Hypo Hormones

I'll get straight to the point.

Wait, no I won't.  Let's build up the suspense, shall we?  (Unless we're Facebook friends.  Then you already know.  So forget it, move on.  Nothing to see here, people!)

Anyways.

After Tess was born I never felt quite "right". Well, do new moms ever feel quite right?  No.  No they do not. Because hormones are going crazy and babies want to stay up all night and not eat and all the other kids won't leave you alone.  But after Tess I felt different from after the other babies.  I chalked it up to her being my fourth and me being old (because I'm ancient, you know) and just dealt with it.

**Side note: I will be 35 in less than a month. Birthdays that end in a 0 or a 5 always seem more exciting, right?!  But not this one.  Because 35 just doesn't seem like that big of a deal.  Should it be?  How would I know, I've never been 35 before.**

Time went on, and other things started happening.  Things that we won't go into on here because, sheesh, a girl's gotta have a few secrets, right?  And it became enough of a problem that I decided to talk to my doctor about it at my annual exam.  He checked me out, listened to my complaints, asked some good questions, and then decided to put me on some hormones for a few months to see what would happen.

Things got better.  But still not all the way normal.  I just didn't feel myself.  But again, since things got better I assumed the other things were just lifestyle and age related. 

And then, about 8 weeks ago, my hair started falling out.  A lot.  You know how some people (like me) lose a ton of hair after they have a baby?  It was that much hair.  And I hadn't had any babies recently. And it was brittle and even more frizzy than normal, no matter what I did. Luckily, I've always had quite a bit of hair, so I don't think anyone else really noticed.  But I sure did - especially the nice bald spot that was forming around my part.  Oh, and my skin decided it wanted to relive its teenage years, so that was fun, too.  I've been feeling really lovely lately.

So I had some blood work done and a week later the nurse called to let me know that I had hypothyroidism.  Basically, my thyroid had decided to take a vacation after Tess was born.  It just took a while for my symptoms to make themselves set apart from normal after-baby stuff. 

Dang those babies. I love 'em, but they've done a real number on my body.  Dang those blasted babies!

Sometimes this condition clears up after a while on some medication.  Sometimes it becomes a lifelong thing.  It's too early to tell. Obviously I'm hoping for the first situation, but I guess it wouldn't be the end of the world if I end up in the second.

Of course after I spoke to the nurse I did a little research online.  Looking at a list of symptoms made me laugh because I pretty much had every single one.  The thing is, these are all symptoms that are easily explained away by other things.  (Body aches and pains?  I'd been doing the Insanity workouts - who wouldn't hurt?  Fatigue?  I'm a mother of four young kids!)  It's interesting, because the symptoms lists are different depending on what site you look at.  I think it can safely be said that having your hormones go missing kinda messes you up all around.

Dang those hormones.

I am now on a low-dose synthetic hormone that will hopefully help get things back to normal.  It's supposed to take a good week or two to really start feeling its effects.  However, I've only taken it for two days and I'm already feeling some side effects: dizziness, and little disorientation (as in my thoughts are a bit muddled sometimes) ((more than normal)) (((shut up))), and nausea.  The nausea is no surprise: that's my body's way of reacting to pretty much any new medication I take.  The nausea never lasts more than a few days.

So if you see me wandering around with a disoriented and slightly greenish look on my face, don't worry about it.  I'm just working on getting back to normal, even if on my way back I have to take a little detour in Loony Town, which is apparently the seat of Nausea County. 

Just smile, lead me back to where I should be going, and tell me my hair looks good.