EDIT as I compile these for the new blog: A Live Journal post that I made after getting my official diagnosis of autoimmune thyroiditis. I felt so defeated. At this point I thought it meant that nutrition couldn't help me all by itself. I thought I was back to facing drugs for life. Well time and more research would prove me wrong on that yet again!
April 24, 2006 A definite diagnosis: Hashimoto's Thyroiditis!
Well, my doctor was happy, that is until the results of my second bloodwork came back. I had asked him to test for antibodies to thyroid just to rule out an autoimmune condition. Well they are sky high. The normal ranges for thyroglobulin antibody is 0-19. Mine was 1,481. The normal range for thyroid peroxidase antibody is 0-35, mine was over 1,000. (scale didn't go high enough for the actual number). So that is it. It is final and definite. I have autoimmune thyroid disease. So does my sister, my mom, my grandmother, etc etc. It tends to run in families.
What does this mean? It means that my body (for who knows what reason) thinks my thyroid/hormones are the enemy and is producing beaucoup antibodies to destroy it. I also discovered that my freakishly fast weight gain is particularly indicitive of autoimmune thyroid disease. With this condition, the regular thyroid tests come back normal, the only clue (besides symptoms) is the elevated antibodies. My great wonderful doc doesn't know that much about autoimmune disorders and the thyroid, so he is referring me to an endocrinologist. Looks like I'll be needing hormone drugs after all.
While this is a great confirmation of my initial suspicions, I was totally shocked to hear those numbers come back. It makes it all very real. While my current nutrition and lifestyle work is helping and will continue to help (and is necessary for healing my adrenal glands), it won't be enough to completely heal. I now have to start the arduous process of finding the right combo of drug brand and dosage level. I hate this. I so wanted it to be something I could treat through nutrition. The thought of needing a drug to function normally just pisses me off. Stupid body and stupid genes, LOL. :-)
I am confident and optimistic about the future, but still just kind of in shock that this is all really happening.
Finally I have the answer and the proof.
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1 comment:
I was doubtful at first but desiccated bovine thyroid capsules are definitely a great product. I bought them from Nutri-meds. Same size bottle, much smaller price and effective.
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