Living with hypothyroidism.

Someone might remember my post about living with anxiety and depression. Well since that's not the only illness I actually battle with daily, I thought I'd write about something else that affects my life quite a lot. And to "celebrate" the fact that I had to go for blood tests once again :D

Long post once again, so read more under the cut!

Hi, I am Stina and I have hypothyroidism. If you don't know what that is, don't worry, you're not the only one and I actually didn't know much about the whole thing before I was diagnosed with it in 2012 or so. I will tell you shortly what it is. In short my thyroid gland doesn't produce enough thyroid hormone, which leads to several different symptoms. As far as I know, it's not curable, but it IS treatable. Of course hypothyroidism, like many other illnesses, comes with symptoms.

I once wrote in this blog how I always shed hair when I shower or brush my hair. Someone might remember this. Well, that is one of the symptoms of hypothyroidism. One's hair can just kind of fall of while brushing, they might get thin, dry and just break.

Other symptoms might include: fatigue, depression, feeling cold, sight problems, intestine problems, muscle problems and pains, heart problems, circulatory system problems, drying of mucous membranes, drying of skin bloating, weight gain, appetite loss, heavy periods, lack of libido, and difficultness in getting pregnant.

Out of those symptoms I've suffered/suffer fatigue, depression, feeling cold, muscle problems, circulatory system problems, weight gain, appetite loss, heavy periods, lack of libido and sometimes dry skin and bloating.

Depression I already had of course, but I don't think hypothyroidism helps my situation :'D

At times I get so tired that I'd just like to nap and sleep for hours, and pretty much anything I do won't help it.

I often feel cold, and my feet and hands are pretty much frozen all the time.

Muscle problems usually show up after exercise as usual, but it feels like it takes way longer for my muscles to get back to normal. I also get achy muscles way easier.

Circulatory system problems, which kind of goes hand in hand with that feeling cold thing. My peripheral circulation is worse so that makes me feel cold in certain places. My blood pressure is actually quite low normally, but I'm not sure if it's because of thyroxine or not.

I gain weight easily without even realising.

I often lose appetite for longer period of time and find it REALLY difficult to decide on what to eat. I also often forget to eat due to this.

Before I got the intrauterine device that I've now had since last September or so, I had heave periods without even realising they were heavy xD They weren't painful, there was just so much.

I am very rarely actually interested in sex. It's a miracle if I actually get excited enough to do something about it.

The bottom of my left foot is usually very dry. Not sure if this is because of hypothyroidism, but it's just almost constantly dry. Sometimes even my eyelids get dry and it takes AGES for them to get back to normal.

Swelling usually happens around my ankles and wrists. Sometimes this makes my hands feel really weak.

Even my nails are brittle and break easily.

So yeah, that's something I have to go through every now and then. Of course it was worse before I started the medication.

And what is the medication you ask?

I personally take two pills (2 x 25μg) every day before breakfast. The pills are basically just thyroxine that's supposed to replace the missing thyroxine. Of course I still get symptoms every now and then, and I often think if I should ask the doctor to raise my dose.

For example, if I didn't take the meds and wasn't treated, it'd be difficult for me to get pregnant. And if I got pregnant, there's an increased risk of pre-eclampsia, premature labour, stillbirth or my favourite thing that I've read: serious bleeding after the birth :'D

The funniest (/sarcasm) thing was when I had anaemia on top of everything. It was HORRIBLE. Hypothyroidism and anaemia at the same time? Ridiculous, let me tell you. I was constantly tired, I got cold all the time, and I got exhausted over the smallest things. Like walking to the bus stop that's only 3 minutes away? I'd be pretty much panting by the time I got there.

So of course I went to the laboratory to give some blood samples, got results that I had iron deficiency caused anaemia and got given iron pills. Cool (not)! So I started to take those pills, but after 3 weeks I still felt like shit. I started googling the problem, because I had a hunch that my hypothyroidism had something to do with it. You'll never guess what I found out. I found out something my doctor, pharmacist or the nurse didn't tell me. Thyroxine and iron supplements? Yeah, they really don't work together and have to be taken with at least 2 hours between them. Preferably 4 hours. I had taken them right after one another each morning.

Yeah. I had been taking care of one problem (iron deficiency) and making the other (hypothyroidism) worse at the same time :'D I then fixed the problem by taking the pills when it was good and made sure I had at least 2 hours between them.

Even after being on the medication  for years, my hair is still quite bad and so are my nails, which makes me sad, since I'd love to have long, strong, thick hair and strong nails, but noooo ;__; I just can't have that. My feet and hands are still cold more often than not and I am often tired.

Hypothyroidism might not be the most serious illness there is, not even close, but it takes a lot of energy from a small person like me. Especially topped with depression and anxiety.

But I do my best and try to stay positive. And I do hope that everyone else does too!

Stay human and blog ya later~!