Lesson 7: Learning to Live Well With Hypothyroidism
Hypothyroidism is a chronic condition. That mean's it's not going away. Those of us who are hypothyroid need to learn to coexist with this condition. We'll learn how to:
- find support,
- continuously educate ourselves on this condition,
- intelligently co-manage our condition with our doctors, specialists, therapists, families, friends, etc.,
- and maintain a positive can-do attitude despite it all.
Introduction to Lesson 7
The most difficult parts to learn in this course concluded with lesson 6; however, the hardest parts to live with are in these last two lessons. This Lesson 7, in particular, is all about learning how to live well with hypothyroidism. That’s not easy. Hypothyroidism is a chronic condition. For most of us, that means that we will need to manage it for the rest of our lives.
You may be angry that you have a chronic condition. You may feel abnormal. You may be scared. You may even be overwhelmed. All of those feelings are natural. To compound matters, you may have other related conditions such as Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia and/or Depression. You may not have the proper treatment and feel so tired or achy that you are at your wits end.
Those feelings are normal too!
Part of living well with hypothyroidism is feeling what you need to feel so you can move along and manage your condition so that it doesn’t run your life. Hypothyroidism is not a death sentence. It is chronic but not fatal. You can live with this condition for decades.
In this lesson, we will talk about how to maintain a positive outlook despite some less-than-positive situations or feelings. We will also discuss support options and how we can get and keep ourselves healthy for a lifetime by practicing healthy habits including, but not limited to:
- eating well,
- exercising,
- taking and adjusting our medications as necessary,
- and, having our hormone levels monitored on a regular basis.
A great deal of the information in this chapter will feel like a review to you, as well it should. It is. However, for the most part, we have dealt with how to handle the condition and getting it under control. We have not scratched the surface of how you can deal with living with hypothyroidism for a lifetime.
Once you’re diagnosed and your TSH is normalized and you’ve lost the excess pounds, are you done dealing with hypothyroidism?
Not by a long shot. By the end of this lesson, you’ll know for sure why. (Of course, most of you know now, don’t you?)
Will you ever have to change your medications again?
Most likely, you will, especially if you go through hormonal changes such as menopause and/or pregnancy. The normal aging process can also negatively impact the hypothyroid as well. Chances are, you’ll have to readjust your medications or get used to new ones at some point in your lifetime.
Will you get over being hypothyroid?
Your symptoms may wax and wane, but you will always be hypothyroid. As such, you have to watch yourself, and monitor your symptoms. You may feel great but that’s because you are on the right meds, eating right, sleeping well and doing all that you need to.
It takes a bit of extra effort to live well with hypothyroidism, but the effort is well worth it just like you are.
Suggested Reading for this lesson includes:
Living Well With Hypothyroidism by Mary J. Shomon. I am especially interested in Chapter 14 and the Epilogue.
In Is Your Thyroid Making You Fat? by Sanford Siegal MD, DO, I’d like it if you could look over Chapters 12, 13, and 17 if you haven’t read them already. Appendix J may also be of interest.
Now, we are ready to move along.
