“What’s
wrong with your neck?!”
My friends
had not seen me in a year and when I went to visit them last April, they were
appalled at a growth in the front of my neck and rushed me to urgent care.
My thyroid
gland was swollen and I began what would be over a month of tests including
ultra sound, biopsy, and blood work. I learned that one in eight women in North
America will develop some type of thyroid condition and while more women than
men are affected, 60% of people who have thyroid conditions are unaware of their condition.
My endocrinologist said, “You’ll need
surgery.”
The thyroid
gland controls the rate at which the human body produces energy from nutrients
and oxygen. Think of it like the gas pedal on your car. Don’t press on the
pedal and there’s no gas for the car to burn, floor it and you’ve got way too
much!
When the
thyroid gland is not producing enough thyroxin, the condition is called
hypothyroidism and some common symptoms include weakness, weight gain, cold
hands and feet, joint pain, heavy menstrual cycles and in advanced cases,
confusion and depression. Your system is processing at too slow a rate!
Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is a common autoimmune cause of hypothyroidism.
When the
thyroid gland produces too much thyroxin, the condition is called
hyperthyroidism and some common symptoms are anxiety, shaky hands, sweating,
diarrhea, bulging eyes, weight loss, and light menstrual flow. Your system is
burning too hot. Graves’ disease is a common cause of hyperthyroidism.
I was
diagnosed with hypothyroidism in my early twenties and took a low dosage of
synthroid until my endocrinologist retired and my new doctor prescribed
something which made me sick, so I simply stopped taking it.
After being
told I would have to have surgery, I sought a second opinion. The new endocrinologist
determined that I did NOT have thyroid cancer, nor an autoimmune disease, but
still she urged me to have surgery for cosmetic reasons. Because the thyroid
gland is so close to the vocal cords there is always the risk of them being nicked
or slit. I teach for a living so I needed my voice intact!
For me, nutrition and exercise were
the answers – NOT SURGERY!
My primary
care doctor recommended the Paleo diet and exercise. Since beginning in June,
I’ve lost 20 pounds and the swelling in my thyroid gland has completely
disappeared. What amazes me is that I feel better than I have in years--
without thyroid medication and without thyroid gland surgery.
November is
national Hyperthyroidism Awareness Month, so I thought it timely and
appropriate to start this blog with the condition that prompted me to change my
lifestyle for the better. The universal frustration with thyroid issues is that
they can be easily misdiagnosed or the symptoms ignored because we
unfortunately equate weight gain, achiness, forgetfulness, weariness with just growing old. On the other hand, if
you are jumpy, restless, having difficulty with temperature control and sleep, many
a doctor or same-age friend will tell you, “It’s just perimenopause, nothing to
do but live with it.” Only a little over a century ago, a woman displaying
these symptoms would be labeled, “hysterical” and her problem treated as a
mental disorder.
Let’s stop
the madness and put the brakes on the surgery factory assembly line. That
little gland at the base of your throat influences
every cell, tissue and organ in your body!
If you don’t
feel well, the tests for thyroid diseases are simple. If you don’t have an
actual thyroid disease, then consider treating the hormone imbalances with diet
and exercise before letting a surgeon take “the easy fix.”
My sources
were Right Diagnosis, the American Thyroid Association and Stop the Madness. A 3.5 min. video
that explains the thyroid functions:
In my next
entry to Mulligan Musings, I’ll give you the skinny on the Paleo Diet and what
it has meant to me.
