I'm Not a Hypochondriac!
Thursday July 19, 2007
Barbara Gerry, a correspondent with the Seattle Spokesmen Review, writes for their Boomers and Beyond section. Behind the rather straightforward title "Thyroid Dysfunction Can Cause Variety of Ailments," is a sassy, funny and very informative article
about trying to get diagnosed with a thyroid condition. I love how she describes presenting a host of legitimate thyroid symptoms, and ends up getting that "indulgent look doctors save for the 'hypochondriacs' who wander into their offices."
(Barbara, you're my new hero!!) Everyone else, read the article, and I'm sure you'll agree!
IMPORTANT NOTE: Since my newsletter was sent out, the link was changed. You can get to the article, but you need to click here, and then select the link to the Spokesman Review.
Photo: clipart.com
Comments
I’d love to read the article, but I live in Canada and don’t want to buy a subscription to read I article. Can you reprint it for the thyroid website?
Can’t read the article with the link provided without buying a subscription.
Indeed too bad you can only read page 1 of the article. I’m living in Europe and do not want to buy a subscription to read just this one article.
Would there be a way to share the complete article with everyone?
I can’t see the article as the page link leads to Google which leads back to this page! The email link leads to a login (but not a registration) box for The Spokesman.
The article sounds like it could be interesting. Any way it can be displayed?
I’d love to read this ? however the email link does not open to this article.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Boomers & Beyond
Thyroid dysfunction can cause variety of ailments
Here’s the article. I’m not sure how i got to it cause i could only get there once then i too got the google site and the subscription page. All i can say is cut and paste it now or you may never see it again! Misa
Barbara Gerry
Correspondent
July 19, 2007
If you go to the doctor because you feel lousy and you have a laundry list of seemingly unrelated symptoms i.e., allergies, brain fog, breathing difficulties, constipation, depression, dizziness, eye problems, hair loss, high cholesterol, infections, low blood pressure, loss of libido, mood changes, muscle/joint aches/pains, puffiness/swelling, skin changes, sleep apnea/snoring, tiredness/weakness, weight gain or loss you’ll no doubt get that indulgent look doctors save for the “hypochondriacs” who wander into their offices.
Your doctor probably will shrug his shoulders and tell you that you’re just getting old (oh, really!) or that you’re suffering from depression, stress, PMS or menopause or that it’s “all in your head.”
In return, you’ll give him your best “Yes, doctor, that’s it I have all of those things” look.
“Help me!” you scream, silently.
He waves his wand, and lo! The catchall cure has jumped magically into your hands a prescription for Prozac.
Prozac!
How about testing for hypothyroidism? Those symptoms are classic right out of thyroid 101. Prozac is not going to cure this disorder. But after taking the Prozac, it’s likely you won’t give a rip anymore.
Do I dare be so jocular, so irreverent, for heaven’s sake? We’re talking about doctors men and women in their sterile white coats, with stethoscopes around their necks and your fate in their hands. But I make no apologies.
I’m shouting a warning about this health-care travesty hypo-thyroidism is a condition of not having enough thyroid hormone in your system, and it affects one out of eight people over 60 and one out of five over 65, mostly women.
In 1959, Dr. S.A. Jackson, a recognized authority on the thyroid gland, published a paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association, declaring that low thyroid function is the most common disease seen in doctor’s offices, but it’s the diagnosis most frequently missed.
In 2000, Dr. Stephen Langer wrote “Solved: The Riddle of Illness,” an excellent book on the thyroid in which he establishes that hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s autoimmune thyroiditis are the two most common undiagnosed causes of chronic medical problems in the United States.
Furthermore, he said, “Sadly, undertreatment of diagnosed hypothyroidism and HAIT also is widespread.”
It is “incumbent for any practicing physician to perform a complete battery of thyroid tests that would include T3, T4, FTI, TSH and anti-thyroid antibodies,” he said.
And a Mayo Clinic study found, “No single test procedure will define the status of the functioning of the thyroid gland.”
Why do these glaring facts seem to elude our doctors?
All I can say is: “Duh!” I call for greater diligence from our health-care providers. They must prevent this endless suffering.
For example, difficulty swallowing is another symptom of hypothyroidism. I remember having that problem for about three years recently. I lived in terror of eating and drinking because I was so prone to choking. Is that not suffering?
Once my thyroid dose had been corrected, my swallowing problem gradually disappeared, along with my brain fog and fatigue.
Every one of our body’s trillions of cells utilizes thyroid hormone; having a normally functioning thyroid gland is the key to our body functioning at 100 percent. No wonder hypothyroidism can cause such a wide range of illnesses. Please note: Premature aging is one.
“Function” is the operative word here. Why? The thyroid gland the body’s master gland produces thyroid hormone. Many factors can affect how much thyroid hormone is produced and the body’s ability to fully utilize that hormone.
You must inform yourself. A great book by Mary Shomon, “Living Well With Hypothyroidism,” is a must for anyone suffering or possibly suffering from thyroid disease.
This book is highly touted by medical doctors, Elizabeth Vilet, founder and medical director of Her Place Centers in Dallas, and Dr. John C. Lowe, director of research of the Fibromyalgia Research Foundation.
Lowe believes fibromyalgia actually is untreated hypothyroidism. With every new fibromyalgia patient, Lowe becomes more convinced fibromyalgia is a manifestation of hypothyroidism.
“I’m so certain of that, I would put my neck on the chopping block,” Lowe was quoted as saying.
Depression and fatigue are the most frequent symptoms of hypothyroidism. And both of these just happen to be the most widespread health issues of our times. Researchers estimate that one fourth of the U.S. population is hypothyroid.
So, if you are feeling “lousy” and worry that you are a functioning “hypochondriac,” you actually may be hypothyroid.
I hope this article will give you the incentive and, indeed, the ammunition to demand that your health-care provider order a thorough battery of thyroid tests to determine the status of your thyroid function.
I’d like to be a mouse in the corner when you do.
try using this link
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/local/story.asp?ID=200228
I get the whole story this way, no subscription required
IMPORTANT NOTE: Since my newsletter was sent out, the link was changed. You can get to the article, but you need to click here, and then select the link to the Spokesman Review.
Unfortunately, even with the new link, you can read only the first page of the article. Attempts to access page 2 of the article result in the “login/register” page. Since registration isn’t free, I won’t sign up just to read the second page. The first page was good, though.
Great article; would love to read the rest of it. I had so many frustrating meetings with doctors where all my symptoms were ascribed to “stress” or “depression” and even had a doc who ran the thyroid tests but did not interpret them properly, leading to ten years delay in getting treatment. Even my mother suggested that I might be a hypochondriac! I did write those docs who misdiagnosed me later when I finally figured it out. I didn’t want them to keep misdiagnosing patients.
Click on the “read the article” link which takes you to google search. Click “search the web” at the top of the page. Choose the 2nd result. When you get to the first page look at the top right and click where it says printer friendly – can read the entire article. Worth reading.
Thanks Nancy, your suggestion worked at reading the entire article.
I give up! Can’t get to it even with all the tips.
Thanks Nancy. “Printer Friendly” brings the entire article up nicely.
Unfortunately, having been to three Endos over the last 5 years, all agree that something is up with my thyroid; low THS, borderline T4, and both hyper and hypo symptoms. No one wants to do anything more besides “keep an eye on it” and prescribe Effexor XL. When my symptoms are worse, they want to double the dose of Effexor (and send me to a therapist). When I suggest alternatives,
i.e. Radioactive uptake scan, MRI, possible pituitary or adrenal gland problems, they say, “No, we’ll just keep an eye on it.” 5 years! So, I do end up going to a therapist to vent about my frustrations with Endos.
How frustrating, I too give up. I followed the suggestions by Nancy to get to the printer friendly version bu searching the web,chose the second result which is http://www.topix.net/health/hair-loss/2007/07/thyroid-dysfunction-can-cause-variety-of-ailments
On this page there is no Printer Firendly Version, to read the rest of the article you have to go to Spokesman Review and pay. Forget it…..
Is impatience one of the symptoms??
I have suffered with hypothyroidism for years and it would be nice to have some answers.I currently take 2Grain Armour Thyroid, my tsh is in the normal range but I still feel tired, constipated, somewhat depressed, dry skin, etc.
Does Mary Shoman have a book out?
Could not get to article from jornalist. What has happened here? Other links you have highlightesd do not open to the page either.
Unbelievable! This is a GOD send to me to have “others” to ask questions of… those who most might know–those WITH thyroid problems and not those who just treat thyroid problems.
I was just reading some email comments and discovered the choking connection!!!! My husband has just called me “weird” for years becase of this. Is anyone else plagued with other strangeness that you later discover is linked to thyroidism? I have this huge tongue which has scolloped edges from teeth indentation–another strange but true symptom of my hypothyroidism. I never know how medication is going to effect me.
Sometimes it does the opposite as expected and often I have to take miniscle amounts rather than normal dosages because it seems to be potentuated–another hypothyroid symptom.
Coffe, tea, and chocolate effect me in tiny amounts.
Anyone else notice they hardly shed a tear when peeling onions?
If this not the apporiate site for discussion of thyroidism please leave a messages as to where is a good chat room for this. Mo