Hypothyroidism

Introduction

Hello and welcome to Coping with Hypothyroidism. My name is Deanna Couras Goodson. I am a 30 year old mother of two. I am also a hypothyroid sufferer. I was diagnosed in January of 2001. I have always struggled with my weight, but I never guessed that my thyroid was playing a part in the struggle. I am not sure how I developed Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid). I am pretty sure it was related to my first pregnancy in 1997. I never felt “quite right” afterwards, but I just didn’t know what was wrong.

I was lucky enough to find a doctor in 2001 who told me I wasn’t crazy. I was grateful that she knew I wasn’t because I was beginning to doubt it myself.

Anyway, she suspected that my thyroid function was low. Testing confirmed it. I was lucky I guess because I sort of fell into the condition. Many people struggle for years knowing that they are hypothyroid and no one believes them.

Although I didn't know much about the thyroid and hypothyroidism before my diagnosis, I’ve worked hard to educate myself about this condition and several related ones such as Fibromyalgia and Depression, of which I also suffer.

The experience taught me that I needed to educate myself on my own health and become a co-manager of my conditions. Now, I know that education is the best defense against any condition. I’ve done a lot of reading and researching over the past three years. I have found that the internet is an invaluable tool in this process and, in this course, I hope you will too.

I’ve learned a lot about this condition and how to manage it. I believe that knowledge is especially important regarding Hypothyroidism because its symptoms are often vague and related to other conditions such as Depression, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia.

There are millions of people affected with this disorder worldwide; but, there are several million more who have this disease and either don’t know it or have gone undetected even with the accepted methods of medical testing. Women are especially prone to this illness. There is a genetic component as well. We'll go over risk factors and special situations in more depth later.

If you suspect you are hypothyroid, the best thing you can do is to ask for a full thyroid panel instead of a T3, T4 or TSH test by itself. Just one of those tests may not tell the whole story and can make a big difference in your treatment options.

Oh, don’t you know what T3, T4 and TSH are? They're different hormones the thyroid makes. Don't worry. You'll learn more about them soon. I promise.

I honestly believe that visiting a doctor's office shouldn't be a passive experience. Everyone should be his or her own best advocate. It's your health and your well-being. No one cares about it as much as you do.

So, come along and we’ll learn how to cope and hope with hypothyroidism together. I’m glad you’ve decided to take this journey with me.

Lessons

Click here to see course syllabus