I have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis

Monday, December 1, 2014

Some of you know that I've been on a journey this year to figure out what's going on with my body.
Sometimes I felt like a crazy person and would think to myself, "I'm FINE stop being a baby" but it's tough feeling like complete poo. I haven't been myself.  Which is why I've all but stopped blogging. I used to be on here 5x a week AT LEAST- sharing recipes, workouts and fun ideas...but it's been such a challenge to find my mojo again. 

My symptoms:
- crazy bloating 
- extreme fatigue
- weight gain
- always cold 
- mood swings (sorry babe)
- nausea
- patches of dry skin 
- funky sleep patterns 
- migraines
- Muscle achiness
- Brain Fog 
- very painful cramps on my period

Starting to connect the dots- my body has been trying to tell me something. I've been working with a holistic doctor here in Florida and found out I have leaky gut, food sensitivities, mold & yeast in my gut along with a parasite! (eek!), hormonal imbalance, and most life-changing of all...I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease. Basically, Hashimotos is a condition in which your immune system attacks your thyroid.

I was really sad because autoimmune diseases scare the CRAP out of me. They are common in my family, and I've been trying to do everything RIGHT to stay healthy. BUT I'm using this as an opportunity to learn and grow. I have an incredible GIFT...a PLATFORM to share what I learn to help others who are experiencing the same struggles.

Part of my treatment is transitioning into a GLUTEN FREE lifestyle. I'm reading and researching like a mad scientist over here. The mailman is going to love me because I just ordered 50 lbs of thyroid book & cookbooks books! haha

Researching & Reading like crazy!
I'll be sharing what I learn & creating a GF Accountability Group (to help ME stay on track) If that is something you feel might benefit you or if you have similar symptoms, please reach out to me or request to join here!


A friend send this to me
Hi. My name is Hashimoto's. I'm an invisible autoimmune disease that attacks your thyroid gland causing you to become hypothyroid.
I am now velcroed to you for life. If you have hypothyroidism, you probably have me. I am the number one cause of it in the U.S. and many other places around the world.
I'm so sneaky--I don't always show up in your blood work.
Others around you can't see me or hear me, but YOUR body feels me.
I can attack you anywhere and any way I please.
I can cause severe pain or, if I'm in a good mood, I can just cause you to ache all over.
Remember when you and energy ran around together and had fun?
I took energy from you, and gave you exhaustion. Try to have fun now.
I can take good sleep from you and in its place, give you brain fog and lack of concentration.
I can make you want to sleep 24/7, and I can also cause insomnia.
I can make you tremble internally or make you feel cold or hot when everyone else feels normal.
I can also give you swollen hands and feet, swollen face and eyelids, swollen everything.
I can make you feel very anxious with panic attacks or very depressed. I can also cause other mental health problems. You know crazy mood swings? That's me. Crying for no reason? Angry for no reason? That's probably me too.
I can make your hair fall out, become dry and brittle, cause acne, cause dry skin, the sky is the limit with me.
I can make you gain weight and no matter what you eat or how much you exercise, I can keep that weight on you. I can also make you lose weight. I don't discriminate.
Some of my other autoimmune disease friends often join me, giving you even more to deal with.
If you have something planned, or are looking forward to a great day, I can take that away from you. You didn't ask for me. I chose you for various reasons:
That virus or viruses you had that you never really recovered from, or that car accident, or maybe it was the years of abuse and trauma (I thrive on stress.) You may have a family history of me. Whatever the cause, I'm here to stay.
I hear you're going to see a doctor to try and get rid of me. That makes me laugh. Just try. You will have to go to many, many doctors until you find one who can help you effectively.
You will be put on the wrong medication for you, pain pills, sleeping pills, energy pills, told you are suffering from anxiety or depression, given anti-anxiety pills and antidepressants.
There are so many other ways I can make you sick and miserable, the list is endless - that high cholesterol, gall bladder issue, blood pressure issue, blood sugar issue, heart issue among others? That's probably me.
Can't get pregnant, or have had a miscarriage?
That's probably me too.
Shortness of breath or "air hunger?" Yep, probably me.
Liver enzymes elevated? Yep, probably me.
Teeth and gum problems? TMJ?
Hives? Yep, probably me.
I told you the list was endless.
You may be given a TENs unit, get massaged, told if you just sleep and exercise properly I will go away.
You'll be told to think positively, you'll be poked, prodded, and MOST OF ALL, not taken seriously when you try to explain to the endless number of doctors you've seen, just how debilitating I am and how ill and exhausted you really feel. In all probability you will get a referral from these 'understanding' (clueless) doctors, to see a psychiatrist.
Your family, friends and co-workers will all listen to you until they just get tired of hearing about how I make you feel, and just how debilitating I can be.
Some of them will say things like "Oh, you are just having a bad day" or "Well, remember, you can't do the things you use to do 20 YEARS ago", not hearing that you said 20 DAYS ago.
They'll also say things like, "if you just get up and move, get outside and do things, you'll feel better." They won't understand that I take away the 'gas' that powers your body and mind to ENABLE you to do those things.
Some will start talking behind your back, they'll call you a hypochondriac, while you slowly feel that you are losing your dignity trying to make them understand, especially if you are in the middle of a conversation with a "normal" person, and can't remember what you were going to say next. You'll be told things like, "Oh, my grandmother had that, and she's fine on her medication" when you desperately want to explain that I don't impose myself upon everyone in the exact same way, and just because that grandmother is fine on the medication SHE'S taking, doesn't mean it will work for you.
They will not understand that having this disease impacts your body from the top of your head to the tip of your toes, and that every cell and every body system and organ requires the proper amount and the right kind of of thyroid hormone medication for YOU.....Not what works for someone else.
The only place you will get the kind of support and understanding in dealing with me is with other people that have me. They are really the only ones who can truly understand.
I am Hashimoto's Disease.
((Credit::  www.officialgenaleenolin.com facebook.com/thyroidsexy ))

Reading this almost made me cry (which of course is one of the symptoms! haha) But I felt like FINALLY someone understands! Jay is wonderful and tries to be empathic, which I totally appreciate, but it's hard when everyday I'm so tired/sad/sick to do anything. I actually started feeling like this back in 2012 (3 months into our relationship). When you feel like crap, at first you think...oh I'm sick...this will pass.   Months went by and I was still tired, food made me sick constantly, I had massive mood swings, etc..... Quite honestly, I thought, "I'm getting older- this is just how I am now."

It's such a relief to finally have some answers! Now I can focus on healing my body and avoiding trigger foods that zap the life out of me.
I'd be honored to have you along this journey too!

As of this second, I don't have any Gluten Free Recipes on my blog...but I WILL be adding some here: Recipes

You can follow me on Facebook here

15 comments:

  1. Great post. Going through the exact same thing here. Copying the letter from "Hashimoto" and sending to my husband. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Have been gluten free since April of 2013, and this has really helped my stomach issues. 7 years ago, Jan. 4, I had my thyroid out and had to go through finding the right level for levothyroxine to get my body on track, you will feel like a new person once your body is used to being gluten free.

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  3. I have been struggling for the last year with many of the same symptoms and have made the switch to GF!! It has helped in some ways and created problems in others. Still trying to figure everything out.

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  4. Kati,
    I was just diagnosed this past Wednesday. I just came across your board on Pinterest and website and I love it. I'm so happy to find such wonderful information. I'm trying to absorb all this change and its definitely overwhelming. Thank you for putting so much time and effort into research so folks like me don't feel crazy. I've felt crazy for the last 3-4 years. Finally its not in my head.... I have a reason for all the health issues I've experienced. I'm not crazy & even though this isn't what I'd want, I'm relieved to finally know whats going on with me.

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  5. Great site ,I have had this sneaky disease for 10 years,a gluten free diet has helped me somewhat ,I would like to hear what other options people have used

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  6. Kati,
    I'm reading this...and I feel like it's me talking. I am on the same journey. After 2 years of research and taking on the holistic approach, gf, dairy free, soy free, and figuring out other food sensitivities, I still felt horrible and unable to lose weight. I recently started vegan Shakeology and slowly feeling better. I became a Beachbody Coach and hoping to find me again. I would love to chat with you. We can definitely relate to one another.

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  7. Kati,
    I'm reading this...and I feel like it's me talking. I am on the same journey. After 2 years of research and taking on the holistic approach, gf, dairy free, soy free, and figuring out other food sensitivities, I still felt horrible and unable to lose weight. I recently started vegan Shakeology and slowly feeling better. I became a Beachbody Coach and hoping to find me again. I would love to chat with you. We can definitely relate to one another.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Kati,
    I'm reading this...and I feel like it's me talking. I am on the same journey. After 2 years of research and taking on the holistic approach, gf, dairy free, soy free, and figuring out other food sensitivities, I still felt horrible and unable to lose weight. I recently started vegan Shakeology and slowly feeling better. I became a Beachbody Coach and hoping to find me again. I would love to chat with you. We can definitely relate to one another.

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  9. Kati,I am so grateful for this info. I am going to go gluten free and see what happens. I break out in hives for no reason, ache all over, suffer from fatigue, insomnia, depression, anxiety, dry skin, so many things. I was diagnosed with hashimotos disease this past winter, and have seen no change in symptoms since I started taking levothyroxine. Are you on any medications?

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    Replies
    1. Hi my name is Tessa and I had the exact same symptoms and have hashimotos as well. I went gluten free but the hivesame did not stop. I was then tested, blood test, for food allergies and to my surprise had a bunch of allergies. I stopped the offensive foods and within weeks my hives stopped. I do not know which food whether it was tomatoe,potatoes, corn or the many other foods that caused it. I found I did loose weight and felt much better! I added Tumeric, matcha Green tea and coconut oil too!
      Talk with your doctor about a simple blood test for allergies it may be the key.
      Good luck!

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    2. I was diagnosed with Hashimotos about two years ago and have almost completely reversed it. Two things I think are key; first find a good functional medicine doctor and second have a detailed food sensitivity test (the BIG one that costs like $800). It helps you create a diet (starting by eliminating gluten, dairy, sugar and anything that shows up on the test, and then carefully adding foods back in) that is specific to you. The AIP is great, but my sensitivities were unique and I'm not sure it would have been enough. Fortunately, there are so many resources now and people who have reversed this, and every other autoimmune disease, that there is lots of help on line and in books! God bless your healing journey! Oh, and one more thing I almost forgot; do NOT get any vaccines. They destroy your immune system. Do your own research. Your doctor is educated by pharmaceutical reps. He/she does not know the facts.

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  10. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

    This post, and most importantly that letter reminds me that I'm not alone.
    Over two years my symptoms began to reveal themselves and continued to escalate. Finally, Just yesterday, I was diagnosed with hasimotos.im slowly learning now who I actually have in my corner, supporting me... but at the same time it's so hard to explain when you haven't experienced it.

    Thank you for sharing and reminding us it's not all in our heads.

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  11. I just got diagnosed with this today! I've been feeling awful for the last 2 years at least and have even had my thyroid checked.Everyone thought i was being crazy and over exaggerating since I'm so young "what could possibly be wrong?". I went to a new doctor and he right away said i think i know what you have! my test came back and sure enough I'm apart of this club. I felt excited that FINALLY i have an answer to my symptoms then later felt "OMG what am i going to do now". Thats when i came across your blog. Reading this letter from the disease I felt a lot of emotions that clearly are being brought on by this disease.(lol) I am very health conscious and active, I want to face this head on and set myself up for a heathy future. thank you for this blog!!!!!!

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  12. I loved reading your post! Thank you so much for sharing!!! I was recently diagnosed after 10 years of symptoms getting worse over time until I had no question something was so OFF with my body. There was just no way the way I was feeling could be "normal". I found an amazing doctor who practices Functional Medicine. He put me on thyroid hormone and after ALOT of blood tests and time, I am feeling so much better. THERE IS HOPE! I know I felt like there wasn't. I have been gluten free now and that has helped with chronic migraines, energy, and maintaining weight. The book Hashimotos Protocal was also recommended to me by my dr. and it is a holistic approach to healing. I hope this can help anyone else who is going through this frustrating condition.

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