heart aches for the individuals who are suffering with undiagnosed thyroid disease. | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Health Wellness

Be Your Own Advocate, The Only Person Who Knows You Best Is Yourself

Your instincts are often better than a doctor's.

180
Be Your Own Advocate, The Only Person Who Knows You Best Is Yourself
https://unsplash.com/photos/5NzOfwXoH88

Starting back in August, I began to have consistent health problems.

What started off as fatigue, dizziness, heart palpitations, and vision changes, turned into flushing, hot-spots throughout my body, night sweats, and headaches. It then turned into allergies to soy, corn, eggs, nuts…(the list goes on even longer if you can believe that), tingling, numbness, weight gain, anxiety, and severe panic attacks.

I saw doctor after doctor and they all told me the same thing. "Everything is normal."

Yet, I felt nothing close to normal .Any of my friends or family could tell you that "I feel like crap" was a phrase I said almost daily. Come early December, I went back to my school's health office, begging for more blood work and trying to convince them that there was something they were missing. The doctor on staff implied I a had hypochondriac's mentality and told me that he highly recommended that I started taking antidepressants as soon as possible.

On Christmas day, I received my blood test results and was puddle of tears. Not because I was upset, but because for the very first time I wasn't "crazy". I have Hypothyroidism. An illness that I had suggested so many times to my doctors, all in which told me that my bloodwork was normal.

Even though I'm usually not one to publicly share my personal experiences, I felt as though this post was necessary.

Way too many young woman are being prescribed antidepressants to cover up the symptoms of a health issue that general practitioners too often miss. I have become so incredibly passionate about this topic because my heart truly aches for the countless number of individuals who are suffering with undiagnosed thyroid disease. During the past six months, I searched endlessly for those who decided to share their experiences, praying I would find that their symptoms were similar to mine.

If my story can help just one person find out why they have been feeling so incredibly sick, then everything I have been through is well worth it.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
ross geller
YouTube

As college students, we are all familiar with the horror show that is course registration week. Whether you are an incoming freshman or selecting classes for your last semester, I am certain that you can relate to how traumatic this can be.

1. When course schedules are released and you have a conflict between two required classes.

Bonus points if it is more than two.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

12 Things I Learned my Freshmen Year of College

When your capability of "adulting" is put to the test

3082
friends

Whether you're commuting or dorming, your first year of college is a huge adjustment. The transition from living with parents to being on my own was an experience I couldn't have even imagined- both a good and a bad thing. Here's a personal archive of a few of the things I learned after going away for the first time.

Keep Reading...Show less
Featured

Economic Benefits of Higher Wages

Nobody deserves to be living in poverty.

302124
Illistrated image of people crowded with banners to support a cause
StableDiffusion

Raising the minimum wage to a livable wage would not only benefit workers and their families, it would also have positive impacts on the economy and society. Studies have shown that by increasing the minimum wage, poverty and inequality can be reduced by enabling workers to meet their basic needs and reducing income disparities.

I come from a low-income family. A family, like many others in the United States, which has lived paycheck to paycheck. My family and other families in my community have been trying to make ends meet by living on the minimum wage. We are proof that it doesn't work.

Keep Reading...Show less
blank paper
Allena Tapia

As an English Major in college, I have a lot of writing and especially creative writing pieces that I work on throughout the semester and sometimes, I'll find it hard to get the motivation to type a few pages and the thought process that goes behind it. These are eleven thoughts that I have as a writer while writing my stories.

Keep Reading...Show less
April Ludgate

Every college student knows and understands the struggle of forcing themselves to continue to care about school. Between the piles of homework, the hours of studying and the painfully long lectures, the desire to dropout is something that is constantly weighing on each and every one of us, but the glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel helps to keep us motivated. While we are somehow managing to stay enrolled and (semi) alert, that does not mean that our inner-demons aren't telling us otherwise, and who is better to explain inner-demons than the beloved April Ludgate herself? Because of her dark-spirit and lack of filter, April has successfully been able to describe the emotional roller-coaster that is college on at least 13 different occasions and here they are.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments