New from Texas

[Guest guest]

Hi, my name is , and I am 35 years old.

I went to the ob/gyn on 5/19 for problems with irregular periods - I will have a

heavy period, have a 'token' period (barely spotting) two weeks later, and then

go

3-4 months without a period. I have been doing this since....2003 and have been

chalking it up to 'nerves'. I finally have the money to go to the doctor and I

am

working very hard to make the commitment to take care of myself. The Doctor

seems

really nice, and worked hard at putting me at ease before examining me. He

agreed

that something was wrong, hormonally, and wanted me to run a full range of

testing

before he put me onto the Pill. I went and got the labwork done that Saturday,

and

the Doctor's assistant called me the following Wednesday to tell me that I am

HypoThyroid...'very Hypothyroid' are the words that she used. I 'think' she said

something about TSH being waaay out of balance, along with something else, but I

do

not remember what. I have a follow up visit with the doctor next week, on 6/9.

I have been started on synthyroid, 50mcg. The assistant said that the doctor was

wanting to start me out on the lowest dosage, since my being hypothyroid is

coming

out of the clear blue. To my knowledge, I am the only person in my family to

have

this problem diagnosed. I am convinced that he sent me for lab work to prove

that I

was diabetic, or have high blood pressure or high cholesterol, or something like

that, but I am paranoid about things like that. Yes, I am overweight. *sighs*

I asked the assistant how long I have been hypothyroid, she said there was no

was to

tell. I also asked her what caused it, she said there was no way to tell.

As far as what symptoms I have, I do not know. I have been lurking on the list

for

approximately a week, and have been stunned at how many times I can identify

with

what others are calling 'symptoms'. I just do not know. The only two things that

I

can honestly say were out of the ordinary for me were the eratic mentral cycle

and a

nonexistant sexual response (The mind was ooooh so willing, but the body was

like

the Sahara Desert in July!). As I read about the symptoms of being hypothyroid,

I

just want to weep at times, I remember my mother talking about my having

displayed

some of these symptoms as a baby.

This past week on synthyroid has been....interesting. The depression seems to be

gone, and I have a much more logical/sane outlook on the events in my life. I am

sleeping much more soundly now, and am actually waking up refreshed. I have had

some

emotional outburts, but they 'feel' so very different from what I am accustomed

to,

that I am able to control (most of) my lashing out at people. I no longer crave

protein as food - I no longer feel protein starved. I am actually craving more

veggies, if you can believe it. <g> Sugar no longer acts like a sedative for me.

OMG, did I EVER learn that one the hard way! That was the first time in my life

that

I physically could NOT stay in my bed! lol I have had to be careful of what I

eat,

being hungry makes me queasy, and eating can make me queasy. I tend to feel a

bit

queasy when I drink diet coke, which is something new and different.

I am having to relearn a lot of stuff about myself.

I now know (thanks to you folks) that it is all right for me to tell the doctor

that

I want to know what is causing this. I have saved the emails discussing this so

that

I can make a list of what to talk to the doctor about. I am also going to go

through

some of the symptom-emails that I have, to get a list of what I can remember

experiencing, and 'when' as much as possible

Thank you, all of you, for your friendliness and helpfullness. As someone who

knows

less than nothing about this, the information given on this list has gone a long

way

towards giving me the questions that I need to be asking, along with the comfort

of

beginning to know what is going on with myself

in TX