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Introduction To Me

© Deanna Couras Goodson

I have been overweight all my life. When I was six years old, I remember being at my aunt's house in Maine. It was a warm day and my chubby legs rubbed together. I got another rash. A neighbor of my aunt's was eating and eating food. He was thin as a rail.

As my mom put some antibiotic cream on me, she said, "you know it's just not fair, Dee. If you ate that much food, you'd be twice the size. You just have a sluggish metabolism."

I didn't really understand what she meant, but I knew she was right. I went from being a chubby kid to a fat, then bulimic and normal-weight teenager, to a really obese adult.

Doctors have told me, "try this diet, or try that." After I had my first child, it seemed I would look at food and put on a pound. It was intense. I had gained 75 pounds with my son and then added to my girth right away although I couldn't eat for almost two weeks after his birth by C-section.

It didn't make sense.

Over the next three years, I went to several different doctors who complained that I was just fat. That was the only excuse. I begged for them to check my thyroid and the results always came back normal. I felt worse and worse.

How could this be?

I was depressed, my nails and hair were brittle, and I was cold in my extremities. I read up about hypothyroidism. I stumbled upon http://www.thyroid-info.com.I began to suspect that I wasn't as crazy as one doctor told me I was.

I learned as much as I could about this disease. I knew I was hypothyroid even if my doctor didn't. Mary Shomon's article provided me with a lot of the basics and I would recommend it as a starting point for anyone.

Eventually, I found a new physician. She told me I wasn't crazy, but that most doctors don't test all three hormones, the T3, T4 and TSH levels, at the same time.

It's up to the patient to ask for a full panel to be done. I didn't realize it, but I learned that I had to be my own best advocate to get the help I needed and deserved.

I will discuss this information in further detail in another article, but I bet you are wondering, exactly what is a full thyroid panel?

A full thyroid panel will test TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone), T3 (Serum triiodothyronine), Free T3, T4 (Serum thyroxine) and Free T4. Basically, these tests check how the body stimulates and produces thyroid hormones. If your body doesn't perform enough or if the reactor doesn't function properly, the diagnosis of hypothyroidism is determined.

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