Can I Fire My Thyroid?

After pregnancy, I had multiple health-related challenges as most women do. I thought mine were pretty much run-of-the-mill: hair-loss, extreme fatigue, sleeping problems, depression...etc; besides, I had always had these problems; they just got worse after delivery. Then about 3-4 months later, I lost my voice. (With my luck of course, instead of sexy Kim Carnes, I got Madge Simpson.) I thought I had laryngitis. But it lasted well over a month, and my husband insisted that I see a doctor. Completely to my surprise, after the doctor's visit and several tests, I discovered I had been suffering from Postpartum Thyroiditis. I have since been dealing with Hypothyroidism, and believe I have had it for years but didn't know it.

MY SYMPTOMS:

1. I've been known to feel excessively cold inside and outside throughout the year. I've always been given sh*t for being fully clad in layers of clothing while everyone else was in short-sleeves and sandals; friends and family members have always had to remind me to bring an extra sweater wherever I went, and if I didn't have one, I'd be in complete panic-mode. I totally understand the phrase "bone-chilling", cuz even under layers of blankets, I can still be intensely cold - especially my hands and feet. The idea of electric blankets finally occurred to me much later in life. How I wish the thought would've struck me sooner in life, when I was younger, desperately trying to retain any heat while standing on heating vents in the midst of brutal Midwest winters.

2. When I was about 23, I lost a 1/2 dollar-size patch of hair on the top of my head which at the time I attributed to my hard partying lifestyle. I had long hair and was able to hide it surprisingly well with a comb-over and smudged black eyeliner. Anyhow, with my "who gives a sh*t attitude" at the time, I wasn't too concerned about my health and didn't give it too much thought. But over the years, even after the party was over, I would experience this weird, hair-loss phenomenon at least 4 more times.

3. My cholesterol levels have been uncharacteristically high for my size and the consistent focus on diet and exercise (despite my former partying ways), I've had for the last 20 years of my life.

4. And of course there's the depression, and what I thought was ADD (and could still partially be), my grandmother-like memory, the continual "living in a fog" feeling, and all the other concentration and emotional issues I attributed to me just being goofy and "messed up".

5. Never did I think that all of these and the many other symptoms I had including, but not limited to: low blood pressure, extremely dry skin, irregular periods, severe constipation, & sinus headaches I had been dealing with for years had a common root: my thyroid.

Unfortunately, that tiny little butterfly-shaped gland affects most every bodily function = it totally sucks.

The first time the doc put me on meds (generic Synthroid), I immediately felt better. My energy drastically improved, I was way more focused, I didn't feel like I was in a constant fog - and oh yeah, I got my voice back. But more importantly, my overall state of being completely changed and I felt a million times better. It was a relief, to say the least, to know that all these years, it wasn't just me, it wasn't just psychological, it was medical.

Then, about a month ago I decided to switch from Synthroid to Armour, an all natural drug solution. Since then, my mind and body have been totally out of whack. My "weight-loss journey" (which has been more of a weight-loss joke BTW), has been more difficult than usual, my digestion, my sinuses, my everything (I'm even struggling to write this coherently, without too many typos - thank God for spell check) - have been completely off balance. From what I've gathered, the thyroid has to work extra hard when it's cold - and today, it's like 20 degrees colder than it has been. So, today is a bit more challenging than usual.

The annoying thing about all of it is to be at the mercy of doctors prescribing meds according to test results and not symptoms. I've researched this to be a common complaint in the thyroiditis suffering world. I'm being tested tomorrow and just really hope it proves a need for an increase in meds. Because I can totally tell my thyroid is not doing the job it was hired to do.

Anyway at least I know what's going on and will eventually feel "normal" again. It's just a matter of time.

But right now, I can't help but wanting to throw my crazy, old, absent-minded thyroid onto the street & look for a brand new, younger, more competent, and more determined Manager of My Bodily Functions.

Does anyone know any that would be interested?