My Struggle With Hypothyroidism And Myxedema
Posted by Troy Eckhardt on February 21, 2008 at 12:55 am
My journey through this wretched disease has been long and grueling. Before July 31, 2005, which I call “the day I got sick,” I never talked about my health. I didn’t even think about my health. I was a strong, seemingly normal 34 year old man. Since that time I’ve changed a little bit, and my journey back to where I came from is not over yet.
On that summer day almost three years ago, I was on a family vacation in Madiera Beach, Florida. Red tide was in full bloom, but I wasn’t really there for the beach. No, the great thing about that location was its proximity to a myriad of museums, and with our family membership at the Daytona Museum of Arts and Sciences, we had reciprocity!
On the last day of the visit, I was packing the trunk and leaving the condo for one last day at the Tampa Museum of Science and Industry when I pulled my back a little bit. It had happened before, and it really was not a big deal to me. Before we had even gotten five miles away from the condo, I knew something was really wrong. My feet felt numb, and my head felt foggy. By the time we reached the museum, the sensations reminded me slightly of a hemiplegic migraine I had had in the early 90’s, and so I began to panic, not wanting to go through that experience again. I asked my wife and family to leave the museum, and my wife drove us home from Tampa to DeLand.
As soon as I got home, I quit a 15 year cigarette habit cold turkey. That, as well as a much improved prayer life and the institution of “snuggle time” each night with my children (basically reading a book or the Bible, or singing hymns in one of our beds together) were some immediate benefits of my illness.
The strange feeling did not go away. My sleep patterns changed drastically – whereas I used to sleep like a brick, I could not sleep for even three hours straight. I had difficulty breathing; although I could fill my lungs with air, I felt like I was suffocating. I began to wonder if red tide or the pulled back might have anything to do with my problem. It turns out that I was barking up the wrong tree.
I continued having problems, and they got much worse. I had an increasingly difficult time holding things until finally I had such horrible pain and numbness in my hands that I could not sleep at night. My face began to hurt in a way that I thought was sinus pressure and headaches, although my sinuses proved to be completely clear. I had muscle and joint pain throughout my body. I was depressed and miserable.
My doctor, whom I met only after all of this began, thought I was a hypocondriacal freak. I kept telling him that I used to be a normal guy, and I think sometimes maybe he believed me. When I told him about having panic attacks in Wal-Mart, he gave me Xanax, which I refused to take. I was not the type to have panic attacks in retail stores for no reason, and I knew I certainly did not need happy pills. I was beginning to really worry, though, because by this point I would think about something sappy, such as “summer’s almost over,” and then begin to cry at my desk. I could no longer watch surgeries on the Discovery channel without wanting to barf. My mind was changing, and I was scared.
I began to do research on the internet, and about six months into the ordeal I discovered the symptoms of fibromyalgia. I read up on Dr. St. Amand’s theories. I was on his guaifenesin treatment for several months, but it wasn’t working. I researched further and discovered the work of many interesting doctors such as Dr. Wilson, Dr. Rind, and Dr. Lowe. These men convinced me that my issues, as well as those of most people diagnosed with fibromyalgia, were actually metabolic insufficiencies.
I told my doctor that I thought my problems were metabolic in nature, and he agreed to a few tests. It turns out that my thyroid stimulating hormone levels were so high that the doctor said I should have been in a coma, or at best unable to walk. As a result, my cholesterol was unbelievably high, and my testosterone level was in the toilet. I simply said to him, “I told you I was sick.”
I was put on Synthroid for about 36 weeks, titrating through three different doses, and the symptoms began to disappear gradually. I am now on 3 grains of Armour dessicated thyroid, having made the decision to switch after more internet research. I am still not completely well, but I’m getting better. At least I don’t cry over nothing these days, and I don’t worry that I’m going crazy anymore either.
I believe that my muscle, joint, and sinus pressure-like facial pain are due to myxedema, or tissue swelling due to hypothyroidism. I also believe that the facial swelling is the culprit causing my left eye to be unable to track with my right at times.
I know I missed some details during this fun little foray into my health situation, but I promise to fill in the missing parts as I think of them.
