Trusting and letting go
I have mentioned, I am sure, that I have hoshimoto's thyroid disease. It has been a long road, a long and difficult road. I thought I would share a little about my journey (and going).
I will go back to when I had my oldest daughter- that was 10 years ago. I gained a whopping 70 lbs with that pregnancy due to stress and lack of knowledge. That was hard for a 22 year old, but luckily I lost it all! And within 4 months. I felt healthy and strong. Throughout the next few years my weight fluctuated a little- 10-15 lbs, but not much. Then I got pregnant with #2, things changed. Despite eating healthy, I still gained 60 lbs, 10 in the first few weeks. But went throughout the pregnancy working hard to be healthy- and going to school...ok, so I wasn't THAT healthy. But I figured it wouldn't be a big deal since I lost it so fast the first time. Well, that didn't happen. I struggled hard that first year of little Arydona's life. I chalked it up to already having a daughter and everything else I was doing. Then got pregnant twice that year (I miscarried the first- I got pregnant with that baby when Arydona was a whole 7 months old). After Kai was born about a year after the miscarriage, I was ready to start trying to lose weight again. I had worked out 2 hours a day during his whole pregnancy and watched every bite but still gained a bit for my size at the time.
After Kai was born, I worked HARD to lose weight- I didn't miss a beat. Actually, some people from my gym thought I never had the baby as I was working out again within a week or two of his birth. (FYI- don't ask a lady who just had a baby when she will have her baby....bad form!). I started off losing weight- and nursing my newborn round the clock was going to help! But it didn't. I actually GAINED weight. It made no sense- I had a feeling that my thyroid was off, but thought "It'll work itself out". I let it go. For a YEAR I let it go. I ate as little as I could to fuel my body and still lose weight and did lose- slowly. It was a year later that I finally started to have more symptoms. My "bathroom" habits were irregular- I was lucky to go to the bathroom once a week. I knew that wasn't healthy. My hair started breaking at record amounts- which I at first shrugged off to post pregnancy hair loss. I then started having joint pain and exhaustion. I mean exhaustion- it was ridiculous. I would fall asleep mid-afternoon despite getting 9 hours of sleep and then still be tired. After all these symptoms I finally went to the dr. My TSH numbers were 13! (So there is an inverse relationship with thyroid numbers- high tsh means low thyroid...confusing I know) The acceptable range is 3.0-.3.
My Dr would not tell my why my thyroid was low- which I wouldn't take. I found and endocrinologist and decided to find out what was up with my body. She did the antibody test and determined that I did, in fact, have hoshimoto's. For about a year I took synthroid- which worked at getting my numbers ok, but my symptoms never got better. I then switched to Armour thyroid. I have been on that for a year and a half. My body is extremely sensitive to changes in the meds and it is still not completely better- but my symptoms are better. I am finding that for right now at least, my body likes to be a little on the low side of normal.
Apparently the stress from three pregnancies in less than 2 years put a toll on my body and I developed the autoimmune disease. It also runs in my family and will encourage my kids to get theirs checked regularly. So if these symptoms sound familiar- or you are missing eyebrow hair on the outer third of your brows, experience cold when others are warm, if you are having unexplained blood pressure issues, or have a family history- get your thyroid checked. Get it checked yearly or every couple years if you have a family history and especially if you have just a baby. Thyroid disease is common and difficult. If you have questions thryoid.org's website. You aren't crazy, and you are not alone!
Despite all these horrid effects pregnancy has had on my body- I don't regret a thing!! I have
I will go back to when I had my oldest daughter- that was 10 years ago. I gained a whopping 70 lbs with that pregnancy due to stress and lack of knowledge. That was hard for a 22 year old, but luckily I lost it all! And within 4 months. I felt healthy and strong. Throughout the next few years my weight fluctuated a little- 10-15 lbs, but not much. Then I got pregnant with #2, things changed. Despite eating healthy, I still gained 60 lbs, 10 in the first few weeks. But went throughout the pregnancy working hard to be healthy- and going to school...ok, so I wasn't THAT healthy. But I figured it wouldn't be a big deal since I lost it so fast the first time. Well, that didn't happen. I struggled hard that first year of little Arydona's life. I chalked it up to already having a daughter and everything else I was doing. Then got pregnant twice that year (I miscarried the first- I got pregnant with that baby when Arydona was a whole 7 months old). After Kai was born about a year after the miscarriage, I was ready to start trying to lose weight again. I had worked out 2 hours a day during his whole pregnancy and watched every bite but still gained a bit for my size at the time.
After Kai was born, I worked HARD to lose weight- I didn't miss a beat. Actually, some people from my gym thought I never had the baby as I was working out again within a week or two of his birth. (FYI- don't ask a lady who just had a baby when she will have her baby....bad form!). I started off losing weight- and nursing my newborn round the clock was going to help! But it didn't. I actually GAINED weight. It made no sense- I had a feeling that my thyroid was off, but thought "It'll work itself out". I let it go. For a YEAR I let it go. I ate as little as I could to fuel my body and still lose weight and did lose- slowly. It was a year later that I finally started to have more symptoms. My "bathroom" habits were irregular- I was lucky to go to the bathroom once a week. I knew that wasn't healthy. My hair started breaking at record amounts- which I at first shrugged off to post pregnancy hair loss. I then started having joint pain and exhaustion. I mean exhaustion- it was ridiculous. I would fall asleep mid-afternoon despite getting 9 hours of sleep and then still be tired. After all these symptoms I finally went to the dr. My TSH numbers were 13! (So there is an inverse relationship with thyroid numbers- high tsh means low thyroid...confusing I know) The acceptable range is 3.0-.3.
My Dr would not tell my why my thyroid was low- which I wouldn't take. I found and endocrinologist and decided to find out what was up with my body. She did the antibody test and determined that I did, in fact, have hoshimoto's. For about a year I took synthroid- which worked at getting my numbers ok, but my symptoms never got better. I then switched to Armour thyroid. I have been on that for a year and a half. My body is extremely sensitive to changes in the meds and it is still not completely better- but my symptoms are better. I am finding that for right now at least, my body likes to be a little on the low side of normal.
Apparently the stress from three pregnancies in less than 2 years put a toll on my body and I developed the autoimmune disease. It also runs in my family and will encourage my kids to get theirs checked regularly. So if these symptoms sound familiar- or you are missing eyebrow hair on the outer third of your brows, experience cold when others are warm, if you are having unexplained blood pressure issues, or have a family history- get your thyroid checked. Get it checked yearly or every couple years if you have a family history and especially if you have just a baby. Thyroid disease is common and difficult. If you have questions thryoid.org's website. You aren't crazy, and you are not alone!
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