Assembled by Mary Shomon, Your Thyroid Guide
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"Dear Oprah,
For 6 years, I went to numerous Doctors who had varied opinions about my health. While each doctor drew a different, yet incorrect conclusion, my new ob-gyn FINALLY diagnosed me correctly, but ONLY after my menstruation stopped last summer. I've been diagnosed with hyper-prolactemia, hashimotos disease and hypothyroidism.
Hashimotos is when the immune system attacks the thyroid. I've gained weight (40+lbs) (even after being on a low cal low fat diet for 2 yrs..), and have ALL the symptoms MOST doctors call symptoms of depression(With the exception of feeling depressed or sad). A simple blood test would have revealed my disease..but the doctors failed to look further then a simple Thyroid Stimulation Hormone test.
My thyroid is still out of control, but at least I'm FINALLY on the right track. Unfortunately, my endocrinologist is NOT informative. My OB-GYN doesn't know much about thyroids and neither does/do my Internist(s).
I turned to the Internet for answers because the small pamphlets from the doctors office didn't answer all of my questions. Thankfully, my college education taught me to wade through and differentiate facts from opinion, and answers from propaganda. The BEST site I found on the Internet is http://thyroid.about.com
I consider the website my PORTAL. Not only could I spend hours there, but it also has given me new questions, ideas and information that I hadn't thought of. I often find NEW SITES because of new information I found at thyroid.about.com. I ALWAYS try to verify, confirm and reconfirm what I find through various methods.
I now know more about hashimotos and hypothyroidism than my doctors, and their nurses (with the exception of my endocrinologist of course). Hashimotos, hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism, are the GREAT HIDDEN diseases....women are so often given ANTI-DEPRESSANTS instead of a simple blood test. Let it be known that I understand that the same thing can and does happen to men. However, hypothyroidism is more often found in women.
It's sexist and appalling for doctors to automatically assume a woman's physical symptoms are the result of a mental disorder. It's horrible to know that the media, networks and magazines encourage the same by not publishing info about hypothyroidism. Lastly, SHAME on the AMA for not encouraging doctors to be more informed, for not encouraging tests, and for allowing anti-depressant medicine to be OVER prescribed.
Thank you for your wonderful service. The information on the internet can be extremely valuable if used wisely and if people can separate fact from fictiom. I do hope that you will offer information about hashimotos and hypothryoidism on your show. You have the power to help prevent other women for suffering as long as many of us have."
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