Assembled by Mary Shomon, Your Thyroid Guide
Return to Main "Letters to Oprah" Page | Oprah Awareness Campaign
"Dear Oprah,
I am writing to you on behalf of all who are living with Hypothyroid disease. My journey started about 3 years ago with what we assumed was a cold. I told my p.c.p. that my heart was fluttering and was pretty common when i had a cold. She said that was not possible, however i insisted that it seemed to be more often than i was used to and was a little concerned about it. She said i had allergies and prescrbed a allergy medication. Needless to say that did nothing and, i began to notice that the fluttering was when i was absolutley still. I had not notice how tired i had become because, it had been so gradual. Finally, i told my p.c. that i was woundering if it was heart related because of my weight gain. I had been off work for a back injury and had put on a few Extra pounds more than i cared for! Well, when she saw i was'nt about to let go of this, she put me on a cardio monitor for a week. Results were in and... nothing. Meanwhile i had a gyno appt. and as a routine part of my exam, she did a thyroid check of my throat and said i needed tests. TADA! Tests confirmed that i was indeed, hyothyroid. It took a year and a half to get my TSH levels balance, and i thought , FINALLY, i can feel better...WRONG! I then began having allergic reations to Apples, i had broken out in itchy rashy hives...I thought,Lord dont let me be allergic to my mammas apple pie! While at a friends,again, eating apple pie,i broke out in hives. I thought, here we go again, just when i was feeling good. Went to my NEW Doctor(the last one got arrested for medicaid fraud!) So here we are i thought, starting over again with this guy, who does'nt know my history and will think it's all in my head. There really is a GOD! He started by checking my TSH levels so he had a baseline or could get me straightened out before adressing the hive issue. He then put me on Prednisone for the hives..we went several rounds of that when for the third or fourth trip to repeat the prednisone, i was put in a room that had charts on hyper&hypothyroid Disease. I had also been noticing that i was unable to do much physical exhertion, without turning beat red and sweating profusly. I started to read the charts and realized that all my symptoms were that of a person with HYPERthyroidism NOT Hypo like i was diagnosed!! I told him about this and he said that this may be allergies and beyond what he could handle. He then sent me to an allergist who in two short visits diagnosed me with HASHIMOTO"S Thyroditis. After six months of hives litterally covering EVERY conceivable part of my body, and being covered with red inflamed bumpy skin,medication after medication and my husband afraid to touch me,thinking he could get them or he would hurt me, Tired of being sick, including a few tounge swelling incidences, one that landed me in the hospital. (I did'nt know that i could'nt take asprin with the Prednisone!!) My tounge swelled so large it spilled outside of my mouth. I had many a nights i could'nt sleep. I felt like i wanted to just crawl out of my skin. Jaw pain, migrains, breathing difficulty,heartburn , acid reflux, just to name a few side effects.
I was lucky to find some websites after I was diagnosed that were very informative and eased my mind, when I thought that one of the side effects was me getting paranoid.
I would plead with you to do a show on Hypothyroidism and other related autoimmune diseases. I watched your program with Gail Dever and had i saw one about my initial symptoms of HYPOthyroidism, i would most likely have recognized it as a possible cause. I would have been more inclined to speak to my physician about the possibility of it, had i heard about it from your show. I appologize for this being so lengthy, however this did'nt develop overnight either! I know you could do the information justice. Please consider doing the program.
p.s. I'm feeling human again finally!"
Information Resources to Help You Stay on the Cutting Edge!!
Thyroid F.Y.I. -- The Weekly Thyroid Disease Newsletter
Free, weekly update from Mary Shomon, Thyroid Guide at About. Sign up now.
In-Depth Monthly Thyroid News
Monthly email report offering the latest conventional and alternative news on thyroid disease.
Talk About Thyroid Disease at the Forums!
They're places for support, empowerment, and information. The boards include:
- General Thyroid Support and Info
- Graves' Disease/Hyperthyroidism
- Thyroid & Infertility, Pregnancy and Menopause
- Thyroid Cancer
- Thyroid Related Diet, Weight Loss and Nutrition
- Thyroid Top Doctors
- Alternative Medicine for Thyroid Disease
- Thyroid United Kingdom and Ireland Support/Info
- Spanish Language Thyroid Questions
Here are some of the latest discussions at one of the many active Thyroid Discussion Forums.
