Small But Mighty: A Thyroid Life

The Knowledge Divide - Life with a Headless Metabolism: Thyroid Disease - Everyday Health Blogs

2012-01-29T21:18:00.000Z

We typically look at the internet as one vast collection of knowledge which search engines work endlessly to plough through on our behalf, so that we can look out on the field and find the ripe strawberry amongst the dead ones. But I have found, time and time again, that even within the internet a divide exists. This divide is clearly not digital, but it is one of access to, and participation in, knowledge communities.

In my Everyday Health post this week I argue for centralising the conversation and debate on thyroid disease. To find out what I'm talking about, and to share your opinions, click on the link below.

Read it Now: The Knowledge Divide - Life with a Headless Metabolism: Thyroid Disease - Everyday Health Blogs

'When community leaders are spending time answering the same questions over and over again, and when individuals post the same arguments and the same questions and the same criticisms under the same forum headings while the older debates, three steps ahead, get shuffled into the archive, we don't get any further than this stage one of questions and shouting and 'what do you think?' and 'let's hear your opinion, shall we?'. '

Feed Me Long-Term Solutions. Please. - Life with a Headless Metabolism: Thyroid Disease - Everyday Health Blogs

2012-01-16T14:48:00.000Z

Feed Me Long-Term Solutions. Please. - Life with a Headless Metabolism: Thyroid Disease - Everyday Health Blogs

2011-12-01T13:53:00.001Z

Eat This; Don't Eat That - We could all be wrong:
Take a Guess.

This video presents views which are incredibly controversial within the thyroid community as well as other communities: is it better for us, for example, to eat raw foods? The general agreement is yes, of course, and there has been a massive growth of raw food snacks available in the supermarkets and online, but this collection of 'raw foods' includes those deemed to be 'goitrogenic' - brocolli and cabbage are just two examples. On the one hand it is suggested that cooking such foods ensures that they do not damage the function of the thyroid (although a question I have not researched is if we already take thyroid replacement medications then surely this would make no difference?). On the other hand cooking these foods (as pointed out in the above documentary) reduces the nutrition which they would otherwise offer us. Our bodies, apparently, were never meant to take in cooked food which does not need to be cooked.

I certainly believe in raw foods, but there is something much nicer about adding some boiled broccoli to a bowl of delicately mixed vegetables.

Perhaps there are two extremes, as there are with everything: if you prepare foods yourself, from base ingredients then surely you are more likely to reap the benefits of your relatively fresh meal (despite the ingredients coming from a supermarket or similar place), not contaminated by not needed sugar, salt, E-numbers, palm oil, and various other irritating things bound to nudge even the healthiest of stomachs and bodies into decline?

If, on the other hand, you agree to the supposedly healthy weight watchers (apologies to anyone who is a sworn weight-watchers follower or similar) microwaveable meals, the vegetables-in-a-packet provided by such high-market supermarkets as Waitrose and declaring on their front that they are extremely healthy and will be ready to eat after two minutes of experiencing microwaves or boiled water, or the 'fat free' yoghurt offered by some brands which may be wonderful occasionally but otherwise tastes so decidedly sweet or sour (which one is it?) that you are forced to peek at the ingredients and notice that the sugar content is twice as high as the pot containing less than 2 grams of fat, aren't you losing out on something more nutritious?

Please note that Small But Mighty: A Thyroid Life is a blog aimed at informational and awareness purposes; Life With a Headless Metabolism: Thyroid Disease is where I allow my privacy to become depleted with personal stories open to people who would like to relate and am meant to post more frequently. If I do add a personal comment on this subject over there, the final sentence of the above paragraph will not be a question but a statement: '...you most certainly are losing out,' it may say. I will not write that here (because I am not knowledgeable enough, nor am I qualified in anything close enough to medicine or nutrition, and) I could be wrong.

Of course, so could medical science,

(which actually is composed of qualifications and knowledge).

Finally, an article with facts in it

2011-07-31T00:23:00.000+01:00

Well done, the Daily Mail: you've finally done it: written an article which tells people what the thyroid actually does, and what it doesn't do when things go wrong.

Well done, the Daily Mail: your article appears to be well-researched; though depressing, it appears to be true.

The article focuses on actress Gena Nolin (of Baywatch) and, of course, on her weight struggles. But it also explains her other symptoms, and says that thyroid disease can lead to serious cases. It highlights how long it takes to get diagnosed. It explains the process of thyroid disease deterioration well.

I'm not sure what different medications Gena Nolin was able to try, or why she tried them, and I wish they pointed out that for most women, on the usual UK-given drug levothyroxine, it takes up to six months to be 'almost symptom-free', not 'three days'.

Still, an altogether positive article for the state of awareness from the Daily Mail. Looks like it will be in the print edition?

Shame I don't usually have any faith in the newspaper: I'd buy a copy to check if I did. But this article may well sway me towards believing that the Daily Mail actually does publish worthwhile stories.

Click here to view the article

I Have the Thyroid Thing

2011-03-25T21:17:00.001Z

I have the thyroid-thing: I see all these people on the trains, see their necks and their faces; see they're exhausted; see they're sleeping; see they're daydreaming...and I feel sorry for them. They could be hypo, but they don't know.

I have the thyroid-thing: I look at these people, sleeping; daydreaming - and I think 'I used to be you'. I love the way I am, the super speedy me; the third - do I have a third? - personality me. My endo said my body's heading into overdrive (in other words yes I am becoming a little hyper...in my case over-treated with thyroxine). It was obvious from the word go - from over two years ago - that this was going to happen, seeing as I went shooting down when I added the extra pills to my concoction. But I wouldn't call this shooting up - it's more like I was flung into outer space when I came off those other pills, with my arms spread in front of me; reaching, in this gravity-less place; on a road which takes quite a while, for the planet ahead of me, bright red (the worst colour, but it signals that things are intense), and that two weeks ago I was close enough to touch its crispy edge, and as for now? Well...I tested his theory (and mine, for I queried the change) on the escalator: walked as fast as I could through the crowds, swung myself around those slow-walking, suddenly stopping strangers like I like to do, headed the wrong way but quickly recovered over a dozen times with my super-speedy decision-making and my power-walking legs - yeah, look at me: speedy me; charged with a rocket me; look at me, yeah.

But it's all got to go. And I knew it would. I'm supercharged, like a laptop that's been over-clocked: it's a dangerous game to play. No - I refuse - (and watch my list here, you'll like it I swear)
to exclude the possibility
of a wide-eyed me;
of a super-speedy me;
of a brain activated,
super-speedy chatty problem-solving one
hundred and thirty laps in the pool
Me.
Yeah.

What do you do if you don't want to overclock your laptop but you do want the same results?
You clean your hard drive, empty your internet cache, delete unwanted software, complete a virus scan, de-fragment your fragments and then you restart. And what you get is just as good.
Yeah.
I know what to do: I'll make this feeling last; it's the same feeling you get when you suddenly start being able to do something, with no warning but many falls behind you. You felt it? You know it? It's like a drug, but one you're only given every few years. You had it? Let me tell you - you sure as hell want it. I know what to do: I'll make it last...
I'll make it last...at least
I'll try.

Otherwise I know I sure will miss the overdrive; I sure will miss my second ever taste of life on the other side (because this need to go on alternate doses is a little deja vu. Just so long as I don't, in a few months, start on another medication to add to my totally reduced concoction, maybe my timeline won't circle and circle and circle). Levothyroxine isn't addictive - but a taste of hyper for a hypo?; A taste of the extra RAM; the overdrive that's fucking brilliant?
That sure is.

Damn good I have an imagination to see where things could go. Damn good, doc, I can see my guilt twenty years down the line if I let this be; damn good I doubt myself like that; damn good, proff, don't you think - that I'm not screaming; leaping; yelling for this thing; this thing that I call a drug.

Lost for Words

2011-03-01T16:59:00.001Z

Blank and Blur - below is a writing entry found on my laptop, dated October 2007 - a year before I was diagnosed; a year before I knew there was anything wrong with me. Thyroid Disease is real, and it's not one of those things caused by your thinking that you're ill.

'I’m lost for words: I’m completely and utterly lost for words. Nothing is swirling in my head; no complex mixture of thoughts – hell, not even something downright simple. What is this? A trap of writers block? Yet I’ve not even claimed myself enough to have that title standing over me. So what? Am I ready to begin? Yet again time is crawling behind me, lashing it’s claws at me and striking deep, sickening holes in me; holes which weep oceans of red-brown blood; blood which trickles down my skin and sinks into the next gash; the ocean flowing like lava from a volcano, burning, sizzling, steaming, melting my skin. I turn my eyes away…and begin….'

Theory

2011-01-29T11:53:00.000Z

I HAVE a theory.
The theory is that it is possible to train your body to the way you want it to be. I'm talking about food. I'm talking about routine. I'm talking about knowing what's good for you and what isn't. And here are my top tips:

Make a food chart. One the left side put 'No-Go-Foods/Drinks' and on the right put: 'Best Foods/Drinks For...' with sub categories for whatever it is that you struggle with, e.g. 'Energy', 'Regurgitation' and so on. When you are certain about those foods write them down. For example, under No-Go-Foods/Drinks' I have pizza or anything sharing those ingredients, wheat, and fizzy drinks. Under 'Best Food/Drinks For..Regurgitation' I have fennel tea and (lemon with hot water?), along with solid dry foods. Stick to this chart as your bible - refer back to it every time you have specific issues, and deviate only if you really believe that certain no-go foods are now okay, or if your diet is changing.
Make a chart with tick-boxes for whatever it is that you keep forgetting to do or running out of time to do. Examples include a sit-up chart; a chart to get your health back on track if you've been skipping meals or not showering enough (tick every time you do to get yourself into a routine). My chart includes tick-boxes for when I do physio exercises on my shoulders.
Teach your body to ask for only what it needs - nothing more. If you have to eat little and often then continue to do so; if not, try it. Have a specific-size breakfast (e.g. half a yoghurt with cereal) and if your body asks for the other half later then allow it. If you have what I like to call a 'crash hour' (more on this in a later post) where you feel pretty rubbish, could fall asleep,can't focus on anything and want to eat to try and get your energy back, then work on that hour and find out what is the 'perfect snack' for that hour, and keep experimenting until you find it.

Thyroid Awareness Week

2010-10-22T17:25:00.001+01:00

THYROID AWARENESS WEEK

2010-10-18T17:35:00.000+01:00

This week is Thyroid Awareness Week in the UK. 1 IN 5 have it. That means you should either have it or know someone who does. But it's undiagnosed in 13 million people in the US - that's 1 in 20. It's misdiagnosed. Diagnosed years later. It's the subject of argument and controversy. It affects everything,

everyday.

And if you don't know you've got it, this could be the week which

changes your life.

This is the time for shouting about our disease. This is the time for telling people how important thyroid disease is, for telling them how much it changes people; how much it leads lives; how much it affects everyday life. This is the time for getting thyroid disease the proper attention it deserves: a space in the news; a place on the agenda of international experts. This, right here, right now, is the time for settling online debates and international controversies; for establishing, once and for all, a treatment or choice of treatments which every doctor or endocrinologist accepts and a diagnosis which doesn't change between the UK and the US. This is an international disease which deserves international response.

Let's realise how mighty small things are: Hypothyroidism. Hyperthyroidism. Graves and Hashmiotos. Thyroid Cancer. Let's get rid of those 7 year, 12 year, 20 year stories of undiagnosis or misdiagnosis. And let's realise how small the mighty can be.

The Thyroid: Small but Mighty: look it up.

Ah, So the Net DOES Back me up on a Hypo Brain!

2010-08-30T23:16:00.000+01:00

"What allows the brain to work quickly and efficiently is its energy supply. If this is impaired in any way, then the brain will go slow."

That is the first sentence of an article entitled 'Brain Fog' on the website DoctorMyhill.co.uk. For me it is a direct link to hypothyroidism and if I didn't find that word or the phrase 'underactive thyroid' in the article I would've been undeniably shocked.

Luckily, then, it is mentioned.

According to the article a properly functioning brain needs the following:

A good blood supply
Enough blood going to it
"Sufficient blood pressure"
"Sufficient oxygen"
A consistent sugar supply

View the article (link at the bottom of this page) for more information on each of the above including how to treat a foggy brain.

Now, almost as often as I write a post on this blog or on 'Life With A Headless Metabolism' or even on Dear Thyroid I add in some kind of reference to 'Blur.' Blur, as I name him or her or it, is the irritating blurred vision which comes and goes as it pleases when I am tired but particularly when my thyroid is down - at such a time Blur is a regular visitor. Here comes the advice part:

To rid him or her or it one must shake their head or blink furiously; alternatively, if Blur is being a little more of a twat patience is the only option. Concentration, if you are reading at the time and particularly if you are in a rush or under a timed condition examination, is not to be expected. Likewise, if you are attempting to listen to someone's intelligent or interesting conversation during Blur's distracting visit then again I would highly advise delaying the interesting you-must-remember points with a relatively intelligent-slash-not really needed question. These are lifestyle tips, you'll realise - just ways of dealing with Blur.

Blur can, alongside blurred vision, which is a highly common hypothyroid symptom and is often listed on symptom checklists from website to website, also refer to brain fog where, to put it simply, you're brain is floating somewhere between Saturn and the snowstorm mountains of ski slopes - and yes, it does take millions of lightyears to get between them. Thus:

You cannot process a thing without repeating it a hundred times. Cannot read and respond to a simple sentence on a page without breaking it down bit by bit. You feel pretty dumb and you wonder what the hell everybody else thinks of you too. You can't remember something, not even from that morning, or of who you saw the day before - anyone would think you either weren't listening, weren't paying attention or just have seriously bad short term memory issues. Brain Fog. It's strong. It's irritating. It's a brain of absolutely nothing. You could flick it with your fingernails and all you'd hear would be the hollow sound of dead wood or the echo of a derelict cave.

The list of symptoms of brain fog on the article above contains everything I've just described as well as the following:

- difficulty finding the right word - TRUE!

- thinking one word but saying another - TRUE!

Now let me ask you, how many times when you've been really tired have you stumbled over your words and said to the person in front of you: "oo, I really can't speak today!" Most of us do it randomly anyway. But how much do you do it when you're tired? When you're hypo? If you're not just imagine it for a moment. How many times?

Alot. An awful lot.

That's brain fog.

Now, the article does mention under 'Treatment' that 'hormonal disturbances' i.e. hypothyroidism is one possible cause/treatment for brain fog. What I want to do is get this news out a little more. What I want to do is let people know that their complaints of poor concentration, poor memory and so on - potentially, dyslexia and dispraxia (yes, that is my opinion there) - could be due to hypothyroidism. That the amount of children in schools whose poor grades are finally being attributed to poor memory..and hopefully at some point the fact that the syllabus is far too memory-orientated, may in fact be due to developing hypothyroidism issues. It's the same with growth problems; socialisers who don't keep up with the modern 'law' (again, my strong opinion) on socialising; even obesity. Yes, all the so-called 'problems' we have today may be down to thyroids or to immune-system mistakes causing thyroid problems. Yes we need to ensure that amongst today's non-active busy lifestyle we are fit and healthy and totally not stressed but we also need to consider a little more the importance of certain hormones; of our metabolism in our day to day life.

Let it be known: the thyroid IS Small But Mighty

Read the article referenced here:
http://drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/Brain_fog_-_poor_memory,_difficulty_thinking_clearly_etc

Totally Unrelated - my Borneo adventure

2010-08-18T15:25:00.003+01:00

Click To Play

I told you it’s Small But Mighty

2010-07-17T11:46:00.001+01:00

You know how I always say 'The Thyroid is Small But Mighty?' Well I mean it.

Don't let anyone ever tell you that the thyroid doesn't really do that much. That assumption is rubbish.

Read why on my Everyday Health blog here: Life With A Headless Metabolism - That Assumption is Rubbish

How To Make Your Body Switch

2010-06-08T14:58:00.000+01:00

'Switch' means change.
'Switch' means exchange.
'Switch,' to me, implies that you are either going back to something or that you will go back at a later stage.
A 'switch,' in body terms, is never permanent. It's like swapping. Like trading: you keep going for the better trade or the higher exchange.

In 'body terms' you can make switches just like you can trade one card for another. Here's my lesson learnt: if you know how foods affect you then you can make them affect you in the right way. If high-sugar foods make you sleepy and you are in desperate need of sleeping then eat the stuff! Trade your well-kept energy for that sleepy symptom you so dislike and make it work the right way. If wheat makes you bloated but you want you supress your appetite then go for it! And to get back? Just stop eating it. If too much yoghurt makes you go like hell then eat it like hell. Trade one type of pain for another, just to relieve the first one for a while, just until things the second way get too bad. It's not really about a balance; it's about tipping the scales to hell and pelting them up to heaven, with a little earth-time in-between. Trade ongoing irritance for one night of illness and perhaps sone additional concerns..but if it works, it works, right? Deal with the next lot of symptoms after.

Learn how every food and drink affects you and then you can work out how to counteract one symptom with another. Life is a constant Switch. Switch. Switch. Switch.

Where are you at now?

Stories From A Settled Tribe: Coming Soon

2010-05-29T14:22:00.000+01:00

"If it is possible I want to stand in front of millions of people and say:

"The jungle is the most important thing for human beings.""

NELSON KELESAU

INTRODUCING: 'STORIES FROM A SETTLED TRIBE - THE PEOPLE OF LONG LAMAI'

Between April and May 2010 I lived with the Penan of Long Lamai, teaching English and learning about their way of life. Beforehand, on a plane journey from Kuching to Miri, an idea came to me that I would collect stories from the local people about anything they want to say; anything that matters most to them; any message they want to share with people in the West; anything they want future generations of Long Lamai to remember - anything at all. These stories would be collected in a book, published, sold, and given as a gift to the village. The proceeds would go towards the village for things such as:

sending children to the next level of education
allowing families to collect materials so that they can extend their homes and build homestays for tourists
health care in a remote area
building materials such as screws, and diesal for the longboats and the generators for electricity

...and whatever else is needed.

Stories range from how we should respect the jungle to Penan music and traditional skills, to personal struggles and collective struggles - with education; money; jobs...and the loggers, to jungle myths, to jungle medicine and the Penan 'Writing Without Words' - a jungle language unique to them.

"I will come with you to the cities with nothing: how do you survive?"

Look out for the link of where to buy the book from, which will be sold on lulu.com, as it is coming soon.

"Money can finish.
Our forest? Our jungle?
Not finished.
Never ends."
James Lalo' Keso, Long Lamai

"When the government thinks about Penan life, they can save the jungle for us if they want to."
Aint Lungah, Long Lamai

Eat Rubbish, Feel Rubbish

2010-05-01T05:36:00.000+01:00

OUT comes another problem with the fast food industry: it buggers up your thyroid.

Yep, so it's not just that they make you fat; clog up your arteries; taste disgusting; make you feel sick and kill the jungle and murder animals in the process: it makes you fat and gives you hypothyroidism.

Brilliant, right?

Of course the two go hand in hand. Low thyroid means low metabolism and that means low everything else (except for the amount of space your body takes up) ....unless you eat so little because you have no hunger level whatsoever.

An article on About.com Thyroid Disease, by Mary Shoman, explains new research which "apparently" proves that fast-food restaurants such as Burger King and McDonalds have a low iodine content in their food. For those who don't know, not enough iodine in the blood leads to hypothyroidism. Too much iodine, on the other hand, leads to hyperthyroidism.

According to the article and the results of the research, the findings go hand in hand with an overall reduction in iodine content in people's blood in the US paired with an increased consumption of fast-food.

So what's the point? Basically; quite simply; obviously, here is yet another reason why we shouldn't eat fast food!

Click here to to view the article.

Top Medical Platform Goes Multimedia

2010-04-05T04:27:00.000+01:00

THE new and growing medical platform, Medpedia has recently announced the addition to its impressive colation of resources, health and medical videos.

I wrote about the launch of Medpedia, a new platform for sharing medical information between professionals, organisations and patients, a short while ago - to see the post click here.

The new feature pulls videos from the big names in information-sharing such as Big Think and the US CDC and FDC.

So far there is an impressive collection of articles with video on the site. The article pages contain, as with all articles on Medpedia, textual information divided into Wikipedia style menus and headings, useful links to other divisions of the site (communities; questions & answers, etc), as well as any photos and, now, a YouTube video insert under the heading 'Related Videos.'

The multimedia addition to the site follows Medpedia's success so far in creating a "one-stop site", as I named it in my article after its launch. It is pooling incredibly useful resources from dozens of different places. No more searching on Google and then a Medical site, and then YouTube to find all the information you're looking for: you can just use Medpedia. Hassle-free.

To take one page as an example, here is the article on Metabolism at Medpedia:
http://wiki.medpedia.com/Metabolism
Still in development, there isn't a whole wealth of information on this page as there is on some others and the 'Clinical' tab as yet remains empty. However there is a simple definition of metabolism and there is a YouTube video explaining how knowledge is being furthered about human metabolism, information of both common-interest and useful to those studying medicine at any level.

Linked from this page is an article titled: 'Alcohol Metabolism', which is one of Medpedia's more detailed and longer articles, explaining how alcohol is processed in the body. There is then a video on "How much is Too Much?"

Check out the videos on Medpedia now:
http://wiki.medpedia.com/Special:ArticlesWithVideo

----
Thyroid Disease Community on Medpedia:
http://www.medpedia.com/communities/146-Thyroid-Diseases

Thyroid Q&A:
http://www.medpedia.com/communities/146-Thyroid-Diseases/related_questions

My blog on Medpedia:
http://www.medpedia.com/news_analysis/59-Small-But-Mighty-A-Thyroid-Life

Fights & Enemies

2010-04-04T17:46:00.000+01:00

The crowd is screaming, booing and cheering all at once, and their voices are so tied together you can't tell which is for you and which is for your enemy.

And the truth is that you have made an enemy. You've made one without even trying. You've made one without ever wanting one. You've entered a fight - right now your trainer leads you to the ring, and the ongoing screaming cries ever louder - and you've not even been trained.

But now you've got to learn to punch. And you've got to punch good.

Smack. Your against the ring. It hurts. Like hell. Blood and sweat, stinking and dripping and - you punch back once.

Your enemy slips out the way. Skilful. Better than you. Probably better than you'll ever be.

You want to curl up in a ball and sleep.

Smack.

Smack.

Smack. Smack. Smack.

Give it all. All or nothing. You gather what little you have left, and that consists of anger. Screaming, you are, in your head. Screaming.

And the crowd too. Louder and louder. You're standing there, a life-long enemy facing you, his eyes dark and devilish. You're standing there, facing an enemy you never wanted and never meant to have, and you punch him. And you get smacked.

Finally! There it is! The magic pill; the red or black life-saver; the health box in Crash Bandicout; the pill that means energy. Why rely on it? So weak, so silly, to rely on something so artificial. Especially for a fighter. Not a born fighter no: a made one.

But it works, doesn't it? It works. Smack. Smack. Smack.

One more, okay?

Smack.

And he's down. Down and quiet and sleeping, and you're standing there, finally - the first fight you've ever won - smiling, laughing, cheering with the crowd and jumping up and down as though you've just been born.

He'll be back, that enemy of yours. You know it. Enemies always are.

So for now until the next fight, Time.

Winston Churchill:

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.

Woodrow Wilson:

If you want to make enemies, try to change something.

http://www.wisdomquotes.com/cat_enemies.html

LevoSwitch

2010-03-19T04:38:00.000Z

I read something about thyroxine dose and lifestyle when researching the effects of caffiene (post coming soon). The excerpt said that if you have caffiene straight after taking your meds your dose may need to be adjusted (due to the pills not being absorbed). In other words, never drink coffee at breakfast, maybe not even tea. If you already do, stopping may well mean an increase in your T4. You can decide for yourself if you want to go down that route.

Does this mean, then, that your dose of levothyroxine is given to you according to your lifestyle?: whether you eat and drink things that impact absorption of pills; whether you eat and drink things which affect the functioning of your thyroid; whether you are drastically active or amazingly un-active. Does this mean that your dosage requirement will change according to your routine? That, according to what you do, your Levothyroxine needs will switch?

I am currently on an expedition in Borneo. I'm eating different foods, drinking different drinks; being either incredibly active or incredibly more like a couch potato; and I'm running on a different routine; in fact sometimes I'm not even on a routine at all. Should my dosage be changed? Some of the foods I'm eating are those which my body hasn't had (because it couldn't cope with them) in years: chocolate; sugar; fatty foods and greasy foods, and I've started drinking coffee, alchohol and tea which isn't herbal. So, alongside switching from a health-freak to one of the unhealthiest people on the entire island of Borneo, am I mucking up my perfect meds routine and stable thyroid?

Surely this 'LevoSwitch' might explain the reason teenagers, with their constantly changing routines, struggle so much to find the right dosage? In fact, it might explain everyone's struggles to find the right dosage - when energy comes and irritating things scamper away, you are more than likely to change your routine: to do more things; to try more and different things; to take the world in your arms and jump up and down! You change, and you need new amounts of T3 to be converted, or more T4 because all this is new to your body.

If you follow the advice:

you take your meds first thing in the morning on an empty stomach
you wait half an hour before eating breakfast
for breakfast, after only half an hour, you don't eat things which go straight through you and you don't go crazy on the calcium allowance

- you should, by default, be fine.

But 'things which go straight through you' include coffee and include tea. And, surely, it includes any hot things at breakfast - porridge, and surely too, it includes fruit? Or is there a fine line between what does and what doesn't 'go straight through you'? I guess, sometimes, the only way to tell is to wait and see and to have fun meantime.

Because, if you can enjoy your time while your thyroid is going down, the downtime will be alright, and the going-up time even better, and probably faster too.

----

Do you have any comments on this?

---

Check out two more of my letters, published on the 'Dear Thyroid' website:
http://dearthyroid.org/the-sober-drunkard/
http://dearthyroid.org/reminiscing/

Travelling with medication

2010-02-01T19:59:00.000Z

If you take daily medication and are going away for a prolonged length of time, you may be wondering what the rules and what the advice is for the following:

How or where to carry your medication(s)
What is the best way to package your medication(s)
Getting through customs with prescribed medication(s)

Travelling with medications is sometimes simple in hindsight but stressful and complicated nearer the time. To reduce sudden realisations of "oh my goodness, I'm going to have trouble at customs!" here are the answers to the above, which are formed of a mixture of different opinions/experiences from others, as well as doctors and chemists' views.

TIP #1

Buying

Medication can be expensive, but it doesn't have to be.
In the UK you can apply for a medical prescription charge exempt certificate if you have one of a number of conditions which includes hypothyroidism. Check out the full list here: http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/briefings/SNSP-4914.pdf (page 5)

You are also exempt from payment if you are:

Under 16 years old
16, 17 or 18 in full time education
60 years of age or over

…or if you have claimed a tax exempt certificate or payment exempt (means-tested).
Following the link above will direct you to more information and a more full list of options.

TIP #2

Pack most of your medication in whichever bag is going in the airline's hold, and some packets in your hand luggage.

This ensures that if anything does happen to your hold luggage, you have some medication to keep you going while you sort out the issue.
There is no problem with putting medication in your hold luggage so far as I am aware and have been told, especially if it is solid medication - pills, etc. The holds are pressurized so there is no need to worry about temperature or anything of the sort.

TIP #3

DO NOT take your medication out of the cardboard boxes and put them in other bags. You need the label which comes on your medications' boxes - without these foreign customs' may well take your medication off you without question.

With most boxes, especially levothyroxine ones, only one month supply is contained within each box. You could, therefore, take out several months' supplies and squeeze them into one box - so long as the medication in its box is labelled you will be okay.
You could also ask your chemist for bigger white cardboard pill boxes which fold down when not being used. If you wanted to use these you would have to ensure that you unpicked the label from the other packets and stuck them on the correct ones, and clearly.

TIP #4

TAKE a signed or professional Doctor's letter or print-off explaining that you have a long-term condition and therefore need to take regular medication.

I am taking one of these signed forms plus a print-off of all the current medications and their dosages (ask at your local GP surgery).
You may be questioned at customs about the amount of medication in your bag, especially if it is in your hand luggage, or (as is becoming the trend) your hold luggage is scanned. Note that this may happen in foreign countries more so than in the West. If you are questioned you will need to prove that what you have is prescribed medication and you are therefore okay to carry it. If you cannot prove this, your medication may be taken off you.
Another advantage of doing this is that if you were to be unlucky enough to have your hold luggage (containing the majority of your medication) lost, you should be able to get a new prescription while you are away of your medications, using the doctor's note.

TIP #5

Weight

Packaging months' worth of medication is always difficult.
Try getting rid of as many cardboard boxes as you can by squeezing the silver foil ones into another box (see Tip #3).
Take out the instruction manuals in each box.
If you are diabetic you may apply for an allowance of about 5 extra KGs hand luggage. So far as I am aware you cannot do this with other conditions.
Remember that your bag will get lighter as you go along and use up all your meds!

I will add more tips as I think or find out about them.

Small Things - Video

2010-01-25T20:12:00.003Z

The thyroid is small.
The thyroid, despite it's littleness, is great enough to be named Thyroid, for He holds a great power. ...

The title of this blog is 'Small But Mighty', and that title is placed with meaning.

The video below compares small things, all of which are mighty in one way or another. The thyroid is one of them.

Small Things

2010-01-25T11:22:00.001Z

Note: This is a timed presentation which contains sound. Download in order to view it properly.

To download as a ppt (PowerPoint presentation) you will need to click the 'Small Things' link below to go to the original document located on Scribd. Then click 'Download,' top-left. You will then have 3 options:
Download as ppt, pdf or txt. The default is ppt - just make sure that is selected.

Clicking the 'download' button on this page will download as a PDF file only.

Small Things

I saw it so clearly, and then I fell asleep.

2010-01-23T20:41:00.000Z

I saw it so clearly, and then I fell asleep.

I had the words playing freely in my head some hours ago. They were ready to be written. I couldn't bring myself to lift an arm to let them out and house them comfortably. Have I lost them? Tiredness: the evil player; he spins his web and I coil in retreat. He cannot be fought - nay, his strength is far too mighty for any with a fist. I do not know his name, for he comes and steals my mind, and when he is gone a trail of his footprints remain. Have I lost these words to him? Are they gone into the vortex along with life forgotten and times misunderstood? I must try to free them. I must try to recover what he has drawn and sucked out of me. I must try.

Note: Found in a notebook of last year. Probably after being diagnosed, but I'm not certain. Part of the above paragraph was already written in an earlier post, but here it is in full.

Check out more creative writing posts.

How To Tell When Your Thyroid Is Going DOwn: Spot the Symptoms BEFORE you get too low

2010-01-15T20:54:00.000Z

How to Tell When Your Thyroid is Going Down_Spot the Symptoms Before You Get Too Low

Submit Your Symptoms for Laughs

2010-01-10T20:17:00.000Z

Hello,

I'd like to write a post on this blog with this title:
"The weird, the wonderful, the embarrassing, and the oddly hilarious symptoms of thyroid disease.
I'll probably split it into hypo and hyperthyroidism. Some symptoms I've added in myself and some I've taken from other sites. Here's the simple bits of what I've got so far:

Raised prolactin
Digestion issues
Illegible handwriting
Internal itching of ears
Constantly forgetting what you were about to say - you're in an interview: "um, what was the question?"
Resembling a drunk in your day-to-day life: clumsiness and stupidity
Sweating like you've ran miles
Losing hair or having too much hair - caused by hormonal imbalances.

Can anyone add to this list? Feel free to add hyper, hypo, grave's and hashi's and quote as you please - leave your name if you want me to add it to the post.

Thanks :)

Thyroid Disease Misdiagnosed as Alzheimer's

2010-01-10T14:34:00.000Z

Here's an interesting one: Thyroid Disease is misdiagnosed - yes - as Alzheimer's disease. Did you know that?

I guess it makes sense - the memory difficulties and all; Blank is such a common irritance for those with thyroid disease.

Here's the quote from wrongdiagnosis.com:

Alzheimer's disease over-diagnosed: The well-known disease of Alzheimer's disease is often over-diagnosed. Patients tend to assume that any memory loss or forgetulness symptom might be Alzheimer's, whereas there are many other less severe possibilities. Some level of memory decline is normal with aging, and even a slight loss of acuity may be noticed in the 30's and 40's. Other conditions can also lead a person to show greater forgetfulness. For example, depression and depressive disorders can cause a person to have reduced concentration and thereby poorer memory retention.

In a way I think this excerpt points out the problems of being over-aware of a condition: we are so aware of Alzheimer's that we think it's staring us in the fact when actually it's something completely different that's waging wars with someone's body.

For those who are more prone to panicking, it is easy to panic and 'assume' that a friend or relative has Alzheimer's when what they actually have may be much more simple, or much more easy to treat, at least.

There is of course nothing wrong with being over-aware of a condition: awareness is what is needed, after all, if people are ever going to get themselves to a doctor and be diagnosed. But maybe we need to make sure that we don't automatically assume things; that instead we are still open to think "well it might be something else..." and, equally, that we are aware of thyroid disease so that, should we ever have to look at ourselves or at someone else and say "I think you might have..." we will be able to compare the two conditions and better understand the situation.

Misdiagnosis FACT

2010-01-10T14:20:00.000Z

Thyroid disease is misdiagnosed. Fact.

Thyroid disease is also undiagnosed. Fact.

It is undiagnosed in over 13 million people in the US - that's 1 in 20.

That statistic puts thyroid disease at number 10 in a list of 30 commonly undiagnosed conditions. Not at the top, right. But look what's above it:
Toxoplasmosis (an infection caused by parasites from cats) comes up as number 1. Most people do not have symptoms of this and it is listed as a "rare disease."

Directly above thyroid disorders, at number 9, is migraines. Easy to miss if you don't have it strongly, but very well known - even my spell-checker could pick it up!

Diabetes, Parkinson's Disease and Celiac Disease all appear lower in the list than thyroid disease.

Let's do something about this. Let's do something about this now.

New Design & A more personal place

2010-01-06T21:49:00.000Z

I've changed the design on the blog and it would be great to hear what people think - if it's better or worse than the old one and what changes could be made?

Also, on Everyday Health I'm blogging about more personal stuff - an awful lot about changes, and therefore how the thyroid produces those changes. For those who might enjoy reading about that more than the article-style presented on this blog, or to see the posts, click here.

A recent post I wrote is called 'Ah, but haven't I learnt so much from my neck!' and this one goes through some of the things which stand out the most at the moment about what I've learnt from the Small But Mighty gland sitting in my neck.

Top Tips on Exercise with an Underactive Thyroid

2010-01-03T20:54:00.000Z

Image via Wikipedia

Today I asked the gym instructor what he knows about people with underactive thyroids. Now I won't embarrass him, just in case he ever finds this page - he knew what was necessary for him to know in his job, put it that way, so I didn't add to his knowledge. I asked him what his advice is for people recovering from being underactive who are trying to get fitter and lose weight. These are his tips:

The best time to exercise is in the morning - kicking your metabolism up at this time means that it will be higher throughout the rest of the day, and that means that your body will deal more effectively with food. It is better than exercising late at night because you are not going to eat anything and are going to sleep soon.

My personal opinion: good point, fair enough. But recently I've found that the morning is the worse time to exercise for me - I am just useless and my stomach hasn't woken up yet. If I were to switch my gym time to the morning I would have to work twice as long just to allow for warming-up time. Also, I am working at the moment, and the same point for when I was at school - how do I allow for extra time at the gym when, even if I were to get up earlier, the gym wouldn't even be open yet? I could maybe try getting up and going out for a run, or even a walk if I could manage it...it may be worth a try...but would it make me late for work?? Plus, I have to eat little and often anyway, so I would be eating something at night.

The other thing you could do is to exercise in short successions - a half hour in the morning and a half hour late afternoon (the two best times to exercise). A half hour of vigorous exercise is enough to get your metabolism going, and spreading it out throughout the day equals a constantly raised metabolism.

My personal opinion: yes, that would be good. In fact I tried that a few months ago - I started off with a strict hour in the morning (swimming or walk) and an hour in the morning (gym or walk - depending on what I'd done that morning); followed by, as time wore thin, half-hour sessions. It was good while it lasted, but unfortunately time wasn't on my side (I was looking for jobs at the time) and I think I went to strict on it before my thyroid was back to normal - therefore I got tired and had to go for a different routine.

The most important thing is routine. Eat at the same time every day. Exercise at the same time every day. Go to sleep at the same time every night. That'll get you into a regular pattern that's good for you.

My personal opinion: okay, yes, point taken - this is something I've not been doing regularly and should probably work on. It is easy to get carried away when you are having one wicked day or week and don't want it to end; easy to go for the easy life of doing things whenever you please, no scheme involved.

Of course, have a healthy diet and a healthy weight.
As opposed to eating big meals, eat 5 meals a day. (little and often).

I already am due to a stomach rhythm irregularity which means I have to.

Me: Is there one exercise which is better to do? Answer: Weights are said to be the best. You want to go for the ones which raise your metabolism as quickly as possible - so try rounds of 10 weights - and you want to go for the ones which add muscle mass the most (because that means that you can easily lose weight).
Is it true that thyroid patients, even if they're now normal, have to work twice as hard as other people to lose weight?

I read this on the web somewhere. I guess, if it's true, it's because the body needs to adjust to its newly found hormones and to find how much T4 it needs to convert into T3 (to make energy!) and thus also burn off years worth of extra fat. Sometimes, when a thyroid patient goes from underactive to normal with the help of levothyroxine, the extra weight just goes - but that doesn't always happen. I reckon the whole body learning to adjust thing also explains why someone (like me) might be constantly going up and down at the moment...a regular routine has also probably got something to do with that.
I am still waiting for an answer to this question. I guess there may not be one at all because everyone is after all different, but it may just be that anyone looking to lose weight needs to work harder than other people (regular exercise and eating good ensures you stay at the same weight; frequent exercise and eating good should mean losing weight).
If you have an answer to this question or want to keep track of answers, see it on the Medpedia Questions & Answers Community here.

Please post any comments you have here, thanks!

BBC Publishes Article Pointing to the Problems of "Low Hormone" in Pregnancy

2009-12-25T15:56:00.002Z

This week the BBC has published an article on their news site titled "Low hormone levels in pregnancy linked to hard birth."

In the article, problems in pregnancy caused by low thyroid are explained: that it:

"is already known to complicate pregnancy, increasing the risk of miscarriage, premature birth and pre-eclampsia."

But results of a new study by a Dutch team has found that:

"even "low to normal levels" of thyroxine may cause problems."

Problems were recorded in which babies were positioned wrongly and that these pregnancies were more likely to have complications and require assisted delivery.

According to the researchers 1 in 10 pregnancies are affected by low thyroid hormone.

"a blood test for it should become a routine part of the antenatal check"

Just think how many people that is! And how many people go through pregnancy and never find out that they have low thyroid? How many people are never diagnosed?

In addition, a Professor Pop is quoted saying:
"Recent findings have shown that motor development in children at the age of two is related to low levels of thyroid hormone in pregnancy... The baby is unable to make its own thyroid hormones until 20 weeks into the pregnancy. Before this, it is entirely reliant on its mother's stores, he said."

More research is apparently needed to find out about the link found and whether or not it would benefit pregnant women who would not normally be diagnosed with clinical thyroid disease to receive treatment for it.

-----
Where the BBC do publish an article about the thyroid it is usually referring to pregnancy - not to any other symptoms. Whilst it is fantastic that there is actually an article up here, it could put across the wrong impression - that low thyroid causes pregnancy problems...and that's it. Mind you, add to that the popular assumption and about the only thing that people who've heard of the thyroid know about - "it makes you fat" - I suppose this is a one-symptom-at-a-time kind of thing. Better than nothing, no doubt.

One positive thing in this article, though, is that a small info box at the end of the article explains other "thyroid problems" - including how the thyroid controls metabolism and therefore low thyroid hormones lead to fatigue...as well as weight gain.

---
To read the article, follow the link below.

Wait For It...

2009-12-22T20:10:00.004Z

There are a few new posts and a few changes which are going to happen soon to this blog:

A very big, very ambitious blog post will find its way here hopefully soon.
There will be posts on how the thyroid affects individual parts of the body: the stomach; the brain and so on.
There will be useful answers to useful questions about the thyroid and ongoing health.
There will be interesting facts about the thyroid and its diseases.

Changes:
I'm going to have a look at all the tags and make some really good ones and make it generally easier to find.
I'll look at the links and try and make a separate page (or post on its own) for great links. - This will generally make the blog easier to navigate around and use.

Look out for these!
Meantime, check out my Everyday Health blog: http://www.everydayhealth.com/blogs/life-with-a-headless-metabolism-thyroid-disease

...And Which Charity

And of course let me know any ideas!

'Wearing In' Your Newly Normal Thyroid: Patience.

2009-12-22T20:00:00.003Z

Patience. But who has it really? Who is able to sit quite comfortably and wait, wait for the world to change; wait for the government to make a decision about climate change, or for their favourite book or movie to come out in the shops; for their holiday which is so near but so far away; wait, wait for their body to wake up and start working? Patience. We need it.

You're a bit stuck if you don't have it, to be honest. I mean, all that waiting for blood test results and appointments and "oh but let's just wait and see if that goes out your system anyway"'s. All that waiting, waiting to see if your tiredness today is due to something you did or something you didn't do; if it's going to last or if it's going to go.

Impatience. It bites. That's how you know when it's attacking you. It kicks, too. Dark matter. You have a brilliant week and you think your blood test result that your thyroid is now finally "normal" did actually tell some truth...and then you feel rubbish again. And then you stress about whether or not your thyroid is going down; whether or not you're just not feeling what you should be feeling, and don't you just want to get on now?! But here's the truth, and it ought not be a 'but':

Once you have that 'normal' blood test it can take months before you actually feel better again.

Doctors, specialists, endocrinologists, everyone, I think, forgets that sometimes. It is easy to be fooled by a self-explanatory statistic on a sheet of printed paper. Easy.

Note that this is a non-technical explanation, but it should be assumed that the levels measured in blood tests - TSH, T4, and sometimes T3, are the chemical levels which are in your blood - this isn't the level of hormones which are available to each and every organ or brain cell inside of you, and that means that your body isn't necessarily using up all of these hormones:

T4 is converted into T3 and used when needed.

This means, I guess, that to find out how much energy your body needs on a day to day basis you need to find out how much T3 you have in your blood. That would certainly be interesting to find out, but whether it is useful in terms of telling you how well or fast your body is adapting to its new energy I'm not sure. (There is an argument which says that some people cannot effectively convert T4 into T3 but this is not well accepted by mainstream science and treating with T3 is regarded as more a cause of long-term problems than an effective treatment).

So to recap, the main point is that your levothyroxine tablets are giving your body what it should need if you have the right dose of them - but that doesn't mean that your body is using it all. Not yet, anyway.

I tend to picture it like this: each and every organ or part of your body gets its energy supply from the blood rushing through your body and from the ingredients contained within that blood. A body that has for years been used to a menial supply of certain things, though, will continue to expect only that menial supply - nothing more. This means that when there actually is a supply of extra hormones sitting outside their door they are unlikely to actually pick it up and use it. With time, though, they will slowly pick up these things, swig and get to know the taste, and then one of the following will happen:

Either they'll realise that this stuff is absolutely brilliant and will down it all in one - hence you feel brilliant super-fast.
Or they'll gradually take a little more, cautious of taking too much but also realising that their jobs are getting easier with more and more of this stuff - hence you will, very gradually, feel better...or perhaps you will wait several months and then suddenly realise that you feel brilliant.

When you first started taking your levothyroxine pills you were probably told to not expect to feel better until up to 6 or 9 months later, and you probably thought "well that's just so that I don't complain, or don't get too ahead of myself, or don't panic" (which response you chose probably depended on your opinion of your doctor). Whether or not their words came to be true, it should be remembered that if you do go back down to hypothyroid at another date, and then go through the whole process again, it may take a different length of time: just because you recovered quickly last time doesn't mean you will do this time. Sad, but true.

The nice side of it is that it gives you an excuse if you're not feeling well at the moment - you may not be feeling the full effects of your newly normal thyroid - and who knows what's to change?

What is crucial and is the point behind this whole article is that Impatience shouldn't kick before your body's had a chance to look around and notice all the extra hormones sitting there. Your newly normal thyroid, just like a pair of shoes, needs 'wearing in.' Things need to change in your body - your bones need to loosen up from being so stiff; your body needs to relax a little, and, again, your brain needs to become aware of the energy that's just arrived at its door: it needs to open the door. This all takes time: it's like stone trying to move. Your brain slowly awakes from a three-thousand year sleep, stretches and yawns and then rummages through its cupboards searching for its glasses. Meanwhile you're falling asleep on your highly important notes as though you've been doing what the rest of the world does and have been up late partying.

A month later and your brain's still searching for its glasses, and you're a very clumsy, very forgetful, very useless person waiting for changes to happen that just aren't happening.

And so it goes on.

Unfortunately that's just the way it is. But there are things you can do to help this process, to push it along a little:

Exercise!

If your symptoms are currently all wound tightly around the sleeping and falling over area then this is going to be a little more difficult, but exercise does raise the metabolism and will serve to wake up sleeping organs, especially, in my experience, the stomach pump that is a massive part of digestion.
Also, I would imagine that if your body is needing more energy then it will convert more T4 into T3 hence you gain more useful thyroid hormones and you make more use out of your levothyroxine pills.
If you do, however, come across an incredibly gasp, laugh-out-loud brilliant week and feel like exercising flat out every day, this also may not be such a good idea - your body is still in recovery and next week you might not be so good. On the other hand, it is also sometimes good to force your body to do things because it gives you your strength (which right now you probably have little of) back and wakes you up, and if you are lucky enough to have a second brilliant week then it is definitely worth it! So there's not really a decision there, but there is a choice - or you could always knowledgeably try both.

Correct Food

One symptom of hypothyroidism as well as hyper is digestion problems. The problems vary between the two diseases: in hypo it is to do with being slow; in hyper it is to do with being fast, but the end-point is that a slow metabolism cannot deal with certain foods as well as a normal one might be able to (and likewise, I guess, for a fast one). There is no 'correct' food, but avoiding heavy foods, which I define as pizza, pasta, greasy meals, big portions and a plate highly accumulated with solid matter, is probably going to be the better option. See 'Tips Whilst Taking Levothyroxine' for more on this.
Avoiding wheat - which is more difficult to digest than something like Spelt (the old, traditional grain), may also help. Anything which is more difficult to digest is probably going to be a challenge for a slow metabolism, and if your body is concentrating all its energy on one ache or one pain then you're not going to have much left for anything else, least of all when you had hardly any energy in the first place.
The main point here is to listen to your body and if it doesn't like something don't eat it again. Symptoms to acknowledge should be quite obvious but will be for example acid reflux/food regurgitation; the feeling of a 'jammed' stomach; excessive gas; abdominal aching; light-headedness or the feeling of sickness after eating certain foods - but be aware that some of these are separate conditions in their entire, so if they are very severe then they may not be down to the thyroid.

Adrenaline

Do as much activity as you can to give yourself adrenaline - the natural way, I mean. So that means taking yourself out to places like theme parks to get the excitement-fuelled adrenaline; skidding in the snow to get the fear-fuelled adrenaline (no, I don't mean do this on purpose, it's just an example!); and lots of exercise. Adrenaline will wake you up and make you feel good.

Feel free to add your own and I will too as I think of them.

The 'process,' if you will, of your body adjusting to its newly normal thyroid life, will happen: it just may take time. Slowly, as you get used to things being easier you will hopefully pick up on things around you and react - you may think faster; run longer; work better; you may do anything at all better than ever before. It just takes time. Patience.

The Thyroid In The Media

2009-12-20T13:24:00.008Z

Note: if the links in the presentation below do not work then try downloading it as a PowerPoint presentation.

The Thyroid in the Media

Contact Me

2009-12-15T21:16:00.000Z

All feedback about the blog is welcome. Please contact me here.

My Spaces & Places

2009-12-12T22:52:00.005Z

These are some of the places which I live in either a little or a lot:

STORIES FROM A SETTLED TRIBE: THE PEOPLE OF LONG LAMAI
- Stories told by real tribesmen and women.
Buy your copy of incredible tales now: http://stores.lulu.com/louisesopher
Note: stories were collected on my gap year in Borneo (Malaysia). All my profits go to the village.

My Google Profile

Dear Thyroid invites people to write letters to their thyroids. These are the letters which I have written to mine:

The Sober Drunkard
Reminiscing

Which Charity Fan Page on Facebook

Which Charity on Twitter
My Twitter Page

And some great places which link to me:

2009-12-12T16:11:00.000Z

You can subscribe by email or with a reader below.

Subscribe in a reader

You can also share the blog with your favourite service using the 'AddThis' toolbar located on the bottom sidebar underneath each series of posts.

Changes - Life with a Headless Metabolism: Thyroid Disease - Everyday Health Blogs

2009-12-12T00:06:00.003Z

Changes - Life with a Headless Metabolism: Thyroid Disease - Everyday Health Blogs

Posted using ShareThis

Life with a Headless Metabolism: Thyroid Disease - Everyday Health Blogs

2009-12-12T00:04:00.003Z

Life with a Headless Metabolism: Thyroid Disease - Everyday Health Blogs

Posted using ShareThis

Update on Survey Results - Who Ought To Know?

2009-11-16T19:51:00.001Z

SOME time ago I created a survey titled: Thyroid Awareness: Who ought to know and who ought not to know'. I placed a link on this blog and sent it out through Facebook and through various other forums. There are so far 25 completed responses to the survey, which can be found here.

60% of all respondents are based in the UK; 32% in the US, and 8% elsewhere (Brunei and New Zealand).

4 people did not complete the survey.

80% of all respondents so far are female.
Of those who answered the occupation question, there was a huge variety, with the majority being students of A Levels (probably my friends) and a higher amount selecting the 'other' option. Of those who answered the qualification question, 42% hold a first aid qualification and 26% a GCSE in Biology or full science.

84% answered 'Yes' to having heard of thyroid disease before visiting the survey, however it should be noted that 40% also answered that they 'have thyroid disease or have had some questioning of my thyroid'; 20% said that they have a family member with the disease, and 16% said that they have a friend with the disease. Those who have the disease themselves or have a family member with it showed quite extensive knowledge of thyroid disease - many symptoms were listed and there was some explanation of medications - however all of this information comes from a person's own experiences or their own research. Those who didn't have the disease themselves quite clearly knew some basics, but there was some variation on what 'basics' were:
tiredness
weight gain/loss
reduced height
All of the above were mentioned but there were a couple of people who did not explain what they did know about the disease.

What is good is that of those who did explain what they knew about the disease, no one gave incorrect information - it is just clear that people don't know how many symptoms are connected with the disease and what those are.

Almost an equal amount answered: 'I tell people about thyroid disease so that they can know too' (39%) and 'My knowledge of thyroid disease does not affect me in any way.'

These are interesting results, however I would be keen to get a different audience to answer - to place this survey more in the public field where people are equally likely to know or not know about thyroid disease (at the moment it is being answered mostly by thyroid disease readers).

Look out for more on this in the coming months.

Dear Thyroid & my published letter

2009-11-16T11:53:00.001Z

MANY months ago I came across a popular website known as Dear Thyroid. You'll see a link to this site at the side of my blog. The website invites any one, of any age, to write a letter to their thyroid or to their friend's or family member's thyroid. Most of the letters are highly outspoken and often very funny.

Originally I thought that this was a very cool idea which I had little interest in participating in - it seemed quite a weird thing to do, and a little far from the sort of posts which I write on here.

The next thing I knew I was halfway through writing my first Dear Thyroid letter: 'Superman & Co. Run Wild In Airspace...Oh wait, I forgot, That's Too Original!' I sent that letter in a few months ago and just last week it was published on the website.

Click here to read it.

Finding A Core Reason For Poxy Awareness

2009-11-09T21:12:00.003Z

IT has been a while since my last post and today I am going controversial.
Very controversial.
I believe that I have hit the nail on the head and have found a core reason for the lack of awareness of thyroid disease within the medical community itself. I believe that this is reason number 14, the giant, laughable but true reason to add to '13 Reasons for a Poppycock State of Awareness.' Why is it that there are umpteen posters in a GP's surgery, all raising awareness of various conditions - yet not one (and least not one that I have seen) is about thyroid disease or thyroid cancer? Why is it that the conditions seem to be spoken about behind doors, or under breaths - never out loud, to a community that doesn't have the disease; never where people will hear it?

Today I found out that we thyroid sufferers are only supposed to have a blood test once a year (I'm guessing this is true for when we are euthyroid - 'normal.') Forget every three or every six months - once a year.

It shows how much of a burden hypothyroids are on the NHS.

And that is it: reason number 14 (unless we're already in the 20's?): we cost the NHS, the government, too much money. That's what it boils down to in the end - the crude turning point of life - money. The real truth is that we are expensive: we get free medication which we require for our entire lives; it takes us ages to become euthyroid and that means many, many blood tests beforehand; most of us have other conditions or medical 'problems' possibly related to our thyroids - and that means more tests (which we pull out of our insurance providers pockets) and more medications (which we also get for free on the NHS); and, last but not least, we are all damn loud moaners, always asking questions and using up the online space (and Google's search results!) We cost the NHS, the government, too much money. Therefore, to them, it is better that the word 'thyroid' and everything surrounding that word - disease; cancer; hypo; hyper; free medication - is all kept quiet. It is better, therefore, that people didn't know about the location or purpose of their thyroids because that way they cannot ask about it. It is better that the many millions undiagnosed weren't diagnosed because then the government will suffer. It is better that research wasn't done (and let's face it most people are at a loss of just what to do) on the thyroid because published results will cause people to ask questions. There are in fact hundreds of clinical trials related to the thyroid being conducted...only 5 of which are located in the UK. (Source to follow.) The more people diagnosed with thyroid disease, the more funding the NHS has to pump out. We cost too much money. It's ridiculous, isn't it?

What's even more ridiculous is that we aren't the only condition on the list of prescription charge exempts - to name one diabetes is on the list - something everyone who's been to school knows about; something for which there are awareness campaigns everywhere. But of course, diabetes can be life threatening; thyroid disease rarely is (although that's not to say it can't be). Still, let us just for one minute consider just how ridiculous a once-a-year checkup allowance on the NHS is:

Say a patient isn't feeling well. They, like me, have been on levothyroxine for a year and a half and believe that they are getting to know really quite well the ways of their thyroid and the interactions between their body, their medication, their thyroid and their brain. They've kept an eye on recurring symptoms for some time and have attempted to exclude other options, but they had their last blood test only a few months ago. Now they request a new one off the NHS, only to hear that they cannot have one - not, at least, without booking an appointment first. For the sake of a blood test? And you wonder why the NHS is stretched for time! Still, precautions are always good, of course - but the point still remains, does it not? That a yearly checkup for someone who knows their body quite well and believes that their thyroid is going down, is not particularly helpful. Say the doctor advised the patient, even after an appointment to not have a blood test? Then what? What if this patient doesn't see a doctor privately and so only has the NHS to watch over them?

A whole year of gradual decreasing thyroid can seriously impact a person's life. When my thyroid is down my memory is poor - when I look back I remember less of an event than I would if my thyroid were normal. Concentration; energy; motivation; the want to participate socially; digestion; weight; exercise; concentration; .. you name it, it affects it. And finally being told, up to a year later than you would've been, is not helpful: it can take up to six months to recover from an underactive thyroid. The lower your thyroid at the point of upping medication or receiving medication, the longer it will take for you to recover. Sometimes I wish I never did get that euthyroid test - if I didn't I would be entitled to checkup blood tests, and the insurance would pay for appointments. Instead, I don't book unless I absolutely have to - which sometimes is not good enough, and can be a mistake to regret.

Money should not be a reason to decide when a person is entitled to checkups. The NHS, affordable health care, surely has that aim under them?

Note: Few posts in this blog are based on a personal point of view and where they are, it is always made obvious. This post is based on opinion - don't take my word as fact!

Which Charity - Simplifying Your Charity Choices

2009-11-08T19:29:00.005Z

Which Charity is another website which I have with friends.

Which Charity was set up with the aim of providing people with a free service to help them choose which charity to give to, but we also help charities - we publicise them for free by listing them on our site and writing about them in our blog. We also look out for smaller charities and aim to create a space where these charities, not just bigger, well known ones, can be found with ease.

Our system asks you who you want to give to and then how you want to give. For example:

I want to give to health, particularly to support thyroid research/disease sufferers/charities in general

I want to give by buying goods

I want to give to a charity near me, particularly one in my local county

I want to give by offering gifts as a donation to people in need.

Our system will direct you to the charities which answer your preferences. You will then be able to learn more about the charity you are interested in through:

A detailed Description of the charity
A website link (if the charity has a website)
Contact information
Any comments which have been left by other users or employees of the charity itself, through our comments system - here can be posted personal experiences of working for or giving to a specific charity; opinions about the work a charity does and so forth. All comments are moderated.
Any articles which have been posted on our blog in relation to this charity.

To learn more, have a read of our About page on the site or browse through the site in its entire.

Please also let us know what you think.

Watch our short promotional video below:

With thanks to: Born Free Water Aid – Marco Betti – 2007 Pandas International Border Collie Trust Rainbows for allowing us to feature their charities in this short promo video.

This week is Thyroid Awareness Week: Did you know about it?

2009-10-20T12:23:00.003+01:00

I REFER back, yet again, to the reason I started this blog in the first place. It is written in my blog description - in fact it is the very first sentence, in clear itallics:

May saw the first ever Thyroid Awareness Week, publicised on thyroid sites. So far as I could tell, the media didn’t refer to it.

I heard that this week was Thyroid Awareness Week but I wasn't sure, so I looked it up - on Google - which informs me that May was Thyroid Awareness Week; there was nothing about this month.

Next, I headed to the charity Thyroid UK, and it was here that I found my answer - yes, it is Thyroid Awareness Week this week (17th-23rd Oct '09). Thyroid Disease also highlights this week on their home page.

So, it is nearly half-way through the week and I found out for certain last night about this week. What does this mean? Well, for one thing, it means that the state of awareness about the awareness week is absolutely ridiculous (and that is not the fault of the websites and charities which do publicise it - it is the fault of the media who appear to be ignoring it.). For another, though it goes unstated, it means that awareness of thyroid disease itself, is atrocious. Do you know about it?

I am going to leave you with a few quotes from previous posts:

every poster in a GP surgery is seen by at least one eye; every paragraph in a textbook by at least one student, and a gory picture by the whole class; every advert, or skimmed-through news announcement on the television, or online news, is also seen by at least one eye, or heard by at least one ear - that's an awful lot of simple awareness that we're missing out on.

Would a simple, even a short, news report on the evening, or even daytime, television news, be more informative and more effective than the feeble attempt that is currently produced?

Yes.

We have seen how little things have become mighty...

Now tell me why we are so ignorant of the mighty thyroid when we warn against every other small but mighty thing?

Let's sort it. Now.

So, what am I going to do to mark this week?

Expect to see an article on this blog every day, and even into the weekend (to make up for the days I've missed so far).

Expect to see more articles on my blog on Everyday Health.

Expect to see some posts on Which Charity.

I hope to print off some posters, perhaps wear a thyroid t-shirt (there are some great ones here).

What else can you do?
Keep yourself informed by reading around the web.

Inform the media that they've forgotten something!

Wear a thyroid t-shirt.

Use your social networks (Facebook, Twitter, etc) to your advantage by posting messages about the week.

Check out some of the useful links I'll be posting here over the next few days - or take a look now at the links on my blogrolls.

Take my thyroid awareness survey: http://surveys.polldaddy.com/s/54DB982263517C3B/ - and refer it to all your friends.

Check out my thyroid awareness poster, let me know what you think - and print it off if you think it's any good:

Have a good week!

Something Has Finally Arrived To Satisfy Our Medical Needs...

2009-10-07T21:38:00.003+01:00

SOMETHING has finally arrived to satisfy our medical needs, and it goes by the name of Medpedia.

For all those moments when you sit and wonder about the condition of your own body; for all those times when you wish to quiz the medical community on all things blood and guts; for your curiosity, your want to learn more detail about medical conditions; for your want to share and help; to be helped; to compare; for just about any medical-related query under the sun - for all of these I would recommend to you Medpedia.

In the previous post I wrote about how difficult it is to find the right information on the web; how, in a rather odd way, entering more information into a system (the internet) can actually cause us to have less; and how a thyroid newbie would probably not know which of the 13, 600, 000 links that arrive on a Google search page to click on.

To me it is just a number; a collection of digits all stringed together in a way that I cannot read; a meaningless piece of information, except to tell me that there is no point in looking at every search result
(Taken from the previous post: Paradox: We Give More; We Get Less)

Well, now there is a way for that thyroid newbie, that medical student or professional, that thyroid oldie, if you will, or that generally interested person, to find out which links to click on; in fact, to have no need to search through Google's medical links in the first place.

Medpedia is a new website and project, launched early this year, and based upon a brand new model of sharing information. If you imagine knowledge as a mass, a sea larger than the Atlantic and wider than the Earth; if you imagine knowledge as this central sea, teaming with tiny sea creatures and full to the brim with rushing waves; if you imagine this, and then erect a hundred dams to keep the water in - this is pretty much what we had before Medpedia. The doctors and other medical professionals sat on boats sailing on that sea and we, the curious and confused patients, sat on the concrete, outside the concrete dams, just waiting for a tiny drop of water to fling itself over our way.

Medpedia rids the sea of these dams and creates bridges between the sea (thus also the doctors and medical professionals) and us. With this new model, information can be shared three-way: knowledge can roam between medical professionals and organisations and be shared between non-medical professionals (patients and just about anyone else). This means that no knowledge is exclusive, but at the same time we patients can be sure that we are receiving accurate and 'official' information. The Medpedia model explains how:

In the centre of Medpedia lies their knowledge base, a wiki which is collaborative and which covers any information about health, medicine and the body. Unlike the familiar Wikipedia, though, only medical professionals (with uncountable qualifications!) can edit articles, however ordinary people can suggest changes - which must then be approved - to these editors. This way we will know that the information we are reading is, as I've already said, accurate and official. And there are articles on just about anything from serious medical conditions to '6 things you should never say to a patient.' Every article is available to read in accessible language, but there is also a 'Clinical' tab - for the medical professionals or for ordinary people to dig deeper into their topic of interest.

But that isn't just it: Questions & Answers allows people to ask questions to the rest of the Medpedia community about anything from symptoms they are experiencing of their own medical conditions, to study questions posed by medical students and questions asked by medical professionals. Anyone can then provide an answer to someone's question, and what is really useful about this is that you will know who is providing you with this information. A person's title(s) (e.g. MD, Pharm, etc) shows up beside their name - again I must repeat the accuracy and official information point here.

Medpedia Alerts are a way of providing up-to-the-minute medical information through Twitter sources. By clicking on the link, you can subscribe to the feeds and receive the updates regularly.

News & Analysis is where the collaborative aim and centrality of Medpedia gets even bigger: here, a collection of blogs considered useful and informative enough for the website's community are listed and featured through RSS feeds so that they can be viewed without leaving the Medpedia site. My blog is featured on the site here.

The above features culminate in Communities of Interest, a collection place for information and discussion about medical conditions or various medical information categories. I have recently become a Community Administrator of the newly launched Thyroid Diseases Community, which will provide you with information and a place to discuss your symptoms and questions whether you have Hypo, Hyper, Hashimoto's, Graves, Thyroid cancer, or just about anything else thyroid-related. You can ask, answer and view questions from directly within this page; you can discuss; you can contact other people with the same conditions or interests; and there are endless useful links to websites, blogs and all.

The site also features a professional network and a directory for those people who are medical students or in a medical organisation, and this can prove a huge use to such people.

There are many sites and initiatives which claim or have claimed to of opened up the flow of information between people - we know, for one thing, that the internet has created a public freedom of knowledge and has allowed previously inaccessible information to enter the public sphere. However, I would like to point again to the abundance of web links and blogs and such-like: this knowledge-base, too, has become a sea.

Search engines pivot clockwise and anti-clockwise, day and night, and their creators claim to solve the problem of lost browsers at sea, but even with their efforts, we still don't know what links are best to click on. Is that information official - does it actually have some truth in it? Is that information outdated? What's that based on? And we have to click on a hundred links to find the answer to one question: tell me about the condition I have. It is of course always great to have such a wonderful diversity of opinions and voices and to really get a grasp on the amount of people in the same situation as you, but, especially in the case of someone not quite so computer-adapt as perhaps myself or someone else of my own age group, the right information; the most useful information, is rarely going to find its way to them without a little help. And this little help, under the category of medicine - something where you do not expect there to be a dozen answers to the same question - comes with something that can collect and collate the most useful of all the information out there, and put it all in one place: Medpedia.

To summarise, these are the features available on the website Medpedia:

Truthful articles teaming with useful information, updated regularly; more articles added daily; of a language which is accessible to the general public, and with a 'Clinical' version for those looking for higher-level explanations.
News & Analysis - Learn from the general public
Communities of Interest - A culmination of information and a place to discuss, including the Thyroid Disease Community
Q&A - Ask and answer medical questions
Alerts - Receive up-to-the-minute medical news
Speak to medical professionals. Know exactly who you are speaking to.
Read documents published by medical professionals

Medpedia is a one-stop site. From it, you can access everything you need medical-wise: from encyclopaedic knowledge, information and advice from the general public and useful links, to questions and answers, useful contacts, and even a built-in collection-point in the way of communities of interest for all of this. You will notice that on the left-hand-side of this blog there is a Medpedia logo which says 'MEMBER' and below the image says 'MEDPEDIA News & Analysis.' Clicking on this links directly to the News & Analysis section.

Take a look.

Medpedia is a link for your bookmarks.

Paradox: We Give More; We Get Less

2009-09-27T15:48:00.001+01:00

SEARCHING the word 'Thyroid' on Google brings up about 13,600,000 results. Does this mean anything to you? To me it is just a number; a collection of digits all stringed together in a way that I cannot read; a meaningless piece of information, except to tell me that there is no point in looking at every search result - it would take an uncountable number of hours. It is meaningless, but it does make me think: how many of these are blogs? How many of these are entries on health websites? How many are videos? News entries? Single word terms? I attempted to study this a short while ago in order to find the answer to this - see the posts on 'Popular or Ignored?' for the results. What actual use are all of these Google search results to us? How much use do we, the public (who own most of the results conjured on Google) think that we're doing? The endless blogs, YouTube videos, self-publishing initiatives, websites, and so forth, and then the abundance of blog search engines designed the find the best, the most popular, the most useful and so on - is there not a point of doing so much that we create a paradox?

How much information can you put into a categorised system? Imagine a library, like The British Library, containing books from across centuries right through to modern day. Every book is categorised alphabetically, numerically, according to date - but how long does this system last? In modern-day times books are produced at a mass-scale, hundreds per year worldwide. If you were going to categorise every book in existence, and if you had endless space to do this, would you not still get lost in a room of endless authors whose surnames begin with 'A'?; would you not become confused with a Sci-Fi section that stretches from the centre of London right up to Manchester? How many times do you move your organisation system around in your home or office?

We all love and think it's wonderful to have a vast abundance of choices and as much information from people as is possible, but is it not possible to put so much information into a system that can't categorise all of it (though it does try) and end up with an overflowing river that people steer clear of? When you search a term and Google shows 13,600,000 results, do you think "oh, god." and just look at the first two? Or do you filter through all the pages until you find one that interests you? Or, do you simply close the browser and think: "forget it"?

Search engines such as Google's blog search allow some filtering between results, but we are still left pondering which link to open. I tend to open up several in new tabs and have a read of each one, before getting horrendously bored and closing them all: there are simply too many. I have been moaning for perhaps far too long about the state of awareness of thyroid disease, and quietly asking for more news entries; more official websites; more of this, more of that, but now I would like to query - am I just furthering the paradox?

I believe not. I believe that the contradiction of receiving information lies where we cannot differ between the types of information. To release ourselves from this contradiction we need to find the quality articles; the official blog posts; the informative websites; the non-exclusive communities. I will be discussing these things in the articles following this one. Awareness comes from news articles - because the general public read them. Awareness comes from quality articles - because they are more likely to attract attention and be judged as 'official' in a way. If we are to find good articles out of the sea of information available (which, quite literally, is what 13, 600, 000 results translates into) then perhaps we should have technology which can deal with the constant pitter-patter of our keyboard. Will this take a few years? Will it take several? Who knows. It might even take a day. But what I have realised is that no matter how often we use our beloved search engines they still cannot quite provide us with what they need - they cannot cope with the endless flow of information; they cannot categorise it well enough. And as a result when we submit more information to the web, we are effectively getting less out of it. How does a thyroid newbie know which link will provide him/her with the most useful and accurate information at his first search?

Isn't Something Missing from the Syllabus? - The Thyroid!

2009-09-18T19:18:00.001+01:00

What use do we learn at school? Nothing.

Biology: A waste of time. It's all about puberty, plants, and mechanics. Where in all of this bore do we learn about useful things, and interesting things? We learn about Diabetes, yes. We learn about what is needed for the body to survive - hold up there, isn't the thyroid needed for the body to survive? We learn about growing up and how things might go wrong - erm, you've missed something there: Isn't thyroid disease (though less likely than during the 50s of a woman's life) likely to target teenagers? Isn't it the easiest to spot when certain things should be happening?...growth upwards, for one thing.

We say that the media only picks what is newsworthy. No, I propose that it is not just the media which does this: it's education. The government, when they pick our syllabus for the following year, listen to various pressure groups telling them what children should learn because it's important - more about the environment, sustainability and global warming, for example; more about how technology impacts biology because it is happening now. The government also pick according to what they believe is needed, because they want to create more environmental scientists; more chemists; more scientists that are going to join the space program - they filter our education according to current developments and their targets. Just like one year achievement in maths will be seriously pressurized and science will be almost forgotten to the point that it is poorly taught because more time is spent on maths; the next year it will be the opposite.

If thyroid disease were newsworthy or rather syllabusworthy then it would have a spot in the GCSE examinations. If it was made clear just how common, undiagnosed, and impacting on growth and development it was then it would be spoken about in PSHE classes. If the patient advocacy groups and the official thyroid awareness groups, backed by professionals, were to put pressure on and be listened to by the government, it would become part of the syllabus.

See '13 reasons for a Poppycock state of awareness' and the previous post for more on this.

Thyroid Alone Doesn't Get A Mention In School Syllabus

2009-09-18T19:07:00.002+01:00

I have just looked up the Edexcel GCSE Biology specification for 2010 to see where the word 'thyroid' might or might not be mentioned, and this is what I found:

The word 'thyroid' was not mentioned anywhere.

In one section, there was a rather detailed paragraph about hormones.

No 'thyroid' mentioned there either, despite the fact that the thyroid produces hormones and can affect the body's ability to produce other hormones - such as oestrogen.

In fact, the pituitary gland is even mentioned here, but the specification fails to mention what else the pituitary gland does (it releases TSH - Thyroid Stimulating Hormone - to control the amount of T3 and T4 released by the thyroid gland. In other words, it tells the thyroid when it should start kicking, or when it should go to sleep.) No mention.

There was one section about "the metabolic rate":

Here, we can see that the "metabolic rate varies with the amount of activity you do...." We are told that "It may be affected by inherited factors"...

And that is it. Not a word about how the metabolic rate might also be affected by the hormones in the body or by disease; not even that thyroid disease may be one of these 'inherited factors.' There is no mention of the thyroid whatsoever, despite the thyroid's 'area' being mentioned.

We are also told that a poor lifestyle is linked to excess weight - yes, we all know that this is true, but we are not told that hormonal factors, that disease, that the thyroid can lead to obesity as well.

Finally, there was a section about immunity and white blood cells:

Thyroid disease can be caused by an autoimmune attack in which the body's defences mistake the thyroid for a foreign object and attack it - leading to the thyroid being in a way, injured, or completely destroyed. Not only is there no mention of thyroid disease here, but more importantly there is no mention of how the immune system can go wrong in a body, and therefore how autoimmunity comes about.

Perhaps it is not of GCSE level to discuss these things? Well, surely a mention would suffice? Most probably it is up to the individual school or teacher whether or not they teach all about the thyroid (which, although it is good to have some choices and difference in the syllabus, it does mean that where thyroid disease might be taught in one school, a pupil who has it in another school will miss the chance to quiz their doctor on it) but no doubt it will never, or rarely (unless the teacher has the disease or knows of someone with it) actually be taught due to lack of time, or the not wanting to 'waste time' on non-syllabus learning.

Therefore, let me pose the questions:

Why isn't it taught? Because it is considered more of an 'adult's disease' as it is more common in older women? Well, this should not be so, because it is common in teenagers, even if the statistics do not equal out; in fact, most probably part of the reason for these statistics are that it is easier to spot in older women.

Is it not taught because, like the media's reason, it's not considered newsworthy enough? The symptoms aren't as threatening as other diseases - but they can be, and that is what is important - they can be. Thyroid symptoms can lead to other diseases, even heart failure, and if quality of life is addressed under the same category then thyroid symptoms are very 'threatening.'

When do people find out about it? When they get diagnosed? When their friends or family members get diagnosed? When they're 50-something, and wondering what on earth is going on inside of them? How long have they gone with these symptoms?

Do you think that the thyroid and its diseases should be included in the GCSE Biology syllabus, or any other syllabus for that matter? Are you a teacher - do you ever mention the thyroid in your classes?

Look out for the next article, a response both to this post and to the previous media study of several posts ago - it'll be up here very soon, most probably in minutes!

Coming Soon...

2009-09-14T22:25:00.003+01:00

There are many ways of doing things at once. One is to have two keyboards and two monitors - one for the right hand and one for the left, so that you can type two entirely different articles at once.

Unfortunately, I cannot do this for I am not a multi-tasking genius. Aside from that, I must remember that thyroid blogging belongs to the medical, and hence scientific field - therefore such a thing is impossible.

A second way is to do things one at a time, until you've completed a list.

Unfortunately, I seem unable, as I am currently preferring to add about a line to each article as and when I feel.

Finally, another way is to stop thinking of ways to do things at once and to actually go and do it.

This, I really ought to do.

For now though, here is a list of the 'coming soon'....

'The Thyroid and The Stomach' - Arriving in no more than two or three weeks.
Useful Links
'We'll Fight Till We Win: A Virtual Battle of Knowledge - The Official VS The Personal Touch' - A response to the media study of earlier posts, looking at the way in which the majority of thyroid information tends to come from thyroid sufferers themselves (because they have actually heard of a thyroid and its diseases and know more than: "it makes you fat.")
The utter uselessness of an education in teaching about one of the mightiest glands in the entire body - another response to the media study of earlier posts
'Something has finally arrived to satisfy our medical needs and it goes by the name of.....' - Introducing a brand new site to you

That, coming very soon

Attitude Pushes Aside Real Importance Of Small But Mighty Gland

2009-09-07T17:55:00.010+01:00

LIFE, As A Headless Metabolism Would Have It:
'Just' the Thyroid

THERE is a process which many thyroid sufferers will know, and it goes by: Stage 1 - Symptoms; Stage 2 - Blood Test; and Stage 3 - Results and Conclusion. It is the concluding thoughts and attitude which I believe should be addressed, but for now here is a summary of the three stages:

STAGE 1: Symptoms appear (here are just some of the symptoms a thyroid disease sufferer may encounter):
Exhaustion/Falling asleep over books
Stomach pain/ flatulence/Digestion problems
Forgetfulness/ clumsiness/ brain fog/ blanks/Inability to concentrate/Inability to stay involved in conversations

STAGE 2: Tests: Blood tests
There may be tests for Diabetes; Lupus; Celiac Disease and other endocrine disorders

STAGE 3: RESULTS
Tests are all normal, except the thyroid test.

Headless Metabolism response:

"Well isn't that jolly? It's just my thyroid. Alrightee then!"

Doctor response:

"Nothing to worry about - it's just your thyroid"

It is of course fantastic that Headless Metabolisms are able to respond in such a way - for one thing, it is very positive - but is there not a major issue with addressing the results of blood tests which show a thyroid inadequacy as just? It may well be so that thyroid disease is relatively easy to treat - and as such hypothyroid sufferers should perhaps consider themselves lucky, that all we have to do, or at least, according to the medication leaflet this is so, is take a few pills every day for the rest of our life, unlike other, more viscous diseases. Indeed, we have a perfect reason to conclude with a 'just' - because with a small increase of medication, the symptoms should disappear.

However, surely by concluding with a 'just' we are pushing aside the real importance of such a small but mighty gland. Surely, this collective 'ah well' attitude is likely to wander in on the lack of media efforts in addressing the importance of the thyroid? The small articles, personal stories and altogether lack of an informative style, which were found in the media study of earlier posts, must surely be driven by some viewpoint? Perhaps it is the viewpoint that the thyroid isn't really that important; that thyroid symptoms aren't life-threatening or life-intruding, and that they are 'healed' so easily that there isn't really a need to talk about them. Well, let us look for a moment at what the thyroid actually is, at what it does, and at why there really is a need to talk about it, because it is important.

Thyroid symptoms, while they are present, cause a lot of irritation and disturbances to everyday life; they cause stress (dangerous in itself); they can be related to other conditions and problems such as gluten intolerances and autoimmune conditions and they can cause the immune system to be less functional, hence causing the onset of viruses and diseases. The disruptions of thyroid symptoms can also lead to unhealthy habits and lifestyles, and can, like any illness, lead to low examination, job or interview performance, undoubtedly leading to long-term changes: affecting a child at school and impacting on the rest of their education and their future, or causing an adult's livelihood to be in tatters. In addition, unhealthy habits such as drinking and smoking whilst with untreated thyroid disease can be especially dangerous - extremely so when the sufferer does not know of his/her situation.

The conclusion of any one to the word of 'thyroid' ought not to be 'just' because thyroid symptoms do not always go away, and the patient is lucky if they go away purely with the aid of Levothyroxine (thyroid hormone replacement medication) and without any extreme effort by the patient him/herself.

So, let us address that question of aren't we pushing aside the real importance of such a small but mighty gland? It ought not to be forgotten that it is of course a relief to know that such symptoms are merely caused by a dodgy thyroid and nothing more. I do not for one minute propose that the entire medical community, media, patients and non-patients all of a sudden react with a hardened face to the word of 'thyroid', because, quite simply, it isn't mighty enough to end the world - yet it is mighty enough to fight an entire sufferer's body. We must not forget or ignore that. We all like to think 'just' because it is a nice thought - but there are other words which are positive, like 'work with your thyroid,' which takes into account the thyroid's importance as well as the fact that it's not our greatest enemy. It may only be a dodgy thyroid, but that dodgy thyroid, so central to our entire bodily functions as it is, is more than an inferior concern of our body and so should be more than an inferior concern to us, to our doctors, to the media, and to just about any one and everyone else.

(last two images from: endocrineweb.com)

Links:

'Thyroid Hormones May Influence Neural Function'
My Everyday Health Blog: Life With A Headless Metabolism

The Forgotten Fighter

2009-09-02T14:04:00.008+01:00

THYROID AWARENESS

Note: There is no sound in this movie

We have seen how little things have become mighty...

Now tell me why we are so ignorant of the mighty thyroid when we warn against every other small but mighty thing?

Image via Wikipedia

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

What To Do and What Not To Do: The Thyroid Newbie Guide

2009-08-29T12:29:00.011+01:00

What to think and what not to think; what to do and what not to do....we wonder endlessly about our daily lives and how we should manage them, but we usually don't realise the best ways until after the moment has passed, especially when it comes to medical disorders. So here I present to you: What to do and what not to do: The Thyroid Newbie Guide

The way I see it, there are two options about what you should do when first diagnosed with thyroid disease, and I cannot yet tell which is the better:

Option 1: Continue your life as normal, thinking as little as possible about your thyroid or the symptoms caused by its disease. Work with it, if possible, increasing your activity and pushing yourself harder, but never do less than you were doing before; base yourself on the assumption that whatever is happening now is better than it was before, not worse, and so you have no possible excuse to do any less than you were doing before.

Option 2: Attempt to work with your thyroid if possible, (as above), but this time write down everything that you are feeling in a chronological order, like a medical record. Write down the symptoms you have, and then add to that list as you realise that you have more than you first thought. As each symptom goes, tick them off, write the date (important!) and write how you are feeling now. If you gain any additional symptoms, write them down too, and write when they come, how or if you begin to treat them, and whether they are getting worse or better as time goes on.

Those are the two options, but as you would expect there are advantages and disadvantages of each. These are as follows:
Option 1 Advantages:

Some people say that the more you think about something, the worse it gets. If thyroid symptoms, once you are 'normal' again, are part caused by psychological thought, then part ignoring the fact that you have the disease may well allow you to continue life as normal (assuming you do not forget to take your pills!).
It will keep you active: the more exercise you do, the higher your metabolism.
There is very little disturbance to your current routine and you can carry on as normal.
It's a more positive outlook
Any minor symptoms which recur will cause you little disruption if you base yourself on this assumption that no symptom is worse than what you used to have.

Option 1 Disadvantages:

If you end up hypothyroid again after a fairly short period of time and have to up the dose of your medication (highly likely) then you may become impatient waiting for all of your symptoms to go. Option 2 in this case would perhaps be more beneficial because it would offer you the chance of knowing that there is nothing to worry about because last time that symptom didn't go until a few weeks after starting the medication, and that one didn't go until much longer after starting it, and so forth. Using Option 1 also means that, should you develop other symptoms not strictly related to your thyroid whilst being 'normal', you will have no opportunity of finding out whether you developed a similar symptom the first time; again, Option 2, in this case, is much more beneficial.

Option 2 Advantages:

This option covers for the disadvantage 1 of Option 1: it is a useful way of preparing for the next time your thyroid goes down.
If you develop any methods of daily life which seem to ease your symptoms - such as memory routines; exercise routines; types of foods and regularity of foods; the use of certain medications - you will not forget this usefulness next time and will hopefully re-use it.
You will not be put down when you develop apparently new symptoms despite being 'normal' as you will have evidence telling you that a similar thing happened last time, perhaps it goes given time, or is not such a problem after a while.
If you do manage to 'work with' your thyroid, the same advantage of Option 1 applies: the more exercise you do, the higher your metabolism.
You will understand the condition you have much more than in Option 1 and you will therefore be able to predict your reactions to different situations (for example how you might react to a long week which requires full concentration, while you are still underactive) and you will be in a better position to work out strategies of ensuring that negative reactions do not happen, if you have the motivation to do this; you will also be able to better explain your condition to other people should they ask questions about it.
Once you do get there, to 'normal' and relatively symptom-less, you will know almost exactly how you did get there and will therefore be in a better position to know that, so long as you keep doing what you have been doing, and your dose doesn't need changing, you will be fine. If your dose does need changing and you go underactive again, you just need to revert back to what you previously did to ensure a speedy return to the normal that you have finally got to experience, and the normal that you absolutely love.

Option 2 Disadvantages:

Doing this takes time and can cause a change to your routine as a lot of your focus will now be on your thyroid instead of your everyday life.
Some people say that the more you think about something, the worse it gets. If this is true then Option 2 is not going to be particularly useful.

There is no right or wrong option to choose, and choosing should not be based on couting up how many advantages or disadvantages are on each side; it should be based on weighing up which advantages you prefer and which disadvantages you do not.

The most important thing is to remember to

'work with your thyroid'.

On a personal note....about options and why working with your thyroid is so important.
I began last year with Option 1, but the more I realised just how many symptoms I did have, and how many were then going, and the more I learnt about hypothyroidism itself, the more I saw that I needed to pay more attention to what was happening and to understand which of my routines were providing the best solutions. This time round I think I completely forgot about the need to 'work with' my thyroid and simply couldn't be bothered for the hassle; I instead decided that it wouldn't be long until I was back to normal and that I would 'work with' it once I got there. I think that's a bit of impatience that was kicking in. As it turned out, it has taken much longer than I thought. I am now reverting to Option 2 and going to set into action the whole of this working with my thyroid idea. When I collect more (hopefully) advantages and, if there are any, disadvantages, I will add them here and hopefully conclude the best Option in my eyes.

Popular or Ignored? - Just how informative IS the media?

2009-08-11T16:57:00.002+01:00

The Independent

The Independent should recieve a massive 'thumbs up' for the amount of articles on the thyroid which they have published, although it must be said that the articles I recorded are not really 'could it be your Thyroid?' type articles: they are, for example, about soya or fluoride, where the thyroid gets a mention of about a paragraph in length, as one of the dangers of such an ingredient. Although a definite starting point and a hint that thyroid diseases are certainly not 'ignored' by The Independent, there ought to be more detail and explanation - the average reader, unless considerably enthused, is not going to take the time of looking up the word 'thyroid' just because it pops up in an article. And to top this, the fact that there were quite a few letters asking about symptoms of thyroid disease suggests that there is a demand for more, full articles; for more attention to it.

It must also be noted that these articles are online - this does not necessairly mean that the article has been put in print, in the newspaper.

The Times

The Time's beats any newspaper out of the original list, and actually turns my whole theory around, as here is a newspaper, working for awareness quite actively. (See previous blog entry for the recorded data).

Local News

I was quite surprised to find so many articles on the local news, but I suppose that it is understandable considering that this media tells individual stories, and as a result, a common condition such as hypo or hyperthyroidism is exposed more than in the main news.

The Daily Mail

The Daily Mail has more articles than the 'quality news'?!

I am quite against this newspaper (apologies to any loyal readers or reporters here) due to its content, so this will be quite a detailed analysis in order to justify the above.

Again, an issue here is understanding which of the online articles have actually been put in print, but what I have found is, firstly, it is the content which is different - The Daily Mail is one to usually offer gossip-style, entertainment or personal news about individuals and:

This interests people (not me!)
There is alot available to use.

So, the majority of the articles are referring to celebrities and television presenters - which, for awareness, is great, but...

Because the majority of Daily Mail readers don't want to get into the nitty-gritty articles containing detail and discussion, the symptoms of thyroid disease are more personal and, to be quite honest, simple. Hence the following headline:

Although I'm sure that the symptom is just as important as all the others, and this article certainly encourages awareness that men, not just women, have thyroid disease, this article is formatted in the way of one intended for entertainment, to engage more than inform: the sort of 'take a pill and it'll all be over' solution that sucks people in before they are told the nitty-gritty. The wording of this article: 'drugs used to treat thyroid disorders could be used to...' puts a spin on thyroid disease, suggesting that any one can take the pill to get relief from problems, no questions asked. This is not true: receiving levothyroxine when you have a normal thyroid could be dangerous, and although many people do suffer with the symptoms but have no scientific evidence that they have the disease, one symptom alone is not enough to ask for the treatment - so far as I know, anyway.

Here is another headline:

Yes, this is a positive effort at awareness (not that this is the aim of the article): it is direct, straight to the point ... and pregnant mothers will worry straight away.

Perhaps the article should be a little longer - either with useful links, or explanations of some of the symptoms so as to not cause a moral panic in which a herd of pregnant women are wobbling through the streets and into the local surgery, requesting blood tests.

The personal stories grab attention, yes, but what worries me is that the reputation of the Daily Mail is more of a 'no-news' newspaper; an entertainment or gossip paper, if you will, than anywhere even close to a 'quality' newspaper such as The Times, The Independent and others. Furthermore, the way in which celebrities' thyroid problems are shown perhaps dumbs down the importance of the thyroid and thyroid disease. This leads to the one article on Thyroid Awareness Week (which I have in previous blog entries claimed there to be no media coverage of, anywhere) to become less of a campaign or even a scare and more of an ordinary 'no-news' article, just like any other. The result is to rid the "oh my goodness, that's worrying" reaction, a commonly shared one which feasts in a moral-panic and is usually exaggerated, but without which we sit and hear nothing. It may be spoken about for a short while, but after that there is nothing. Not a word about it; it is ignored.

I do not propose that the Daily Mail stops its efforts at Thyroid Awareness, or that it stops covering celebrities who are struggling with thyroid disease or thyroid cancer. Such coverage does grab attention. The newspaper does have a high readership:

It hopefully will raise awareness, but to increase the importance, other newspapers should be more involved, the 'quality' way.

Popular or Ignored? - Study of Additional News Sites

2009-08-11T15:00:00.004+01:00

I added the following news sites to look at:

Independent
Times
Daily Mail
Local News: Watford Observer/Borehamwood Times
JC

*Note that some are from the same company

Independent

Present news articles:

1 - Soya
1 - Hormones
1 - BBC presenter suffering from thyroid cancer
1 - Oprah Winfrey (who also has thyroid disease)

News articles more than 1 year old:

1 - Flouride
1 - Chernobyl

There were also some letters from readers, asking health questions which were to do with symptoms of thyroid disease.

2. Times

Present news article:

1 - Diabetes and Downs Syndrome - dated yesterday, 10th August!
1 - Cancer
1 - BBC presenter suffering from thyroid cancer
1 - Swine Flu
1 - SAD
1 - Hair Loss
1 - Genome Project

News articles more than 1 year old:

1 - BTF/Thyroid UK and how the thyroid is undiagnosed. Excellent article. April 2005:

There were 513 results for the search term 'thyroid', however by page 3 directly related results were not so predominant.

3. The Daily Mail
There were 10,20,50 results for the search term 'thyroid'!

Present news articles:

1 - Thyroid Awareness Week:

1 - 'The silent epidemic'

News article more than one year old:

1 - BBC presenter suffering from thyroid cancer
1 - Celebrity with thyroid disease
1 - Presenter with thyroid disease
1 - Sex hormones and the thyroid

Mail on Sunday 'You Magazine':

1 - Baby's IQ and thyroid disease
1 - Thyroid Cancer

4. Local news: Watford Observer
(The Borehamwood Times is the same company and would've had the same articles)

Present news articles:

1 - 'Local family perform for charity' - But there was no info here about the charity they were perfoming for, the BTF

News articles more than one year old:

Infertility and thyroid disease

5. JC

There were 2 about the prevalence of thyroid disease and thyroid cancer in the Ukraine, however these were not strictly about thyroid disease and this is not to be expected - they were about the suffering of the people of the Ukraine.

Whilst adding this commentary and articles, I found:

1 news article - very detailed, but JAN 2006

Enidnews.com - Oklahama, US

1 website - no date, but comments are closed

athens gynecology.com 'serving Athens and the surrounding Atlanta areas.'

The next post will be a commentary on these results compared with the original set.

Popular or Ignored? - Analysis: Publication Problem

2009-08-11T10:24:00.016+01:00

Image via Wikipedia

Commentary on Findings:

Channel 4, the BBC and Revision sites

Channel 4's website was the most informative on thyroid disease and thyroid cancer; it had the most number of articles compared to other news sites.
There were some television programmes: one on Channel 4 ('You Are What You Eat')
Revision sites for GCSE and A Level of biology and PE contain merely mentions of what the thyroid does - nothing about thyroid disease, which is odd considering that the disease can target during puberty or is more likely to be spotted at this time. (Though it is also true that this is more information than was studied in the past.)
BBC articles did not do much to raise awareness or encourage (though it is liberal so can only state) and tended to be:
- Negative for thyroid disease treatment (1)
- About Chernobyl (Where thyroid disease and cancer numbers have gone up dramatically since the disaster

Informing us and paying attention to this is good, but it does not explain what thyroid disease is or that it is common throughout the world - concentrating on its prevalence in one country alone could lead to misinterpretations.

The BBC does get the 'thumbs up' when it comes to radio presentations, however these are all, bar one, on Radio 4, and the other is a Cornwall Local station. The timing for the programmes is not bad - late evening - but it is still unlikely to receive many individuals not concerned about their health, especially considering the title of one of the Radio 4 programme: 'Am I normal?'

Search Terms Used

Generally the search terms I came up with were not particularly successful in terms of the first three pages of Google results: 6 altogether, of 10 search terms.

However, searching for more specific terms - goitre, for example, provided endless results, where the word 'thyroid' was located on almost every one and it seemed pointless to count up points. Again, I am reminded of something I said not long ago:

It seems that you need to know about thyroid disease in order to find out about it.

The problem is that almost all thyroid symptoms are general, and common with a number of different conditions, diseases, or temporary illnesses. As such, even knowing one or two symptoms is not enough to find out more, unless you know specifically that it is your thyroid, or know the more 'original' symptoms, such as a goitre.

As such, the 'self-help' sites out there cannot be quite as useful as they hope; even my own awareness site, without advertising, is also left quite distant from the 'any one', who doesn't have or know of thyroid disease.

Blogs and Videos: The Personal Touch

I did not search blogs, but a quick search on Google blog search reveals: 567, 670 results (although many of these are actually websites, not blogs); there are 11 blogs listed on blogarama.com (including my own).
There were a ridiculous amount of YouTube videos: 1,730 results for the search term "thyroid", and as such it seemed even more ridiculous to filter through these and pick out the ordinary VS the news video or official entry.

What this shows, again is that we are relying on ourselves for information because the media simply isn't providing it (as someone who wants to work in the media I hope this isn't too terrible a thing to say! :O )

It is the consumer culture and the make-your-own opportunities which the internet has provided which we have jumped on and taken advantage of - but this is still not effective enough to produce the awareness needed for the everydayan to find out about the thyroid and what happens when things go wrong.

Again, it seems you have to know about this disease to find out about it.

The Thyroid and its Diseases: Popular or Ignored? - Results

2009-08-11T05:59:00.006+01:00

Click here to view a spreadsheet of all the results from the study:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tk3YmCivYl7Jptcz7s-hdHg&single=true&gid=0&output=html

Below is a bar chart of the data types and numbers (as per 'method') recorded. Click on the thumbnail to view full size.

From the number of terms recorded, I worked out the points as follows:

15x10 = 150

4x11 = 44

5x12 = 60

2x12 = 24

7x13 = 91

2x2 = 4

1x4 = 4

--------------

377*

*It is not important to add up the totals

I spent 1hour15mins approx researching.

*Note: I did not find any 'entire news section', worth 14 points, or 'news video entries', worth 14 points also. However I am aware that there are some US news videos available on YouTube which I have found previously and is referred to in the July article: 'Awareness in the UK VS the US: This Needs to be Changed.'
I also did not search blogs in the end - see 'analysis' for more details on this as I did a quick search afterwards.

The results comparing US and UK points 12 and 13 should not be relied upon because I did not search specific US news sites as I did with the UK, e.g. the BBC.

Commentary on the study, along with many articles are coming soon!

The Thyroid and its Diseases: Popular or Ignored?

2009-08-11T03:48:00.002+01:00

I am going to conduct an online study, attempting to find out what the true state of awareness of thyroid disease is. Previously, I have written articles on this blog directly targeting or questioning the state of awareness in the UK, namely this are: '13 Reasons for a Poppycock State of Awareness' and 'Awareness in the UK VS the US: This Needs to be Changed,' however the articles which I will write after this study will be based on larger evidence and will be much more detailed.

THE STUDY

AIM: To find out to what extent thyroid disease is publicised across the media and therefore what the state of awareness is.

METHOD: I am going to surf the net for approximately one hour. I am going to search Google for the following terms:

tiredness
stomach problems
conditions
diseases
women
common problem
top diseases
poor concentration
poor memory
infertility

I am going to look through:

BBC online
ITV online
Sky news online
Five news online
Four news online

...and see if I can find any websites or single terms of the following:

thyroid
hypothyroid
hyperthyroid
thyroid cancer
thyroid disease
underactive thyroid
overactive thyroid
metabolic diseases
endocrine disorders

I am going to record the amount of results whose title or description on Google contains any of those terms above. I am only going to search through the first 3 pages of search results on any website.

Any results which I judge to be related to a thyroid or thyroid disease I will click on. I am then going to record each website or term with the following points:

Single mention/term: 2 points
Brief entry (paragraph) on website: 4 points
Blogs: 8 points
YouTube videos by ordinary people (a collection of videos by one person will gain only a single collection of points): 8 points
Non-blog website: 10 points
Old news article (old being more than a year old exactly): 11 points
Present news article: 12 points
Any present radio entry on usual stations e.g. BBC Radio 4: 12 points
Section on an official website e.g. the health section of the BBC: 13 points
Entire present news section: 14 points
Present News video entries: 14 points (per entry)

If radio or video I will record what time they are published and by whom.
I will record anything else of interest e.g. whether videos are US or UK; whether US news sites give coverage and whether the UK ones will.

I will record the results and then analyse and compare where necessary. I will present my results as best as possible and write as many articles as I feel necessary.

----------------------------------------------------

Aside from this study...

I also hope to research the following:

Is thyroid disease in the school syllabus?

If yes, when did it enter the syllabus?
If it isn't, was it ever?
And when do people start learning about it in education? University - what courses, what levels? Medicine, yes, but any others?
Are there any other qualifications in which you learn at least briefly about it?
And, if it's not on our syllabus, is it on the US one, or anywhere else in the world?

Who should know about thyroid disease? (profession wise)

This will be useful when it comes to analysing the results of a survey I have created about thyroid awareness (see above for the link). At present, I cannot find this information and do not know how to go about it - if you have any ideas, please let me know.

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I think that if I am going to actively campaign through direct articles as I am doing, for an increased awareness of thyroid disease, then I should do my research properly so that I can respond to what I find properly.

Writing: Time, Tiredness, Reality and Imagination

2009-08-09T17:55:00.001+01:00

Of Note: Written at some point I think before being diagnosed hypothyroid.

---

Reality is pouring in from all angles, and I feel so tired. It's like a ceiling collapsing on me, for I can feel it crunching at my bones. I can feel it tearing every breath from my lungs. In its dull and solid make there homes no creature, no kind of magical object, pathway to other dimensions or anything of the sort. I try to open my eyes, and again I see this ceiling, cracking and crumbling at every part.

Reality is pouring in from all angles, and I feel so tired. Again and again. I try to open my eyes and here comes the whole process again. Tiredness: the only all-powerful, immortal killer, so dull and solid that it wears no cracks or holes through which to see into the open. Darkness revels in its presence. I try to open my eyes, to see once again. To see an entire sky laid out before me, and above me, and behind me, and all around me, colours...

Thyroid Awareness

2009-07-28T20:48:00.001+01:00

Which of the following medical conditions have you heard of? (Taken from parliament.uk)(polls)

Oh dear, the Alien Symptom's Back Again

2009-07-20T17:19:00.001+01:00

Note: This post was originally written on the thyroidhelp.org forum, in my personal blog. Originally I had decided not to post it here because it didn't seem to fit with what should be here - as a blog encouraging awareness of thyroid disease and so also addressing the issues in the media with the lack of it, I had wanted there to only be articles relating to this, along with any multimedia parts which would be useful.

However, I would be interested to hear your thoughts about this blog post if you are a current thyroid sufferer, or indeed if you are anyone else.
Do you experience this same symptom?
What are your best methods of dealing/overcoming it?

I think it may be useful if you do have it and do not realise it is your thyroid causing it - I believe that it is. And, to rationalise including this post further, if you are 'anyone else' and experience this symptom, it aggravates you and maybe you have a few other symptoms too, but not many, get your thyroid checked! It doesn't do any harm just to check it.

Post originally written at: Wed Jul 15, 2009 9:11 pm

----------

I don't know why I call it the 'Alien symptom' - I've just made it up, but for now it seems to fit. I get it often, usually when I really need to concentrate and take in what's being said or what I need to learn. I think it's some of that 'brain fog', it's like someone's pulled a curtain over my eye that won't hang properly, and everything just goes blurred. I am trying to read a page in front of me, but I cannot see it properly: I try to blink, to shake my head a little, and in some cases it works but in others it doesn't do a thing. It happens in kickboxing - I am trying to watch a routine that's being showed about four times over, and usually an extra time just for me, and I am having to force myself to 'wake up', 'listen', 'concentrate'.

There is an old little motto that I used not many years ago, before I found out I was hypothyroid, and was finding concentration a difficult task; in fact I even used it once to get myself to sleep with a burning ear infection: 'easy, easy, concentrate, easy, easy, concentrate', over and over until it made a difference, and then when it was needed again, not long after, I'd think it or whisper or say it aloud all over again, over and over until it made a difference. I think this motto ought to come back strong into my mind in times of Alien symptom (I will think of a better name for it at some point. Maybe I should call it 'Blur'?).

Why do I name it 'Alien symptom' for now? Because during this point listening is extremely hard; reading or watching something even harder, and I have literally 'blanked out' of reality's presence. I am almost completely unable to communicate - if I must, it requires force and effort, the thought-process of which means that listening and taking in cannot happen at the same time. I am there and yet not there, fading away into the background, and what I missed will no doubt come back to haunt me later.

It happened today during an interview, for longer than I expected, too. Luckily it was during a point when I was only needed to listen and look - I suppose stress, adrenaline, all, reduced suddenly and then hit the reality of blankness that is a hypothyroid's (or mine, anyway) world. It came at first with quite a strength, and I blinked and discreetly shook it away, and then it immediately came back again, and there it stayed until it was ready to go. It was like I was entering a daydream; I can imagine my eyes were just wide and staring, my entire body stunned into a locked position. What is this?

When it went I carried on as I ought, although with a dreading thought about the important points that I'd missed. It has happened a few times since, although never for as long and not as bad as that time earlier today.

I do get this frequently, but I am assuming that it is purely because of my low thyroid - when my thyroid was actually 'normal' I don't remember experiencing it, but perhaps I was just too excited by the new-found freedom and lightness, bounding along as I was, that I didn't notice.

Does anyone else get this? Do you think it is the thyroid, or related to something else?

I suppose it makes sense for anyone who is not quite at perfect health, or still far off, to, during a demanding few hours, where there comes a sudden rest, a steady target for the eyes, and no water despite an easily dehydrated person, to jump at the chance of blanking out.

Edited photo picturising the barrier(s) to awareness

2009-07-16T14:12:00.002+01:00

Please comment - thoughts, suggestions, criticisms, tips, arguments, discussions, whatever...

Yes, alright, it WAS a beautiful photo :-P

New tags for the blog entries added

2009-07-15T22:24:00.001+01:00

So, I've added some extra tags for all the blog entries so far to help distinguish between entries which may be of use to you whether you are a thyroid sufferer; newbie, or anyone else - just interested; friend or relative of a thyroid sufferer; anyone in the media perhaps...?

The new tags are:

Thyroid Newbie
Current Sufferer
Any one

To locate blog posts quickly in these categories, just type the tag in the search box on the left.
Bear in mind that you are still entitled to read other posts even if it is not in 'your' category - they may be interesting and useful to you.

The 'any one' category means, like it says, that any one can read it - they are writing entries and awareness entries, and great for people who are hearing for the first time about thyroid disease.

If there are any other tags which you think may be useful to you, please let me know and I'll add them. Also please answer my poll (on left) so that I can better tell who is reading this blog and can tune what I write towards you.

13 Reasons For A Poppycock State Of Awareness

2009-07-14T20:05:00.001+01:00

13 reasons...
...not to be harsh on those who didn't spot our thyroid disease years ago...
...not to complain for the lack of pointing at our necks

Rant of the day....

1) INNOCENCE - They didn't know - thyroid awareness is so absolutely rubbish that how could they?
2) LACK OF ORIGINALITY - The symptoms are so common that they thought it was "just you" and that was the end of that. Come on, fellow thyroid patients, let's use our imagination and create more original symptoms to cue the "danger" alerts in their brains!
3) "IT'S YOU, YOU, YOU" - They pointed at your personality; your academic abilities; other reasons, to explain your strangeness. It's not their fault that they couldn't see the cause.
4) EVERLASTING - They have always known you that way and so cannot see that it might be a disease.

5) Pshh, it's probably nothing to worry about! Ignorance.

6) TEACHERS - especially PE and Science teachers: well, you get on and do your work as you should, so you're not causing such a big problem like the hyperactive ones....yes, THAT'S because I'm HYPOthyroid!

7) Pshh, it's just puberty!

8) TEACHERS - Hmm...maybe some extra lessons, and then more extra lessons, will do the trick! Have you ever thought of the wider view? That not everything is focused on school?
9) DOCTORS - Specifics come to them presented in the order that the list portrays. Without those specifics they will not test for more specifics. They will not ask if you have the specifics because, well, now that would be a leading question, wouldn't it?
10)...and US - But when you are living in that state of everlastingness, assuming that anything is just "you" and not pinpointing those specifics because you do not realise that they are not normal - why would you if you are so used to them and they are just "you"? - you will not notice them until you start to compare yourself to others and you cannot do that in a state of total mind-blank, staring-into-space-because-your-head-cannot-focus-on-the-fast-movements-around-you - therefore, to conclude this extra-long sentence, you won't point out the specifics, therefore the doctor's cannot possible see it. It is a symptom-directed, check the box world, that we live in, and unless you check enough of those boxes in the doctor's head or on paper, they cannot possibly diagnose you.
10b) Still US - Well, when our thyroid goes down, do we notice it immediately? No we don't. Why? Because it goes with the culture of life - "ah, I'm just tired today, how interesting" ...No, you silly, silly person, remember, it's your thyroid! And two or three weeks later we are sleeping half the day and dizzy the rest of it, looking like a version of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' when we walk! Not making that mistake again!

So, honestly, if we can't work it out ourselves, how can we really expect anyone else to spot it before they even know about it?

10) THE MEDIA - Newsworthiness: Pshh, they're not life threatening, so let's not mention it. It doesn't match our news values.
11) EDUCATION AND THE TEXTBOOKS - Particularly all that rubbish about growing up: pssh, well not EVERYBODY gets it, do they? - No, but many do. - Ah well, if they're short, they're short, there's no reason to cause a panic. - True, but if you tell them, they might actually grow!
12) THE GOVERNMENT, TEACHERS, BUREAUCRACY - relating to the above: "Well if it's not in the syllabus, then DON'T mention it, you're wasting time and money!"

13) And for those who spot the more personal symptoms which often relate to the thyroid and which are not, by this society, 'normal', but fail to point you anywhere near a blood test: "well, it's too personal, isn't it? I mean, you can't mention that!" Fear.
14) Finally...FELLOW PEERS - well, of course you wouldn't notice - anything strange would either become the jokes or not-so-funny-jokes of our school days, or would simply be what you associated with me. Of course you couldn't of guessed - you weren't taught it, not ever, and it's not advertised, not anywhere.

So, let's make sure we're not harsh on the ignorance of others!

Seriously though, every poster in a GP surgery is seen by at least one eye; every paragraph in a textbook by at least one student, and a gory picture by the whole class; every advert, or skimmed-through news announcement on the television, or online news, is also seen by at least one eye, or heard by at least one ear - that's an awful lot of simple awareness that we're missing out on. And it can mean years of difference for an undiagnosed, unsuspecting - except for perhaps the 'weirdness' that they cannot explain - child, teenager, student, adult, mother, father, you.

Let's sort it. Now.

Writing: Tiredness

2009-07-08T14:17:00.002+01:00

Of note: Written I think shortly after starting Levothyroxine
Slightly edited

Tiredness.

It feels like a rock, pressed hard on my shoulders.

It feels like a tube, like a straw wound around my veins.

Someone is sucking at the other end. Food - but they leave me all the rubbish. Human or creature? Man or woman? I cannot tell. I toy with either: sometimes it is enjoyable to be indecisive. I can see, with those eyes that are not quite eyes but still serve their function, a mouth, human-like (at first, at least), big bulging red lips, with a hint of grey in them too. The lips press tightly together, pursing red, then they retreat and ball out into a perfectly oval shape before snapping shut again. At every breath a surge of hot air floods dramatically through that thin straw. Thick and stodgy, like blood, it refuses to separate for transportation. Instead it bombards the entire passageway and drags the straw deeper into my head. The piled stodge eventually thrusts forward, the sheer power of its force causing the entire bunch to splat like catapulted paint, on every nook and cranny within its sight. And then eventually the straw is ripped apart, and each and every breath fires momentarily into my already flooded brain. Tiredness. Fatigue. Someone out there feeds off second-hand energy. Someone out there breathes exceptionally powerful breathes. A creature then, surely. Ay, I wish to meet this one too: I'd ask it why he or she feeds off me, and why it can't simply remove the nasty bits and leave the good bits of my body's insides. I'd ask it if it could please organise its meal times adequately, steal at night-time, then. I'd ask this creature, why does he come so often? A never-ending thief, well-trained and highly successful. Impossible to catch, but always worth a try.

Perhaps, I think I'd ask, does he come and stay this way because of his irritable stomach? Does he, too, eat little and often?!

Tips whilst taking levothyroxine (for hypothyroidism)

2009-07-04T12:43:00.002+01:00

Much of what you may find benefits or causes problems for you whilst taking levothyroxine will probably result from trial and error, however, these tips may help you if you have just been diagnosed, or if you are having some difficulty with your medication dose.

As a note, when I refer to 'problems whilst taking levothyroxine', I generally mean variations in your thyroid levels and hence the dose of the medication - unless otherwise stated.

Tip 1 - Your diet and your thyroid
I have been reading about some foods which should be avoided if you're trying to increase or maintain the function of your thyroid. Where this information is posted it must be read fairly sceptically because often you would have to take these foods in unrealistic amounts for the apparent problems to happen. Still, if you do happen to eat rather a lot of them, and have just been diagnosed with hypothyroidism, or if your thyroid levels have dropped recently and it is possible that this is due to eating more of these types of foods, it may be worth avoiding them.

The foods are:

Goitrogenic foods, such as cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, turnips, rutabagas, kohlrabi, radishes, cauliflower, African cassava, millet, and kale. (Taken from about.com thyroid disease)

Soy is also a goitrogen and it is probably worth doing some of your own research on this as there appears to be a massive online debate about whether it is good, bad, or harmless and, as with most foods' affect on our health, scientistis appear to be changing their mind about as frequently as my blood test results.

The general assumption is that, when taken frequently, soy may cause you problems. It is worth checking the ingredients of your foods as many more purchased items contain soy than you might think. For example, there are many cereals which quote how wonderful they are for containing protein - what the protein is, is soy. In addition, watch out for the use of the sauce, and try not to eat excessive tofu.
About.com Thyroid Disease lists some important tips for those wanting to include soy in their diet and it includes tips relating to how much you should eat and how long after taking your pills - after 3 or 4 hours, apparently, so it may be worth throwing those soy cereals away! - the link is here:

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/soyinfo/a/soy_4.htm

I am not sure if it is only soy in a specific variety - i.e. soybeans but not soy sauce - so please let me know if you have any information about this, however I would advise generally watching your intake of this ingredient as it appears to be unfriendly to hypothyroids.

Watch how much milk you are having in the morning after taking levothyroxine, and ensure you only take it a full half an hour or more (see below: Tip 5) after taking the pills. Calcium, but specifically, milk, can affect the absorption of levothyroxine. If your breakfast sizes have increased - perhaps due to increased appetite from a faster metabolism; or from seeking energy from food - and your thyroid levels have gone down, it may be worth reducing those breakfast sizes, eating it later, or switching the milk (or at least most of it) for yoghurt or something else.

Other foods to avoid, from personal experience, include the harder-to-digest sorts of foods and the high in sugar foods. I am going to start with pizza, which is supposed to be the hardest of all to digest. As of last year I have refused to eat it. It made me terribly dizzy and generally fill ill for some hours after eating eat. Then followed pasta - this is perhaps more of an issue with acid reflux or a slight wheat intolerance - but, as it is a thicker, heavier food, the body is going to struggle to deal with it. If you are finding you need to stop eating this, you can try switching to thinner pastas; using rye or other types instead of usual wheat (alternatives can be easier to digest and healthier); or smaller portions - perhaps pasta mixed with something else.
The earliest foods I started having trouble with were sweets and chocolate, about 4 years ago, which then grew to all things unhealthy which you would eat on a day out at Thorpe Park - fast food, for instance, and anything that looks all shiny and disgusting with sugar (how did I ever think they looked nice?). The same symptoms would come - a general lightheadness or diziness and just feeling unwell but without too vigorous symptoms, which makes it difficult to explain.

Thinking about it, it makes sense - foods high in sugar, or generally very heavy, do of course require a fast metabolism (or at least a 'normal' one) to process and deal with.
Hence a hypothyroid patient, not yet taking medication, is going to be practically unable to deal with the foods correctly. I have not yet tried these foods since being on levothyroxine so I cannot say if it is purely related to being hypo and untreated - however I do notice the same symptoms when my thyroid levels drop, specifcally after meals (when the body is trying to deal with the food intake). My general suggestion would be that if you are experiencing these symptoms, try to work out if they are specifically after eating these foods - if they are, stop and switch. Choose the good options: cereal and seeds are always good! :)

TIP 2 - Drink and the thyroid

I have read on some sites that alcohol may aggrevate the thyroid. On Thyroid UK's symptom checker alcohol intolerance is actually listed, and I would tend to agree with the existance of this symptom. Whether or not alcohol should or should not be avoided, my general stance is that if it's bad for you, the chances are it's going to do your medical condition worse - so avoid it. Of course, if you already drink it occasionally and see no need to change, then this is fine - occassional should do you no harm. However, if you currently do not drink, or haven't drunk in a while and are planning to try some soon, remember to keep an eye on your thyroid levels and perhaps assume that if there is no other reason for any change which might appear, then it is due to the alcholol.

Speaking from a personal experience, I stopped drinking alcohol shortly after trying and whilst undiagnosed, and haven't touched it since. I generally felt uncomfortable, with some dizziness, etc. I have yet to decide whether to try it again when my thyroid is back to normal. Interestingly, in this forum, some people talk about experiencing similar symptoms whilst taking levothyroxine:
http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/team_messageboard_thread.asp?board=261x732x26432592

I can't find much more information for drinks to avoid, but I will share some of the things which I avoid:

Similar to alcholol, I have found that fizzy drinks are a good one to avoid. Thinking about it, they contain nothing much more than sugar and stomach-irritating bubbles! Similar to the food issues, this is of course going to be a difficult one for a struggling and, to be honest, precocuupied, metabolism to manage. To add to this, if you find that acid reflux or heartburn is something you experience, it may be worth avoiding fruit juices except for when you really feel like having them, as they contain more acid. Again, I have not yet tried both of these with a 'normal' thyroid on levothyroxine.

TIP 3 - Empty Stomach

"Food may delay or reduce the absorption of many drugs, including thyroid hormone. Food can often slow the process of the stomach entering, but it may also affect absorption of the drug you're taking by binding with it, by decreasing access to absorption sites, by altering the rate at which it dissolves, or by changing the stomach's pH balance. This is why many doctors recommend that for best absorption of your thyroid hormone, you should take it first thing the morning, on an empty stomach"

http://www.thyroid-info.com/articles/thyroid-drug-faq.htm

TIP 4 - How much time before breakfast?

If you search this one on the internet, you may find conflicting information: some say half an hour; some say an hour; some even say more. Personally, I think a whole hour, bear in mind you have to take the pills first thing in the morning and then continue with your day, is unrealistic. According to my doctor, half an hour is fine. Last year, when I started taking levothyroxine, I had exactly half an hour before eating breakfast and then leaving for school - and I gradually became 'normal'. As carefulness switched to routine - in some cases rushed, or late in the case of holidays and weekends - and I could no longer say how much time I had been leaving, I am now timing myself - half an hour or more before eating breakfast in the morning.

TIP 5 - What to take with? How much?

"It is very important to take levothyroxine with a full glass (8 ounces) of water. The levothyroxine tablet can dissolve very quickly and swell in the throat, possibly causing choking or gagging." http://health.yahoo.com/hormone-medications/levothyroxine/healthwise--d00278a1.html

As noted above, watch how much milk you are having in the morning after taking levothyroxine, and ensure you only take it a full half an hour or more after taking the pills. Calcium, but specifically, milk, can affect the absorption of levothyroxine. If your breakfast sizes have increased - perhaps due to increased appetite from a faster metabolism; or from seeking energy from food - and your thyroid levels have gone down, it may be worth reducing those breakfast sizes, eating it later, or switching the milk (or at least most of it) for yoghurt or something else.

TIP 6 - Exercise!

Exercise is always going to be good for you. With an underactive thyroid it is even more important, as exercise raises the metabolism and so, I find, kicks every vital process in the body into action. Be careful to take enough rest and not overdo it if you are still underactive or your dosage is going up and down. As you are going up to 'normal' try to 'work with' your thyroid - do more exercise, eat properly, go out a little more, push yourself that little bit harder and see how far you can go, how much you can do. This way, as your metabolism increases and everything else reacts, you will really start to see results and feel much better. Of course, it does depend on how quickly your body reacts to the levothyroxine - if you cannot find the right dose it may be more difficult to work with these changes or even to notice many of them. I have a theory which I have yet to put any evidence to, in which, once your TSH goes below a certain point (and so your T4 is higher and you are becoming 'normal') things will get much easier - you just have to get to that point. It's a waiting game, unfortunately.

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I will add to this article as and when I find any more information or can add from personal experience. Please, if you have any information relating to this or any of the other articles, or simply wish to question or comment, leave a comment in the box provided.

Awareness In The UK VS The US: This Needs To Be Changed

2009-07-03T21:28:00.001+01:00

Note: This is a response to the previous entry where I listed some useful videos to look at relating to the thyroid and the endocrine system.

Here's a funny thing...
Have you noticed that most of the videos below are from the US? From news reports to study guides - doesn't it make you think?

When have you ever seen a news report in the UK, saying "could it be your thyroid?"

When have you ever had a whole section in your science exam at school on the endocrine system and specifically the thyroid?

Please, correct me if I am wrong, but it seems that we, in the UK, really overlook the existence of the thyroid. This needs to be changed. Yes, the US is of course a bigger place, and yes, this does mean that there is a much higher percentage of people with thyroid disease in the US when compared with the UK. But this is no excuse for our nationwide ignoring of the thyroid.

A simple search on the BBC's website shows that Radio 4 does refer to the thyroid, and that there was an article dated 1997 - in reference to the Chernobyl incident - where thyroid cancer was mentioned in some detail. See the article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1997/chernobyl/32655.stm

Radio 4? Let me ask you, does Radio 4 target the general population? No.
Does radio output a message as clearly to a modern audience as television? No.
Would a simple, even a short, news report on the evening, or even daytime, television news, be more informative and more effective than the feeble attempt that is currently produced?

Yes.

Useful Videos: The Thyroid + Endocrine System

2009-07-03T20:43:00.001+01:00

Here are some YouTube video links explaining the endocrine system (which the thyroid is a part of) and the thyroid itself - great for people who would rather not read:

"Are you experiencing...?...you may have hypothyroidism" - US news video explaining what hypothyroidism is and goes through symptoms:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF8AiQYoGWs

A very simple, very short video on how the thyroid works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V0HB4cKIMw

Talk on how the thyroid is "misunderstood, misdiagnosed, missed":

Hypothyroidism: Misunderstood, Misdiagnosed, Missed! by Dr. Scott Rollins

Here's a US Study Guide video on the endocrine system. It's 7minutes so it may be worth skipping through it a little:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m5SDb_1ME8&feature=fvw

A 3D video taking you step-by-step from the brain to the thyroid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLeBNyB1qKU

FOX 30 News: "It could be your thyroid"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRkY9fK
Image via Wikipedia
vGNg

Writing: Tiredness; shorts

2009-07-01T17:01:00.001+01:00

Of note: Two short pieces (edited)

-----------------------------------------

I am again paralysed. Totally. Still is my body, lost is my head...

Tiredness: the evil player; he spins his web and I coil in retreat. He cannot be fought - nay, his strength is far too mighty for any with a fist. I do not know his name, for he comes and steals my mind, and when he is gone a trail of his footprints remain.

Causes of Thyroid disease

2009-07-01T11:31:00.001+01:00

CAUSES

"Hyperthyroidism affects up to one in 50 people and can occur at any age, most commonly between 20 and 50."

"Hypothyroidism is ten times more common in women than in men and usually occurs over the age of 40."
(BBC Health)

The most common cause of thyroid disease is autoimmune disease. (Hashimotos thyroditis in hypothyroid patients.) This is where the immune system mistakenly attacks the body's tissue, assuming it to be some kind of invader. If it attacks the thyroid it can first stimulate the thyroid and then destroy it. Graves disease is a cause of hyperthyroidism and is where the body produces abnormal antibodies, causing the thyroid to produce more hormones.

Thyroid disease can also be caused by an insufficient iodine intake, which can lead to a goitre (enlargement of the thyroid gland) and hypothyroidism. This is still one of the most common causes worldwide however in the West it is less likely because of the introduction of iodized salt, meaning that our food is not lacking in iodine. However, "approximately 40% of the world’s population remains at risk for iodine deficiency." (Thyroid.org - American Thyroid Association)

Hypothyroidism can also be caused by the radioactive treatment of hyperthyroidism. In fact, any exposure to radiation has been found to lower the production of thyroid hormones - in the case of the Chernobyl incident, for example, one of the aftermath effects has been an increase in thyroid disease and thyroid cancer amongst the people who were living in the area.

Some people are born with thyroid disease, especially if it is autoimmune. This is because someone in their family has the disease.

Some drugs can lead to hypothyroidism. Most websites point to lithium (used to treat depressive disorders) as a drug which can cause this.

It is argued that some foods can also cause thyroid disease - in particular soy products and "goitrogenic" foods, however this is most likely only the case when consumed in massive amounts and so is unlikely to be the cause of a thyroid disease.

TREATMENT

Hypothyroidism is usually treated with synthetic thyroxine drugs such as Levothyroxine. This provides for the naturally occuring thyroid hormone which is not being produced by the body.

The usual adult starting dose is 50 to 100 micrograms however it can take some time to find the correct dose, and the dose may be raised as time goes along. As an example, I started last year on 75 micrograms, then went to 75, with one day of 50; and I am now taking 100 micrograms with one day of 125 - and waiting to find out whether this will have to be raised again as the blood tests suggests. Most people need to take the drugs for the rest of their life.

Hyperthyroidism may be treated with drugs such as through the use of beta-blockers; or surgery may have to be done to remove some of the thyroid tissue. ROI (Radioactive Iodine) may be used to treat hyperthyroidism, however this often results in hypothyroidism (which may then be treated with drugs as above).

Writing: Tiredness

2009-06-28T19:49:00.001+01:00

Of note: This one is two different notes combined and I'm not entirely sure when either were written...
Same as before, this is I guess a random entry, so please excuse it if you are looking for factual information...but here is something about a thyroid life:

Tiredness kicks, like a rather angry horse. I fall, my head on the pillow, my eyes closed. I wake, and turn a page, only to fall once again...
Tiredness seems to slip and slither in his welcoming way, right off my head and onto the ground. I watch him fall flat on his back, now no more than an ant, crying and wailing and helpless all the while, kicking a tantrum though there is no one nearby to offer a hand. Until I see my own. My own hand, retracting from my arm, reaching out to his - he grips it - and my arm tugs. My own arm - me - I helped him up. I could see myself watching him there, struggling, but O! Not for long! Like any creature, I thought, any creature in need of help, 'help him' and the thought squealed deep inside me, echoed in my head. I helped him up, an enemy, if you will, though one that I've never nor hope to ever call such a name...but I helped him up.

Writing: Tiredness, Time and Dreaming

2009-06-28T19:22:00.001+01:00

Of note: written I think shortly after being diagnosed with hypothyroidism.
This is I guess a random entry, so please excuse it if you are looking for factual information...but here is something about a thyroid life:

Time passes by, though I seem hardly aware. My head is flooded with a herd of images. Leaves sweep amongst them, and each one seems able to speak. I seem unable to drag myself away. I look at my watch, and find it is gone eleven o'clock. A full thirty minutes I've been sitting right here, trapped in the dull dreams and entering sleep before sleep is required. A full thirty minutes I've been sitting right here: Yesterday and Tomorrow, I can recall the past; I can predict the future. A full thirty minutes, though not exact, I've been sitting right here. A tortoise on ten legs came and shook at my hand. Behind it there followed a cheetah, and behind him some others of the jungle. Time is so twisted. A full thirty minutes I've been sitting right here. Dreaming. Never by choice, but never without a love of some sort. In school. With friends. In talks. After and before. During and in gaps. A full thirty minutes I've been sitting right here. A dreamer, I am. A dreamer, that's me.

Welcome & Thyroid Symptoms

2009-06-28T17:19:00.002+01:00

Image via Wikipedia

Hi,

Welcome to my thyroid blog. Here I hope to post entries about the symptoms, causes, treatment, and generally the way of life with hypothyroidism. I will do this by explaining everything that I have learnt about the disease since I was diagnosed last year, including some of the things to expect during treatment; by suggesting useful websites and blogs different to my own which can provide you with useful and in some cases official, information; I will also include any creative writing entries which I have found having written them in the midst of a half-awake-half-asleep stage from before and during treatment.

This blog is aimed not only for hypothyroid sufferers, hyperthyroid suffers, or any related diseases including thyroid cancer - it is aimed for people who are interested, just passing by and want to learn something, or, and importantly, people who think they may have a thyroid disease or some kind of problem.

With any thyroid disease it seems to me that you need to know about it in order to find out about it. Of course this means that you may have been living with symptoms for years, and your thyroid may only be getting worse; there may be things about yourself that you have noticed, even that others have noticed - yet no one ever suggests that you have a simple blood test to check your thyroid.

THE THYROID TEST

And that is all it is to check: one simple blood test in which the 'thyroid function tests' are done. This will measure the hormones related to the thyroid:
T3 and T4 - hormones produced by the thyroid
TSH - Thyroid Stimulating Hormone; produced by the Pituary Gland in the brain to stimulate the thyroid - quite simply, to tell it to get up and start working!

If you are hypothyroid you will probably have a high TSH (which means that the brain is trying hard to tell the thyroid to work, most likely unsuccessfully) and you will have a low or normal FT4.

If you are hyperthyroid you will probably have a low TSH and a high FT4 and FT3.

THYROID DISEASES: HYPO AND HYPER

So, what exactly is hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism?

Hypothyroidism, otherwise known as an underactive thyroid, results from the thyroid producing too little thyroid hormone, or thyroxine. Please see below for a list of symptoms, but in short, this causes slow metabolism, which affects much more than you might think. About 1 in 50 women and 1 in 1,000 men have this disease. (patient.co.uk)

Hyperthyroidism, otherwise known as an overactive thyroid, is the opposite of hypothyroidism and thus results from the thyroid producing too much thyroid hormone, or thyroxine. Again, please see below for a link where there are explanations of symptoms (I do not wish to give much details on this specific disease because I cannot be completely accurate as I am hypo, not hyper, thyroid.) but, in short, this causes a metabolism which is too fast, which, again, affects more than you might think. About 2 in 100 women and 2 in 1000 men have this disease. (patient.co.uk)

SYMPTOMS OF HYPOTHYROIDISM

There are many symptoms of hypothyroidism, and you may find that you have some which are not on the 'most common' symptom list, or which do not appear to be related to the disease at all. However, if you are treated for hypothyroidism and you find that your symptoms go away then it is most likely that your thyroid did cause those problems, and that is fine.

Please see the 'excellent symptom checker...' link under the heading 'useful thyroid sites, blogs and info' on the left-hand column for a fully-detailed thyroid-symptom checker. Note that on many websites you will find that symptoms quite often appear to relate to women more than men - this is because the disease is more common in women, although it is still possible for a man to get it.

The most common symptoms according to most websites are:

Tiredness/ Fatigue/ Excessive sleep
Short stature
Memory problems
Concentration problems
Sluggishness
Depression
Slowness, especially of thoughts etc
Weakness of muscles
Dry/Pale skin
Increased awareness of the cold
Weight gain
Heavy, irregular, or prolonged periods
Losing hair/thinning hair
Slow heart rate
Fertility problems
Constipation
Puffy appearance
Swelling at the front of the neck
Sensation of a lump in the throat

(Taken from the British Thyroid Foundation and Bupa)

Personally, I have found that, although I have had many of the symptoms related to hypothyroidism, there are some areas in which I actually seem to have the opposite! This is probably due to other reasons, perhaps initially caused by the irregularity of hormones thanks to the thyroid. I also have digestion problems which appear to be related to the thyroid - such as acid reflux and an apparant intolerance to those harder-to-digest foods which would obviously require a faster metabolism to deal with.

If you feel that you have many of the thyroid symptoms listed, see your doctor and request a blood test.

SYMPTOMS OF HYPERTHRYODISM

The symptoms of hyperthyroidism are generally opposite to those of hypothyroidism and include:

Restlessness
Anxiety
Losing weight
Excessive sweating
Diarrhoea

It seems that there may also be some symptoms similar to hypothyroidism - please check other websites for more information.
Useful websites to look at:

Thyroid UK have a symptom checker for both hypo and hyperthyroidism. Refer to the 'thyroid conditions' section on the website: http://www.thyroiduk.org/

British Thyroid Foundation: http://www.btf-thyroid.org/

....And in the next blog:
There should be some good old creative writing entries coming along soon.
I will also post some information about the causes of thyroid diseases and the treatment soon.

Please post comments and let me know how useful (or not?) this blog is, along with any additional information you'd like to see.

Find Me Something I Want To Read!

2009-06-27T12:09:00.001+01:00

Imagination On A Headless Metabolism

2009-06-13T20:47:00.000+01:00

Some people like to write facts about their thyroid and some people like to read those facts.
Some people like to write a daily entry about how they feel, and some people like to read that.
Others like to dress their thyroid in hilarious or frightening images; with strong words or brilliant movie clips, and some people like to read or watch those too.

These links are the places where you can find these creative, colourful entries: things that make you laugh and things which make you cry; things which make you happy and things which make you sad. These are the brilliant places on the net which you can never read or watch enough times, and here they are:

Dear Thyroid - A website encouraging people of all ages to write letters to either their own thyroid; their friends' thyroids or their family's thyroids. The letters are often outspoken or brilliantly imaginative and for those who want to write a letter on the site, the subject and content is completely open so long as it is not offensive. See if you can find my letters on here too!
Celebrities with thyroid disease; Examples of Thyroid Comics and photographs; Thyroid Jokes - click here
Thyroid Cartoons
Quiz about Thyroid Disease
A Thyroid Theme Park

Also check out my creative writing and multimedia tags for this blog.