Hyperthyroidism

Hyper-thyroidism

The word “thyroid” had no place in my dictionary until I reached thirty-nine years. The only instance I had heard about it was when the topic of glands was discussed in my high school days during my biology class. The thyroid gland is located in the front of the throat and plays a very vital part in the functioning of the body.

 So with this basic knowledge of thyroid gland, I just had nothing to do with it in my life till I reached my thirty –ninth year. Something started to go terribly wrong with my health and I started losing weight and my eyes started looking prominent. My photos at that time showed quite a different person than me. My hands started trembling, I was not able to sleep properly and my heart was really beating fast. I had palpitations. I felt that I was at the completion of my Marathon race. I was voicing my problems to my dear family members and all of them were really worried. My eldest son just tried counselling me saying that I was imagining things. He asked to stay cool. My days were really turning into a nightmare. I found it very difficult to cope up with my daily responsibilities.

 One consoling factor was that I was loosing weight in spite of binging on my favourite food and snacks. Having been an obese person from my teenage, I found it really comfortable to continue to consume things I relished as huge servings.  People started asking me how I was able to put down weight so easily. They did not know about the underlying problem. But the saving grace was an alert from my brother-in-law who asked me to check my thyroid levels and also check up my sugar levels. My sugar level was within normal limits but my TSH(thyroid-stimulating hormone) level was really abnormal. My God! At last, we were able to diagnose the problem. I had hyperthyroidism.  I was referred to the city’s top Endocrinologist. She asked to go through a battery of tests. I was put on NeoMercazole tablets for 4 months and was feeling much better. My doctor advised me to discontinue these tablets and as soon as I stopped it, the earlier problems started cropping up again. The tablets were not to be taken for long periods.

 Then the endocrinologist referred me to a specialist in nuclear medicine . I was also screened for a cancer in the thyroid tissue. Luckily, I tested negative for any cancerous tissue of the thyroid. The  specialist in nuclear medicine diagnosed my problem and gave me nuclear therapy. I was given a dose of 15 mci of I-131 orally. It is a radio-active substance which actually destroyed my over-active thyroid. A set of instructions and warnings were given to me after the treatment. I was asked not to mingle freely with my family for a week. I had to avoid social gatherings for a couple of days. The people coming in contact with me would be affected by the radiation. I followed all the instructions given by the specialist and found myself getting better with every advancing day.

 After that treatment, I felt much better and for nearly 6 or 7 years, I have been leading a very normal life after taking a daily dose of Eltroxin, a medicine for hypothyroidism. I had turned hypothyroid after the nuclear therapy.

My therapy and the normal life I lead now would serve as an eye-opener to people suffering with similar problems.