Continued Learning

Now that the "so I'm not crazy" euphoria has worn off, it is time to get busy learning about Hypothyroidism. First and foremost I have had to be a bit of an investigator into my family tree. Unfortunately for me, I am missing half of that tree. My mom has also been diagnosed with Hypo and talking with my sister, it appears she is well on her way. It apparently runs in my family, it just hasn't been discussed as a real health problem. The next thing to do is to make contact and pry some information out of the other half (my dad's family). I have been reading and researching as much as I can. It goes without saying that there is too much information and not all of it is based in science. Some even talk about hypothyroidism as it pertains only to weight issues. How shortsighted is that?
Hypothyroidism is a autoimmune disease. It is very serious, and gone untreated can cause severe health problems. Additionally, it can cause serious birth defects. I reflect on the fact that if I had become pregnant in the last five years - when I began to get symptoms - my child may have been born with delayed development and a possible low I.Q..
I am also trying to determine if I should go to an Endocrinologist that specializes in thyroid disease and look at additional types of treatment. I am not someone who just sits back and goes "okay, if you say so" and have that be it. I ask and ask and ask until I feel like I am getting good information to make an educated decision.
Have I noticed any changes yet? Yes. Some days are better than others. But over all, I feel some of the symptoms starting to change. To be honest, since I thought some of the symptoms -depression, sleepiness, and general malaise- were all in my head, the biggest change has been to allow myself to admit that I have had these problems and this is why. My husband says I have been more involved and alive these last few days. He was becoming more and more concerned with my lack of life involvement since my love of life is what he has always loved about me. He is also feeling a bit of relief himself. I am also enjoying having an appetite again. It seems like forever since I have actually enjoyed food, let alone felt hungry for it. I have also noticed that my running exercises have become a little easier. I am wondering if that might have to do with the increase of oxygen in my blood (running + oxygen = better performance!).
It appears it could take months and even years to get the right medication and the right dosage before my TSH is back to "normal" levels. So it is definitely not going to be an overnight transformation.
How has this changed my dizziness and ear ringing? Well, surprisingly enough vertigo and tinnitus are symptoms of hypothyroidism (lack of oxygen getting to the brain). So it is a real possibility that all of the dizzy spells and lightheadedness could be due to this continued problem. I am not cured of either problem. As I said above, it could be a while before my levels are normal. It just so happens that the day I received my test results, my ENT had basically given up on me and was about to send me up to the University medical school to be a lab rat. I think I will try the thyroid route first.
I will be incorporating thyroid information into my entries here as I find it important to my own recovery.