Can you push a car with just your feet when it has run out of gas?.....Thyroid Post

Since a few of you have asked about my thyroid condition and how I'm doing with it I thought I'd explain it all here. 

I also have to apologize in advance if there are parts that are worded funny or that don't make since. One of the many symptoms of this condition is brain foggy-ness and it has hit hard!

Hypothyroidism, also known as underactive thyroid, is a condition in which the thyroid gland, which supplies hormones to keep the metabolism in working order, is not functioning properly. This results in lower-than-required levels of essential hormones that are distributed to the rest of the body - undermining the body's ability to function efficiently.

When I first thought that I may have something wrong with my thyroid I thought it was something you could fix easily. You just take a pill and you'll feel better and start to lose weight. Boy was I wrong!!!

 I have been on the medicine for about a month now and I haven't seen any difference with how I feel, and honestly somedays I feel worse. I thought the exhaustion you feel when you are pregnant was bad, but this is even worse and then the insomnia on top of it just makes it worse!

The hardest part of trying to treat this condition is finding the right dosage of the medicine your thyroid needs to make up for the hormone imbalance. This can take awhile to figure out and until you do you don't get much relief from your symptoms.

Some of the common symptoms are:

Weight gain, Bloated face, Dry, pallid, flaky skin, Hoarse voice, Amplified sensitivity to cold, Frail fingernails and hair (eyebrows may become thinned), Constipation, Foggy Brain, Memory loss, Muscle weakness, Irregular menstrual period/infertility, Insomnia, Swollen or stiff joints, Depression, Major Mood Swings, Muscle aches, Higher than usual blood cholesterol level.

I have experienced almost every one of these. 

The most frustrating is the weight gain! I have at least been able to maintain and maybe lose a pound here or there. It's just hard when 2 years ago I was able to watch my calories and exercise and the weight would come off consistently. I can do the same thing now and am very lucky if I don't see the number on the scale go up, it's very frustrating and makes it hard to stay motivated. I'm also taking a break from MFP for awhile since everything on there just annoys me right now. The title of the post however did come from there. Someone asked if you could just exercise more to rev up your metabolism to compensate, a ladies response was "When your car runs out of gas can you just keep pushing it with your feet?" Meaning you may be able to get it to the side of the road or to a gas station but you wouldn't be able to do that forever. And since your metabolism is what keeps your body energized, when you are living with a very decreased one there is only so much you can do before your body just wants to give out.

One of the other symptoms that just scares me is the Infertility...(this may be a little tmi)...but I haven't had a normal period since November. It either is extremely late or doesn't come at all. This is suppose to resolve it self with the medicine but no luck yet. There is also the risk factor if you get pregnant and it's not controlled passing it on to the baby, higher risk of miscarriage, and down syndrome. Which all has me very nervous and scared, but hoping we can get my hormones under control by the time we want to try for another.

The thinning hair has happened and made me super sad. I love my hair! I get so scared to do any type of styling to it or blow dry it or anything because I'm scared more of it will fall out or breaking off. 

The muscle aches and joint pain always hit at night or in the morning. My lower back gets so bad sometimes I can barely bend over. The last few nights it has been my legs they will just ache all night. And I am always freezing....to the point where I will be in sweats, sweater and three blankets on at night and still be cold.

I also find myself mad or annoyed by everything! Things just bug me and I get livid over things that I normally wouldn't. Or I will cry over the dumbest things, My poor husband!!

I really don't mean to complain these are just some of the things that I have experienced with this. I'm going on a higher dosage of the medicine next week, we are hoping I will start to get a little relief  from some of these symptoms then. If not I will then have to go to a specialist in Salt Lake to see if there is an under-lying reason causing the problems. 

On a positive note though my blood count has seemed to stabilize, I'm still considered anemic but my count and levels seem to be rising!