| Kristin's Story | |
Kristin O'Meara is a freelance writer who has subclinical hypothyroidism. She was diagnosed in April of 2001, and has volunteered to share her story as a case study in order to help others dealing with this problem.
 | After many fruitless trips to Doctor #1, my husband and I finally had strong-armed Doctor #2 in the same practice to give me a TSH test. Finally, at least, I had a diagnosis: Subclinical hypothyroidism. On April 12, I gladly swallowed my first Levoxyl pill. Doctor #3 from the same practice had prescribed the medication, as Doctor #2 mysteriously disappeared into the mist. |
I then waited hopefully for my symptoms to disappear.
I had no idea that this was just the start of what was to become a complicated trip through a labyrinth of doctors, crabby nurses, helpful strangers, endless information and even more symptoms.
Within days of my first dose, something else went wrong. My menstrual period started but it was way too early, only 12 days after the last one ended. I'd been experiencing heavy, long periods for months, thanks to fibroids, but this was worse.
"This is a hormone I'm taking," I reasoned, "so the Levoxyl must've speeded up my cycle somehow."
When I called Doctor #3 for advice, she wasn't available.
Nurse Cranky Pants, as I soon dubbed my main contact at the practice, was tougher than the front four of the New York Jets. She always seemed to be running defense for the doctors and was reluctant to call them to the phone.. I managed to persuade her to ask yet another partner in the practice, and eventually, she relented. Doctor #4 agreed that it was possible for Levoxyl to affect my menstrual cycle, but advised me to stay on the medication to see if things would normalize.
My period was weird enough as it was, I thought, and I wanted to know more about the drug I was taking, and my condition in general, so I got on the Internet, and I found more information than I bargained for. I learned that the thyroid is called "the master gland" because the hormones it produces affect every cell in the body. I quickly understood why my underactive thyroid caused my energy level to drop, I saw how my menstrual cycle could be thrown off, and how a host of other symptoms could be caused, even in a mild case of hypothyroidism like mine.
I learned that I was taking a synthetic hormone, T-4 to replace the hormone that my thyroid wasn't making. Some of the T-4 was to be converted to T-3, to replace what my body wasn't producing. After several hours of reading, my mind was swimming. There was so much information to absorb, and it was complicated. Why hadn't my doctors told me this, I wondered. It's their job to know this stuff.
Because I wasn't thrilled with the level of service at my regular practice, and because I was really fed up with Nurse Cranky Pants, I decided to meet with a new GP, who was working at my gynecologist's office. I liked Dr. F. immediately. She was about my age, very warm and very focused. She listened intently as I described my situation, my symptoms over the months, and presented my blood test results. Dr. F. affirmed the other doctors' decision to treat my condition with a small dose of Levoxyl, and said I'd soon notice an improvement in my symptoms from the medication I'd been taking for about a week. However, she said, she didn't think it would be possible for me to feel so bad with a mild case of hypothyroidism. In fact, she said, gently, she thought I was depressed, and needed medication.
I was so surprised, I nearly fell off the examining table. I hadn't come to her complaining that I was depressed! What was this all about? I listened as she presented her case: "You're having trouble sleeping; you're short tempered; you're having difficulty concentrating and gaining weight," she said. "These all indicate to me that there's more going on here than your thyroid issue." She pulled out her prescription pad, and started explaining about the available options for medication. I left her office with a prescription for Prozac and a shiny little yellow starter kit in my hand. An eerie sunshine graphic on the package gave me pause sunshine in a box, I thought. I told my husband and a few of my closest friends about the new prescription, and everyone reacted with surprise and doubt. So, I stowed it in my underwear drawer for a couple of days to think about it.
Then, one morning at the end of April I woke up feeling great. I wasn't used to great, so the change was noticeable. The next day, I was on the run from morning until night. I wasn't tired anymore. I realized that it had been almost 2 weeks since I started taking Levoxyl, and felt jubilant. "It's kicking in!" I told my husband with glee. I threw the box of phony sunshine and the prescription in the garbage with at least a small measure of vengeance.
I had energy again, I thought, and soon, the extra weight will start to leave, my skin will finally stop breaking out, my hair will feel soft again.. I allowed myself to get a little excited.
But, none of those things happened.
Instead, I got my period. Again. Two weeks later.
