Hypothyroidism (Underactive Thyroid Disease)

I’ve had chronic pain for the past 18 years, and I’m finally learning how to speak up for myself and use accommodations so that my pain doesn’t have to flare every single day.

My mobility scooter was purchased a week ago. Reminder: I’m 28. 😂 So naturally, the number one thing I wanted to do was figure out how to make my scooter look a little less like it was made for an elderly person and a little more like it belongs to someone my age.

I got a stroller caddy that holds my phone, my Stanley, disinfectant wipes, extra medications, etc. I also upgraded the basket to a bigger one because when I use my scooter at work, I need it to hold my laptop—and the baskets that come with mobility scooters can barely hold a folder. 😂

Today, I already went on a less-than-quarter-mile, VERY slow walk to get my dog outside. Before the walk, my foot was at about a 7/10 pain. So, following my doctors’ instructions, I sprayed the crap out of my entire foot with lidocaine.
Mind you, the lidocaine spray only numbs my foot for maybe 10 minutes. So by the time my walk was over, I was back up to an 8/10.

I really need to go to the grocery store today to pick up some things I’m out of. I’m also visually impaired and don’t drive, so I usually walk to the store. I was thinking about trying to use my mobility scooter for the first time.

And I am SO nervous.

I know the doors at the store aren’t automatic, and I haven’t had any practice opening doors while navigating a mobility scooter. The store also ALWAYS has boxes in the aisles, so navigating around them could be challenging.

I also live alone, so I don’t have a partner who can come with me and help me figure out the challenges of using the scooter for the first time.

And, honestly, the last thing I want to mentally deal with today is someone making an unnecessary comment about how “young” I am to be using a mobility scooter.

So… any suggestions? Words of wisdom? Tips for navigating a grocery store on a mobility scooter? Or, most importantly, any witty responses you’ve used when people make comments about your age?

#MentalHealth #Anxiety #Depression #ChronicPain #HypothyroidismUnderactiveThyroidDisease #HashimotosThyroiditis #Uveitis #Blindness #Glaucoma

In relationships, I’ve been told many times that I check off all the boxes (kind, compassionate, family-oriented, loyal, and so on). But the one box they never wanted in their life was chronic illness.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. I feel like the world we live in needs to understand that literally anyone can develop a chronic illness at any point in their life.

For me, my chronic illnesses started showing up in childhood. So, in some ways, I’ve had a lot of time to learn how to cope, adapt, and figure out what life looks like for me and of course I’m still working on it.

But I don’t think people always understand that chronic illness isn’t something that only happens to certain people. Mental health conditions can appear at any point in someone’s life. Accidents happen. Injuries happen. Illnesses happen. Bodies change. Life changes. Someone can wake up one day and suddenly find themselves navigating a reality they never imagined for themselves.

Not all chronic illnesses are the same, but the emotions that come with receiving a diagnosis and knowing it’s lifelong can be surprisingly similar: grief, fear, anger, uncertainty, loneliness, and the feeling that you have somehow become a burden to the people around you.

But you are not a burden.

You and your chronic illness are not baggage.

Your chronic illness is a bouquet you get to carry every day. Sometimes we carry it gracefully. Sometimes our flowers are blooming. Sometimes they’re wilting, and we’re just trying to make it through the day.

And when they wilt, we don’t throw the bouquet away. We refresh the water. We tend to the flowers. We give ourselves the care we need and try again tomorrow.

Your chronic illness does not make you less worthy of love. It does not make you less deserving of a relationship, a career, friendships, adventures, or a beautiful life.

It is a part of your story, but it is not the entirety of who you are.

And maybe, with time, we can stop seeing chronic illness as baggage someone else has to carry and start seeing it for what it really is: a bouquet we’ve learned how to carry.

Sometimes with grace. Sometimes with both hands. Sometimes with a little help from a friend.

But we carry it.

#MentalHealth #Depression #Fibromyalgia #Lupus #Uveitis #Blindness #Glaucoma #ChronicPain #Anxiety #AnkylosingSpondylitis #Arthritis #HypothyroidismUnderactiveThyroidDisease #HashimotosThyroiditis

When I finally saw the big immunologist, he sat with me and my family for over an hour, sympathetically listened to my symptoms, and at the end of the appointment put his hands together and said, "I have no idea what's wrong with you. There's clearly something going on, but this doesn't match any pattern of immunodeficiency I've seen before."

He wound up retiring a week or so later after a long, accredited career in the field.

Since then, I've been undergoing testing so they can figure out exactly where my immune system has failed - they know I have low immunoglobulins, but that doesn't explain my symptoms perfectly. My vaccine responses are mostly fine. They've ruled out the more common immunodeficiencies. It's been months and we're no closer to an answer than before.

My life has been put on pause while they try to figure out what is wrong.

I have a combination of immunodeficiency, some kind of heritable connective tissue disorder/unknown subtype of Ehlers-Danlos, epilepsy and mild hypothyroidism with normal TSH (this might be caused by chronic/recurrent infection).

I've been sick for most of my life and it only seems to get worse. I'm losing my hearing, my spine is collapsing, I have neuropathy in my feet, and I'm in and out of hospital with infections. There is, as far as I can tell, no name for my syndrome.

I nearly died in Janaury after recurrent tonsillitis spiraled out-of-control. I'm terrified I'm not going to get to grow old. I live with a constant fear of the future, but I get up every day and keep going with no idea what tomorrow holds.

The question hangs over my head: is it one thing, or did the universe really hate me enough to hand me several rare diseases?

#RareDisease

Hi, my name is Irish33. I've been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, Osteoarthritis, Hypothyroidism, Treatment Resistant Major Depression, IBS, Insomnia, Chronic Migraines, Depuytren's Contracture, Anxiety and C-PTSD

#MightyTogether #Depression #Anxiety #Migraine #Fibromyalgia #ADHD #PTSD

I honestly do not know what is wrong.

My whole body hurts like I’ve either worked out for 2 hours or I have pins and needles sticking out of me. It hurts so much. I took a muscle relaxer so hopefully I can sleep. Praying it takes the edge off…

Just touching my skin hurts. I feel swollen almost. I don’t know what this is.

Does anyone have this symptom?

For reference, I have lupus, anti phospholipid syndrome (INR at 3.1- out of therapeutic range), and hypothyroidism.

I’m in my second week of attending daily 30-minute meditation classes, and I already feel like I’ve learned so much. One major theme my class has been focusing on is “surrender.” To surrender is to let go of the ego and allow yourself to be fully present with the moment as it is.

I keep returning to the question: What does it mean for me to surrender?

When I experience a neurocardiogenic syncope episode, surrendering means accepting and acknowledging what’s happening, without letting it define me.

When I go to a routine eye appointment for pressure checks, surrendering means trusting that I’m doing my part: taking my medication, using my eye drops, and allowing my medical providers to make the best decisions for my care.
I could go on and on.

Surrendering is hard. Our ego loves to get in the way. But for the first time, I truly feel like I’m re-wiring my brain.
#MentalHealth #Anxiety #Glaucoma #Uveitis #Blindness #NeurocardiogenicSyncope #HypothyroidismUnderactiveThyroidDisease