Thursday, July 2, 2009

Hypothyroidism, Increased migraine and thank you

Been awhile since my last post. It's been a really hard couple of weeks with the heat and storms and I hate trying to figure out what triggered the latest hard times. I also have been really stressed and fighting (or non-fighting and lack of communicating) with my oldest son. Also, my thyroid has gone off again. I had thought my thyroid completely didn't work but apparently it could get worse.
I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism when I was 22 when I was hospitalized for depression. It was a routine test in the hospital. No doctor before even thought about testing that because I didn't fit the description - I was underweight not overweight and I was depressed and my mom is bipolar and that seemed to fit easily better for psychologists - Think outside the box people - and bipolar was "popular" diagnosis back then.
Anyhow - I was off the charts and the worse case they'd seen in KU hospital. Your TSH level should be around 4 units and they diagnose you as hypothyroid when it's about 20 units. My test came back twice with 450 units. That's the test of your pituitary gland trying to tell your thyroid to produce more thyroid hormone which is why high is worse. Because I was at a teaching hospital I became the talk of the hospital and was visited constantly by students feeling my neck and talking to me. No one told me what the big deal was until I finally asked and they said I should be in a coma or worse with levels that high and they were just amazed I was still able to somewhat function. Apparently if you are bad enough you go past the overweight and to the other spectrum - underweight. But because of that I was misdiagnosed for about 6 years and put on medications that didn't help.
They got me regulated and all my depression and other symptoms disappeared - related to that - not the migraines or dizziness or fainting spells or anxiety attacks - those were other issues.
I keep thinking one overriding problems or diagnosis will be the answer to all my issues but I'm having to give up on that. Seems strange one person can have so many different problems, but here I am.
Anyhow, my thyroid was regulated and did fine until my mid thirties when it went off again with around TSH level of 250. We got it back regulated again and was fine even six months ago but then just last week for my six month test my TSH was back up - 150 or so this time. My doctor says my pituitary gland is a drama queen and screams anytime there is too little thyroid hormone so they don't worry if it's 20 or so and keep me at the same dosage, but 150 is too high. My T4 level was also off.
You have to take care of your thyroid because it affects everything else. I think more doctors should run the test which I think is much more common now, thankfully.
So, a tough week but I did get to see a friend of mine and her little girl who I think of as my neice. It hurt driving there and back but was worth it. I also was able to talk with my husband about our finances and get some relief there from us making the decision to wait a couple of years before we buy a house. As a CPA I'm obsessed with budgeting and that decision (we were going to try this fall) was putting a lot of pressure on my budget and us and my stress.

Finally, thank you to twitter which has opened my world to others who suffer like me and give me hope that I'm not alone, and there is a life out there outside of migraines. Thank you! You've been a great support the last couple of weeks when I was getting depressed from the pain and seeing no way out. I'm so glad to have my therapist who helps me deal with the pain and my state of life and to live and get angry the right way and for the right things. To not think in absolutes and to not mindread my friends and family but to open communications and feel okay about saying no. I wish no one was in the pain that I'm in constantly, but it helps to not feel alone so thank you one more time.

1 comment:

  1. In addition to medical treatments to counter hypothyroidism, there are other desiccated bovine thyroid available today which include iodine supplementation, kelp or seaweed supplements and desiccated thyroid .

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