Hashimoto's Disease...

This is how I felt nearly everyday before my diagnosis! This is an in depth book about Hashimoto's disease that I received as part of my treatment plan to better understand the complexities of this disease.

Just an FYI for everyone, this post is very long and long overdue! 

On June 26th I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Disease. And since most people probably have never heard of it before I'll give you all a little bit of background information on it.

 Hashimoto’s disease is an autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid.With Hashimoto’s disease, the immune system makes antibodies that damage and kill off the thyroid cells and interfere with their ability to make thyroid hormone. Over time, thyroid damage can cause thyroid hormone levels to be too low. This is called an underactive thyroid or hypothyroidism. An underactive thyroid causes every function of the body to slow down, such as heart rate, brain function, and the rate your body turns food into energy. Hashimoto’s disease is the most common cause of an underactive thyroid and is about 7 times more common in women than in men. People who get Hashimoto’s disease sometimes have other autoimmune diseases. I already have 2 other autoimmune diseases, Celiac Disease and Lupus so now with Hashimoto's that makes 3 autoimmune diseases.  

I really haven't felt well for at least the past 1-2 years and possibly even longer than that it's just hard to say for sure when it all started. But I just wrote it off to being a busy wife and mother. But as my health continued to decline earlier this year I knew that something had to be causing it. My quality of life was very poor. I felt like a 90 year old lady trapped in a 28 year old body! And I bet a 90 year old woman feels much better than I did! I was exhausted all of the time. I could literally sleep all day if I was able to. Everyday I had to deal with incredible amounts of joint pain as well as very dry skin, thinning hair, headaches, G.I. problems, feeling cold all of the time, mood swings, incredibly painful periods (I was taking John's leftover Lortab pain killers from his massive herniated disc because the pain from my period was so intense that almost couldn't bear it!), depression, and brain fog among other symptoms. The brain fog was so bad one day when I was at work because I remember being there and feeling absolutely horrible that day. For the life of me I could not remember how to access the voice mail on our phone in the office. I'm sure that I have accessed it over 1,000 times since I have worked there for nearly 5 years. I even called tech support and had him come over to my department and show me how to use it. When he told me that all I needed to do was push the voice mail button that was right in front of me I felt so incredibly stupid. I made him come out of his way to tell me to push a button that I already knew how to do, I just couldn't remember! My husband John would tell me things and I wouldn't remember those conversations ever taking place even though I participated in them. I'm honestly not sure how I was able to work because most everyday I literally felt like a walking zombie. But I had to go work because I carry our insurance, I didn't have a choice.

Well one day I was lying on the couch watching my girls play because I was too exhausted to play with them when I saw a thyroid specialist guest starring on one of my local Utah shows, talking about Hashimoto's disease and what the symptoms were. I remember saying to myself, "Hey that sounds like me!" So I wrote down his information and John made me an appointment. I had a ton of blood work done( about $2,000 worth but luckily insurance paid for all of it except for about $200 which was for my deductible) and the results came back positive indicating that I did indeed have Hashimoto's disease. Anything over 40 indicates Hashimoto's disease and my TPO antibodies were 459 and my Antithyroglobulin Ab levels were 740. Both were extremely high! No wonder I felt so crappy. My blood work also showed that my liver wasn't functioning well, my white blood cell count was really low, my iron levels were too high, and my blood glucose levels were all over the place. Other tests that I had to undergo indicated that my adrenal glands were low, my hormones levels were low, as well as the good bacteria in my gut was extremely low and I have intestinal permeability. So with all of that discovered my doctors have a lot of work to do with me. It's incredible how one autoimmune disease can wreck so much havoc on the body!   

I signed up for their 6 month treatment plan which is roughly $7,000, the supplements alone cost $700, and of course it is out of network for my insurance plan. At least they have a financing plan available although the interest is at 15%. Even though it's expensive I knew that I had to go through this clinic because I know that they will truly help me manage this. I have had the run around by many other doctors in the past and the last thing that I need is for some doctor to just keep prescribing me prescription pills to mask the real underlying problem.So while I'm truly grateful for this team of doctors and this treatment plan it's a huge financial burden for our family right now. But I know that we'll get by somehow.

There is no cure for Hashimoto's disease as well as any other autoimmune disease, but with this treatment plan I will learn how to manage my disease and the flare-ups that it causes so that I can live a healthy productive life. I have been on a very strict anti-inflammatory diet for about 8 weeks now. I couldn't eat any dairy, eggs, soy, gluten (I already can't eat that), beef, pork, caffeine, corn, white, yellow, or red potatoes, rice, tomatoes, soda, fruit juice, sugar, or peanuts. I have already completed the first phase of my treatment which was my liver detoxification, and I have re-introduced beef, eggs, tomatoes, and rice without any problems or flare-ups. However, corn and caffeine have not gone too well. Both of those have caused painful flare-ups and will always need to be avoided so that further thyroid tissue destruction doesn't occur.

These were all of the supplements I had to take for the liver detox and a cream/lotion to calm the inflammation in my joints. That cream is like magic in a bottle!

I am now on the second phase which is to fix my adrenal glands and cortisol levels since they are too low. By beginning to fix these things I have already noticed a lot more energy, I'm able to handle stress so much better now (I don't threaten to quit my job everyday now which I'm sure John is extremely grateful for!), I sleep better, and my blood glucose levels have improved dramatically!

These are the supplements for phase II to raise my cortisol levels by fixing the adrenal glands, and supplements to calm inflammation. I will always have to take a good source of vitamin D for the rest of my life.

Well that's all I can think of to report right now. I will continue to keep you all posted on the upcoming phases until I finish my treatment plan and get my energy and life back. Sorry this post is so long, it's just that this disease is so complex.