New Member Needs Advice!

[Mo]

My name is Danielle, I'm 33 and I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's 2 weeks ago.  Here is my story:

Iwas diagnosed with Bipolar II disorder in 2003 after years of a plainold 'depression' diagnosis.  My psychiatrist checked my thyroid at thetime and it checked normal but he put me on Cytomel in around 2005anyway because he found that 'pushing' the thyroid a little bit reallyseems to alleviate depression.  He was right...it did!

Last year(maybe even longer) I started to notice my hair falling out a lot morein the shower.  I brushed it off thinking maybe I was just imaginingit.  I saw my dermatologist who brushed it off and said I was probablyjust shedding a bit more than usual.  So I went on. 

By thissummer I was noticing how much more thin my hair was, how much moreeasily I could see my scalp.  My hair is my crowning glory (curly andred and gorgeous) and I really started to panic.  I did more readingand decided it HAD to be thyroid.  I called my psychiatrist and he toldme he'd take me off Cytomel if I wanted (I thought maybe we werepushing it too high) but that he didn't think that was the cause of myhair loss.

I went to a GP and she did a lot of blood work. The results came back that my thyroid was a bit high, so she agreed itmight be causing my hair loss and took me off the Cytomel.

Iwent back 2 month later for a recheck and my thyroid levels testeddisturbingly low compared to what they had been.  Very very very low. She put me on Armour Thyroid, drew more blood and I have an appointmentfor a follow-up blood draw this week.

2 weeks ago, however, Iopened what I thought was a bill.  Instead it was a piece of paper thatsaid that my last blood tests indicate that I have Hashimoto'sThyroid.  And that's ALL it said!  Oh yeah, it said 'MerryChristmas!'.   

Since then I've been doing internet research andmust admit that I'm freaked out.  I know it's not a death sentence oranything, but still....my body is killing another part of my body thatI need???

I'm newly divorced (he's been gone for 2 months) after11 years of marriage, my hair is falling out like gangbusters, I have alot of trouble losing weight and now I hear that this can effectfertility--I have not yet had a child but would very much like to.  So,yes, I'm kind of freaking out.

I wonder why my thyroid testednormal but then totally pooped out when I went off the Cytomel.  Is ispossible that we pushed my thyroid so much that it stopped working onit's own?  Is it just a coincidence and I developed this over the lastcouple of years while I was already being treated?  It's so confusing.

For now, all I've done is make sure I take my multivitamin,started selenium and started evening primrose oil which I hear can helpwith the hair loss? 

Will the hair loss stop?  Will it growback?  I feel like I'm losing my good looks at the absolute worst timeand I guess I'm scared. 

That's my story.  I have a call outto my GP right now.  They didn't return my call from 2 weeks ago and Ican wait no longer.  I want my follow up bloodtest NOW and I also thinkI want my adrenals checked.   

I look forward to reading moreand hearing from others.  I hope I can take control of this thing andget well again.  Admittedly, I'm bummed I have it.

[Mo]

Hello Danielle,

First of all, I'm sorry about your divorce and the physical problems you are having. It's kind of interesting to me that my Hashimotos thyroiditis was diagnosed during a very difficult time in my life too! (This is also the case for many others.) Most of us who suffer from this disease tend to believe there are emotional aspects that tend to worsen the symptoms of this disease and there are some out there who have seen a connection between severe emotional stress (event) and the onset of the disease itself. I don't think this can be proven at this point though. It's all speculation for now.

Most of your questions are not easy to answer - but this is not uncommon when dealing with autoimmune disease. From the description of your past few months or longer, it sounds like you've been having quite a difficult time in your life. Is it possible that this is the first time the doctor actually included an antibody test when checking your thyroid? I ask this because the symptoms you've been experiencing all along could be attributed to Hashimotos symptoms. I am pretty sure mine was undiagnosed for possibly years prior to when I found out through the blood test. Regardless though, your battle is defined now and there is much you can do to help yourself.

The first thing I would encourage you to do is to s l o w   d o w n in your thinking process. Relax a bit and take a big breath. I assure you that this disease did not come into your life overnight - even though you just found out about it. Go over to my front page first of my website which can be found when clicking the home button on the top of this forum. Give yourself more time for education and realize there are at least two or three main "roads" for treatment. It's a good thing to know your options before you jump into the doctor's office. You will find that I am not a fan of traditional medicine and I, in fact, got worse while on the traditional road. If your personality is the type that likes to get to the root problem and doesn't mind changing diet and lifestyle to help on the way, then you will find natural remedies quite interesting.

So many drugs can cause adverse reactions that mimic symptoms of illness so make sure you are aware of the side effects everything you are taking. You might want to read my article that explains what I would have done differently IF I had the chance over 13 years ago when I was first diagnosed:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2080117_live-better-hashimotos-thyroiditis.html

The above article outlines some of the first things I would do when determining what my next step will be.

Will the hair loss stop?  Will it growback?  I feel like I'm losing mygood looks at the absolute worst timeand I guess I'm scared.

I went through a time of hair loss but as I began to get off my bad diet and learn more about controlling my TSH and other aspects of this disease, I found improvement and now I have all my hair back. So please don't panic. Give yourself a couple months or so to settle in to the "learning curve" of having this diagnoses and although it is not a death sentence, I understand the significant fear you must have felt when learning of it. I am very hopeful there will be answers soon. I am not saying we will be able to fully reverse this disease (although I am hopeful about that possibility too), but we are learning more and more everyday. I have a blog also connected to this forum you might enjoy reading.

Feel free to post a new topic - sometimes one question at a time is easier for us to "chew on" and offer advice.

Hopefully others will participate and lend advice too.

Take care and hope to hear from you soon.

Mo