A New Millenium

For years I hadn't slept well: a 'lively' brain, which just wouldn't shutdown meant it was difficult to get to sleep and then I was always awake in the early hours of the morning: I sometimes got up at 3am to work and to give my husband some chance of sleep.  Whenever I did manage to get to sleep, I had frequently had bad dreams or nightmares - making the prospect of going to bed, even more off-putting.

Increasingly, I got even less sleep as these events were accompanied by terrible bone, joint and muscle pains in my hips and legs.  I tried endless beds and mattresses to try to stop the pains but often they would just lead to greater back pain.  Previous decades of being freezing cold gave way to horrendous night sweats and increasingly noisy tinnitus!

During the day, I was also struggling with low blood sugar and the fatique was extreme.  My face and eyes were even puffier and my eyes were barely open.

The excessive bloating and chronic constipation I had always experienced was now accompanied by pain and my hoarse voice disappeared completely at times.

By January 2009, I was SO tired that I couldn't walk up the slightest incline nor walk up steps without using my hands to pull up my legs: I was, quite literally, at the end of my tether;  I booked an appointment with a different doctor at our surgery.

The doctor booked me in for blood tests and put me on HRT - Premique Low Dose.  My TSH level came back as 12.74 [0.35-4.5]; "come back for another blood test in 6 months".

Six months later and it had barely changed: 12.49; "come back for another blood test in 6 months"....

Six months later and it had worsened: 15.12 - but I had done lots of homework by then...!  I asked her for thyroid hormone and she agreed (at last!) and did an antibodies test, which came back highly positive for Hashimoto's.

So, in January 2010, I started on thyroxine (25mg), I had a definite diagnosis of what was wrong with me - what could possibly stop me from getting well...?!