Living With Thyroid

Thyroid

Thank you for the lovely comments on my last blog post. If you still don’t know what your body shape is, click here

 The last couple of days has been spent visiting the doctors, doing blood and various other tests and least taking rest. My thyroid is playing up again. To make things worse, I have been getting severe headaches, feeling dizzy; like every time I get up I feel like I’m going to kiss the floor and my eyes are also hurting.

For those of you who don't know, Thyroid is a small butterfly shape gland that is found in the neck just below the Adams Apple. 

Thyroid

 The gland is responsible for producing hormones which helps control metabolism, growth and energy levels. In order for the thyroid gland to function properly, the gland needs iodine which is absorbed by the food and drink that we intake. If the thyroid gland is not functioning properly or is not producing the right amount of hormones, then this may lead to several other problems like goitre, complications during pregnancy etc.

The most common thyroid problems are Hyperthyroidism, Hypothyroidism and Thyroid Nodule or Goitre


Hypothyroidism is what I suffer from. Hypothyroidism or under active thyroid produces too little thyroid hormones.  The most common cause is lack of Iodine. Here are some of the things that i experience and which affects my everyday life.


Symptoms
  • Fatigue (lack of energy or feeling sleepy all the time)
  • Dry skin and hair loss 
  •  Hoarse voice
  • Weight loss (some people tend to gain weight but i have the blessing of losing weight)
  • Heavy periods (period lasting up to 8-9 days)
  • Constipation  
  • Cannot tolerate cold (I actually cannot eat or drink from the fridge. If I do, I have to make sure that I make up for it by drinking hot water or inhaling steam) 
  •  Slow thinking (my colleague always tell me this but I blame it on thyroid)
  • Memory lapse or forgetfulness (another thing that I can blame my thyroid for)
  • Muscle cramps and joints pain
  • Mood swings or feeling irritated & getting angry (my family will testify, no jokes)
I've done blood and eye tests. The thyroid results are come and it shows that the hormone levels are very very low, which does explain the fatigue, mood swings and lack of concentration and the blurry eyes that I have been experiencing for the last couple of months.

I was diagnosed in 2006 and since then i have been taking Levothyroxine. I started of with 50mg but since then it has just increased. The current dose is 150mg.


There are few more results that are still pending and the doc’s wants to do further test to see why I have been getting headaches and feeling dizzy.

I have been asked to visit the surgery every 1 month to do the blood test (normally it is every three months). They want to monitor the thyroid levels. Feel like i have to report to the police station every month otherwise the cops are going to hunt me down.



My food diet includes:  Fish, meat, onion salad (basically consist of onion salt a bit of vinegar), carrot juice and lots of water which is basically good for everything. Food that is rich in Iodine



My food diet excludes: broccoli, Cauliflower, cabbage, spinach, coffee, sweet potato, radish, and soybean. These foods contains goitrogen. A Goitrogen is a substance in some foods that prevents the thyroid gland from working correctly by blocking the uptake of iodine


To distract myself from this, i have turned to mother nature and she has definitely brightened up my mood. The beautiful skyline, blooming colourful roses and our tomato garden....oh that has just been the highlight. It's our first time and watching these babies grow is such a delight.
Watching the sun go down is just beyond explanation, the sky just turns into a fireball and the colours are just amazing.

Flowers

Tomatoes



Vegetable Garden
  
The fireball - sunset

If you feel that you have some of the symptoms, please consult your doctor. Normally, they will do a blood test to check whether you are suffering from Thyroid.

Do you suffer from Thyroid

Do you know anybody who is suffering from Thyroid?

What do you do or who do you turn to when you are bored or need distraction in your life?


Disclaimer: I am not an expert. This is just my story. If you need an expert's advice, please visit your local GP or see your doctor. 


30 comments:

  1. Its one thing The Thyroid cannot take from you your beautiful heart. Keep you head up when you have down days.
    http://tifi11.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. hope it will be better and better, so that you are feeling good!
    love the roses
    greetings from holland
    http://www.we-heart-fashion.com
    take a look on our blog

    ReplyDelete
  3. I hope you feel better soon! It sounds like you are well informed about your condition though which is good! I could not live without coffee!

    Hope you have a great weekend and are not too ill!

    Corinne x
    www.skinnedcartree.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Corinne. I cannot live without coffee either but gotta sacrifice unfortunately xx

      Delete
  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dearest Naaj, I´m so sorry that you have to bear on such a suffering! I can imagine it´s really difficult to live with your suffering. I ask only because I have a degree in psychology if you also have consulted a psychotherapist, because some sufferings can come from the soul and if not a psychotherapy can be helpful to manage a suffering.

    Boring is one of the great themes in my life! For me it´s helpful to work, to read, to do sport and to blog. It´s not helpful, to do domestic work ;)

    Wish you only the best and much love!

    xx from Bavaria/Germany, Rena

    www.dressedwithsoul.blogspot.de

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Rena. It is very stressful at times and drains me mentally but i have learned to fight back and not to give up. Fingers cross xx

      Delete
    2. Dear Naaj, I´m sure you are strong enough to manage your situation! Wish you only the best <3

      xx Rena

      High quality give away on my blog http://dressedwithsoul.blogspot.de for my dear readers ♥

      Delete
  6. Awww Naaj! You Are Such a Lovely Person!

    Seeing Positive In Negatives is Quite a Strength of Yours and I'm So Glad!

    May God Bless You With Loadza Love n Wellness! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Heena, much appreciated xx

      Delete
  7. awww naaj i felt sad to find out that you suffer from hyperthyroidism too. my mom has it and my bestfriend recently found out that she has it too. she is now under medication for lifetime. we are hoping that she wont need surgery :( i want to hug you. i hope you are feeling better and i wish you good health <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am hoping that i don't have to do down the root of having to do the surgery and all that crap. Hope your mum and your best friend get better soon.

      Thank you so much, means a lot. Loads of hugs xx

      Delete
  8. Aw sucks that you suffer from this condition, Naaj :-( I hope you can keep it under control with meds. X

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank Melissa. I'm hoping the same as well, fingers and legs crossed xx

      Delete
  9. Sweetie I nominated you for the Versatile Award come and read.
    http://tifi11.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. This was such an informative post, thank you so much for sharing something so personal with us. Hope you are feeling much better.

    ReplyDelete
  11. My dear friend. I am so sorry to hear that you have been suffering. You have your own problems and you still reached out and cared for me and what is going on in my life at the moment. Thank you beautiful. Thanks for sharing, I feel like a know you better now for sharing something personal. Your post is informative too. Thinking of you. Definitely distract yourself with things that make you happy. For me, I usually come to my blog to escape everything else.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are most welcome darl. Hope you are feeling better xx

      Delete
  12. Naaj sweetheart, you are a fighter and i am so proud of you. You have also helped a lot of us by going into details about it and sharing your experience which is awesome. Thank you :) I really do wish you well from the bottom of heart. Stay strong.

    http://www.thefashionstirfry.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Cheer up, nothing is a big deal!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Subscribe Now and Never Miss a Post

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner