My Thyroid and I

For a while now.....oh, say.... a decade or so, I have had a love/hate relationship with my Thyroid. This little gland has been quite the primadonna. Only functioning when it chooses to, and wreaking havoc on my body's ability to keep all systems go. She first reared her ugly head when I was pregnant with Levi. We had just moved out to California (after graduating) and all of a sudden things weren't quite right. They say hind sight is 20/20, and they are right, because at the time I was new to the pregnancy thing and just figured it was a part of it. But, now I know that gaining 95lbs and swelling up like a balloon, not to mention the pitting endema/hives and lack of hunger/energy, were all a part of this little Butterfly-shaped gland's temper tantrum. It wasn't until Levi was a year old, and I still hadn't healed from his birth (not to mention having a really tough time even getting off the couch) that my sister-in-law JoAnn mentioned something about getting my Thyroid checked.

That was the ticket! It turns out that my Thyroid was not functioning at all. The Thyroid is responsible for your metabolism, mood, energy, strength.... well lets just say it is kind of like the motherboard it regulates your whole body. Some reports say that a normal Thyroid function indicator is between .5 - 4.5 on the TSH test. Mine registered at 25. Essensially indicating that my Thyroid was on strike. I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, given a synthetic hormone replacement prescription to take for the rest of my life, and sent on my way.

Ever since then, my Thyroid has been monitored, from time to time, making sure that my TSH is staying within the normal range. Which, it always was. But, I started to notice some strange patterns. When the test came back at 1.5 or above, was when I was feeling depressed, gaining weight, losing energy, losing appetite and feeling out of sorts. When it came back at .99 or less, I was feeling at my best. I started paying careful attention to this pattern. Usually the decline from good to bad was gradual, and not easily noticed. I started to wonder why, if I was in the normal range, was I still having all of the symptoms of Hypothyroidism at times.

This past year (since May 2008) I have probably felt my very best, in a long time. I started feeling like myself again, having a ton of energy, getting down to a healthy weight, feeling happy, etc. It lasted until Dec 2008, when for the first time, my pattern didn't do its usual thing. It didn't gradually decline, I was dropped off a cliff. I gained 20 lbs in 3 weeks, became really depressed (for me - I rarely feel that depressed) and emotional, and lost all of my motivation and energy. My hands and feel swelled up, as well as my face, and I started to do some serious research on the Thyroid. I got my TSH tested and begged my doctor to also test the REAL Thyroid hormones T3 and T4. (this first doctor was my OB because my cycle was also wildly thrown off and acting strangely) She, at first, forgot and only did the TSH. It, of course, came back at 1.5, which followed in my pattern completely. She said "your normal" and left it at that, but did put in an order for the other two, also suggesting that I go see my primary care doctor about it.

While I was waiting for the T3/T4 results to come back, I started to do some serious research on what's "normal". I learned a TON about T3/T4 ranges and functions, and I prepared for my doctor's appointment, bringing with me some papers I had on it all. When my T3 and T4 results came back I was low on both of these, but the T4 was .7 in a range .7-1.9 (so barely within normal) and I was worried that the doctor was going to brush it off as not the problem. What I had learned, though, pointed to the fact that you could techinically be in "normal" and still have hypothyroidism. So I was prepared to battle my point if the doctor wouldn't listen to my feelings on the matter.

The big day came, and I went in to meet with my doctor. I presented my case, and the information I had with me, and then asked "how is this 'normal' range found? Is it possible that this normal is not normal for me?" My doctor suprised me by agreeing with me and all the points I had made, and told me that the normal range is a bell shaped curved, based on population, with 2 standard deviations thrown in, and that I could well be a different "normal" than most people. I was ESTACTIC that he listened to me (I guess that goes to show you that being informed is always the best way to go). He talked to me like I was a fellow doctor and gave me all the scenarios. He thought that I had all the classic symptoms of hypothyroidism and wanted to supplement my current T4 pill with a T3 pill called Cytomel and see where it leads us.
He said that I am like a luxury car, I run on a higher grade thyroid, and will breakdown if not given the precise grade! I thought that was a funny comparison! Apparently I have a sensitive pituitary and hypothalmus, aren't I so lucky!!??

So, once again, my thyroid and I are at odds. I hope this time is the last, and that maybe, just maybe, I can make it do what I want it to do. And who knows, maybe I will finally be able to get ALL the way back to normal, after a decade of quarrelling with this little butterfly brat!