Hyper Hypo

Friggin germs. Now my cold has moved from my throat up into my nose. I'm a snot fountain. Font of snot. Sorry about all that hot, sexy stuff about my snot. Anyway...

I read an article today in the latest Elle about hypothyroidism, which was great to see in a national mag, but still disappointing in that after all this time, after what seems like enough fuss made over the past few years, it still gets little attention and is largely considered by most doctors to be a fictitious disease.

Alternatively, it's been called a "woman's disease," and thus won't ever get the attention it deserves, not like say, erectile dysfunction. It was discouraging to read about women mentioned in the article struggling with the same ignorant doctors I had - doctors ready to hand me bagfuls of Paxil samples rather than do one simple (and inexpensive) thyroid blood test.

How in the hell, after all those years of study and toil, can you end up so cavalier about treating a patient? How, after all the shit you must have to learn in those 8 years of school and whatever else you have to do, so easily dismiss a laundry list of symptoms that are so obviously, or at least possibly, related to thyroid malfunction? Vets diagnose and treat cats with thyroid problems faster and with greater accuracy than most doctors.

I can't imagine what I'd have gone through if I hadn't had access to the Internet to do the research I did years ago. I saw two doctors - both women - and after rattling off my list of symptoms, they both wanted to immediately put me on Paxil without any tests of any kind. That was their answer. Well done, nice work ladies.

After the visit to the second doctor I went home and tried to research the legal ramifications of getting caught writing my own prescriptions. During that research I found a way to buy natural thyroid hormone replacement on the Internet. And so I did. It was amazing. In three days I started to feel better.

After months of debilitating fatigue, always feeling cold, apathy (not depression), constant, gradual weight gain, not remembering shit, missed periods (which never happens), constipation (which also usually never happens), and other symptoms -- in three days, that all started to change.

And that was on the very lowest dose. Just that much, a 1/4 grain a day, made me start to feel normal again. Placebo effect you might think? Placebos don't generally cause ovulation. Sure, it could have been coincidental timing, but likely not.

At some point I was able to get my lab records for the years prior to this experience and saw that, sure enough, my TSH number had been steadily rising every year. I didn't even know they were testing for it at the time, and it would seem they didn't either because no one said shit about it. And it proved once & for all, I wasn't crazy. They'd rather you think you're crazy than do anything to help you to find out what's going on.

So for any women out there reading this, if you're 30 years old or over, start testing your thyroid levels now, and check them every year, and keep track of the NUMBER. Do not accept "normal" or "in the normal range."

The "normal" range is different for each lab, and some labs have still not adjusted to the updated range. The old "normal" range was .5 to 5.0. Today, anything above 2.0 could be considered too high.

Some women say they feel OK even if their TSH number is in the hundreds, while other women report feeling horrible when it's just below 10. Listen to your body, trust your instincts and do your own research. Be your own doctor. Meanwhile, if you need Rx pads, I know someone who can help you out with that.

One of the best books on thyroid is by Broda Barnes - Hypothyroidism, The Unsuspected Illness. That, and Mary Shomon's book, Living Well With Hypothyroidism are the best resources out there besides what you can find online. Be well, girls.