Tuesday 15 April 2014

Case Study: Living with Hypothyroidism

In this post, I’m gonna share with you what limited information I know about Hypothyroidism, and also putting myself out there as a case study to anyone interested. I would love to hear any opinions, suggestions or stories from you guys out there who are way more knowledgeable than me in this area.

Email us at 2fitasians@gmail.com or drop a comment at the bottom

What is your Thyroid?

As far as my physiology knowledge goes, your Thyroid is a gland located in your neck. It produces the hormones T3 and T4. As an endocrine gland, it sends hormones straight to your bloodstream.

Why is your thyroid important?

Your thyroid hormones are essential for regulating your metabolism. So really, if your thyroid is not functioning properly, you will experience various symptoms and your metabolism will be either too fast or too slow. Having a fast metabolism is not a bad thing, but there are other side effects to having too much thyroid hormone.

Hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism, or underactive thyroid, is when your body isn’t producing enough thyroid hormone. This causes various symptoms and slows down your metabolism.

Some symptoms of Hypothyroidism:
  • Tiredness
  • Sensitivity to the cold
  • Dry skin
  • Hair loss
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Weight gain/difficulty losing weight
  • Constipation
  • Slow heart rate
Check out Stop the Thyroid Madness for a full run down on your Thyroid.

My diagnosis

I initially had Graves’ Disease (Hyperthyroidism). This was uncontrollably high and medication was not working, I was treated with radioiodine to kill off my thyroid gland completely and now I have Hypothyroidism. Since I don’t have a functioning thyroid gland to produce thyroid hormones, I am taking hormone replacements. I will be on medication for life. In my case, it doesn’t produce any hormone, so I’ve got to feed it into my body.

Medication

I’m not a doctor, so I won’t advise on different medications because I am not confident about it. I will share with you all that I am on T4 replacement only (I have been for the last decade). My dosage dropped from 150 to 75 in January 2014 as my test results showed an over replacement of T4. I saw an Endo in March 2014, who says my body is currently still in shock from such a big discrepancy in my dosage change. The Endo says if my body can regulate on T4, it would be preferable because T4 is stable and holding off a T3/T4 mix at this point in time – so I’m continuing on 75/day. I’m due to have another blood test in the second last week of May. If you have other opinions, please share!

I have been reading into alternative medications, such as a mix T3/T4 replacement, this is popping up a lot more recently. I’m not too sure how much I should push for this. At this point in time though, I’m getting desperate and willing to try different things.

Blood Test Results

I got tested for all my hormones, they all came back within normal ranges, except for the Thyroid Functions.

20.03.2014 25.02.2014 02.01.2014
FT4 14.8 15.7 35.1
TSH 0.12 0.07 0.02
FT3 2 2 4.8

In the meantime, how does this affect my everyday life?

It’s extremely frustrating! Daphne could attest to this. I gained 5kg out of nowhere and now I’m struggling to lose fat. From a fitness/wellness perspective, I eat well, within reason and I’m highly active – according to generic calculations and logic, good changes should be happening and fat should be dropping. This affects me big time, I’m constantly stressed and get mega mood swings (also a symptom I think). The hardest thing about this trial and error-ing is that it requires patience, which is not a forte of mine – but I’m learning :)

I will keep you all updated after I have my next check up.

Again, drop a comment below or email us at 2fitasian@gmail.com if you have any opinions/info to share with me :)

xx Melissa







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