Well, the next lot of test results are in and they ain't pretty. I'm feeling sad and fragile today as I work to digest the knowledge that I've got Hashimoto's disease - an autoimmune disease that attacks my thyroid and can cause it to be hypo or hyper and may eventually prevent it from working at all. It's certainly not the end of the world and it sounds like it can be managed naturally but it all seems like such hard work. The diet suggested by the doc pretty much rules out every last bit of food I eat. No soy, no dairy, no beans, no legumes, no wheat, no rye, no nightshades, no garlic, no onion, no ginger and so on and so forth. (oh, and obviously, none of the chocolately good sweet stuff either!)
Despite last weeks big blip on the radar, I'm generally not a bad eater. Sure, we eat some stuff that we shouldn't but we also eat plenty of good, whole foods. We rarely eat processed food, we eat mostly organic and we don't use harsh chemical cleaning agents on ourselves or the house. I'm pissed off that despite a fairly healthy lifestyle, I've managed to develop such a disease.
My biggest concern and the reason I'm feeling fragile is that I need to think seriously about TTC right now. While not a big risk, there is nonetheless some risk in pregnancy with all this thyroid business - worse case outcome is reduced fetal brain development. There also seems to be some indication that Hashimoto's plays havoc with maintaining pregnancy. So I might fall pregnant, but will find it hard to stay pregnant. Right now, postponing TTC sounds so much worse than the prospect of miscarriage (which I know is irrational but it's how I feel). I don't know what to do.
Anyway, at the recommendation of the doc, I trundled off to the dispensary and invested in selenium drops (100mg / day), Vit D3 (1000 iu/day) and some tyrosine capsules too. I'm not making any promises about the diet but I will definitely increase my intake of the good stuff (which seems to be every variant of spinach and that's about it) and cut all the really naughty stuff out. And obviously, I'll take the supplements.
Meanwhile, Ducks and I have got some big discussions to have and some decisions to make.
grrr.
Monday, October 1, 2007
thyroid, part 2
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4 comments:
Oh Honey - that must be an awful shock for you. I'm not surprised you're feeling a bit fragile.
It is good though that they have picked up on this now. It they can stablise you pretty quickly, it may not affect your TTC plans too much. I know though that it must be heartbreaking to contemplate a break.
I hope you are able to find some clear answers to your questions about how this could affect things and so make some kind of decision about how to move forward. Take care and hang in there - many women with this have gone on the birth healthy babies.
Hey there! Thanks for your comment! We thyroid mommas have to band together. :) Unfortunately, I can't afford to do enough of the holistic route (other than the food ave) to do much good. :( My insurance covers the Western route, so that's the way I go. Plus, I felt better much faster with the synthroid than I did with the herbs/acu. I know I know.. impatient Americans. ;-) It's just after 6 yrs of feeling like crap and losing one pregnancy, you kinda get tired.
So yeah, please keep updating on your methods! I'm very interested in it as well! I'm kind of trying th two pronged approach to this.. some Western, some holistic. And no GARLIC??? How could I stand to not have GARLIC? ACK! I didn't know that, but knew the other stuff. It's so sad isn't it? :( I struggle with at least cutting back every day b/c it's also not good for my possible endometriosis or for my pcos.
As for how you got it, did you know that it's regularly passed through families? My Mom and Grandma both had it. So it may be nothing YOU did at all. :(
And for miscarriage.. were your antibodies really high? If they aren't too high, you have a better chance. Mine are so high that it's very worrying.. esp coupled with pcos and whatever else is wrong with me. ugh. I go to the endocrinologist soon. I'll update what happens on my blog, and we'll see if she changes my therapy at all.
GL to us both! Nice to find your blog!
thanks for the words of encouragement.
yes - my antibodies are over 1000 (supposed to be less than 35) and the doc is worried. i'm considering the drugs route just for the next 6 months to get me stabilised because at the moment, I'd prefer to be pregnant than puritanical. still haven't made any permanent decisions.
Cool. I'll be following your progress. :) I finally have an endo appt for the middle of the month. I'll find out more then.
Until then, hopeful blessings on a successful pregnancy!
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