Leading up to my diagnosis
It was a slow progression up to the point where I wouldn’t accept that “I was just getting older”. I was in my early twenties and people constantly told me “Just wait till your 30” whenever I complained about something.
I was always tired, in fact, I don’t remember a time in life that I wasn’t always tired. However it was becoming increasingly worse to the point I had no energy for anything other than the absolutely necessary. But that’s just what it’s like being an adult working full time and then some, right?
I suddenly developed anxiety and acid reflux. But that was just my body changing and getting older, right?
My periods became very heavy and extremely uncomfortable. But what amount of pain is “normal”?
I started to feel sick pretty much all day during my period. But that was just PMS, right?
I started gaining weight all of a sudden despite never having an issue with watching what I eat. And not just a little here and there. More like 5-8 lbs a month despite trying everything I knew to stop it. But that was just my metabolism slowing down, right?
My joints hurt and felt swollen constantly. But thats just because I stand all day at work, right?
My muscles were achy 24/7 to the point it would keep me up at night. But that’s just getting older, right?
And so on….
I was so uncomfortable on a daily basis that I had Ibuprofen and CBD on me at all times and I would countdown the hours until I was able to take them again. Every night before bed I would take 3 ibuprofen, a full dropper of cbd tincture (normal was a few drops) and if it was really bad that day a benadryl so that hopefully I could get a few hours of uninterrupted sleep before my aching joints and muscles woke me up. I knew it wasn’t a healthy solution but it was all I could do to just function.
Everyday I, and other people would help me explain away my symptoms as “getting older”. Every month I would tell myself that the next period wouldn’t be as bad and I wouldn’t have to take time off from work for it. I was working as a teacher at a cosmetology school and I had a heavy and demanding workload. My job was fast paced and stressful more than not. I was convinced that’s why I was having all these problems. I was going to work at 7 am and getting home between 5 and 6, eating something if I felt up to it, and falling asleep on the couch until it was acceptable to go to bed. Just to get up and do it all again. And because of all of the above, My partner at the time was convinced I was depressed.
That’s the thing about Hashimotos and Thyroid disease in general. It shows up as a million different things that seem completely unrelated and can all be explained away. I just got lucky enough to have an OBGYN that thought to test my TSH and Free T4 when I went in for an annual appointment and said I feel like I have severe PMS. I understand now that it’s not common. I got blood drawn and a week later had a diagnosis for Hypothyroidism. I was given a prescription for levothyroxine 50 mg and I was happy for an answer to my problems and hopeful that I could feel better. I thought it would be as easy as that, until very little changed for me…
