Popular Posts

Editor'S Choice - 2024

"Tears are a symptom, not a weakness of character": I have hyperthyroidism

Although advice "check thyroid" You can often be heard without reason, in fact, her illness can occur without obvious prerequisites and remain undiagnosed for a while, and symptoms like fatigue and bad mood can easily be attributed to stress or lack of sleep. Thyroid hormones regulate metabolism, and changes in their levels can affect the work of various organs and systems. Victoria Parshenko told how she faced the diagnosis of hyperthyroidism, what is its treatment and why the support of relatives is important even in diseases not associated with mortal danger.

Olga Lukinskaya         

In May 2018, the diagnosis of thyrotoxicosis was entered into my map for the first time (other names are diffuse toxic goiter or Graves disease). This is an autoimmune disease: antibodies begin to attack the thyroid gland, and that, in turn, begins to work like mad, producing much more hormones than usual. Thyroid hormones are responsible for metabolism, so that it accelerates greatly. In school biology textbooks, not only enlarged goiter was added to a person with this ailment in the illustration, but also bulging eyes - this is a classic picture of advanced hyperthyroidism.

Other symptoms - a constant slightly elevated temperature, weight loss with preservation or even increased appetite, rapid pulse (above 100-110), tremor of the limbs, anxiety. Some sources have information that other autoimmune diseases can develop simultaneously. But all this is a theory that can be found in search engines - but in practice, as usual, everything is a little different. I want to talk about my experience, because the earlier the treatment of any disease begins, the easier the process goes, the less uncomfortable the consequences and fear.

Before making a diagnosis

Diffuse toxic goiter - the disease is not the most dangerous, but very unpleasant. There is no exact data on what launches it for the first time and what may trigger a relapse in the future. But at first you just feel bad, inexplicably bad, and not for five minutes, but without interruptions. And, as with appendicitis, about which I knew, it seems, everything, but which at twenty-five years could not recognize by any symptom, a thyroid disease can also manifest itself not "according to the textbook."

Weight loss does not always occur so abruptly that you can notice it in appearance. I just started eating a little more at first, and the weight was still there. When you come to work at nine and go home at eight, or even nine evenings, you don’t always manage to keep a ration in your head. I had no scales at home, because I noticed the departure of weight only when things began to become free, but I also wrote off this as an increased professional burden. At this point, with a height of 165 centimeters, I weighed 45 kilograms.

Tremor came from the hands. And only when I almost fell off the escalator on the subway, because my hands and feet trembled, my head started spinning and pounded in my temples, did I feel really sick. After the usual physical exertion, nausea began, and then it stopped altogether getting to give myself the usual load. The warm rooms seemed like a melted bath. And I also sobbed - and this is also a symptom, not a weakness of character. At first, I sobbed once a week in the evening. Then twice, and then five or six times, sometimes at lunch breaks in the toilet.

In school textbooks of biology, a person with this ailment in the illustration added not only an enlarged goiter, but also bulging eyes - this is a classic picture of advanced hyperthyroidism.

This period coincided with the arrival of the new leader, who firmly took up my "reeducation" - therefore it seemed to me that the reaction was caused precisely by her pressure and that I was just a weak personality who could not withstand the conflict. She, in turn, loved to say that I was a “neurotic”, I took everything to heart and that I had to work on myself. Many have said that. Someone hinted that "the man is not enough" - we have this is a universal cure for all diseases. Now I understand that with a normal level of thyroid hormones, I would not have noticed the existence of this woman.

Colds have become more frequent and have lasted longer. I put vasoconstrictive drops into one of my colds, not knowing that I had thyrotoxicosis, which is a direct contraindication to them. The pulse jumped so that I felt the heartbeat with my whole body, I thought that I would simply tip over on the spot without a reason. Just then, I underwent a routine examination by a therapist: liver, heart, stomach, intestines. Diagnosis showed nothing. No one had a thought about the thyroid gland, especially since my relatives did not have her diseases.

I quit my job - I thought I was suffering from nervous tension, and if I left, everything would pass. It did not help. In addition, there were problems with concentration. Attention became confused, I could not concentrate, the new information was badly loaded into memory, and the search for the old took a lot of time. I was admitted to an internship at a reputable law firm, and in two days I seemed awfully stupid to myself: I couldn't do anything quickly and correctly. I asked to postpone the internship due to illness, but I was refused. Just at that time, the results of the hormone test came, which at some point I was still assigned - and it turned out that the thyroid produces five times more hormones than necessary. The doctor explained that as soon as we stabilize the hormones, mental activity will return to its usual pace. Finally, the diagnosis became clear - and it was possible to move forward, and not just feel like a ruin.

Treatment

The joy because everything cleared quickly passed. Tons of information on the Internet do not reassure, but rather scare an already anxious person with overwhelming hormones. Doctors are advised not to worry, they are also scared. People on the forums complain that the effects of treatment are as unpleasant as the disease itself, and that the disease tends to return repeatedly. In my head, the themes “how are you?” Are only twenty-five years old, and I’m already with a defect, “what if the treatment does not help,” “do I need to treat anything at all”. Obviously, the need.

There are several treatment options: tablets, removal of the thyroid gland and radioactive iodine. After removing the gland or using iodine, it is necessary to replace the thyroid function with hormone intake from the outside - this is a lifelong daily medication. But they start in most cases with pills. Two drugs are now available in Russia: tiamazol and propylthiouracil. The first costs a penny and is used more often, the second is prescribed to pregnant women and those who have developed intolerance to the first - but it costs several times more.

I was prescribed the first medicine. Some on the forums complained that he was allergic and usually starts on the fourteenth day of admission. I started on the fifteenth. The urticaria was all over the body, and I did not immediately go to an allergist. I was hospitalized, two days were given intravenous prednisone at the hospital, they continued to give tiamazole and were frightened with laryngeal edema and death. Then the medicine was canceled.

An elderly woman who was in the same ward with me constantly told me the same story about how her young daughter died. Then she added that for me, of course, everything would be all right - and then again about the death of her daughter. And when on the third day I was offered to introduce prednisone again, and Grandma told me about death, I packed up, checked out and rushed to an allergist. The doctor on this day took only by appointment. I burst into tears right under the office and got to the reception - and still very grateful to the doctor for efficiency. The urticaria was shot down for more than two weeks with injections, tablets and ointments. Some acquaintances advised me to drink a course of sedation to cure urticaria - but this is not a result of stress, but an allergy to the medicine, and it was necessary to treat it adequately.

The average duration of treatment is one and a half to two years, therefore it is important to be patient, money and the belief that everything will work out.

For the treatment of hyperthyroidism, I was transferred to propylthiouracil. The hormonal level gradually went towards stabilization, and then the drug disappeared from all pharmacies in the city. Returning to tiamazol, which caused allergies, was not promising rosy, and the treatment gap indefinitely threatened to remove the gland. The year before, the appendix was removed to me, and there was no desire to go back on the operation at all. My friends sent me the remains of propylthiouracil from Moscow by express delivery, which cost a lot of money. Stocks lasted exactly until October, when he went on sale again - albeit at a new price. If before the medicine cost 700-1000 rubles, then now its price is from 1,000 to 1,400 rubles; the manufacturer did not change the cost. There are twenty pills per pack, and at the initial stage you need to take three per day - that is, there are enough packs for a week; later, the dose is reduced to one tablet per day.

Another unpleasant side of treatment is intermediate tests. The regional endocrinologist is not generous with directions, because if there is a strong desire not to go from hyperfunction of the gland to hypofunction, one has to undergo examination more often, at his own expense, and adjust the dose of the drug with another doctor. The average duration of treatment is one and a half to two years, so it is important to be patient, money, and the belief that everything will work out. I can say that, judging from the search engines being issued to queries in English, the approach to treatment is no different from the European one.

True, there may be another danger on the Internet: many people urge not to take medication in any way. Drugs are presented as a kind of evil that will cause even more harm than a disease, and irremediable. Then alternative methods are suggested: teas and tinctures, as well as (what else can we offer for problems with the thyroid gland) amber on the neck. Someone talks about wonderful self-healing stories. In fact, the level of thyroid hormones (T3 and T4) in some cases can be normalized independently, but the diagnosis of Graves disease is made not only on the basis of their increase - the presence of antibodies must also be confirmed. If they are, then without treatment the body will not cope.

Recovery

In parallel with the treatment, the body is slowly recovering: nausea from the heat passes, the tremor becomes less pronounced, the weight returns, the anxiety goes away. Many complain that weight return is uneven. If it took five kilograms, it could return ten, mainly in the abdomen and hips (my usual weight before the illness was 49 kg, now even with physical exercises I stand still and weigh 52 kg). Hair falls out - in my case, the lumps removed from the drain occupied almost the whole palm. There may be swelling - I still have a heavy load hanging bags over my eyes. Doctors advise "to endure" and "not to pay attention", but it is not easy. In addition, the normalization of hormone levels does not guarantee that the eyes will not continue to open and bulge - my right one has opened wider, which has not yet returned to its former state. It is worth visiting the ophthalmologist-endocrinologist, the existence of which I learned recently.

Yoga helps me to recover. As soon as the doctor allowed me to exercise, I came to the first workout in order to at least do something for myself and worry less. Yoga is good because it does not raise the pulse as much as weight training or aerobic exercise - it already remains accelerated for a while, even when the treatment began. In addition, in yoga, you can choose the direction of the intensity that is suitable for a particular stage of treatment.

Some of the instructors are not happy students with diseases, someone completely ignores the fact of the presence of diseases. But I still think it right to notify a person of my condition. As a result, I was lucky with the instructor, who rationally approached the question, studied the information and at first adjusted the training program for me. My hands and legs were trembling: along with the fat mass during weight loss, almost all muscle was gone. I think that I could not wring out at that moment even once, although a year or two before that neither running nor pulling up with push-ups were a problem.

In small steps, without sudden movements, you gradually regain your muscles and at the same time prevent the body from swelling. In addition, you learn to relax and breathe measuredly. I am against any initiative in this matter, because I did everything only after agreeing with the doctor - whether it is the start of training, taking vitamins or dose adjustment of the drug. There are no special diets for Graves disease. Someone from the doctor forbids the use of sea salt and seafood (these are sources of iodine), someone allows all of the above, but in small quantities. All agree that it is impossible to take iodine in the composition of drugs or supplements.

Support

With support, things are always different. At first I didn’t want to tell anyone, I was even ashamed that I was worried about such a "simple" disease. Then I decided and shared with friends and some familiar news about the disease and the difficulties that it creates for me. There were people who wrote words of support - but there were few of them. And there were those who poked my nose at the fact that the disease is not fatal and not terrible, that I simply whine. Someone even said that I am sick of idleness, that I do not want to work, and therefore the body covers me in such a curious way. When I asked my father for some money for treatment and recovery, he said that I looked quite healthy and I needed to take fewer pills that the doctors prescribed. I understand that no one wished me harm - just everyone builds judgments based on their own experience.

Of course, it is unpleasant and scary to realize that already at twenty-five you will be sick with something much more complicated than a cold - but from my own experience I realized that panic only takes time and does not allow you to make rational decisions. There are situations that are much worse, and even in such cases, people find the strength to fight, work, fix something and look for options.

Watch the video: benny blanco, Halsey & Khalid Eastside official video (March 2024).

Leave Your Comment