Casual Yet Special Strings Attached: My Experience Growing Up with Hypothyroidism

Nuzhat Faizah
Freshman
School of Life Sciences
Independent University, Bangladesh

May 18th, 2017

"Here I come!", exclaimed the throbbing neck pain with an evil smirk, as it came alongside the other overpowering symptoms of hypothyroidism. I was just three years old when this disorder decided to invade my life, overshadow my entire childhood, and profoundly affect me till now.

Hypothyroidism is a condition that results from an under-active thyroid gland, which means that the gland is not producing sufficient thyroid hormones for the body's vital needs on a daily basis. The thyroid monitors and regulates how the body's cells use energy from food, which is broadly referred to as metabolism. Our metabolism includes regulation of internal temperature, blood pressure, and heartbeat, and how well we can burn our calories. If someone does not have enough thyroid hormones, the processes taking place inside the body decelerate, the body makes less energy and the metabolism becomes sluggish.

Coming back to my story, after conducting blood tests to examine my thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine (FT4) levels, the endocrinologist suggested that I undergo a thyroid scan. During a thyroid scan, a very small dose of radioactive iodine is taken orally or intravenously to then detect uptake of the iodine by the thyroid gland (which uses it to make different thyroid hormones), and thereby assess the functioning of the gland. Although the dosage used in this scan is thought to be miniscule and safe, my parents knew that radiation can damage the cells in the thyroid gland, and did not want to risk worsening my health conditions back then. Based on my thyroid hormone levels, it was ultimately concluded that I have hypothyroidism. Surprisingly, there was no history of thyroid disorders in my family and I always felt like I am the odd one out. As I gradually grew up, I experienced the most common symptoms such as extreme sensitivity to varying temperatures, dry and thinning hair, hoarse voice, muscle weakness and camps, heavier and longer periods, puffy eyes, severe mood swings (ranging from extremely hyped to depressed), slow movements and thoughts, difficulty in concentration. Lastly, my slow growth was one of the reasons my parents were always tensed.

At that crucial time of decision-making, the best available treatment was levothyroxine. It is a synthetic version of the thyroxine produced by the thyroid gland. According to physicians, this synthetic drug is very specific and has negligible side-effects if taken in the correct doses. Levothyroxine doses are dependent upon the person's body weight.

Now imagine my plight! Every morning, while looking at the anxious faces of my loved ones, I have to swallow three tablets of levothyroxine (50 mcg) with water on an empty stomach before breakfast, and wait for it to work so that I can function like a normal human being. A series of the worst consequences of the disorder start if I accidentally skip my doses: my body starts throwing tantrums when I move in and out of an air-conditioned room, feel hungry, socialize with people, try to stay awake in classes, and do some household chores.

As far back as I can remember, the best and worst memories of my life are intertwined with the effects of hypothyroidism. I was the jolly and playful child in my family, and used to eat a lot without any hesitation and fearing the gain of calories. I would play with my friends in the afternoon as well. I got a first taste of the consequences of skipping medication when I intentionally skipped my doses for nearly a week back then in childhood. I cried all day just because of the deadly neck pain, got tired without any activities and the idea of food never succeeded to amaze me at that painful phase. It must have been really tough, beyond my imagination for my parents to watch me suffer like that. My sense of temperature was and is always at odds with the external temperature! For instance, I still feel cold sometimes and sleep under a blanket when the season of heat-strokes is going on in the summer. Adding more element to contrast, I would say that I feel terribly hot during winter and often tell my parents that I crave for ice-cream and cold coffees which I never get eventually because the fear of sore throat and tonsillitis conquer their mind. The hardest part is that my mood and appetite keep on changing within the blink of an eye, which often adds to my stress level.

Sometimes, hypothyroidism feels like an ascribed status. Even though my symptoms can be controlled with medication, it is sometimes disheartening when people are dismissive of the condition, or in the other extreme, think that it makes me very different from them. It is undeniably true that I do share a casual yet special relationship with this condition, levothyroxine and my childhood friend named “lethargy” and I am sure that there are many other people who might relate to my story but may feel shy to talk about it. I feel that people should be aware of the disorder and how it affects individuals in order to be more sensitive to needs and demands that may seem strange, but are in fact quite beyond their control.


Nuzhat Faizah is a Biochemistry first-year with a never-ending passion for photography and birds. She likes to study about mental disorders.

1 comment: