I've been thinking of doing this blog post for ages now, just to make people more aware as they themselves could be suffering from an underactive (hypothyroidism) or overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism). It also may help friends of those going through it. I'm in the very exciting position of having suffered from both of these, so I feel I know a bit about both of them. So this is the personal journey I've had with both of them over the last three years:
Overactive Thyroid
I must have had an overactive thyroid for quite a while before I found out but never realised as I'd been suffering with the symptoms for ages (although in comparison with underactive symptoms, these are nowhere near as bad). Not all of the symptoms I've had are listed online but my mum thought there was something wrong with my thyroid as my granny had had an overactive thyroid when she was younger, and I suffered from anxiety, was a bit irritable, needed to wee a lot, had a lot of energy and couldn't keep still even though I was tired. She realised there was definitely something wrong when I came home from the last day of Sixth Form and was so tired I went straight to sleep without eating dinner (and if I miss dinner there is definitely something wrong). My previous doctor had thought my mum was a hypochondriac but my new doctor agreed to do a thyroid blood test (something my mum had to ASK for. If she hadn't asked him, nobody would have tested me for it). My mum's instincts about my thyroid were clearly right when the night after the blood test, my doctor phoned and said my thyroid was so overactive that I had to come in immediately first thing in the morning and if I felt worse overnight to go to A&E. My parents were obviously really worried but I didn't really feel any different to how I had been feeling so I didn't go to A&E. The doctor put me on carbimazole and I had a lot of the side effects such as nausea which lasted for ages. I was on a pretty high dosage in order to make me go underactive. (If you are on carbimazole there is also the slight possibility of having a thyroid storm, which means you have to go to A&E straight away, but luckily I didn't have one).
Underactive Thyroid
To test my thyroid levels, I would have a blood test every so often (can't remember the exact amount of time between them) but I'd started university so I was living in halls. As I'd never been underactive before I didn't realise that I was becoming underactive. One of the side effects of an overactive thyroid is unexplained weight loss. Unfortunately I didn't really lose much weight. When I went underactive I put on a little bit of weight, although not much compared to how much others can put on, but basically I just thought I'd been eating a little too much at uni because I was a bit chubbier than normal. Whereas for an overactive thyroid, I'd had a few of the symptoms, for underactive I have pretty much every symptom listed online. Dry skin, being sensitive to the cold (I get really cold when others seem to be fine), the weight gain and muscle aches (struggling to walk without feeling pain) and being very slow in both mind and body. My two personal favourite symptoms are depression and tiredness. I felt so down during my first year of uni that there were times I literally thought there was no point to life and couldn't talk to anyone about it but I didn't think that was my thyroid. The tiredness was so bad that I missed lectures because I literally couldn't get out of bed. Although I still had slight anxiety about things, most of the time I didn't really care. When the blood test revealed I was underactive, the doctor put me on levothyroxine (can't remember the dosage) in order to bring my thyroid levels to normal. This was a method the doctor called block and replace which could have made my throid stable.
Overactive Thyroid again!
At one point over this three years (I can't remember what exactly happened) but there was a miscommunication between my doctor and the hospital, meaning my treatment got messed up and the block and replace had to be restarted. As a result I was on carbimazole for longer than I was supposed to be on it. My thyroid went normal for about a year so I was really lucky for a while but then inevitably it went overactive again about a year ago. Unfortunately this time I couldn't stay on carbimazole as I'd already been on it for too long. So this time I had to have radioactive iodine, which would make sure I wouldn't go overactive again as it would basically kill off the thyroid, with a very strong possibility that I would be underactive. Although the underactive symptoms are much worse, staying overactive is much more dangerous. I was obviously terrified about the treatment but it had to happen.
Radioactive Iodine
I stayed on the carbimazole until I was normal and then I had to have radioactive iodine in July 2016. Luckily I had finished university. I went to an appointment first at Brighton hospital where they had to inject me with a tiny dosage of radioactive iodine (as part of my thyroid condition I have extremely low blood pressure and they ALWAYS struggle to take my blood during blood tests so I had to have like five injections). I then had to have a scan which I wasn't prepared for as I get claustrophobic but I managed to get through it. Then a week later I went back and took the radioiodine which was in the form of a pill which I swallowed. After taking it I couldn't be near people, and had to avoid interaction for three weeks. Luckily I have my own flat but I was very lonely and missed my family and friends. The only side effects I had were a really bad stomach ache which lasted the whole time and headaches and a couple of nose bleeds, but after that my thyroid was normal and I could go about life normally.
Underactive thyroid again.
So in September/October 2016, I started having a few underactive symptoms but didn't really realise. I put on a little bit of weight (which I put down to having been stuck inside my flat for three weeks and not exercising much). I was acting in a show and was freezing backstage whereas everyone else seemed to be fine, and was really tired. I managed to keep on going until after the show but that's when I began to feel down, like I didn't know what to do with my life anymore (not helped by finishing uni and not knowing what to do next). I had no motivation and avoided a lot of social interactions. I'm on levothyroxine again and it is helping, slowly. I feel better emotionally than I did the last time I was underactive, especially as I know there's a reason for it now and I can talk to people about it, although I still feel down. I'm still struggling to find motivation to go to the gym, see people but when I am doing those things it's fine. I feel like I've been hiding how I'm feeling for the past couple of months and I am struggling but it's getting better on the medication. Currently I'm trying to find the dose which is going to work but then once I'm on the right dose it should be fine. I will lose a bit of weight and find motivation and won't have any of the side effects. I'll have to be on levothyroxine for life but it will make me better and on the plus side, I get any medication free for life.
Most people don't know what an underactive or overactive thyroid is but a lot of people (both male and female) suffer from it without knowing. The symptoms are common such as anxiety and depression and if you suffer from any of the other symptoms (irritability, mood swings, hyperactivity, difficulty sleeping, tiredness, sensitivity to the heat or the cold, muscle weakness, needing the toilet more often than usual, thirst, itchiness, unexplained weight gain or weight loss, constipation, dry skin, loss of libido, irregular or heavy periods), I would recommend asking for a blood test to check your thyroid function as most doctors don't check for it automatically.
Thanks for reading,
Jessie xxx
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