Assembled by Mary Shomon, Your Thyroid Guide
Return to Main "Letters to Oprah" Page | Oprah Awareness Campaign
"I enjoy your show and its diversity. I have learned many things from watching Oprah and hopefully am contributing information that may help you learn something as well. I know you always take the individual point of view into account so I would like to tell you a bit of my own story.
I was 24 years old and living in San Francisco. I had just finished graduate school and was starting a very good job in the field of my choice. Only problem is I felt kind of “off”. Nothing so serious that I was suffering terribly, but just not feeling myself. I started my job and soon was plagued by anxiety, stomach problems, heart palpitations, mood swings and hot flashes. The doctors that I went to (gastroenterologist, psychologist, general practitioner, gynecologist and allergist) really did not have a clue what was wrong with me. They wrote it off to stress and having a “sensitive” stomach. They considered each symptom separately and diagnosed me with several ailments. Had they considered them all together, it might have given them a clue. During this time, no one ever gave me a thyroid blood test.
So, I just continued enduring the symptoms and hoping that they would go away. I tried to change things about my life in hopes that it would help. But five years later after dietary changes, lifestyle changes, changing my career and moving cross-country, things were worse. I now started to have even worse heart palpitations, achy joints, breathing problems and I could not keep weight on. I ate enormous amounts of food that barely allowed me to maintain my weight. So, I started the doctor circuit again. My gynecologist claimed I just had monthly water weight and should take water pills; the allergist claimed I had asthma and gave me an inhaler. That inhaler nearly killed me one day while exercising because it sent my already skyrocketing heart rate into the stratosphere. Finally, all my symptoms and the fact that my hands were shaking violently clicked with my general practitioner and she gave me a thyroid blood test. I was suffering with severe hyperthyroidism that had gone undetected for years. This is not a rare disease and should not be that hard to diagnose. A simple blood test is all that is needed.
I started taking medication to slow my thyroid down and within a few weeks I started feeling like myself again. Over the past two years, I have started to feel like I did 10 years ago. I cannot believe the difference. I have made it my goal to learn as much as possible about thyroid disease. I have read and researched into the wee hours of the morning. My reward has been that I am well and able to educate others. I run my own business, spend time with friends and family and pursue my hobbies. A few years ago I barely had the energy to get through a day. I should also mention that I did not choose the treatment that most doctors suggested, which is radioactive iodine. This destroys the gland and then many times you must go on hormone replacement therapy because your thyroid can no longer produce thyroid hormone. (This is what Gail Devers did.) My thinking was that perhaps stressors in my life and not taking care of myself had led to this imbalance so perhaps changing all those things would lead me to better health. I did take the prescription medication that was prescribed and in addition I started to eat better, exercise more and practice skilled relaxation. I got a lot of information from Dr. Weil’s books. I am proud to say that I still have a functioning thyroid gland and it is very close to functioning normally all by itself.
If there is any way I could prevent another person from going through this, I will do everything in my power. Potentially millions of people are walking around feeling miserable when a simple blood test could help them move toward healing. Thyroid disease has many faces. I was hyperthyroid and my metabolism was very fast along with all my other bodily functions. When people are hypothyroid, everything slows down, causing weight gain and tiredness. (There are many more symptoms for both diseases, but those are just a couple of very noticeable ones.) There are a lot of points in between and even some people who have both. I am not going to get into all the details because I am sure you will do the due diligence should this topic interest you. I know you address a lot of issues that affect women specifically. Exploring thyroid disease should be at the top of your list. It is the reason that many women are overweight and depressed or having trouble conceiving. It is the reason why many women who are diagnosed with menopausal symptoms do not respond to hormone or other treatments. Menopause is not their only problem.
I feel that if I had not had the time, money or wherewithal to continue in my quest, then I may have never been diagnosed. I went to many doctors even though they kept putting me off. That makes me wonder how many people, especially with less insurance coverage or five-minute HMO appointments, will live with this disease long-term. Unfortunately going undiagnosed puts you at risk for many much more serious problems.
I believe that other women from the About.com bulletin board are attempting to conduct letter writing campaigns to draw your attention to this matter. I understand that you probably have more requests than you can even consider but I still am pleading with you to give this some attention. Before I had thyroid disease I did not even now what my thyroid gland did. Now I know it regulates your whole body and without a healthy functioning gland it can turn your life upside down.
Please consider the impact you could have by presenting this topic. You are a tremendous force in disseminating information to the public and you could make a huge difference in a lot of people’s lives. I challenge you to gather a number of women from your organization and give them the thyroid panel blood test. You may be very surprised at what you discover.
Thank you for your consideration."
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