The Road to my Diagnosis...

My first post. I am so excited to share with you what I am learning and experiencing. 

It was so difficult to get a diagnosis in my case. I went to many doctors and specialists, but Hashimoto's Disease was never mentioned. 

I originally got sick at 14,and it wasn't until I was 18 that I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism. It wasn't until I was 27 that I was finally diagnosed with Hashimoto's Autoimmune Disease. What in the world? How do you even say that???? "Hosh- E- Mo- Toes" Everytime I say that word, the song Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto plays in my head. Haha. 

What in the world is Hashimoto's?
Hashimoto's is an autoimmune disease meaning my immune system is attacking my thyroid and other tissue and organs. Hashimoto's is genetic, but is not active for everyone who is predisposed to get it. I have since learned that Hashimoto's is triggered at high hormonal changes in life. The disease is more prevalent in women than men because women experience High hormonal changes more than men do with Puberty, Child birth, and menopause. Hashimoto's disease is the most common cause of hypothyroidism in the United States. (If you have Hypothyroidism and have not been tested for Hashimoto's I highly recommend getting the labs done. They can determine Hashimoto's with a simple blood test. E-mail me if you want to know which labs to ask for. hollyaitken@gmail.com )


My Hashi's (short for Hashimoto's)  was turned on at 12 when I went through puberty, but I did not feel the effects of the disease until 14. Once the flick has been switched, it can never be turned off. I will have it for the rest of my life. It took 4 years for Hashi's to damage my thyroid enough that doctors were confident in giving me the Hypothyroidism diagnosis. I was put on synthetic hormone, but still never felt well. I do not understand why doctors kept missing the cause of my illness. They kept treating the symptom (Hypothyroidism) but not the cause (Hashi's) 

Last year was probably the hardest, lowest years of my life. My disease was in full swing taking a toll on my body. I was sick all the time and had everything that went around. 
I was experiencing the full spectrum of Hashimoto's symptoms: 

June 2013 I am so puffy!

• Fatigue and sluggishness
• Pale, dry skin
• A puffy face
• Unexplained weight gain — occurring infrequently and rarely exceeding 10 to 20 pounds, most of which is fluid
• Muscle aches, tenderness and stiffness, especially in your shoulders and hips
• Pain and stiffness in your joints and swelling in your knees or the small joints in your hands and feet
• Muscle weakness, especially in your lower extremities
• Excessive or prolonged menstrual bleeding (menorrhagia)
• Depression



What in the world is that?

• Swollen sensitive glands

My eyes really suffered in 2013. I still do not know why my eye health was so poor, but I had conjunctivitis twice, styes, and many days where my eyes would get swollen, inflamed, and I would get these weird water bubbles on the eyeball itself. Oh... this disease. 

December 2013

I tried many different diets and exercises to lose weight and would lose 10 pounds and without changing anything, I would gain 20. It was so frustrating. It took a year for the doctors to finally do something about my High Blood Pressure, but only after I mentioned that I was Hypertensive. Why do doctor's offices take your blood pressure anyway if they don't even look at it? It baffles me. I was put on a water pill and within 3 days I lost 17 pounds of water weight. I was shocked, but ecstatic. That gave the hope I needed to continue on. 
My life was so dismal. Mental Health suffers a ton with Hashimoto's. I felt crazy and like a hypocondriac. I felt like no one understood where I was coming from and that I wasn't just making this up. Up to the point of my diagnosis, I did what I could just to survive. Some days I just wanted to die. I lost the best parts of my personality. I used to be such a social butterfly, but got to the point that it was just too much work to see people and pretend to be okay when I wasn't. I was in a dark place I hope to never visit again.  As I am healing I am realizing that there are so many opportunities to be had. I am setting goals, pursuing dreams, and LIVING for the first time in years. THERE IS HOPE!

In January while at work, I went into the break room and a commercial for RedRiver Health and Wellness came on. I had heard about them for years and desperately wanted to go see them, but knowing that they would not be covered by insurance, I never went. I was fed up though. I was so sick and wanted answers. I had asked a previous doctor to run a thyroid panel for me to determine exactly what was wrong with me. A previous doctor said, "Well it could be thyroiditis or it could just be the Hypothyroidism, lets put you on the meds for the thyroiditis and see how it goes." I was now her official guinea pig. The results of the thyroid panel said "Condusive to subclinical hypothroidism." The same diagnosis I had received for the last 9 years. 

Dr. Stadler (The Man)

Armed with my test results, I went to my consultation with RedRiver. I met Dr. Stadler and with one look at my test results he confirmed that I had Hashimoto's. He could help me. I was so emotional. He understood what I was going through. He didn't think I was crazy or making this up and the blood work proved it. He ran a full health panel on me and we discovered that I was also pre-diabetic, anemic, my sex hormones were ALL out of whack, and my vitamin D was extremely low. 

Dr. Stadler has taken the time to teach me how to manage this disease. He has educated me about what is going on in my body as a whole. I am so grateful that I sucked it up and went. 

I have Hashimoto's, but it does not have me.