Super, Sexy Thyroid

Kate Hayden-Ellis - 17 Mar 16

It was when I couldn’t hold the pen to sign a cheque for our holiday that I knew that something was seriously wrong. We were in the Isle of Wight, my daughter Evie was 6 months old, it was July and we were camping in some super cool Airstreams enjoying our first holiday together as a family. I had spent the majority of the week getting out of bed and then crawling back in as my energy was at an all time low. I knew something was seriously wrong and it was scaring the bejeebers out of me!

My symptoms

I had been in a permanent state of exhaustion since having had Evie in January, which I thought was normal. I mean she was a baby that didn’t sleep so it was to be expected right? I had started to go to the gym with my sister in May to try and get ‘me’ back, but all I saw in the reflection of the mirror whilst we were boxing was a bloated person. How could I be going to the gym and getting bigger!? Who does that happen to??!

My face was looking swollen around my jaw line – as were my eyelids and my fingers (this is, as I later found out, oedema). My self-esteem and sex drive were at an all time low, my hair had been falling out by the handful and my heels were super cracked. I certainly wasn’t winning any MILF awards. The use of social media was just compounding the fact that everyone else was having fun except for me – a new mum stuck in GroundHog day and feeling rubbish. I may have been experiencing depression.

On the lead up to our holiday in July I had been having trouble with muscle fatigue. Walking up the stairs felt like I’d been at the gym all day, washing my hair was exhausting and drying my hair, well, you could forget that, the hairdryer would last about 30 seconds in my hand before falling miserably into my lap. It felt as though I were trying to battle through Vaseline everyday.

A mere trip to the local shop would have me in tears, as it would feel like such hard work. I was scared beyond belief with what was happening to me and at some points I even thought I was dying!  But all of this came at the same time as being a new mum, so was I suffering from post-natal depression or was there something else going on?

The trip to the doctor

My sister recommended I went to the doctors to get my thyroid checked out as she had been diagnosed as hypothyroid a few years previously, so off I trotted to get my blood tested.

The doctor tests initially for thyroid antibodies, TSH (thyroid stimulation hormone) free T3 and free T4. Two days later I received a very excited phone call from my doctor announcing that he’d never seen anything like it before and that I must get my blood re-tested immediately.

The results

TSH should rest between 0.2 – 3 (although UK lab’s say 5 which in my opinion, and many hormone specialists, is very wrong.) My TSH came in at 150. One hundred and fifty. My antibodies were also off the chart. The doctor muttered something about auto-immune hypothyroidism and ended the conversation.

The call obviously put me into a state of panic. What was this auto-immune hypothyroidism?! I got my blood tested again, and again they were 150. This time the doctor informed me that I needed to be on drugs for the rest of my life, that I’d get all my other prescriptions free (this apparently was good news) and that the drugs were ready for me to pick up at the surgery. No other explanation.

Doing things my way

I was suddenly left in a void. I had a lifetime condition that hadn’t been explained to me with only one solution, drugs. If you ask any of my friends or family they’d all let you know that I’m a little bit stubborn and wasn’t prepared to swallow this particular pill, literally.

I went off to acupuncture which started helping, but my symptoms were so severe I had to go on the drugs. I have since been on a nutritional odyssey and have discovered a great deal about my condition. What you stick in your body makes a huge difference and my condition – Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis (auto-immune hypothyroidism) – doesn’t just appear out of nowhere. You have to find the root cause and start fixing those problems.

Currently, I am fit and healthy (although my antibodies are still very high) and on very few drugs. This year, with the help from Alyssa Burns-Hill (a hormone specialist) I plan to get off the rest of my drugs and heal my body and treat the rest of the issues.

Lessons I have learnt

1. Take responsibility for your health. When your health goes you can’t look after anyone else!
2. Don’t just take the first thing the doctors tell you – search for alternative options, there are plenty of knowledgable people out there that will have different answers.
3. Arm yourself with knowledge, knowledge is power.
4. You have more strength and power than you realise. I started my business 6 months into my illness, which looking back still astounds me.
5. Learn to be in a happy, positive mindset as what you think about, you bring about.
6. Make time for you. See friends and laugh. Nurturing our souls is incredibly important.
7. Learn to relax and have down time, stress is one of the main factors of illness today.

If you think you may have/ or do have a thyroid issue (symptoms are; brain fog, lethargy, muscle fatigue, dry skin, cracked heels, hair loss, brittle ‘what’s going on with my hair’ hair, fertility issues and depression) please read Isabella Wentz’s book ‘Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis: Lifestyle Interventions for Finding and Treating the Root Cause’. She also has an invaluable website to look through.

And check out Alyssa Burns-Hill too, she was a breath of fresh air talking to her and getting the much needed help that I’ve been after rather than the dogmatic, singular approach from the GPs.

Be strong Mama’s.

xxx

Click here for Isabella’s website

Click here for the book

Kate Hayden-Ellis

Kate Hayden-Ellis has an online kids shop called burp! boutique, a happy, fun place for 0-5 year olds. She has also been a designer and illustrator for over 15 years working for brands such as the RAF, 7digital and Three. Kate is mother to Evie (6) and Lukas (22 months) and married to James, also a designer. They live in North Hampshire and can often be seen in London too.

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