Whoops! :)

Sorry it's been about a month since my last post, but things have been a'happenin'.

I'm FINALLY on thyroid meds (Nature-Throid) and have done an almost complete 180 degree turn from where I was just two short weeks ago.

I have lots and lots to tell still, but I am going for my first bit of advice:

If you suspect you have a thyroid problem, but your blood work is "normal", see if you can get your doctor to schedule you a thyroid ultrasound.  That's exactly where I started the Monday after Thanksgiving.  Here it is less than two months later and I'm on the road to recovery.  :)

Yes, I do have nodules in my thyroid, and I knew I did because they were bothering me (still are, actually)...so I did have a reason for asking for it ("I always feel like I'm gagging!").  But from what I'm starting to realize, almost all persons who have the "normal" blood work problem with hypothyroid symptoms will most likely always have thyroid nodules.  I can't prove it yet and I'm not a doctor, so don't go running to your doctor and quoting this as the reason; just take this as a possible route you can use if you're having trouble getting a diagnosis.

Next up:  the ridiculousness of getting thyroid problems diagnosed.  There is a lot of information out there on this, but there is a lot of varying information and none of it in the same place.  I'm going to consolidate the stuff I think is relevant and point out a few things I'm not too fond of (as in, what appears to be unreasonable research and information put out by doctors and associations that believe only in blood work).

The Long Awaited Long List of Symptoms

Sorry for missing these last night.  I've had two extremely bad days where a few of my symptoms have gone crazy.  I was so exhaused physically last night that I couldn't manage to sit up in my chair to type.  I went straight to bed at 8:30 pm, and laid there reading for a while until I was able to nod off.  Endocrine-problem typical, though, I was up about 2 hours later for close to an hour and was able to nod off again after that.

So, without further ado, I present the God awful list of everything that I am currently suffering...all at the same time.  Some of these are things I've had for years but, through my research, am now suspecting they are more symptoms than normal bodily quirks.  For those of you who are squeamish, I apologize now.  Especially to you men who get queasy over menstrual talk.  I will be referencing Aunt Flo here, but I'll try to keep it brief.  The same goes for bowel-related stuff.  That personally gives me the gags, but it is stuff that has to be mentioned...especially since a trip to a gastro doctor back in July is where I can trace the beginning of the end for me (or, in other words, when all of these things in this list started piling on).  I'll try to give a brief explaination to some, and note those I've had for years.  Words alone are hard to describe a few of these, so I'll give it the best shot I can.  Also note that these things are in no particular order; I wrote them down while eating (hooray!) a few bites of dinner and did so as I thought of them.  The nastier (bad) ones will explain themselves.

• Fatigue/exhaustion/lethargy.  We're not talking run of the mill, "Whoo.  I'm tired" stuff here.  We're talking, "I cannot pick up my feet because that's going to require too much of me.  Let me shuffle my way through the halls here at work."  Same goes for the cane I'm using; it's getting too much for me to hold on to or move with me at times.  Those who pay attention will notice that I bumble it quite often.  I'm using this one strictly for physical.  Some sites will talk about mental fatigue/exhaustion/lethargy.  In my opinion, they're different and I will list them as such.
• Depression.  I've had this one for years.  The ol' "chemical imbalance" type.  Yet, rather than figuring out what chemical was imbalanced, the Air Force threw some Zoloft at me and, once it started working, called me cured.  Now that things are starting to fall into place regarding why my health is going belly up, and seeing that depression is a sign of thyroid problems, I'm pretty sure what chemicals are bonkers...and I, therefore, quit my medication.  Sure, it makes things worse (being sad all. the. time.); but, seeing as how I'm pretty sure serotonin isn't my problem, I don't like the idea of feeding it to my body.  I ordered a book called something like Hypothyroidism and Depression.  I'm waiting to see what they say in there.  Obviously, given the amount of fighting that I'm doing (going to every conceivable doctor, reading everything on endocrine problems that I can find, posting this blog), I want to live...so don't worry about my depression going to freaky places and taking me with it.  I've had it long enough and know enough about it now (yep...bought every book and medical textbook on that, too) to know what it does and how to fight some of it.
• Paranoia.  Don't like this one AT ALL!!  I never liked paranoia to begin with, and people who exhibited traits of it drove me bonkers.  Now, all it takes is a whisper and - whoosh - I'm flying down conspiracy theory or "the world is out to get me" lanes.  I know and am aware that my body is doing this to me...but, dear Lord!, I can't fight this one.  I've kind-of been letting it go when it pops up and see what happens, but that's not turning out so well.  I'll just say three short words:  My.  Poor.  Supervisor.  Hopefully he's reading this and just got a good chuckle.
• Mood swings and hair-trigger temper.  I'm used to mood-swings after, what?, 20 years of having a period.  But, once I got used to them (read:  in my 20s), I learned to ignore the moodiness and keep it at bay.  Not possible anymore.  And, God help you, if someone says something that triggers my temper (wish I knew what it is, but it changes).  I have Italian and German blood and a firecracker personality - when I'm right and know it, I'll be sure that you know it a million times over - so I'm used to being passionate and loud about things.  What I'm doing now, though, is a whole new experience and quite frightening and disturbing, if you ask me.  It's one of the reasons I'm isolating myself; I hope to have my friends when I'm cured, not a whole litnany of people I have to grovel to.
• Confusing words and letters.  I'm my own Spelling and Grammar Nazi.  I love to take liberties with grammar, but never with spelling (unless it's meant to be funny).  While I'd normally type this in Word so the spellchecker could grab any bobbles, I'm letting it go so that any spelling or weird typings I may do can be officially on record.  Having played organ for years growing up, my fingers are limber and I normally type rapidly (I also beat on the keys to my work neighbors disgust, but that's another story).  I'm approaching the two-finger punch now, though.  I can also confuse p and b for some reason, and almost always type gave for have, and vice versa, because I bumble the fingers.  I also add duplicate letter where none is needed, and will leave some out.  The leaving out is, honest to God, me thinking and seeing (?!?) that I added it already.
• Epigastric pain.  This is the original symptom that sent me to the gastro doctor back in July.  I had a bunch of surgeries from August 2009-May 2010 (will be detailed in a later post) and, thus, thought, I had some adhesions (scar tissue).  While tons of stuff and tests and appointments have occured since then and we're pretty sure I don't have adhesions blocking my intestines, we still don't know what is causing this.  The pain goes across the top of my abdomen, almost exactly down the line between the bottom of my ribs and where my transverse colon (TC) lies.  It's hard to describe, other than it feels like my TC is swollen to the point of dislocating other organs or cramping (as in crowding) my liver, spleen and pancrease up into my diaphragm.  Sometimes I get a sharp twinge on the immediate left or right of my center line, also in the epigastric region, but it's never both sides at once or does it follow any discernable pattern (i.e. after eating).  I'll get more into this one in a later post, though.
• CONSTANT nausea.  Nothing further needed other than I eat phenegran like candy. 
• Bizarre bowel movements.  I can be constipated or having OMG diarrhea.  Almost every trip to the potty for number 2 ends in diarrhea, though.  If I can have a solid movement, it's flat or ribbon shaped (got those descriptions from various medical sites when it dawned on my what they meant by it).  I also have tons of pain in my abdomen when I go, don't normally finish in a normal amount of time, and have to sit there for up to 45 minutes until I get the feeling that I'm done.  It's gross and this is about as decent as I can keep it.  There's more to it, but I'll save it for the professionals.
• Loss of appetite.  The thought of eating most anything exacerbates my nausea.  I was on a pop-tart only diet a few weeks back, but those are even icky to me now.  For some reason my body wanted spaghetti with meat sauce tonight.  I went to my favorite local Italian joint, but the smell in there almost sent me packing.  I toughed it out, though, and was able to eat about 1/4 of it.  So far, no problems; probably won't be saying the same in the morning, though.
• Pitting edema (swelling) of my calves.  You can grab my calf, squeeze, and leave a dented handprint behind.  Few things make me squeamish...and this is apparently one of them.  It grossed me out when a physicians assistant did this, since I mentioned my legs were swollen and that I didn't think it was the pitting kind.  <shudder>  This is also beyond painful and has left me wearing mens diabetic (compression) socks, which feel wonderful (until about the 7th hour of work, and then I can't take them anymore).
• 70 pounds of weight gain and growing in the last three years.  I've never been pencil thin and have never, ever lost weight from dieting, but until three years ago, I could keep myself at 145-160 on my 5'7" frame; 145 with exercising 5-6 days a week for at least 2 hours and eating an almost fat-free diet; 160 with working out 3-5 days a week and a little less restrictive diet.  Then, out of the blue, I started slowly gaining weight.  Stupid of me, but I thought - since I had just hit 30 - that it was because I was getting old and that 3-4 days of workouts wouldn't work anymore.  But the weight kept right on coming.  Then I got unbelievably exhausted and sick...ending up in the ER with a necrotic gall bladder (later post).  My surgeon and I wrote that off as the culprit.  Two surgeries later and I thought I was healthy, so I went back to the gym...and could barely make the scale budge.  Even after 5 days a week of Bikra Yoga!  Eventually, I was able to get to 187...only to be back up to 200 about 2 months later.  By that time I was barely eating, but storing weight.  As of today, I'm 210.  I'm barely eating a thing, a trend that has gone on in severe form since late October.  Also, almost everything eventually comes back out, many things quickly in liquid form.  But I'm still packing on the pounds.
• All of my major joints hurt.  Years of running and softball were what my doctor and I came up with to explain why I'm losing the cartilege in my knees (beginning to look otherwise, now).  I've had one or the other bother me off and on for years now, but never at the same time.  I had my left elbow a few cm away from being shattered - only badly dislocated - in 7th grade, and I've thrown my right elbow out so many times playing softball that I've lost count.  Both of those have been known to hurt, but, like my knees, never at the same time.  And never all four at the same time, while bringing both shoulders (the rotator area), my neck, ankles and feet along for the ride.  On my bad days, it feels like my knees are going to give out; on better days, they pop and crack.  My arms also go numb quickly, even without me lying silly on them.  I tend to lie in bed, on my stomach, with my head and upper body propped up on my foofed up pillows, with the book I'm reading steadied against my headboard.  I normally put one arm under the pillow or my chin, and the other on the book.  Both arms go numb in that position.  I'm pretty sure it's because I'm somehow restricting circulation, but it's bizarre.
• I am now - as of yesterday - unable to walk normal.  For one reason, it takes up entirely too much energy.  For the other, it makes me sick to my stomach.  Going from, just three years ago, running 7 miles a morning in preparation for a 10 mile race, to being unable to walk at a normal clip...hmmm.  I've always prided myself on what some of us DCers call the "Pentagon Shuffle":  head down and walking at the speed of light (you're important, you know).  Just the thought of that makes me tired now.
• I cannot have anything touching the base of my neck.  I know that I have four nodules and, according to the textbook all incompetent doctors apparently read, I'm not supposed to feel the nodules.  However, as you'll find out later, it was the feeling of these nodules that sent me looking in the direction of thyroid problems and begging my doctor to get me a thyroid ultrasound that started this whole going down the endocrinology path because they found the nodules.  I've felt them before I was diagnosed and before I even figured out what it was.  For a few weeks prior to that whole realization, I noticed that, when I'd go out for an evening smoke, I'd always feel like I was going to gag.  One night, I noticed that it felt like my sweatshirt was suffocating me, so I pulled it away from my neck.  And, voila!  The gaggy feeling stopped.  Since then, I've experimented with a few different things, all of which result in the feeling of pre-gag.  Constantly.
• I've been losing the hair in a patch on the front center of my head for years.  It's been sporadic and has come back a few times.  Now, not only is it back and getting thinner, but I'm also losing hair on the rest of my head in clumps.  My pubic hair is also falling out (I have bald patches), as is the fact that I've gone from shaving my legs and armpits every morning (I don't like fuzz!) to shaving them once a week.  The hair on my legs and arms just isn't growing.  This has been a relatively recent symptom, appearing out of nowhere in the last 3 weeks.
• I do not respond to stool softeners or laxatives.  I could eat a box of either or both at the same time and still never go to the bathroom. 
• I go through spells with this one, but I'm now on my second phase of having to go bra-less.  This one coincides with bad bouts of the epigastric pain and swelling, leaving my bra feeling like it's cutting into my transverse colon and giving me the sharp, stabbing pains.  Once I take my bra off, the sharp pains go away.  Therefore, I'm pretty sure it restricts something that is swollen and only when it is swollen or displaced by something else that is swollen.
• I have been diagnosed with atelectasis (look it up...it's a pain to explain).  This was found totally on accident and we thought was explained away by me having a respiratory illness during one surgery and catching the flu after another (leaving me unable to clear my lungs properly).  It's now looking to not be the case.  I also have coughing in the morning and a tight feeling in my chest at times.  Yes, I know, I smoke.  However, these don't feel like smoke driven problems.
• I also feel like I'm gasping for air at times.  My breathing has become very, very shallow.
• I have these interesting involuntary grunts/sighs/snorts on exhalations.  They happen only when I'm trying to relax my body to go to sleep or while I'm asleep.  They have woken me up few times and, no matter when they occur, they leave me feeling like I'm out of breath.  I haven't found much about this, only that it is a sign of respiratory distress in infants.  I've brought it up to three different doctors now, all three of whom did a variation of "hmmm" and left it at that.  If I'm in respiratory distress here, buddies, that's kind of frightening!
• I have three alarms and won't hear a one of them.  It's midnight now, which means I'll be nodding of here shortly, only to wake up around 2:30 and sometimes around 4:30.  After 4:30, nothing will wake me up.  I can also sleep all day and all night, and it's looking like I must have at least 10 hours of continual sleep before I can get up to function.  I never feel rested and, as of these last two weeks, I burn up all of the energy I got from sleeping by getting out of bed, having my morning cigarette, taking a shower and getting dressed.   By the time I've driven to work, I'm ready to go back to bed.
• For years my toenails have peeled and cracked, but never my fingernails.  I can also lose toenails for no reason.  Recently, my fingernails have been very, very slow to grow. 
• I do have a diagnosed kidney stone.  No one knows why or where it came from; it just showed up on an ultrasound that was looking for something else.
• Constantly thirsty.  But only for (now) Dr Pepper.  Until this week, it was sweet tea and Mountain Dew, both of which are now turning my stomach.  I have to choke water down anymore, even with Crystal Light in it.
• Cold.  It feels like my body temperature has plummeted, and this one is really bad if I've fallen asleep on my back.  I'm also sensitive to how cold it is outside right now as well.
• Dry, dry, dry skin.  I can make a fist and crack the skin on my hands.  No lotions, potions or creams work, either.
• Excessive night sweats, to the point where I wake up to sweat pouring down my face, my nightshirt and sheets soaked, and my hair soaked.  If I don't wake up wet, my hair will be curly, which means my hair has gotten wet at some point and dried.
• Bizarre dreams.  I also spend the last however amount of time every morning thinking I'm awake.  I'll open my eyes partially at some point, and then incorporate what I see into my dream.  I've also dreamt that I'm struggling to wake up or the like. 
• Swollen face.  I didn't notice this one until friends pointed it out.  They said they've noticed it for a while, but didn't want to say anything.
• My throat feels like it is closing off and my voice has a husky edge (especially in the morning).  This one is definitely the nodules.
• Tongue is swollen.  I've also slurred my words a few times.  I have what is called a tounge thrust, where my tongue is attached to the bottom of my mouth too close to the tounge tip.  It causes me to speak certain words strangely, as my tongue darts forward of my teeth.  I've had this since I was a kid and had a device put in my mouth for a few years as a child to correct it.  Unfortunately, it has come back.  No one likely notices it when I speak, because I've spent years hiding it; but I notice it.
• Mental foggy feeling.  Best way I can describe it.
• Kind of a weird double vision thing.  I don't see two of everything, but it's like I can't see the object correctly and there's some sort of depth perception thing going on at the same time.  It's worse when there is a bright light, at night when driving, or when I've just woken up in a dark room.  I've had this for years and have always written it off on having astigmatism; reading up on endocrine problems has me thinking otherwise.
• Since I started my period in 7th grade, they have always been heavy and very painful.  I've always passed huge clots as well.  My last period was barely three days (half of one day, full day, half of last day) and I barely bled.
• My eyes feel gritty a lot of times, worse when I wear my contacts.
• Since as far back as I can remember, I've always had at least 3-4 sinus infections a year.  They still come around like clockwork, but have been getting worse and worse the last 6 years.  For a smoker, I've never had bronchial problems until this year, when I've had two cases of bronchitis.  I always have what I've thought is post-nasal drip, too.
• My balance is all over the place.  I can weave like a drunkard.
• My neck itches so badly, all of the time, that I've actually removed the top layer.  I'm reminded of that every morning when I spray on Obsession and have to stomp my feet from the stinging.  My face also itches, as do my legs and my abdomen.  I look like I'm calling Major League Baseball plays.
• I have at least 13 (possibly 16, as there looks to be 3 new) skin tags following the outline of my thyroid.  I've always written these off, as skin tags run in my family.  But once I started research...
• Sallow complexion.  I'm olive, so winter months always wash me out, but I even notice a sickly tinge now.
• I have a weird puffy spot on my right cheek, about 3/4 an inch to an inch down from my eye.  It's shrunk over the last month, but it's still there.  I have no idea if that's a symptom or not, but I've read about puffy eyes and face (which my face is), so I've added it to my list.
• Swollen hands, feet and wrists.  This isn't the same as my legs, as it's squishy and doesn't pit.  It looks more like traditional water retention.
• More and more headaches each week.  I've gone through spells of sinus headaches in the past, but these are different.
• I seem to only be able to intake (though not necessarily digest) sugary stuff.  I crave salty stuff, but I can't eat it; even the thought of eating it can gross me out some days.
• I can get dizzy spells, though (and this has been going on for years) most likely when I stand up after sitting.  Especially if I've had my legs bent (i.e. indian-style) or curled up.
• No sex drive.  No biggie here, being single and all, but it's a true symptom, so I have to list it.
• Difficulty urinating.  Gravity no longer works here.
• I see things - typically something white and moving - in my peripheral vision.  Hallucinations are a symptom, but I don't know if this counts.
• Severe anxiety.
• Shaking.  This happens with my legs and hands the most.  I don't know if it is palsy or just a muscle thing, but once I start, it's hard to get it to stop.
• My muscles will jerk or spaz.  Predominately when I'm lying down to go to sleep, but can happen other times.
• Lots and lots of charlie horses.  Or the feeling of one coming on.  My thighs are now permanently in pain, but more of a muscle exhaustion.  The calves are also exhausted, but with cramp whenever they feel like it.  While this is typically a sign of low potassium, I'm reading that it could - in endocrine problem patients - be from excess potassium.
• Ringing or low tone in my ears.  This is pretty much constant anymore.  It also impedes my hearing, or I'm just not hearing well; a lot of things come out muddled to me anymore.  If you ask me a question, and it takes me a second to answer, most likely it is me trying to figure out what I just heard.
• I've mentioned neck pain, but not the specifics: that it goes predominately down the back of my neck (burning) and down the sides (tight, musclely-type of pain) into that little pocket that's formed by the collar bones.  I try stretching it all of the time, which leaves me having to physically move my head back up with my hands (my muscles won't let me lift my head).
• Back pain.  This goes from the approximate area of my kidneys, all the way up.  It's sometimes under my shoulder blades as well.  Yes, I know kidney stones in the kidneys don't hurt...but guess what is directly on top of your kidneys?  The adrenals.
• My feet always hurt.  And I haven't been able to wear my flashy pumps in almost 2 years, so it's not those.  I'm wearing cushy clogs or moccassins, so "improper footwear" isn't the problem.  My feet will also cramp if I move them a certain way.
• Cystic acne.  Those great big nasty ones that hurt and don't really pop.  I'm on three different medicines (one oral that I'm not taking right now, and two creams), which help some.
• Forgetfulness.  Which means I know I've left stuff out.

Now, most of you are probably going:  uh...these are all over the map, with only a few in the neck region.  How are they thyroid (or adrenal or just endocrine) related?

To give you a simple answer:  the thyroid spits out little chemicals that drive other organs to spit out little chemicals.  Your thyroid, pituitary, hypothalmus, parathyroid and adrenal glands are all tied together and when one goes, the others will eventually follow.  They all spit out chemicals that drive your entire body.  When one gets out of whack, the others try to compensate.  Eventually, they all start to lose interest in working so hard, and take out everything on their way down.  Unfortunately, it looks like I'm on the "on the way down" portion of thyroid disease.  My symptoms are perfectly hypothyroid, but they also match Hashimoto's Thyroiditis (although my bloodwork is opposite, which doesn't rule it out), and adrenal failure/adrenal insufficiency/adrenal fatigue (aka Addison's Disease).  My intestinal issues match irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn's Disease, the latter of which makes sense as it is auto-immune.  I'm certain I have some sort of auto-immune disease of the thyroid that gives my the hypothyroid (IMO, you aren't just hypo or hyperthyroid; you have a disease that manifests itself as those two...more on that later).  This may have started when I was a toddler and has gone undiagnosed for years, predominately because most doctors rely on the proven to be unreliable blood test that has a range far too large to catch problems early for most.  Since this has gone on for far too long, my thyroid is now taking out my adrenals, which is taking out the rest of my body.  My cortisol level has been proven to be dangerously low, as has my Vitamin D (one of the better funny moments throughout all this has been when my doctor called to report my bloodwork - just two days after me going to see her to complain about my full body pain - and she told me that my cortisol level is very low and that it causes major pain.  Really?  Thanks for letting me know.).  The cortisol level likely means my adrenals aren't working, although it could also mean that they are shutting down because my pituitary and hypothalmus are going.  The Vitamin D is likely related to the fact that my intestines aren't absorbing a thing.  My white blood cell count has been in the 8-12 thousand range for months.  Antibiotics don't make me feel any different, so there's belief that it's because my pain level is so high.  Me, on the other hand, thinks it is because my entire body is now going auto-immune and attacking itself.  My abdominal pain is, in my opinion, because all of my white blood cells are going there to attack food.  I'd be willing to bet that a stool sample would show very high WBC counts.

So...here's the list of almost everything.  Again, I'm pretty sure I've left a few out, but I'm pretty sure that they're not any of the big ones.  From here, I'm going to start with my story - as in how I think I've come here - and what I've had done to date.  From there, I'm going to do a lot of bitching and ranting about how screwed up the endocrine medical system is and how it is completely unacceptable that people like me can get sent home with a pat on the back and a clean bill of health.  Rather than starting that rant here (I did and erased it, since it won't make much sense without the history), I'm calling it a night and going to try for constant sleep.

About Me

To start things off, I'll give a little info about me.  I am keeping my symptom list separate.

I've used the handle RedInDC for years on various websites.  To keep it simple for my addled brain, I've decided to continue using it.  For those who have leftover fears from the Cold War:  don't worry; Red doesn't mean communist.  Red is my favorite color.  :)

I'm a 33 year old female, obviously living in the DC Metro Area.  Like most here, I do work for the government and am also a MSgt in the Air Force Reserves (the latter of which is one of the reasons this blog is being created; the AF has spent years telling me my weight problems, etc. are my fault.  More on that later.)  Until 2 years ago, I was very much into working out and staying physically fit; in fact, I even obtained my aerobics instructor license and taught PowerPump, Boot Camp and Step aerobics for about 2 years. 

I'm an avid reader, with an insatiable lust for British and Irish mystery novels.  As a result, I tend to have a very lyrical writing style and a penchant for $0.25 words.  Please bear with me on that.  ;)
  
I also knit quite a bit during the colder months, sticking predominately to scarves.  I tried to knit a sweater a few years back, but the tediousness of it drove me up the wall. 

I'm normally a patient person who thrives off of stress.  Not so much anymore.

Unfortunately, I'm single.  I'm not one to lament or mope about my non-marital status or lack of beau; however, as my thyroid problems progress and my symptoms get worse, it is getting harder and harder dealing with this on my own.  Having to struggle through this without a confidant or a helping hand has, in my opinion, exacerbated a lot of my problems.  I do have my precious cat, but she can only comfort me but so much.  Forcing yourself to not cry yourself to sleep every night is very tiring, as is trying to isolate yourself (which has become my tendency as of late).

I'm not much of one for television, although I was unabashedly addicted to LOST.  I've been known to get hooked on Dancing with the Stars, but have lost interest in it lately.  The same for Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy and AFV.  I pretty much only turn the TV on for Detroit 1-8-7 now.  And, yes, I don't have cable.

I love politics and track to the right (not way far right and not center right - inbetween those two; Ronald Reagan is one of my favorites).  I will be keeping this blog politically neutral, though, and I hope everyone can do the same.

I tend to have a cynical sense of humor and try to find funny in everything.  On my better days, you'll notice that I will be funny; on the rest, you'll see anger.  I don't like pity parties, so I try to stay as far away from that mentality as possible.

That's good for now.  I'm taking a break for the evening, but will post my symptoms tomorrow.  Hopefully within the next week I'll have this thing up and running.

Welcome

Welcome to Fix My Thyroid. 

I am new to the thyroid problem world, even though it is becoming more and more apparent that I have had problems for years - possibly up to 30 years!  I've spent hundreds of hours pouring over the internet and am now buying endocrinology textbooks so that I can try to figure out what is wrong with me...since I, like so many others I have read about on the internet, have run into rebar-reinforced brick walls in trying to get doctors to diagnose or treat me.  My number one problem - again, one that seems to be rampant in the thyroid problem world - is that the doctors I have seen to date rely strictly upon blood tests (TSH and TSH antibodies, to be specific).  As of 0900 on 27 December 2010 (the time of my last appointment with my endocrinologist), I have yet again been told I am fine.  Basically that time marks when my last straw spontaneously combusted.  Therefore, I am putting this blog together so that I can try to get my information out there and increase my chances of crossing paths with someone who will help me.

Please bear with me as I learn how to blog and as I, pretty much, compose a medical thesis.  I will soon post a list of my symptoms to date, the problems I've had with the medical community, and how I believe I ended up in this mess.  Once I can get the textbooks and other materials delievered, I will post my research.  Because I am not a doctor, but know my body better than they do, I want to make sure that everything I say - to include assessments/self-diagnoses - are completely supported by research.  I cannot take another doctor telling me that it is in my head or that I'm fine...when it is beyond obvious that I'm not.

I will also welcome comments and the like once I get this going.  In addition, if you or someone close to you has suffered the same, but has successfully found help, please pass along the name(s) (doctors), research materials or anything you feel pertinent.  I know how miserable I am at this time, and I'm tired and cannot bear to think that what I'm going through is common (that it is common for endocrinologists or other doctors to write people off because of bloodwork).  Maybe this will result in a foundation or improvements in the medical field; maybe I'll just spend further hundreds of hours spinning my wheels.  I cannot take a chance, though, that someone who knows something pertinent will read this.

So, again, welcome!