When I was a kid, I would sleep a lot, often 12 or 13 hours at a time. I didn’t think that was unusual, because everyone in my family liked to sleep! My only hint that maybe that wasn’t typical was when one of my friends told me she would get so bored whenever she slept over, because she would have to wait hours in the morning for me to wake up. But that was just the start of my struggles.
By third or fourth grade, other symptoms came up: I started gaining weight, even though everyone else in my family was thin. I was put on my first diet in fifth grade. It was so upsetting—I’d see my friends eating whatever they wanted and never gaining weight, and there I was eating a salad or salmon. I also exercised as much as I could and played sports all through high school, but the pounds wouldn’t come off.
Throughout grade school and continuing through my teenage years, I struggled with insatiable cravings for sugar and carbs. We would eat dinner and I would never feel full.
I was also suffering with some pretty serious depression and anxiety, and I felt overheated all the time. I was dealing with so much stress and would have major mood swings, which my family brushed off as “just being a teenager.” Doctors would tell me, “You just need to lose weight!” This felt impossible and worsened my disappointment in my lack of discipline. It made me never want to see a doctor again. This cycle repeated for years.
Starving for an Answer
In college, my symptoms spiraled and my weight gain was so significant that my family was convinced I had diabetes. Though my glucose tests came back normal, they convinced me to go on a diet that involved drinking a shake for a couple of meals and then eating one lean packaged meal. How could that be healthy for anyone?
I lost weight but I was miserable. And any time I would go out to eat with friends, even if it was for a birthday, I felt a terrible sense of guilt. My relationship with food got really dysfunctional, and I wound up developing a severe eating disorder.
I was still sleeping way more than I should have been, so in 2011, when I was 20, I finally went to the doctor for fatigue and joint pain. My doctor included a thyroid hormone test in my blood panel, and it came back elevated. That explained a lot, but the doctor didn’t really expand on the effects the thyroid has on health, and I was too young to know anything about it on my own, so I just took the medication and went on with my life.
Three years later, I had gained 50 pounds—all the work I had done losing weight on those restrictive diets was for nothing. My depression and anxiety were through the roof. I had seen only my primary care physician at that point, so I decided to dig deeper.
Because I had a family history of diabetes, I started with an endocrinologist. Unfortunately, the first ones I saw were pretty dismissive, adjusting the dose of my thyroid medicine but not addressing my symptoms or even believing me.
After doing my own research, in 2016, I finally met with an endocrinologist who agreed to do an antibody test and an ultrasound of my thyroid. I was officially diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.
I found a D.O. who was willing to work with me and switched to natural desiccated thyroid medication, and for the first time, I started to feel better. This snowballed into holistic-based nutritional and lifestyle changes that finally made me feel my best.
Turning It All Around
Ruiz has a much more positive relationship with food these days
I’m 35 now, and I have the healthiest relationship with food and my body that I’ve ever had. In the past, I always associated health with thinness, but I’m thankful to know now that health is about so much more than weight. It’s about having mental clarity and consistent energy, waking up happy, sleeping well, and thriving.
For so long I just didn’t know that all the weight gain, exhaustion, depression, joint pain, hair loss, and brain fog were connected with my thyroid.
It’s now my life’s mission to spread awareness about Hashimoto’s. I’ve worked in communications with an online medical practice that treats hypothyroidism, and thanks to my diagnosis, I became a holistic nutritionist too. Who knew something that once felt like my weakness would end up turning into my superpower?
How Can You Recognize Hashimoto’s?
The thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland at the front of the neck that controls your metabolism. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease, causes inflammation of the thyroid.
At first, the thyroid may release all its stored hormones, causing weight loss, jitters, and anxiety, says Kavya Mekala, M.D., an associate professor of clinical medicine at Yale School of Medicine. But once the hormone reserves are depleted, there may be a period when the metabolism slows down. This may resolve itself within six to nine months, but in some cases it can lead to permanent hypothyroidism, requiring thyroid hormone replacement.
Hashimoto’s is the most common cause of hypothyroidism, and it affects 10 times as many women as men. It is largely due to genetics and may be triggered by smoking, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, or acutely stressful life events, says Dr. Mekala. Treatments include oral thyroid hormone supplements and dietary changes.
Symptoms of hypothyroidism can include:
- Weight gain
- Extreme fatigue
- Dry skin and hair
- Depression
- Feeling cold all the time
- Joint stiffness or pain
- Constipation
- Heavy or irregular periods
TELL US ABOUT YOUR DIAGNOSIS: Did you have symptoms that took a while to get properly diagnosed? We’d love to hear your story. Write to [email protected].
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