Thursday, February 24, 2011

Hashimoto's Thyroiditis

Man that is a mouthful. For those who don't know, I have an autoimmune disease. It is Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, other wise known as hypothyroidism. It isn't much fun. It took me a long time to come to terms with the fact that I have a disease. It isn't something that I can spread, so don't worry you can't get it from me. It is just my body attacking itself.

The reason I am bringing this us is that recently I have been having issues with my thyroid again and really I was hoping all of that was behind me. Nope, we are back to changing medication levels and lab work every 6 weeks for awhile. Really I have a lot of other things I would rather do other than get poked by a needle and lose some blood, but honestly I haven't been feeling that great for a couple of months now and I was thinking it was just stress getting to me. Well part of that is probably true, but at least now I know that it is also a medical thing.

For those who don't know; Hypothyroidism is when your thyroid doesn't produce enough hormone for your body. They also call it an under active thyroid. It is called Hashimoto's Thyroiditis if you test positive for the antibody test, in which it means that you have an autoimmune disease. It is treated by taking replacement hormone everyday. This isn't something that goes away it is something that I will have till death do us part.

The opposite of Hypothyroidism is Hyperthyroidism or Graves Disease if you are autoimmune, this is when your body produces to much thyroid hormone, and is trickier to treat.

Hashimoto's is just one on a long list of many other Autoimmune diseases. This puts me at a higher risk for my body turning on itself again and developing something else. Once I hit 30 I was glad, I wasn't a high risk for Type 1 Diabetes anymore. There are still plenty of other things that could develop, but I don't worry about those. I can't change the what if's, so I just do my best to be healthy knowing I am doing everything possible to stay that way.

This is why I have become so hypervigilant of my health. I feel like I walk a fine line between good and bad, so I do my best to stay on the good path, because once you cross it is a pain to get back on the good side. I always do, it is just a lot of energy, blood draws, doctor appointments, and a lot of messing with my body's chemistry. The best part is that it is treatable, I can take medication and I'm healthy.

I don't let it define my life, or me.

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing this Heather. I am really proud of you for being in control of your health and not letting your disease control you!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know these last few months have been a struggle. I think you look fabulous and your inspire me every day. Please be kind to yourself you are so awesome and I hope the stress in your life decreases and your joy increases in proportion!!!! xoxo Wendy from mfp

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  2. You are indeed such a positive influence! :) We all have something in life in one way or another. I like your positive attitude.
    Have a great day,
    Linda

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  3. Wow. That really isn't fun at all. I don't know how well I would handle that--but I don't blame you for being vigilant about it. I hope that you and your doctors are able to get things straightened out and you are feeling better soon.

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  4. You are amazing, Heather! Thanks for sharing, I like getting to know you even better. :)

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