Just Wait until Fifty The Family Thyroid

My daughter, Rachel, myself and my sister, Alyson, all have thyroid disease. We have inherited it from grandmothers and great-grandmothers. Rachel recently put on 20 pounds "overnight" and then manifested other symptoms which helped the doctor diagnose her. Rachel, Alyson and myself are in good company.

Marie Osmond left her husband and her family because her thyroid disease was mistaken as post-partum depression. She thought she was losing her mind. She wasn't. Her thyroid had gone south on her. Depression is a symptom.

Whoopi says that looking at a bag of Lays Potato Chips will cause her to gain 5 pounds instantly. Then she quips "but it's not me, I'm not weak, It's my thyroid!" I stand by her in that statement. You can gain 20 pounds without effort over night.

Oprah recently found out that her thyroid is in disaray and she is being treated. This has been a major factor in her being unable to control her weight. Her thyroid goes from fast to slow and back to fast again.

The symptoms and results of having a slow or fast thyroid. Short of Breath? Check. Aching joints and muscles? Check. Thickening skin in patches, check. Hair loss? Check. Carpel Tunnel? Check . Depression? Check. Elevated Cholestral (not for me yet), Inability to sleep? Check. Anxiety? Check. Muscle twitches and tremors? Check. Heart Palpitations (racing heart) Check. . . . and the list goes on.

This is your thyroid - - Healthy. If it is enlarged your neck may feel tight, swollen and it may be hard to swallow and sometimes breath. You can have flu like symptoms and feel like you are having a nervous breakdown if the symptoms are severe. It can lead to heart and other organ failure, high cholestral and general malaise. Okay . . . . . . why am I talking about this?

There are lots of things magical about turning 50. And it's not just about a changing thyroid. I mean you are half a century and you really should welcome it and celebrate it. Lots of things get better. You go through the change which really is a relief and a good thing if you are on top of it. My mom always said that turning 50, "was great, all your cares and worries are less if your children are well adjusted and on their way." My friends who were over 50 said, "It's the best time of life as you look forward to retirment and just kicking back." My co-workers who lived in a somewhat more stressful world than my mom and my over-50 friends said, "It's all down hill healthwise. The month you turn 50 you begin to hurt and break and you have less energy and you suddenly reap the rewards for sitting at a desk and handling inordinate stress for the past 25 years. You can no longer run up the stairs." When I was 25 I heard two older women talking and they were sharing with each other about how much they hurt and comparing all their aches and pains that had come with age. They must have been, oh probably 55 at the time. I remember thinking as I listened to them whine, "Oh get over it, things can't be that bad." So then I waited. When I turned 50 it was a wonderful day. Surprises at work, many people sang to me including the president of the hospital I worked at; others said, "You do NOT look like you are 50!" I handed out homemade cookies to everyone who came to my office that day. I had very much looked forward to this new decade. It was a fun day and a fun few weeks. At age 50 and 2 months (according to my journal) my blood pressure went crazy on me, my heart would race, I felt nervous and anxious much of the time. They traced the change in my blood pressure to a slowing thyroid which was treatable and I was stable again . . . for awhile. When I turned 51 my husband moved away for work. I spent the next year dreaming, planning and working towards the day we would be together again. During that 12 months I had two surgeries and in between those surgeries (okay one of them could have been termed workers comp except I chose not to go that route) my thyroid slowed two times which was again regulated by medication increases. A sluggish thyroid is hard to miss and trust me you want to treat it as soon as you can. . . . and my doctor did. I also had a root canal that year which turned out to be sort of your "not so normal" root canal the doc said. I thought he looked a little panicked as he excused himself half way through "to go check on a patient." I know for a fact he left to go out and collect himself and get ready for the other half of the procedure which was taking twice as long as it should. When it was over I apologized to him. He said, "Really? Most people blame me when stuff like this happens." I gently reassured him and said, "No isn't your fault, trust me, it's me!" He thanked me for being understanding and I walked out to the car feeling sort of like Willie Cayote on the Road Runner cartoons after he has been hit by a jack hammer . . . Buzzing and jumping inside because of the trauma to my mind during the procedure. So how are things today? TODAY? I woke up feeling IT again. Oh boy! Here it is again. The thyroid is slowing again. Three times in a year? What is up with this? What in the world!!! I can hardly wait until tomorrow when I see the doctor, something I ususally dread. I know when she sees me coming she'll take a deep breath and greet me with a sweet smile. Until then I'll sit here and deal with butterflies in my stomach, tingling from head to toe, a headache, aching muscles and joints and muscle tremors. It sounds terrible but it isn't really if you know what is wrong. If I didn't recognize this for what it is, I would think I'm having a nervous breakdown. I'm not. Your thyroid? Can't live with it and you can't live without it. Literally. I was 40 when people over 50 started saying, "Katie, just wait until you turn fifty." They said it alot in our office and I brushed them off as hypochondriacs. Well guess what! It was not in their heads! It was not in their minds! Just wait til you turn fifty!