Hi, I'm Sydney. I have Graves' Disease, specifically Graves' Disease of the thyroid. But, you wouldn't know that if I hadn't told you. I have been medicated for Graves' since January of 2016, although, it is likely that I have had a thyroid condition since middle school. In the past 3 years I have gone through a lot of changes. I let exhaustion rule my life. My current and former roommates can tell you I was sleeping up to twelve hours a day: eight at night and four during the day. Even with all that sleep, I was still exhausted. I let it take over every aspect of my life. I turned down so many opportunities and memories I missed out on because I couldn't do anything that required my attention or physical movement. The worst part was I couldn't control it. Being exhausted all of the time and missing out on college life takes a toll on your emotional state, too.

I was finally done with not being able to have fun with my friends and losing motivation to do the things I loved, not to mention how difficult it was to do homework or study. I went to the doctor and 10 viles of blood later (my fav), I was diagnosed with Graves'. I had three options: iodine radiation therapy, daily medication, or removing my thyroid. I'll bet you can guess which option I chose.. LOL.

Six months later and I've never felt better physically. Of course I'm far from my dream body, but I can make it through the day without a nap. I can say "yes" to things I could not have before.

The point of this article is NOT to gain sympathy, but rather to be aware. Be aware of what others are going through. Unless you are my family, you would not know I was tackling this obstacle. It's so important to think about what others are dealing with and realizing you aren't the only one having a bad day, week, month, or year. Also, take care of your body. If you think something could be wrong, trust your instinct and get it checked out.

Thanks for reading!