Dear Endocrinologist,
I am a thyroid patient, and in honor of Thyroid Awareness Day I want to utter the voices of many thyroid patients who say the following: I am tired, I can’t lose weight, my hair is falling out, my heart races, I have aches and pains that no one can explain, I have skin problems, I have migraines and headaches, I have fertility issues, I have mood swings, extreme fatigue, I am frustrated, I have a goiter, I am fed up and I want you to hear me.
These are the voices of many women, and men for that matter, across the Nation who feel ignored by the doctors and Healthcare professionals when it comes to our thyroid.
My personal journey is as follows… I have a multi nodular goiter. To the best of my knowledge and from my own research, this means I have cysts or bumps on both lobes of thyroid. Oh, but not to worry I am told, because my TSH is normal. (TSH is short for ‘Thyroid Stimulating Hormone’). However, I have brain fog, meaning it is hard for me to remember simple things. I have migraines, before my hysterectomy I had horrible menstrual cycles, I have eye disturbances and extreme fatigue that no amount of sleep can cure… and I am not even 40 yet!
I truly don’t want to insult you, I know you went to medical school and you are very smart, but I wonder why thyroid patients and advocates seem to know more about thyroid conditions than you? Is it that we just care more? I was told candidly by a doctor that many doctors did NOT study the thyroid while in medical school. This helped me to understand the treatment or lack there of that many of us thyroid patients receive.
We feel ignored. I for one feel like I am wasting my time. There are so many things to try but modern medicine is not set up in that way. I need more minerals and vitamins tested, not just vitamins D and ferritin. Can you look at our adrenal glands? Can we have more than just a flawed TSH test? I want us to work together after all, it is my body and my health. Please listen to your patients. Hear us and do not dismiss our complaints of fatigue, weight loss or gain, aches and pains and insomnia as just getting older or environmental or even it being all in our heads. That is so demeaning. I write this in an effort to spread awareness and through some frustration of wasted time and money of my own. I ask you to hear us because we, as parents and spouses, need you and your support.
For anyone looking for more information on this complicated butterfly shaped gland, I suggest beginning here /http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com
There is so much information out here and many great accredited thyroid Facebook groups. Such as
https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=590363111031555&tsid=0.9722917615436018&source=typeahead. I believe staying informed is the key and if we keep asking for change that it will come.
