Living Well with Hypothyroidism REV Ed: What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You... That You Need to Know (Living Well (Collins)) [Paperback]

The Most Comprehensive Resource Available on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Hypothyroidism

For millions of Americans, hypothyroidism often goes untreated ... or is treated improperly. This book, thoroughly researched by the nation's top thyroid patient advocate--a hypothyroidism patient herself--provides you with answers to all your questions, including: What is hypothyroidism? What are the warning signs, symptoms, and risk factors? Why is getting diagnosed often a challenge, and how can you overcome the obstacles? What treatments are available (including those your doctor hasn't told you about)? Which alternative and holistic therapies, nutritional changes, and supplements may help treat hypothyroidism?

A year later, after recuperating for the most part but still feeling tired, I started a slow but steady weight gain. I became engaged to my boyfriend in July of 1994, and stopped smoking in September of that year. Then the weight literally poured on.

Disgusted with the weight gain, and feeling increasingly depressed, I started smoking again. No weight lost, none gained, and I was still depressed. At that point, I felt dumpy, overweight, depressed, and then six months later, in July of 1995, I started having trouble getting a full breath. The doctor thought I had developed asthma. At that point, I quit smoking -- that time for good -- and a few more pounds piled on. A month after I quit, the doctor decided to just run some various blood tests, because I was again complaining that I didn't feel well. The doctor called a few days later and said that I had "low thyroid" and she'd called in a prescription for me. I had absolutely no idea what a thyroid was, or even where it was located.

After I was diagnosed, I continued developing all kinds of symptoms that mystified my doctor and me. My periods became heavier and more frequent. My skin started flaking. I had headaches. I had a consultation with an endocrinologist, who acknowledged that some of the symptoms I had probably were my thyroid. She ran an antibodies test -- at my request -- but said it wasn't necessary because it didn't matter why I was hypothyroid . . . I just was. The test revealed the antibodies that signal Hashimoto's disease. I asked what that meant, and the endocrinologist said it didn't change the treatment, so I didn't have to worry about it.

The endocrinologist said it was just coincidence that I was a size 8 who could eat anything I wanted before my thyroid went bad, and that less than a year later, I was a size 12. She suggested that the other symptoms would probably calm down more like ten to sixteen weeks later. The way she put it was:

". . . In four months or so, you'll look back and realize how much better you feel than you do now. It's going to be relative, and so gradual that it won't be dramatic. One day down the road, you'll just realize you feel better than you did now."

So I waited my four months. And I still didn't feel quite well. Far better than before, yes, but still not right. So I read, and I read. And then I got a computer, and I surfed the web. I started to disseminate whatever information I found via the online Usenet newsgroup, alt.support.thyroid, and talk with other thyroid patients. And I found out that things like hair falling out, and weird periods, and difficulty losing weight, and carpal tunnel syndrome, and feeling depressed were all utterly "normal" symptoms of hypothyroidism. Maybe some of the information wasn't what I wanted to hear, but I needed to hear it!

It was a true revelation. Knowing what was and wasn't related to my thyroid was far better than not knowing. There were times I felt so sick that I secretly worried I had some incurable horrible disease that the doctors were overlooking. Realizing that symptoms were related to the thyroid also gave me something to shoot for -- fixing my thyroid -- instead of running around taking pill after pill or visiting high-priced specialists for every supposedly new, but actually thyroid-related, symptom that appeared.

Later, I assembled a lot of my information and created a thyroid disease website. At the site, I've written dozens of articles on thyroid disease, maintain an active bulletin board, and provide links to hundreds of sources of conventional and alternative thyroid information on the web. Back in July of 1997, I also started a separate newsletter, called Sticking Out Our Necks, offering the latest thyroid-related news on health, drugs, treatments, tests, companies, and alternative therapies for hypothyroidism and its symptoms. I've also recently expanded the newsletter to a printed version by regular mail. And along the way, despite my hypothyroidism, I even managed my most important project of all -- giving birth to my wonderful daughter, Julia, in late 1997!

Every day for the past five years I've studied as much as I can about thyroid disease and hypothyroidism, searched for information on conventional and alternative ways to diagnose and treat hypothyroidism, and turned around and put that information out via my web page and my news report. As part of my educational mission, I've answered many thousands of emails from people with hypothyroidism around the world. Over and over again, people write, pouring out their hearts, sharing the same concerns, the same problems.

When you receive dozens of emails every single day for years, it's obvious something is wrong, and someone needs to do something about it. That's why I wrote this book. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.