...almost finally back to normal. Hypothyroidism does tend to elevate the liver enzymes, but my endocrinologist said that it's gotten to a point where it's not bad, but still not completely back to normal because I'm overweight. Now it's just a matter of losing the weight...that's the last obstacle left for me getting back to a normal liver range. Now that my thyroid has leveled out though, my endocrinologist said I should finally be able to start losing the weight, so I'm super stoked for that and can't wait to start losing the pounds and get my liver back to being completely normal.
Apparently, according to my blood tests, I have elevated liver enzymes. It was crazy high when I first got tested, but apparently that was due to the Tylenol I had been popping for my headaches (I am no longer allowed to take Tylenol because it affects my liver too much), so I stopped taking that and it came back down A LOT, but it still never went all the way down to normal.
Everytime I go to get my blood tested though it comes down a little more each and everytime and I am almost...almost finally back to normal. Hypothyroidism does tend to elevate the liver enzymes, but my endocrinologist said that it's gotten to a point where it's not bad, but still not completely back to normal because I'm overweight. Now it's just a matter of losing the weight...that's the last obstacle left for me getting back to a normal liver range. Now that my thyroid has leveled out though, my endocrinologist said I should finally be able to start losing the weight, so I'm super stoked for that and can't wait to start losing the pounds and get my liver back to being completely normal.
MUSCLE ACHES/JOINT PAIN
This has actually been going on for years now and I was actually tested for rheumatoid arthritis a few years ago because I was having a lot of issues with it and the test actually came back positive the first time, but then they ran it again and it came back negative the second time so my doctor at the time (who is not the doctor that I currently see) said it was a false positive the first time and that I didn't have it so I was just sort of left diagnosis-less, but I've recently come to find out that apparently it's a symptom that one can experience due to hypothyroidism.
Although, rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease as is Hashimoto's and if you have one autoimmune disease you are at a higher risk of having/getting another autoimmune disease, which is why I recently went and got tested again just to make sure since the last time I was tested was kind of wishy washy. It came back negative again, so I definitely don't have rheumatoid arthritis, thank god.
I did have some inflammation, but my doctor said it wasn't to a level of concern, so my muscle aches/joint pain, which for me is mostly joint point and stiffness and not so much muscle aches, is probably from me being overweight and it putting extra pressure and weight on my joints. Either way if it's caused by my hypothyroidism it should go away on it's own as my thyroid levels out, or if it's because I'm overweight and it's putting extra pressure on my joints, well...the hypothyroidism is a contributing factor in my weight gain and inability to lose it, so yeah.
PICA
For those not familiar with what pica is, according to the Mayo Clinic "Doctors use the term "pica" to describe craving and chewing substances that have no nutritional value — such as ice, clay, soil or paper." For me it was ice. I was obsessed with chewing ice. I couldn't stop and I couldn't help it.
I knew it was bad for my teeth (yes, it really is bad for your teeth I've actually had a whole conversation about it with my dentist) and it wasn't good to constantly be ingesting ice all day everyday, but I couldn't stop...not even in the dead of winter when it was freezing cold. Even if I was physically cold and shivering, I was still craving and compelled to chew on ice. It was a compulsion...a compulsion that was apparently caused by my anemia. Although, even if you don't have anemia you can still crave and chew ice due to a regular iron deficiency as well even if it's not full blown anemia, FYI.
This has actually been going on for years now and I was actually tested for rheumatoid arthritis a few years ago because I was having a lot of issues with it and the test actually came back positive the first time, but then they ran it again and it came back negative the second time so my doctor at the time (who is not the doctor that I currently see) said it was a false positive the first time and that I didn't have it so I was just sort of left diagnosis-less, but I've recently come to find out that apparently it's a symptom that one can experience due to hypothyroidism.
Although, rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease as is Hashimoto's and if you have one autoimmune disease you are at a higher risk of having/getting another autoimmune disease, which is why I recently went and got tested again just to make sure since the last time I was tested was kind of wishy washy. It came back negative again, so I definitely don't have rheumatoid arthritis, thank god.
I did have some inflammation, but my doctor said it wasn't to a level of concern, so my muscle aches/joint pain, which for me is mostly joint point and stiffness and not so much muscle aches, is probably from me being overweight and it putting extra pressure and weight on my joints. Either way if it's caused by my hypothyroidism it should go away on it's own as my thyroid levels out, or if it's because I'm overweight and it's putting extra pressure on my joints, well...the hypothyroidism is a contributing factor in my weight gain and inability to lose it, so yeah.
PICA
For those not familiar with what pica is, according to the Mayo Clinic "Doctors use the term "pica" to describe craving and chewing substances that have no nutritional value — such as ice, clay, soil or paper." For me it was ice. I was obsessed with chewing ice. I couldn't stop and I couldn't help it.
I knew it was bad for my teeth (yes, it really is bad for your teeth I've actually had a whole conversation about it with my dentist) and it wasn't good to constantly be ingesting ice all day everyday, but I couldn't stop...not even in the dead of winter when it was freezing cold. Even if I was physically cold and shivering, I was still craving and compelled to chew on ice. It was a compulsion...a compulsion that was apparently caused by my anemia. Although, even if you don't have anemia you can still crave and chew ice due to a regular iron deficiency as well even if it's not full blown anemia, FYI.
PREMATURE GRAYING
I was in denial about this as well for a long time, and to be honest was really embarrassed by it more than I was concerned that it could be a signal that something was wrong with my body because to see gray hairs starting to come in when you're still in your twenties is not the best feeling. In the beginning, it was just one here and one there. Then it turned into a couple here and a couple there. Then as the years passed, more and more started popping up, but it wasn't until the past year or two...especially the past year that it got especially bad, meaning you could see it and tell that I had gray hairs...well could've seen that I had some had I not plucked them.
I was constantly obsessing over my gray hairs. I would often stand in front of the mirror with my tweezers trying to pluck as many gray hairs as I could and found myself constantly checking myself in mirrors to see if any were poking out, so I could discreetly take care of it before anyone noticed. I have never looked at myself in the mirror as much as I have in the past year or so, obsessively checking to see if there was any noticeable dandruff or gray hairs.
Now unlike the hair shedding, which will take some time, but will eventually go away and return to normal...premature graying is a bit trickier. It may or may not go back to normal. Only time will tell. Usually once a hair goes gray it will stay gray, but since my graying was caused by my hypothyroidism there is a chance that re-pigmentation could occur and my hair starts to grow back with it's full pigment, but there's also a chance that the hairs that have gone gray already will remain that way. No further hairs would turn gray now that I'm being treated and my thyroid has leveled out, but if re-pigmentation doesn't happen I could just be stuck with the gray hairs that I currently have.
Why oh why didn't I listen to my mother when she was concerned about the early premature graying? If I had caught it earlier...but no use crying over spilt milk right? All I can do is cross my fingers and pray that re-pigmentation does happen for me, but only time will tell.
I was in denial about this as well for a long time, and to be honest was really embarrassed by it more than I was concerned that it could be a signal that something was wrong with my body because to see gray hairs starting to come in when you're still in your twenties is not the best feeling. In the beginning, it was just one here and one there. Then it turned into a couple here and a couple there. Then as the years passed, more and more started popping up, but it wasn't until the past year or two...especially the past year that it got especially bad, meaning you could see it and tell that I had gray hairs...well could've seen that I had some had I not plucked them.
I was constantly obsessing over my gray hairs. I would often stand in front of the mirror with my tweezers trying to pluck as many gray hairs as I could and found myself constantly checking myself in mirrors to see if any were poking out, so I could discreetly take care of it before anyone noticed. I have never looked at myself in the mirror as much as I have in the past year or so, obsessively checking to see if there was any noticeable dandruff or gray hairs.
Now unlike the hair shedding, which will take some time, but will eventually go away and return to normal...premature graying is a bit trickier. It may or may not go back to normal. Only time will tell. Usually once a hair goes gray it will stay gray, but since my graying was caused by my hypothyroidism there is a chance that re-pigmentation could occur and my hair starts to grow back with it's full pigment, but there's also a chance that the hairs that have gone gray already will remain that way. No further hairs would turn gray now that I'm being treated and my thyroid has leveled out, but if re-pigmentation doesn't happen I could just be stuck with the gray hairs that I currently have.
Why oh why didn't I listen to my mother when she was concerned about the early premature graying? If I had caught it earlier...but no use crying over spilt milk right? All I can do is cross my fingers and pray that re-pigmentation does happen for me, but only time will tell.
PUFFY FACE
I'm overweight. I have fat in my arms, my thighs, my midsection...all over, which btw is another way to tell if you have hypothyroidism. Most people if they gain weight, they gain it in a certain part of the body...people with hypothyroidism tend to put on weight everywhere.
Anywho, this whole time I just thought my face was starting to get fat as well, but apparently I had a puffy face due to the hypothyroidism and it was a symptom and not fat because now that I'm on medication and getting treated the puffiness has gone down a lot. Now, there's still a little bit of something there below my chin, which that probably actually is fat, but a lot of the puffiness that I had before is gone. I no longer look like a puffed up puffer fish. You can actually see the definition of my jawline and my face isn't so round anymore.
I'm overweight. I have fat in my arms, my thighs, my midsection...all over, which btw is another way to tell if you have hypothyroidism. Most people if they gain weight, they gain it in a certain part of the body...people with hypothyroidism tend to put on weight everywhere.
Anywho, this whole time I just thought my face was starting to get fat as well, but apparently I had a puffy face due to the hypothyroidism and it was a symptom and not fat because now that I'm on medication and getting treated the puffiness has gone down a lot. Now, there's still a little bit of something there below my chin, which that probably actually is fat, but a lot of the puffiness that I had before is gone. I no longer look like a puffed up puffer fish. You can actually see the definition of my jawline and my face isn't so round anymore.
TEMPERATURE CONTROL
I can't stand the cold and I can't stand the heat. I like to try and be energy conscious and also save on utility costs by trying not to use the AC and heat as much as possible, but lately over the years I feel like that mentality has gone out the window. Nowadays I'm just like screw it. I will cough up the money I just want to be comfortable. I don't want to be hot, I don't want to be cold, I just want to be comfortable. But I mean who knew that was even a symptom? Who doesn't hate the heat or the cold? Especially lately. I feel like the weather has gotten a little cray cray what with the 120 degree heat and whatnot last summer. This summer was a tad better at 115 degrees, a couple 118 here and there, but I digress.
I can't stand the cold and I can't stand the heat. I like to try and be energy conscious and also save on utility costs by trying not to use the AC and heat as much as possible, but lately over the years I feel like that mentality has gone out the window. Nowadays I'm just like screw it. I will cough up the money I just want to be comfortable. I don't want to be hot, I don't want to be cold, I just want to be comfortable. But I mean who knew that was even a symptom? Who doesn't hate the heat or the cold? Especially lately. I feel like the weather has gotten a little cray cray what with the 120 degree heat and whatnot last summer. This summer was a tad better at 115 degrees, a couple 118 here and there, but I digress.
Also, my body has always naturally been cool as far as I can recall. My body just naturally runs cold. Literally runs cold. My average body temperature is around 97 degrees whereas the normal average temperature should be 98.5 degrees. I know that doesn't seem like much of a difference, but apparently it is. Probably why when I'm sick I always have a "normal" body temperature. Me being at 98.5 degrees means I'm actually running a fever compared to the average normal person, but now that I'm better I should check my temperature to see if it's normalized. I'll have to do that and update you guys. I'd just go and check it now, but apparently the most accurate way to do this is to do it first thing in the morning as soon as you wake up, so the next time I remember to do that I'll let you guys know.
Oh, and also to go along with all this, I have cold hands and feet. Like I already said, my body has generally always been on the cool side, but my hands and feet especially are always cold...not as in I feel cold, but as in they are literally cold to the touch...which makes sense when you think about it because hands and feet are the furthest from the heart, so they are the first to feel the effects of poor circulation, due to the anemia, as was the case with me.
TONGUE SIZE
I have felt like my tongue was too big for my mouth for awhile now. I often bite my tongue or almost bite my tongue and at times have to consciously think about the placement of my tongue in my mouth, because if I just let it be and hang out it overlaps my teeth (in particular the back half of my tongue...it rests on my molars) hence constantly biting my tongue or almost biting my tongue and it just feels uncomfortable and big at times, but I thought it was just me being crazy. Apparently it's an actually thing though. I'm not crazy. It's an actual thing that can happen to your body due to anemia. Who knew?!
Also, in conjunction with my tongue feeling too big for my mouth, I also had the same feeling in the back of my throat...well not the same feeling, but my throat feeling swollen and tight. I used to wonder if my tonsils where swollen and inflamed and needed to be taken out and that's what it was, but my dentists have never said or mentioned anything about my tonsils nor have my doctors in the past when I got sick, so again I thought I was just being crazy.
However, I still don't really have clarity on this issue though because while this is a thing that can happen (the throat part not the tongue part)...you can get a goiter due to hypothyroidism, my endocrinologist said I didn't have one when he examined me, so why I was experiencing the symptoms of one I don't know, but I did. The tightness, the coughing (there was a point when the coughing was real bad), the hoarseness (although this particular symptom was only sometimes and not all the time)...who knows, but I do/did feel those things in conjunction with my increased tongue size.
I feel like the whole tongue throat situation has improved, especially the throat situation, and that my tongue size has gone down a bit, but it can still feel a bit large at times... I don't know...maybe I am just being crazy when it comes to this. Who knows, but it could potentially be a thing one could experience.
Oh, and also to go along with all this, I have cold hands and feet. Like I already said, my body has generally always been on the cool side, but my hands and feet especially are always cold...not as in I feel cold, but as in they are literally cold to the touch...which makes sense when you think about it because hands and feet are the furthest from the heart, so they are the first to feel the effects of poor circulation, due to the anemia, as was the case with me.
TONGUE SIZE
I have felt like my tongue was too big for my mouth for awhile now. I often bite my tongue or almost bite my tongue and at times have to consciously think about the placement of my tongue in my mouth, because if I just let it be and hang out it overlaps my teeth (in particular the back half of my tongue...it rests on my molars) hence constantly biting my tongue or almost biting my tongue and it just feels uncomfortable and big at times, but I thought it was just me being crazy. Apparently it's an actually thing though. I'm not crazy. It's an actual thing that can happen to your body due to anemia. Who knew?!
Also, in conjunction with my tongue feeling too big for my mouth, I also had the same feeling in the back of my throat...well not the same feeling, but my throat feeling swollen and tight. I used to wonder if my tonsils where swollen and inflamed and needed to be taken out and that's what it was, but my dentists have never said or mentioned anything about my tonsils nor have my doctors in the past when I got sick, so again I thought I was just being crazy.
However, I still don't really have clarity on this issue though because while this is a thing that can happen (the throat part not the tongue part)...you can get a goiter due to hypothyroidism, my endocrinologist said I didn't have one when he examined me, so why I was experiencing the symptoms of one I don't know, but I did. The tightness, the coughing (there was a point when the coughing was real bad), the hoarseness (although this particular symptom was only sometimes and not all the time)...who knows, but I do/did feel those things in conjunction with my increased tongue size.
I feel like the whole tongue throat situation has improved, especially the throat situation, and that my tongue size has gone down a bit, but it can still feel a bit large at times... I don't know...maybe I am just being crazy when it comes to this. Who knows, but it could potentially be a thing one could experience.
Weight Gain/Difficulty Losing Weight
I've always put on weight super easily no matter how healthily I'm eating and it's always been really difficult for me to lose it. Now, my situation isn't as bad as it can get...there are people out there that it's literally near impossible to lose weight. I can and have lost weight on my own in the past, but it just takes A LOT. Like I have to be 100% perfectly on point with my eating every single day with absolutely no slip ups and exercise a crap ton...like a madman to lose weight. I mean I was exercising like nobodies business and was basically burning off everything I was consuming...that's how extreme I had to take it.
I was hiking for hours and hours every weekend and during the week I was in the gym for several hours after work every single day working off all the calories that I had eaten throughout the day. Then and only then was I finally able to lose some weight...all that and I was losing 1 maybe 2 pounds a week, so I've done it and it was technically possible, but it was just way too hard and unsustainable for me.
Especially when I hit that weight-loss plateau. The inevitable plateau that everyone hits when they're trying to lose weight. I just couldn't find my way past it and it was so discouraging to workout so much and eat perfectly only to have the scale not budge, so of course I ended up falling off the wagon and went back to eating normally and not working out as much...which to be completely honest isn't even that bad and I was still exercising for like 45 min - 1hr everyday...not that it made a difference, but apparently it was all because of my hypothyroidism. I told the whole spiel to my endocrinologist and he was like yeah, with your levels the way they were there's no way the weight was going to come off.
BUT now that my hormones are finally where they should be and under control my endocrinologist said I should be able to finally start losing the weight, so I'm very excited. Hopefully, I can do it while eating and exercising like a normal person and not like I'm an athlete training for a competition. Eating relatively healthy and getting in a regular amount of exercise is totally doable and sustainable, so fingers crossed that's enough now that all my levels are balancing out.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I've always put on weight super easily no matter how healthily I'm eating and it's always been really difficult for me to lose it. Now, my situation isn't as bad as it can get...there are people out there that it's literally near impossible to lose weight. I can and have lost weight on my own in the past, but it just takes A LOT. Like I have to be 100% perfectly on point with my eating every single day with absolutely no slip ups and exercise a crap ton...like a madman to lose weight. I mean I was exercising like nobodies business and was basically burning off everything I was consuming...that's how extreme I had to take it.
I was hiking for hours and hours every weekend and during the week I was in the gym for several hours after work every single day working off all the calories that I had eaten throughout the day. Then and only then was I finally able to lose some weight...all that and I was losing 1 maybe 2 pounds a week, so I've done it and it was technically possible, but it was just way too hard and unsustainable for me.
Especially when I hit that weight-loss plateau. The inevitable plateau that everyone hits when they're trying to lose weight. I just couldn't find my way past it and it was so discouraging to workout so much and eat perfectly only to have the scale not budge, so of course I ended up falling off the wagon and went back to eating normally and not working out as much...which to be completely honest isn't even that bad and I was still exercising for like 45 min - 1hr everyday...not that it made a difference, but apparently it was all because of my hypothyroidism. I told the whole spiel to my endocrinologist and he was like yeah, with your levels the way they were there's no way the weight was going to come off.
BUT now that my hormones are finally where they should be and under control my endocrinologist said I should be able to finally start losing the weight, so I'm very excited. Hopefully, I can do it while eating and exercising like a normal person and not like I'm an athlete training for a competition. Eating relatively healthy and getting in a regular amount of exercise is totally doable and sustainable, so fingers crossed that's enough now that all my levels are balancing out.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Now there are more symptoms that I experienced, aside from what I listed above, but I think I'm going to stop here. Those are the major ones that I wanted to share...I think those are all the big ones that I wanted to mention. Again, memory is slowly improving, but I'm still nowhere near back to normal, but like I said above, the thyroid plays a part in so many different bodily functions there are soooooooo many different symptoms that one can experience. If you're curious about other potential symptoms than check this blog out: https://hypothyroidmom.com/300-hypothyroidism-symptoms-yes-really/. They actually have a list of 300 symptoms that one can experience due to hypothyroidism. How crazy is that?
Anywho, thankfully, my symptoms are FINALLY starting to reverse...I still have a ways to go, but I feel like my symptoms have finally made a u-turn, now that my thyroid levels are finally where they should be, and heading back to normal.
I saw my endocrinologist like 2 weeks ago and he was super happy with my latest round of lab results, so I'm super pumped for all my symptoms to finally subside and go away...but to be honest I was still kind of bleh when I saw him 2 weeks ago and he told me my levels looked fantastic, so I was a bit discouraged since I didn't feel fantastic even though my thyroid levels were. Obviously I had gotten better and was feeling much better than I was at the beginning of the year when all of this was first going down, but I still wasn't really feeling like myself and like I said above I was still feeling bleh, but not anymore...not since this past Sunday, October 14th, 2018 when that all changed.
This past Sunday was the first time in a really long time that I just woke up, even before my alarm went off, and I felt rested and awake and...happy. Like really truly happy...for no particular reason. It was as if I had been "waking up on the wrong side of the bed" this whole time and all of a sudden I had finally woken up on the "right side of the bed". It's kind of crazy how drastically different I suddenly felt...it was like a switch had been turned on and I just felt good...really good...or rather great! I was energized and happy and excited...excited by life.
My head felt clearer, the gears in my head were starting to turn again, I felt like my creativity, passion and zest for life was returning. People often use the expression that they can "see the light at the end of the tunnel"...well I feel like I just made it out of the tunnel. I still haven't reached my destination...haven't gotten to the train station yet, but I made it out of the tunnel and I'm getting my first taste of sunlight. Again, I still have a ways to go, but I feel soooooooo much better. My headspace is definitely in a much better place.
Anyhow, I hope you found this post informative or helpful in some way. Obviously, I'm not an expert or a health professional and I'm just merely sharing my personal experience and journey with you along with knowledge that I've gathered from my doctor's and my research online about my conditions, but and if you feel like there is ever something off with your body then it never hurts to have a conversation with YOUR doctor. Better safe then sorry, right?
Especially since the body isn't always so blatantly obvious in alerting you to the fact that something is wrong with you...a common theme that I found researching my conditions is that a lot of the time the signs and symptoms can be so mild it often goes unnoticed...just like me, but if you ever feel like there is something off about your body, or there's something chronic that you're experiencing that doesn't seem like a big deal or even worth mentioning, again it never hurts to have a conversation with your doctor the next time you see them.
Also, having regular checkups is good. Me being me, did not get regular checkups. I was like oh I'm in my 20's I'm healthy there can't possibly be anything wrong with me, so I never went...unless there was a specific reason. Like the time I gave myself an ice burn...I literally gave myself a 2nd degree burn with ice. That was a whole big debacle, but I digress. My point is I paid all this money for my expensive health insurance and I never used it.
Now I'm not saying you should become a hypochondriac, but you are never too young to be invincible and it's always better to prevent then to treat and if you are healthy and good to go than hey, at least you have peace of mind. Besides, like I already said, you're paying all that money for your expensive health insurance anyways (at least if you live in the US), might as well put it to good use in making sure you are and continue to be healthy.
I saw my endocrinologist like 2 weeks ago and he was super happy with my latest round of lab results, so I'm super pumped for all my symptoms to finally subside and go away...but to be honest I was still kind of bleh when I saw him 2 weeks ago and he told me my levels looked fantastic, so I was a bit discouraged since I didn't feel fantastic even though my thyroid levels were. Obviously I had gotten better and was feeling much better than I was at the beginning of the year when all of this was first going down, but I still wasn't really feeling like myself and like I said above I was still feeling bleh, but not anymore...not since this past Sunday, October 14th, 2018 when that all changed.
This past Sunday was the first time in a really long time that I just woke up, even before my alarm went off, and I felt rested and awake and...happy. Like really truly happy...for no particular reason. It was as if I had been "waking up on the wrong side of the bed" this whole time and all of a sudden I had finally woken up on the "right side of the bed". It's kind of crazy how drastically different I suddenly felt...it was like a switch had been turned on and I just felt good...really good...or rather great! I was energized and happy and excited...excited by life.
My head felt clearer, the gears in my head were starting to turn again, I felt like my creativity, passion and zest for life was returning. People often use the expression that they can "see the light at the end of the tunnel"...well I feel like I just made it out of the tunnel. I still haven't reached my destination...haven't gotten to the train station yet, but I made it out of the tunnel and I'm getting my first taste of sunlight. Again, I still have a ways to go, but I feel soooooooo much better. My headspace is definitely in a much better place.
Anyhow, I hope you found this post informative or helpful in some way. Obviously, I'm not an expert or a health professional and I'm just merely sharing my personal experience and journey with you along with knowledge that I've gathered from my doctor's and my research online about my conditions, but and if you feel like there is ever something off with your body then it never hurts to have a conversation with YOUR doctor. Better safe then sorry, right?
Especially since the body isn't always so blatantly obvious in alerting you to the fact that something is wrong with you...a common theme that I found researching my conditions is that a lot of the time the signs and symptoms can be so mild it often goes unnoticed...just like me, but if you ever feel like there is something off about your body, or there's something chronic that you're experiencing that doesn't seem like a big deal or even worth mentioning, again it never hurts to have a conversation with your doctor the next time you see them.
Also, having regular checkups is good. Me being me, did not get regular checkups. I was like oh I'm in my 20's I'm healthy there can't possibly be anything wrong with me, so I never went...unless there was a specific reason. Like the time I gave myself an ice burn...I literally gave myself a 2nd degree burn with ice. That was a whole big debacle, but I digress. My point is I paid all this money for my expensive health insurance and I never used it.
Now I'm not saying you should become a hypochondriac, but you are never too young to be invincible and it's always better to prevent then to treat and if you are healthy and good to go than hey, at least you have peace of mind. Besides, like I already said, you're paying all that money for your expensive health insurance anyways (at least if you live in the US), might as well put it to good use in making sure you are and continue to be healthy.
References / If you'd like to find out more info...
1. https://www.thyroid.org/hashimotos-thyroiditis/
2. https://medlineplus.gov/hypothyroidism.html
3. https://medlineplus.gov/anemia.html
2. https://medlineplus.gov/hypothyroidism.html
3. https://medlineplus.gov/anemia.html
