If I ignore it, maybe it will go away

If I ignore it, maybe my thyroid will go away...


Okay, maybe not.

Boring background paragraph: About 15 years ago, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (a.k.a. autoimmune thyroiditis). Which means that every so often my immune system gets honked off and decides to attack my thyroid gland with, as they say, hilarious results. Or not.

I tend to treat this as if it's not a serious problem and generally it's not. I've had a sub-clinical case for so long, I'd started to feel it wasn't something I needed to reckon with. The past couple months of living on caffeine and fast food... maybe that wasn't such a great idea.

Turns out that trying to make up for lack of sleep and exercise by drinking copious amounts of coffee is like taking an advance draft on funds you don't currently possess. Sooner or later, the Authorities come lookin' for you. And when you piss off your thyroid, it has a whole lot of authority.


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I got to the point where I was exhausted when I woke up, exhausted when I went to sleep, and dragging the whole time in between. Last Sunday, it took me four tries to mow my very small backyard lawn.

Even my brain was moving slower than usual. "Brain fog," they call it. The persistent headache is also a classic hypothyroid-problem: my face swells up like a balloon, the area between the eyebrow and the eye itself swelling up to the point where my eyes become half-hidden. All this pressure on the eyes causes a headache that no amount of ibuprofen can make go 'way.

So this past week, I didn't do a whole lot of exercise. Walked a grand whopping total of 12 miles. No cycling or nothin' like that. Ate vegetables, slept, took it easy.

I'm feeling better, so I am -- yes, for the 231st time -- going back to my exercise routine. Hell, I might not be fast, I may not get great results quickly, but I have honed my stubborn streak until it is as hard as steel. Don't mess with me. Outta my way. Stubborn fat chick coming through. Grrr.