I learned about a week ago that I was suffering from an illness called “Hypothyroidism.” This means that my thyroid, the butterfly-shaped gland that sits in the front of your neck, is not working as hard as it should be. It is not regularly pumping out a hormone called thyroxine, which can cause a lot of issues within the body, as well as make it harder to live your everyday life.

For me, HT has caused many issues with studying and working and trying to live a normal life. I had been dealing with the symptoms for almost a year, but they really hit me hard within the last four months, when I was transitioning into a new college, starting work, and trying to balance that with the things I needed to get done in order to get married. The last thing on my mind was to try and find the answer to a problem I didn't know I had.

Symptoms if HT include constant states or waves of exhaustion, depression, muscle aches, joint stiffness, and whole myriad of symptoms that you wouldn't normally link to one another. Most of these symptoms are related to depression, so I thought that maybe I had some depression issues that I could work out and maybe get on a medicine to help me with that.

I went to my doctor on Wednesday, October 19 to tell her that I was tired all the time and it was getting in the way. She initially told me to make some lifestyle changes (exercise a little every day, develop good sleep hygiene, don't drink pop after 9, eat more protein, etc.) and that she would do a full lab workup to see if there was anything “organically” wrong with me.

Three vials of blood later, and I was on my way out the door, hoping and praying for nothing more than a vitamin deficiency. I had been taking more vitamins for about a month, but I had no way of knowing if it was actually working. I wasn't feeling any more rested when I woke up. The waves of exhaustion still hit me multiple times a week, and sometimes multiple times a day.

On October 21, I called my doctor back and she told me that I had an underactive thyroid and that she was going to prescribe me a medicine that would help my thyroid produce more thyroxine. She said that I should start to feel less tired in a week and told me to come back in a month. I started taking the medicine next day, and it has been hard to adjust to.

Now, on top of my normal medicine, I'm now taking a medicine that is incredibly high maintenance. Do not take antacids within four hours of taking your dose. Take this dose thirty minutes to an hour before breakfast. Take with plenty of water. Take on an empty stomach. These were all things that I had never had to do with any medicine before. Even my birth control was less time consuming.

What's it like to know that I have something that I will deal with for the rest of my life?

Well, my simple answer is this: it's a load of horse manure.

My more complicated answer? Well, it's complicated.

I now know what I have, and it is a big adjustment. Now I'm taking a pharmacy worth of pills just to get my body to function. Now I'm grooming my day to work around any waves of exhaustion I could experience. Now I appreciate the days when I feel productive and alive and like...myself. I appreciate the times when someone asks me how I am and I can give any answer besides “tired.”

My advice for everyone? Get blood work done regularly. Make sure you know exactly what is going on with your body. If you feel like some behavior is abnormal, or if you feel like something isn't right, go to the doctor. It could be as simple as just needing more sleep, more water, more vitamins, etc, or it could mean something as serious as hypothyroidism or diabetes or literally any other chronic illness. Do not deny your body of health. You will regret it.