Maybe I am not Crazy

I write this post for my daughters, so if they ever start having these symptoms they will go get checked, and for anyone else whom reads that they will listen to there instincts when they now something just is not right. My first memory with bad anxiety was after Lilly was born, I remember feeling like I was going to have a heart attack sometimes, I have suffered from this anxiety off and on a lot since then, I just kept thinking it was PMS, or the blues. Being an high energy happy person, I just knew something seemed off. In the last two years since Jack was born I have really, and I mean really been trying to lose weight, exercising a minimum of 2 hours a day and often more, and trying to keep my caloric intake under 1500. Only to loose about 1 yes 1 pound a month, my weight watchers counselor and nutritionist suggested, I get my thyroid tested. With my struggle to lose weight, anxiety, and mild depression, insomnia I started to wonder if I was crazy, then I started to have a gland in my neck swell up and my entire neck hurt. I went to my OB thinking I was crazy, and had severe PMS. She sent me to an endocrinologist. Then last Friday I got a phone call from my Doctor asking me if I had a quite moment to go over my test results, being the Drama queen that I am, I said, "oh crap, how long do I have to live!" LOL! In all seriousness, it kinda freaked me out! To make a long story short, he found though blood tests that I didn't just suffer from hypothyroidism, I had what is called Hashimotos Diesease. Hashimoto's disease, sometimes known as Hashimoto's thyroiditis, autoimmune thyroiditis, or chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, is an autoimmune disease. In Hashimoto's, antibodies react against proteins in the thyroid gland, causing gradual destruction of the gland itself, and making the gland unable to produce the thyroid hormones the body needs.Hashimoto's typically involves a slow but steady destruction of the gland that eventually results in the thyroid's inability to produce sufficient thyroid hormone -- the condition known as hypothyroidism. Along the way, however, there can be periods where the thyroid sputters back to life, even causing temporary hyperthyroidism, then a return to hypothyroidism. This cycling back and forth between hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism is characteristic of Hashimoto's disease. So, for example, periods of anxiety/insomnia/diarrhea/weight loss may be followed by periods of depression/fatigue/constipation/weight gain.
In some cases, the onset of Hashimoto's and elevation of antibodies will be accompanied by a variety of symptoms, including anxiety, difficulty sleeping, fatigue, weight changes, depression, hair loss, muscle/joint aches and pains, and fertility problems, among others.
This is very treatable with thyroid medication, and I although would rather not have a disease feel so grateful to understand and to know why I have been struggling with these things. I feel like there is light at the end of this tunnel, and I also think it is soooo important that we trust our instincts, and listen to our bodies. And seriously, if your going to have a disease why not have one with such a sassy name:)