Stupid Little Gland

<----- See this? That's your thyroid, or at least an artist's conception of what your thyroid looks like. Turns out this little gland in your neck basically controls your entire body, and the way it functions. So, when something goes wrong with this little tiny gland, your whole body is affected. I know from personal experience.

I haven't felt quite right for a little over a year. If you do the math, I was pregnant with Vivvie at that time. (I swear that girl screwed up my body so bad. Good thing she's so stinkin' cute, right?) I chalked up all my symptoms at the time to being *very* pregnant and went on with life.

After I had Vivvie, things seemed to return to normal. Yep, it must have just been the pregnancy. But, about two months ago, I started to have all sorts of weird symptoms. I would notice that from time-to-time (okay, pretty much all the time) my heart would be beating really fast...as in over 100 beats a minute, even when I was just sitting around doing nothing. I couldn't breathe very well at times. My hands and feet started to swell, just like they do in pregnancy. My hands would get tingly now and then, and sometimes I would get jittery too. One day while I was at work, I suddenly got very light-headed and felt like I was going to pass out. I guess I went white as a ghost and looked horrible. My producer actually decided cancel my weathercast for that half hour because I just physically wasn't able to do it.

I decided to go see my family doctor. There were too many weird things happening, so I knew something wasn't right. My doctor did some blood work. She ran seven different tests. I asked her what sort of things she was testing for. Words like "Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma," "Leukemia," & "MS" came out of her mouth. That was a long weekend waiting for those results to come back.

On Monday afternoon, a nurse called me. She said, "Your lab results came back." Okay, here we go, I thought. "Your TSH level is at zero, so that means your thyroid is overproducing. It's called hyperthyroidism. We need you to come back in 10 weeks for more tests." I was relieved & terrified all at the same time. I didn't know anything about Hyperthyroidism! I immediately got online & started researching. I had pretty much every symptom on the list--fast heart rate, problems breathing, swelling, jittery hands/feet, and weight loss. Well okay, I hadn't lost much weight, but have you seen me at any point during the previous 30+ years? I'm a twig of a person, even though I eat cookie dough for breakfast! I've always been that way. Maybe this explained why.

As that week went on, my symptoms seemed to get worse. I was jittery all the time, my swelling was getting worse & my heart rate never went below 100. That Saturday I was at work. I was having problems breathing, my hands were so jittery that people could see them shaking, my heart rate was up to 125 at one point, I was sweating like crazy. I got really scared. I called Mike, who decided to call one of our neighbors who is a Physicians Assistant. Our neighbor was worried that I might be going into what's called "Thyroid Storm." It's when your thyroid puts out a sudden burst of thyroid hormone that can be lethal if not stopped. We decided I needed to go to the Emergency Room. My parents came to the house to stay with the kids, Mike jumped in the car & headed up to Salt Lake, and I did my 10:00 show (yes, I still did a show while all this was going on. And, it was not pretty, I might add). Then Mike & I headed to the University of Utah Hospital.

Luckily, it wasn't Thyroid Storm. But, the ER doctors said obviously my thyroid was overproducing like crazy & that I needed to see an Endocrinologist that week. There was no way I could wait 10 weeks for more tests. They gave me a heart medication that was supposed to bring my heart rate back to a more normal range (60-80) until I could get in to see a specialist. Even on the heart medicine, my heart rate was still in the 90s, but it was an improvement & I was grateful for that. On Monday, I called my family doctor & asked if they could help me get into an endocrinologist quickly. They were able to pull a few strings & get me into a specialist the following Thursday.

When I went to my appointment with the endocrinologist, he examined me & decided that one of two things might be causing my hyperthyroidism...postpartum hyperthyroid or Graves Disease. I was hoping it was the former because the latter just didn't sound good. Who wants to have a disease that has the word "graves" in the name? The doctor explained to me that hyperthyroidism is caused when the thyroid is attacked in some way, usually by your own antibodies. The thyroid tries to fight back by releasing more thyroid hormone.

He went on to tell me that Postpartum Hyperthyroid is actually quite common. When you are pregnant, your immune system is suppressed (as if pregnancy wasn't already hard enough, right?) Then, after you give birth, sometimes your immune system will kick into overdrive. Those extra antibodies then attack the thyroid, causing inflammation & hyperthyroidism. It usually occurs 4-8 months after giving birth. It eventually goes back to normal once your hormone levels return to normal, and very little treatment is needed. Vivvie is 12 months, so I was out of the normal range...but he said it was still a possibility.

Then he moved on to Graves Disease. Graves Disease is an auto-immune disorder where your antibodies attack the thyroid. The problem with Graves Disease is that it doesn't usually go away on its own, and can not be cured. The only way to treat it is to get rid of the thyroid completely--either through radioactive iodine which attacks the thyroid & kills it off, or through surgery. At that point, you become Hypothyroid, meaning your body isn't producing enough thyroid hormone, and you have to take thyroid hormone for the rest of your life.

We were hoping for the Postpartum Hyperthyroid.

More tests were ordered. First blood work, and then a Radioactive Iodine Test. In the Radioactive Iodine Test, a small amount of radioactive iodine was given to me & then multiple scans of my thyroid were done for the next 24 hours to see how much of the iodine my thyroid would absorb. The amount that was absorbed would tell my doctor what was causing the hyperthyroidism. I must admit to you, it was slightly unnerving to walk into a room that said "Nuclear Medicine" on the door, and it was even more unnerving when the guy who did the test told me not to try to go through airport security for the next 48 hours because I would set off the machine. Awe-Some!

The results came back a day later...I was diagnosed with Graves Disease. An appointment was set up later that day to talk about treatment options. When I met with the doctor, he told me that I had a mild form of Graves Disease. In about 20% of mild cases, the disease can go away on its own for unknown reasons. Usually this only happens if you've only had the disease for a short time. The doctor was unsure how long I had had it. My symptoms had only started recently which meant it may have just started. But, on the other hand, he pointed out how thin I have always been my whole life. In fact, he told me that my metabolism is probably 2 1/2 times that of a normal person. NO WONDER I CAN'T GAIN WEIGHT TO SAVE MY LIFE!!! If I've had the disease my whole life, it could explain why I've always been so thin & been able to eat whatever I want without gaining an ounce. The doctor decided it was worth watching for a year to see if I'm one of the lucky 20%, but he told me not to plan on it. He put me on an anti-thyroid drug in the meantime. We decided that, if I'm still showing signs of hyperthyroidism after a year, we'll go the Radioactive Iodine route & kill off my thyroid.

So, that's my novel of what I've been dealing with lately. The anti-thyroid drug has helped me quite a bit. My heart rate is usually in the 70s now, the jittery feeling is gone, the swelling has decreased dramatically & I can breathe again! It's awesome to finally feel like myself after such a long time. Nothing like sickness to make you realize how grateful you are for your health! Who knew such a small little gland could cause such a big fuss??? --Lindsay