Starting back in August, I began to have consistent health problems.
What started off as fatigue, dizziness, heart palpitations, and vision changes, turned into flushing, hot-spots throughout my body, night sweats, and headaches. It then turned into allergies to soy, corn, eggs, nuts…(the list goes on even longer if you can believe that), tingling, numbness, weight gain, anxiety, and severe panic attacks.
I saw doctor after doctor and they all told me the same thing. "Everything is normal."
Yet, I felt nothing close to normal .Any of my friends or family could tell you that "I feel like crap" was a phrase I said almost daily. Come early December, I went back to my school's health office, begging for more blood work and trying to convince them that there was something they were missing. The doctor on staff implied I a had hypochondriac's mentality and told me that he highly recommended that I started taking antidepressants as soon as possible.
On Christmas day, I received my blood test results and was puddle of tears. Not because I was upset, but because for the very first time I wasn't "crazy". I have Hypothyroidism. An illness that I had suggested so many times to my doctors, all in which told me that my bloodwork was normal.
Even though I'm usually not one to publicly share my personal experiences, I felt as though this post was necessary.
Way too many young woman are being prescribed antidepressants to cover up the symptoms of a health issue that general practitioners too often miss. I have become so incredibly passionate about this topic because my heart truly aches for the countless number of individuals who are suffering with undiagnosed thyroid disease. During the past six months, I searched endlessly for those who decided to share their experiences, praying I would find that their symptoms were similar to mine.
If my story can help just one person find out why they have been feeling so incredibly sick, then everything I have been through is well worth it.
