Hypothyroidism

[booklady]

I have congenital hypothyroidism which means I was born hypothyroid (it didn’t develop over time). I’ve been on thyroid therapy my whole life.

I’m curious to hear about others experiences with being hypothyroid and getting WL surgery. I’ll be getting gastric sleeve and am starting with a BMI of 35.

I’ve searched the forum and see others have thyroid issues but am curious to know more about your experiences. For example how often did you need to test/adjust dosages as you lost weight, did you feel your hypothyroidism got in the way at all, were there specific ways you feel you had to advocate for yourself? (Not all doctors truly understand hypothyroidism other than it being a number on a test).

Thanks!

 

[dianeseattle]

(Not all doctors truly understand hypothyroidism other than it being a number on a test).

You're right about that. Thyroid disease seems to run through my family on my mother's side in the form of Graves Disease. That, of course, is hyperthyroidism. But it doesn't matter if you're hyper- or hypo-. The thyroid glad governs SO MANY bodily functions that if it's out of whack in any way, your entire body can be affected.

At the time I had Graves, it was so poorly understood I ended up seeing 19 doctors in a short window of time. They didn't see what they were looking for and I had such bad exophthalmos, it was finally determined I had a "destructive lesion" in my brain. I had done my own research using Joel Hamburger's little book about thyroid disease and when I read it, I saw photographs and it was like looking in a mirror. After a week of trying to resign myself to having brain surgery, I saw my internist again and insisted on getting the test for Graves, which had to be performed at a medical facility in California and took a week to get back.

In the end, I agreed to have my thyroid gland irradiated, and I wish I hadn't But back then, monitoring the dosage of thyroid replacement hormone was not really available. Once it died, meaning it no longer worked and I no longer had a metabolism, yes, I had to go on one dose then another dose and another dose until the right dose was found. Over the years since then I've had my level adjusted many times, but now I have it done annually and everything is working well.

See an endocrinologist. They are the only doctors who study thyroid disease intensely. You also may need CT scans to check for tissue swelling and of course, many blood tests to determine if your organs are functioning right.

And do your own research so you're well-informed and you can speak with intelligence to your specialist. Thyroid disease can result in obesity, but also can impede or destroy bodily organs function.