Hurried Homemaker

Well, if you saw my last post, then you saw that I finally admitted that I crash sometimes. What you didn’t know, was that it has been happening A LOT. Matter of fact, I was feeling like I’d done a full day with my kids … at 8 AM! By 2:30pm, I was exhausted! I instituted a mandatory quiet-time at home so that I could rest for half an hour anytime we were home during that time frame. For the past two years I have felt “off”. I don’t know any other way to describe it. I was tired, anxious, sometimes depressed, waking up in the middle of the night, my hair was falling out, I gained about 10 lbs that I just couldn’t lose, amongst many other concerns (like feeling dumb). It felt wrong – like I was too young to feel so old. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t spend my days in bed or anything. I got through each and every day to the best of my ability each day (some days easier than others), but I finally decided that this just wasn’t right. I wondered why I, at 33 years old, with a super-healthy diet, and decent exercise I was feeling like this. So, I scheduled an appointment and went in for an exam and bloodwork.

Thank God I did! Two weeks after my appointment, I went back in for my results (you know it isn’t good when they don’t give you results over the phone). Despite being extraordinarily deficient in many essential vitamins (not at all normal for how I eat), my progesterone levels were lower than that of a post-menopausal woman! That explained a lot! But wait, there’s more … 3/4 of my endocrine system was NOT working properly. Then, I was told that I have an autoimmune disease called Hashimoto’s. Without going into too much detail, essentially, my immune system is attacking my thyroid. This explains even more!

I am so fortunate that my levels were low and that we caught this so early (many women find out 10 years and 30 lbs later than I did). And I feel so blessed to have an amazing doctor’s office that not only supports, but encourages, handling this naturally first. I have to take a lot of supplements. My pill box is full. But, I am so grateful that I can avoid thyroid medication for the time being. For now, I get to watch my diet (luckily I avoid gluten and dairy anyway), and take my supplements. In a couple months I will return for more bloodwork and we’ll see how I’m doing.

After a few days of letting it sink in, I realized that this is a forever-thing. I am going to be managing this and dealing with it for the rest of my life. This is super-common and I am not special for having this. I figured some of you might have felt the same way when you got diagnosed. I’ve had almost 2 months now to let it sink in. But I thought sharing it, getting it out, and dealing with it in the open would possibly help someone else!