Thyroid History June 1988 - 2002.

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Just prior to the birth of my daughter, my thyroid gland became swollen on one side only. After her birth a fine needle biopsy was performed, which led to a Right Hemi Thyroidectomy.  Pathology report – no thyroid cancer, and only T4 tested in hospital,  result 17.8, range (10 - 25).

 

After surgery – weight increased soon after, and continued to increase steadily over the years. Even though I was unable to lose weight, I still felt ok until 1996.

 

In November1989 I had a miscarriage – 2nd pregnancy, and following this I was unable to conceive. I was eventually diagnosed with Infertility/Premature Ovarian failure. Experienced early menopause, with no treatment/alternatives offered.  

 

BLOOD TESTS  between 1996 - January 2002:

 

 1997 – TSH tested – result 1.91 (0.40-4.70)

 1998 – TSH tested – result 1.91 (0.40 – 4.70), and ft4 result 15.1 (10-25)

 1999 -  TSH tested – result 1.68 (0.40-4.70)

 

SYMPTOMS DURING THIS TIME:

• Had gained over 50 kg since surgery.

• Eyebrows became sparse, no longer needed to pluck them.

• Puffy and ‘ruddy’ face.

• Steel wool hair – always lots of hair on pillow in morning, but hair still very thick.

• Always feeling tired even first thing in the morning – hard to get motivated, as everything was “an effort”, even going out.

• Cold inside my body – difficulty trying to get warm and had to warm up slowly otherwise felt strange. This included heart palpitations.  Would take hours to feel okay again if very cold inside.

• Body temperature lower than normal – 35.2 to 36.2.  At lowest temperature - poorly co-ordinated, blurred vision and felt like it was difficult to speak clearly.  Needed heater on in bedroom overnight except in summer.  But never had “goose-bumps” or shivered.

• No longer felt the heat badly in summer – noticed that I did not perspire on hot days

• Not much appetite – never really felt hungry.

• Unable to lose weight – tried everything. Followed a very strict diet, wrote everything down and counted calories/fats, and walked a lot – did not lose one bit of weight.

• Felt fullness in neck, especially the side where part of thyroid had been removed. Found it difficult to swallow.

• Very sore bones and stiff joints. Gentle touch anywhere was painful.

• Painful to walk and to sit down, then standing again. Lying in bed was uncomfortable. 

• Skin on legs/feet looked tanned – not from sunburn, in areas that did not get any exposure.   

 

January 2002, began thyroid hormone therapy. 

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SYMPTOMS DURING THIS TIME:

 

• January – noticed eyebrows had thickened and I now need to pluck them again.

• January – periods of feeling warm started – mostly evenings.

• Feb – started to feel really good again even though I had heavy abnormal bleeding.  Blood test revealed estrogen was too high.

• Early March – felt I had lost a little weight but not sure. Started to record weight – no change in diet – 90% of the time followed a low fat diet anyway.

• Increase in appetite – always hungry (unusual)

• Feeling of fullness in neck gone – easy to swallow again.

• April – no more soreness (flesh) when touched. No more aching bones. 

• Hair became soft and less hair loss.

• Felt 20 years younger – full of energy and nothing was an effort.

• Clear head – very different to before.

• Puffy/ruddy face disappeared.

• Body felt warm – inside and out – temperature consistently up – 36.6-37.2 range.

• “Goosebumps”/shivering – doing this again when outside in cold air.

• Early March to May – slow and steady weight loss without diet changes – total 14 kgs.

 

Blood Test on 2nd May

TSH – 1.08 (0.50-4.00)

T4 – 21.8 (10.0-19.0)

T3 – 5.5 (3.5-6.5)

 

Feeling great!

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 - Faye