Me and My Thyroid

My name is Anita and I have a thyroid problem.  (in chorus: hi, Anita)  You, too?  I don't know how I could avoid it - my Mum and Dad both have thyroid issues.  Maybe it has something to do with that Downwinders Club the government signed them up for when they were kids.  Or maybe it's genetic.  Who knows?  All I know is that they have it, I do, one of my brothers, a few of my brothers' wives, and my mother-in-law all do too.  We deal with it.

I was first diagnosed about 13 years ago when I went in for a checkup after I weaned baby Chris.  I had been feeling weird: aching joints, dry skin, always cold, and tired.  Oh, I was so tired.  It was bad enough that, as I laid on the couch all day, I wondered if I was pregnant (fatigue is always one of my first clues).  It wasn't pregnancy, but my thyroid starting to die.

 Now you know where that tricky little gland is!

It was producing less of the hormones it is supposed to make, which made my body go all wonky.  I never realized how many things were affected by this little, previously-unappreciated gland.  I got checked, started taking synthetic thyroid hormone, and started feeling better again.  I did have a little nervous breakdown thinking my body was beginning to fall apart, and discouraged about having to take medications for the rest of my whole life.  But as I was feeling more like myself, and less like a cold, exhausted blob, I was ok with the plan.

It's amazing how our bodies are so complicatedly interconnected.  Everything affects everything else, and it all has to work together well for us to be healthy.  God is a master designer, and I'm so grateful.

I've had some ups and downs as my thyroid puts out more, then less, then even less of the hormones it was built to make.  I a pretty goo at recognizing the signs of an off-balance condition now.

Last week, I went to refill my prescription, and found out that I was out of refills.  It took a week to get a doctor's appointment, a blood test, and a new prescription for another year.  I've been feeling a little bit slow, and chilly, but I'm thinking I should be back to normal (whatever that is) soon.

The biggest thing it makes me realize is this:  there are so many things that could go wrong... which usually don't.  Wow.