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It Ain’t She-Hormones
Dear Thyroid,
You waited until I was going through “the change” to confuse and hurt me. It was always my, she-hormones that were to blame. No, it was never, ever you, since you looked and acted virtuous. I resigned myself to these dramas in my life and the multiple trips to doctors who assured me it was stress or you know, that woman-thing. I did not go to a psychologist as directed and I didn’t take mind-altering drugs to soothe the beast that raged inside me.
Then you played games with my heart. Palpitations and missed heartbeats that scared me so much and added to my anxiety. Did an urgent care doctor say stress? Five months went by and my regular doctor seemed worried. No, it’s not normal; it’s not stress and it probably isn’t the she-hormones. It was you! Poor she-hormone always gets blamed for everything. A constant goat for you. You were hyper and you can’t blame Ms. Estrogen or Ms. Progesterone.
More doctors, more hospital tests, more anxiety, more pills and did I mention more visits to doctor’s offices. I was diagnosed with borderline Graves. Caught you in your ruthless act early.
After weeks of being on Methimazole, I feel just dreadful. You did it again and had to play your games. We had a wonderful and joyous weekend and then I crashed. I have sleepless nights and then some mornings I cry for no reason other than you. A terrible or maybe great side-effect is I want to go shopping every chance I can get. I hate shopping, always have. Is this a suppressed desire I have always had or a depression-induced activity? You creep me out sometimes.
Maybe a stray she-hormone can sneak up on you and kick your butt just for me.
—
(BIO) “Kathy Cappadona” In Dec was diagnosed with Graves. 55 yrs. old. Family history of Graves/Hashimoto/thyroid cancer. Married, one cat who is my closest bud. Retired Vet technician. Member of Facebook
Tags: Dear Graves disease letters, Graves and Menopause, graves disease stories, Graves' disease post menopause, misdiagnoses of Graves disease, post menopausal thyroid disease, thyroid letters written by thyroid patients
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2 Responses to “It Ain’t She-Hormones”
Leave a Reply to Kathy Cappadona
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so are you saying you did not go thru the change you were diagnosed with graves ? I am going thru the same thing and they tell me it is the change….been going thru this since i was 37 and now am 48…but never been diagnoised with graves. Graves has never been mentioned.
Sally, I had a hysterectomy in my 30’s (left the ovaries), so it was a guessing game for me and the doctors. And they argued about whether I was post or pre according to the bloodwork. I found a new doctor after that argument. When my second TSH was done this past Dec, the doctor did an earlier than normal FSH, it finally came back post. My regular doc told me that menopause and thyroid disorders can cause a battle between the two and had it not been for the heart problems, I would have continued to think it was just a “getting older” thing. Keep a log of all your problems no matter how minor they seem. Watch your weight. Mine jumped around so much that I thought eating cake would make me lose weight. But then I gained it back again. Good luck Sally, keep at those doctors for an answer.