Invisible Illness Week: Sticking Out Your Neck

 You wake up in the morning and you wonder why you feel like you didn't get any sleep. But you slept more than eight hours. You've been working out for months, sweating away the pounds, or so you thought. Yet, every time you step on the scale you aren't losing weight, but oh horrors, you're gaining more. Halfway through the day you're so tired you can't function. Every project you had planned for the day feels like its more than you can handle. Maybe a quick nap will help revive you. Three hours later you wake up and realize the entire day is a bust. "What is wrong with me?"

These symptoms could describe any of many illness, but the one I'm describing starts off deceptively. Hiding its true nature from you and your doctor. Thyroid disease is the most under-diagnosed problem today in American women. About 85% of the female population has a dysfunctional thyroid and they don't even know it. I'm a small percent of that number.

In the spring of 2006 I finally went to the doctor after two years. The last time I had seen one was after my youngest son was born. As the doctor did my physical exam her brows furrowed. "Do you find you have a hard time swallowing?' she asked.

"Not really," I answered. I was thinking, what kind of question is that?

"You're right thyroid is enlarged. I want to have a blood test done and I would like for you to have an ultrasound done," she said as she wrote up the work order.

"Okay."

This started a long two year path of trying to pin point what was exactly wrong with me. You see, I was so exhausted before seeing my doc for the first time and I shrugged it off as being the mother of four kids, two of them under the age of 4. But this wasn't any ordinary Mom exhaustion. I had a nodule growing in the lower half of my right thyroid and it was throwing my body off kilter.

Countless blood tests, one biopsy, several ultrasound's, and a radiation iodine uptake scan later and the nodule hasn't stopped growing. It will be removed by the end of the year, and if for any reason there is a sign of cancer I'll have the whole thyroid removed.

It's amazing what a tiny organ will do to your entire system if its off for any reason. The two main problems with the thyroid are Hyperthyroidism (an overactive thyroid) and Hypothyroidism (an under-active thyroid).

What is the difference between the two? Well, this:

Hyperthyroidism: When the thyroid gland becomes overactive and produces too much thyroid hormone, a person is said to be hyperthyroid. The most common cause of hyperthyroidism is the autoimmune condition known as Graves' disease, where antibodies target the gland and cause it to speed up hormone production.

Hypothyroidism: When the thyroid gland is underactive, improperly formed at birth, surgically removed all or in part, or becomes incapable of producing enough thyroid hormone, a person is said to be hypothyroid. One of the most common causes of hypothyroidism is the autoimmune disease called Hashimoto's disease, in which antibodies gradually target the thyroid and destroy its ability to produce thyroid hormone. Symptoms of hypothyroidism usually go along with a slowdown in metabolism, and can include fatigue, weight gain, and depression, among others.

Then there are other forms, derivatives of Hyper and Hypo.

Autoimmune Thyroid Disease: Hashimoto's and Graves Disease: Most thyroid dysfunction such as hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism is due to autoimmune thyroid disease. Autoimmune disease refers to a condition where the body's natural ability to differentiate between its tissues, organs and glands, vs. outside bacteria, viruses or pathogens, becomes disrupted. This causes the immune system to wrongly mount an attack on the affected area, by producing antibodies. In the case of autoimmune thyroid disease, antibodies either gradually destroy the thyroid, or make it overactive.

Everyone has nodules, but some times these enlarge and grow. This might be a sign of something more serious.

Goiter/Nodules: Sometimes the thyroid becomes enlarged -- due to Hashimoto's disease, Graves' disease, nutritional deficiencies, or other thyroid imbalances. When the thyroid become enlarged, this is known as a goiter. Some people develop solid or liquid filled cysts, lumps, bumps and tumors -- both benign and cancerous -- in the thyroid gland. These are known as thyroid nodules. A small percentage of thyroid nodules are cancerous. While thyroid cancer is a rare cancer, it's on the rise.

Check out this great website for more information on each of the diseases and their symptoms, treatments and other great resources for thyroid sufferers.

After you've done some research, ask your doctor to do the blood tests. If you're having problems convincing your doctor you believe you have a thyroid problem, find an endocrinologist on your own. Never settle for whatever a doctor tells you, they don't know your body, you do. Had I not had the best doctor, I would still be suffering from the goiter and getting nothing done for it. Luckily, I've never settled for "it's all in your head." Had I done that, well, let's just say I'd choke every time I swallowed.

As women, moms, grandmothers, friends, and sisters we need to take care of ourselves. Women are more likely to have thyroid disease than men. No one knows why, but it's something we must pay attention to and actively pursue treatments.

So, stick out your neck, get it checked, and tell others about it. I've become an advocate in my core group of friends, never letting it settle.

Comments

[Julie]

Winter,
What a great wealth of information you shared. I have fought with doctors, pediatric endoc. even, over what hypothyroidism is and is not. Finally we are with a doctor who is educated and informed, and does the same for us. You raised great points here!

[Shona Neff]

Winter, interesting article. I don't suffer with this or know anyone who does, but just had to keep reading. You never know when info like this will come in handy!

[Mesothelioma Awareness]

Thanks for information. Disease awareness is very important for protecting people from diseases.