My thryoid isn't slow, it's just strongly influenced by our sluggish economy

A while back, a few readers asked me to expand on this little condition I have (amongst many) called hypothyroidism. This is an illness so prevalent in my family, even my favorite childhood stuffed duck, Quack Quack, had it. I'm at home right now and have a few minutes between doing shoulder-blade squeezes and cervical traction so I though, "Hey - what a perfect time to blog about my sluggish little metabolism-regulator!"

So, I was a chubbier child. Always "on a diet." My cousin recently told me that he remembers dining at a Denny's (high class, I know) with me when we were, like, 8 years old, and I didn't want to eat anything because I claimed I needed to lose weight. Sigh. Anyway, I would go on these crazy fasts where I would only eat lettuce for a week, thn nothing but bacon the next. (Side note: Yesterday I passed a bar that screamed out with a banner, "All You Can Eat Bacon, All Day, Every Day!" I'm going there for dinner tonight.) Anyhow, I would try all these fads and still, Chub City. I also remember telling my mom I was "going running" when I was so, so young - maybe fourth grade? - and I would haul ass around the block three times, stopping approximately every 10 feet to talk to my friend Heidi or smack around my neighbor Rachel or flirt with Brad from across the street.

I remained husky.

In addition to my wildly skewed body image and age-inappropriate, inane dietary tactics, I was constantly cold and tired, and had really brittle hair and nails. My mom started to notice these symptoms and put it all together - she has hypothyroidism, too - and we took a field trip to the doctor. Lo and behold, the little butterfly-shaped gland that sits in my neck was woefully slow and as a result, my metabolism has slowed to that of someone Bea Arthur's age.

Very quickly, I was put on Synthroid, a synthetic hormone to replace what my body wasn't making. And can I tell you, maybe my memory is clouded by too much bad reality TV but in my mind at least, starting in the sixth or seventh grade, I shot up about a foot while staying essentially the same weight.

I often wonder how the whole hypoT thing impacted my body image. Would I have developed an eating disorder if I hadn't been so chubby and didn't have to deal with the teasing that followed? I mean seriously, I was made fun of A LOT - either for being big, or for my clothes: I never ever wore jeans as a kid because I thought I looked too fat in them...I remember trying on a pair of Guess jeans with some friends and not being able to fit those peglegged, acid-washed suckers up my thigh...so I wore skirts all the time. Short skirts. With shiny nude dance hose. Hose, people! And splatter-painted, off-the-shoulder sweatshirts. I swear. Think Flashdance, only as a kid. And heavy. And insecure.

Probably I would have. I believe pretty firmly that EDs have a major genetic component so if I hadn't been called a "cow" in fourth grade, maybe those Leslie the Lesbian jokes would have triggered it, or the guys who made my friend Jen and I ride in the backseat following a high school double date to Olive Garden because we wouldn't put out. At least I wouldn't...Jen was a bit, errrr, loose.

I also wonder if Mother Nature actually meant for me to be as tall as I am. When I was born, my hypothyroid just a teeny, pulsing little bud in my throat, was I destined to be 5'11"? Or did the medicine shoot me up so much that now all I have to do is sport two-inch heels to be taller than the vast majority of men in the world? Only my body knows for sure. That said, THANK YOU, Abbott, makers of Synthroid, for helping me achieve such statuesque proportions. I do love being a Tall Girl.

Any questions?

POOP ALERT: Fear not, your bowel movement questions shall be answered next week. In the meantime, SUZ, MIZFIT and LACEY... email me - you are about to become more regular than you ever dreamed possible.

Comments

Several things:

1. Sorry you had to go threw all that crap and I wonder if you would have developed an ED.

2. Where can I get some of that Synthroid? I need to grow about 8 inches!

3. You were probably much better off NOT being able to sport the pin-legged acid wash jeans...don't forget about the tight roll? (Not that the hose and paint splattered, off the shoulder sweatshirt was any better, but hey, those were the 80s. Where were your leg warmers?!!)

5. Don't worry, I got mooed at while lying out in college one time. Love thy cows!

(side note), if 80s styles ever come back, which unfortunately some of them are...and I don't know why, please shoot me.

I forgot my funny thyroid story...

I coach freshman girls field hockey. One day, while warming up for a game, one of them says, "My thyroid really hurts," while rubbing her thigh/quad. I almost peed myself. I have not let her live that one down.

You were 8 and you said you needed to lose weight?! I'm sorry to hear that:( Childhood shouldn't be filled with those kinds of concerns.

Actually.. I do have questions. Well, I'm taking them to my doctor obviously.. All the women in my mom's side of the family have hypothyroidism. I've been getting tested for it since my senior year of high school (I'm a soph. in college) the test results have gone from being normal, to "borderline", back to normal. I've gained a decent amount of weight even while being super active and watching what I eat, while my hair falls out, I'm tired, and always cold. Yet my blood test results say I'm "normal". My current mission is to call the doctor back and find out exactly how "normal" I am, because "normal" could actually be a couple decimal places away from an abnormal reading that would warrant some Synthroid.

So that's my story. At least I do have a 5'11" frame that wonderfully distributes my 15lb weight gain!

Anyone that has concerns about hypothyroidism needs to be persitstent with the doctors. They told my pre teen daughter--you're cold-it's winter; you're moody-you are a pre-teen; skin dry-put lotion on it; gaining weight-try a bit more exercise. All of these are symptoms of the condition. I was the one who put it together and once diagnosed, the md's all shook their heads-like 'by golly-she's right'.
So, Emily, continue your vigilance and good luck.

I just had my follow-up thyroid panel done this morning! Great timing, girl. And I have SO many Q's for you.

1. Do you try and avoid goitrogenic foods (raw broccoli, cabbage, kale, strawberries, peaches etc.)?
2. How often do you get tested? Do you do just the tsh test or do you get all the stuff done?
3. Do you see an endocrinologist?
4. Does synthroid have both t3 and t4 in it?

Emily - you sound just like me, girl! Seriously - every word you wrote. Except the 5'11" part. My doc told me that I was "borderline normal" and i should just not exercise so much. I took a week off the gym but have still been having symptoms so I went back and insisted on a FULL thyroid panel. Do you know if they tested you for just tsh levels? Because those are notoriously inaccurate. Also, it seems like what feels normal to one person shows symptoms in another. I so feel your pain girl. Let us know what happens!

I have the opposite--HYPERthyroidism. And yes, I can eat just about anything and not gain weight. (Think I'm lucky? Google "goiters". Yeah. That's what I have to look forward to if I don't stay on top of it.)

And the worst part? I also had a severe eating disorder. Thirteen years, two rounds of inpatient treatment, and thousands of hours (and $$) of therapy later, I still struggle with body image issues.

I absolutely agree with you that EDs have a huge genetic component. I think I would have had the predisposition to develop one whether I had the metabolism of a hummingbird or of a Golden Girl.

(Im a winner! Im a winner!)

what an interesting post, Leslie!
I (obviously) had no idea and know not enough about hyper or hypo.

Thanks for taking the time to share.
and emily.
and charlotte.
and jen.

M.

Thanks for the super interesting post. It's funny that each symptom alone looks like someone being lazy or complaining but when you have them all together, it becomes clear that everything 'aint all right.

And yet people judge without knowing shit.

Thanks.

Darn it, why didn't the Synthroid make ME tall, blond and gorgeous!? You have all the luck, Leslie. :-)

Maybe if I'd started taking it before I was an adult...but probably not. Darn the luck.

V.

aw..Val..I'm blushing!!

Emily, I would follow-up with an endocrinologist - a doctor who specialies in this. Not a regular GP (Im just assuming that's who has been running your tests?) Like dogo said, be vigilant and don't just take no for an answer - obv. u are having symptoms of SOMETHING - maybe not hypoT but whatever it is, you deserve to feel good and full of energy.

Charlotte - I do not avoid certain foods but I've been on a fairly stable dose of synthroid for eons. Are you managing your issues just by diet? I imagine if that were the case, I'd need to be more careful. In terms of testing, I get a full panel done yearly. USed to see an endocrinologist but now it's so routine, my internist just does it. I don't know what's in synthroid - sorry, but I bet a simple call to the pharmacist would answer that.

Anoher three cheers for Synthroid here!! I'm up to 250mcg for my Hashimoto's (the autoimmune disease where your body destroys your thyroid, how nice) but it works like a charm. I can always tell when I have forgotten to take it for a day or two because my hair starts falling out and I start feeling foggy and so tired.

For anyone just getting tested, ask for your actual results. In 2003 the AACE (www.aace.com) changed the recommendations on hypothyroid. Before they used to say a TSH of 5.0 or under was 'normal,' now the new cutoff is 3.0. And many women don't feel symptom free until they get down to under 2. So if your doctor keeps telling you your thyroid is 'normal,' but you find out your TSH keeps coming back at 4.5, now you know what's up! Also at least at your initial diagnosis a full panel (tests including T3 and T4) really need to be done, not just TSH; as sometimes your thyroid can be off but TSH levels can be normal.

That's my PSA for the day!

I've known quite a few people who have had hypot, it seems (to me at least) to be more common that I would have expected.

I had a test for it last year when I was feeling like crap and my result came in as borderline hypot. Since then the level went just into the normal range so nothing has every come of it. I have most of the symptoms all you girls have described, but I think some of them can be attributed to the meds I'm on for my epilepsy.

My best friend was the same way. She went on medication and grew a bit. At one point, in 5th grade, she was taller than me for the first time ever, and was so happy! Then I grew 6 inches, and kept on growing. Now I'm 5'9" and she's 5'2", and she still remembers the glory days when she was taller than me, even if it was just for a few months!

My mom was HYPER-thyroid years ago, before i was even born, but i dont think i am because i last i checked my thyroid levels were fairly normal. But my mom said it was awful, yea she lost some weight (which she said krept up like crazy after because being able to eat everything kind of sprouted a deep love for caldbury cream eggs, now THAT part is genetic!), but she told me her eyes would pop out of her sockets sometimes which freaked people out. As for being tall, i wish i could be...i hate it too because in the kitchen in culinary school, all the sautee pan are hanging over the stoves and i cant reach them!!! its like i avoid all dishes that need sauteeing just because i am vertically challenged!

So comments are being goofy...I see the hypothyroid ones for the magazine post. Anyways, here are my 2 cents--

As hopefully a future national health magazine staffer, I can't get enough of magazines...anytime, anywhere. During the workout, I like to peruse Health, Shape, Self, Fitness and my favorite, Women's Health (always love playing "Where's Waldo" for Leslie articles!). The occassional People makes it into the rounds as well. Just glancing at Oxygen makes me feel like a weeny, so I can see how the study participants reacted the way they did.

I've found that I can't read on anything but the bike during a workout because I bounce too much :) So most of my reading gets held off for later. I do enjoy a good iPod playlist during the entire workout though!

Has anyone noticed the apperance of a few "normal" looking models in fitness magazines lately? It has me feeling quite ecstatic.

I like to talk to people while I work out, which is not a problem at my gym at home. People in NYC don't really like to do that. I can't get through a run without a friend next to me. (well, I can, but it's much, much harder). Last week, for example, I was home (at my gym in my town) working out and I was running on the treadmill. I wouldn't have made it 8 miles if I didn't have someone to talk to. And no, I wasn't moving all that slowly, I did it in about 65 minutes.

I'll read mags on the bike, but other than that it's music, tv or talk. I don't like to take the time to turn a page if I'm using my arms on the elliptical.

I love reading Rachel Ray on the elliptical. maybe not in depth stuff, i like mindless reads with BIG PRINTS and pictures so i dont need to focus too much on the content. Since i am in culinary school, i sometimes prop up the recipes i need to review for the week because it sticks in my head better that way. But its funny because my gym in near a fairly jewish orthodox neighborhood and there was the woman (in a "workout" dress and turtleneck if you can believe it) reading the torah. Well whatever gets you over that hump. my favorite distraction though is music videos, i do intervals when a song i like is playing. Plus, fergie shaking her "hump" kinda inspires me to keep mine running.

It's making me post my comment under the wrong post! Ah well.

I am also all for music videos ("must run faster must get bum as hot as THAT!") although they can be counter-productive if you're feeling down on yourself already.

I think if I read a magazine I would fall off the treadmill.

If I couldn't disassociate, I don't think I would ever exercise. Running is just my excuse to load up on endorphins and listen to my iPod - the actual moving around bit is purely incidental!!

TA x

Wow, I wish I could be on a medication that made me be 5'11". Even when I was heavier, I never thought my main flaw was my fat; I just reasoned that I needed to grow a few more inches.

I was tested for hyperthyroidism a little while ago because I was at a low weight despite eating a lot of food. Turns out, all my hormone levels were completely normal and the low weight was attributed to my vigorous running schedule. Once I started eating more and cutting back on the workouts, my weight stabilized a bit more.