Thyroid Awareness Month 2020

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TW: Mental health, suicide

January is Thyroid Awareness Month. A month dedicated to talking about thyroid disease – the conditions and symptoms, importance of diagnosis and treatment, but also the many issues we often face as thyroid patients.

Many people with thyroid conditions, especially hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s, do not get the treatment or testing they need to get better and the effects of this can be shocking. Mental health problems, struggling to remain in employment, the breakdown of relationships, infertility and even death. I’ve heard from countless people who became suicidal or had family members who tragically acted on these feelings due to an undiagnosed or inadequately treated thyroid condition.

We have a lot of progress to make in how we are treated medically, but if the general public can understand the effects of thyroid disease just a little bit more, even that would be progress.

Did You Know: 

• That The World Health Organization estimates 750 million people in the world have some form of thyroid disease.
• Which includes 1 in 20 people in the UK, says the British Thyroid Foundation.
• Though The ATA say that as many as 60% are undiagnosed.
• Around 8 times more women are affected than men, with key triggers being puberty, pregnancy and the menopause.

Symptoms of thyroid conditions are far-reaching, as thyroid hormone is needed for every cell and function in the body.

Symptoms of Hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s Include:

• Tiredness/fatigue
• Sensitivity to cold/heat
• Weight gain and inability to lose weight
• Constipation and/or wind often
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Slow movements, speech and thoughts
• Itchy and/or sore scalp
• Muscle aches, pains and weakness
• Muscle cramps
• Poor appetite
• Dry and tight feeling skin
• Brittle hair and nails
• Loss of libido (sex drive)
• Pain, numbness
• Numbness in limbs
• Irregular periods or heavy periods
• Brain fog/confusion/memory problems
• Migraines
• Hoarse voice
• A puffy-looking face
• Thinned or partly missing eyebrows
• A slow heart rate or one that increases more so than a healthy person’s, after physical activity (e.g. after walking up the stairs or emptying the washing machine)
• Hearing loss
• Anaemia
• Poor stamina
• Feeling weak
• The need to nap more than others
• Long recovery period after any activity
• Arms feeling like dead weights after activity
• Inability to exercise, or withstand certain exercises
• Diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Being overly emotional
• Poor circulation
• High or rising cholesterol
• Acid reflux
• Hair loss
• Easy bruising
• Swollen legs that impede walking
• Joint stiffness and pain
• Fertility issues

Symptoms of Hyperthyroidism and Graves’ Disease Include:

• Increased sweating
• Anxiety
• Oversensitivity to heat
• Palpitations
• Diarrhoea
• Increased appetite
• Weight loss
• Dry, thin skin
• Hair loss
• Shakiness/trembling
• Fatigue
• Change in sex drive
• Larger eyes
• Mood changes
• Nervousness
• Insomnia
• Dry or gritty eyes
• Double vision
• Weak, less define muscles
• Aches and pains
• Changes to menstrual cycle
• Infertility or problems conceiving

Could you, a friend or family member have a thyroid condition?

If you believe it could be possible that you have a thyroid issue, please make an appointment with your doctor and have them run a full thyroid panel. Your doctor may wish to just run just the TSH test first, but it is important to know that this isn’t entirely accurate on its own and the other components of the panel also need checking, especially if TSH comes back ‘normal’.

If your doctor won’t test you for a thyroid condition but you believe you may have one, or if they won’t run all the tests you need, you can explore ordering your own from online lab services. These are accurate and simple to use.

Medichecks is a popular online provider in the UK, where you can order the all important thyroid function test and thyroid antibodies (to check for autoimmune hypothyroidism – Hashimoto’s).

LetsGetChecked cover most countries around the world, and offer the thyroid function test, Hashimoto’s testing and many more, all from the comfort of your own home.

Diagnosed? Get The Right Treatment For You

Ensuring that you are treated with the aim of reaching optimal thyroid hormone levels is important, as well as checking thyroid antibodies for autoimmune diseases such as Hashimoto’s and Graves. It is also important to note that having Hashimoto’s can cause results to move up and down, therefore, you may see moving results. You may also be told that you ‘only have a borderline’ thyroid issue, but if you’re feeling very unwell, a trial of treatment can be given to see if it helps.

Friends and family of those with hypothyroidism should know that whilst a good quality of life can be achieved with a thyroid condition, many go on to live a forever-altered life. It can be classed as a disability. See my category for those who know someone with a thyroid condition here, and my book for our friends and family here.

For many thyroid patients, they still live with symptoms and effects of their thyroid condition, despite being on medication for it, so delving deeper in to why is something you can do this month. We can live a good quality life with hypothyroidism.

You can also read about how I got my Hashimoto’s in to remission here. We all need to embrace being our own thyroid health advocate. You can find my book on how I did this too, here.

We can also share helpful resources and materials to enable one another to make progress in their thyroid health. I wrote my first book, “Be Your Own Thyroid Advocate: When You’re Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired” with that in mind.

The book compiles all the information you need to begin advocating for your own health, in one place and in an easy to digest format. It is a great place to begin when learning to advocate for your own thyroid health. 

• What is hypothyroidism?
• What are the thyroid medication options?
• Can Hypothyroidism be cured?
• How long will it take me to feel well again?
• What is Hashimoto’s?
• Why is weight gain a common symptom?
• What other conditions can hypothyroidism come hand in hand with?
• What’s wrong with my doctor testing TSH alone?
• Are there any books I can read?
• Are there any support groups I can join?
• What could any enlargement or abnormalities mean?