Question About Hypothyroidism Posted: 06-10-06 01:20am
Hi, I was tested about 2 years ago for a
thyroid problem but I was perfectly fine,
not hyper or hypothyroid. I've always
been overweight my entire life. In
elementary school up until high school I
was chubby, then in college I got a little
bigger. I am tired and lethargic without
much energy, but there are periods when I
am energetic. I'm usually okay as far as
temperature goes, but I do get tend to
feel hotter than my family. Not all the
time, but sometimes. Could I have a
thyroid problem? I did gain weight but I
always was chubby, and I haven't been
getting as much exercise. I actually
went to get this laser therapy thing to
help lose weight (supposedly it can help
curb cravings, so maybe if it doesn't
actually "work" it will have a placebo
effect on me) and the nurse who performed
it suggested I get my thyroid checked.
Should I get it checked again? I'm
uninsured (i'm 24 and after college I was
no longer covered by my parents insurance)
so I don't know if I should wait until I
am insured to get this checked out because
it wouldn't be covered I think if I end up
having it. So in a round-about way, i'd
like to know does this sound like I could
have hypothyroidism like the nurse
suggested? She didn't do any kind of
test or exam, she brought it up when I
said I feel like I need more energy. I
haven't been sleeping well, but I don't
know if that's just stress from not being
able to find work or not. Any ideas?
Thanks.
|
LA woman
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 13 Dec 2006 Posts: 2 Location: Louisiana
It Can Be Confusing And Not So Easy to Identify Posted: 12-13-06 03:03am
It's been awhile since you posted this so
you have your answer by now I would guess.
But for any others reading this, get
checked again for your thyroid -- and go
to a different doctor. I had been thin
all my life but started gaining weight,
having irregular periods, and swelling in
my neck when I was about 26. I had no
family history of thyroid problems in my
family so I just chalked it up to stress
and not enough exercise. Then in one year
when I was 34 I started gaining weight
like crazy even though I had not changed
my eating habits. So I went to a doctor
and asked him to test my thyroid. He did
and it came back negative. I was
surprised and somewhat disappointed. He
said it must be that my metabolism was
just slowing down as I was getting older.
So I ended up gaining about 60 pounds that
year and then my weight stabilized
somewhat. Then I had a baby and gained 22
pounds, but lost those pounds over time
(baby was almost 10 pounds). A year later
I moved to another state and went to a new
doctor. When I mentioned the year of the
rapid weight gain and how I couldn't
understand that it wasn't thyroid-related,
she said we should just go ahead and test
my thyroid again. Bottomline, it was my
thyroid and had been all along. She said
my thyroid was totally inactive and had to
have been that way for many, many years
based on the condition it was in. She was
amazed I had enough energy to get out of
the bed in the morning. That was about 9
years ago and I have taken thyroid
medicatioin ever since. So if one doctor
tells you that it isn't your thyroid, go
ahead and get a second opinion. I sure
wish I had done that earlier.
