Assembled by Mary Shomon, Your Thyroid Guide
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"I was self-diagnosed in March 2000 of severe hypothyroidism. My diagnosis actually came about because my hairdresser suggested I get tested for a thyroid problem based on the amount of hair loss I was experiencing each time I came to see her. My diagnosis also came about because of the amount of information I found on the internet about this illness.
My story began in 1998 when I began experiencing numerous symptoms of fatigue, weight gain, severe heartburn, depression & anxiety, carpal tunnel syndrome, puffiness under my eyes, heart palpitations, extreme coldness, memory problems, hair loss, high cholesterol levels, hoarseness of my voice, strange feeling in my neck and throat, difficulty in sleeping, among other symptoms. These symptoms occurred very slowly over a long period of time. I attributed most of them to aging and really didn't seek medical help. Over the course of the next year and a half I saw my gynecologist and mentioned some of these symptoms. I also began having severe carpal tunnel problems and in late 1999 had both my wrists operated on by an orthopedic doctor. I mentioned many of my symptoms to him as well . Neither doctor suggested I be screened for a thyroid problem.
In Feb. 2000 I went to see an internist for a routine physical exam and told him of all my symptoms. He never referred me for thyroid testing after my initial visit but did put me on a cholesterol lowering drug as well as medicine for heartburn without even testing to see what my cholesterol levels were or working up my GI tract.
About a week after that visit I went back to that doctor's office and demanded a thyroid lab panel be performed. My TSH (study to detect hypothyroidism) level was almost 175 - normal being a range between .3 to 5.5. I referred myself to an endocrinologist and was told this was one of the most elevated TSH tests she had ever seen. She also wondered how I was still functioning with such a high TSH level.
I have been on Synthroid for my hypothyroidism for about a year now and still do not have a set dosage for this medicine. It's a process of trial and error - taking a particular dose of Synthroid for 3 months and getting a repeat TSH test. Then repeating this over and over until you achieve a "normal" TSH report. The problem is if you didn't know what your TSH was when it was normal it's hard to know what range to aim for on the Synthroid so you can feel normal again. I have not felt normal for several years.
This illness can come on slowly and because it affects so many women at the time they think they are just aging it becomes even harder to attribute many of these symptoms to a real illness.
Before I demanded a TSH test I researched hypothyroidism on the internet and tried to learn all I could about it. It was as a result of matching my symptoms to those attributed to this illness that finally precipitated my insistence on demanding I be tested for this illness."
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