Hey folks, I don’t want to drama queen all over you. I know you all have big problems. But there’s been a recall of medication I take to manage Hashimoto’s Disease.
Hasimoto’s Disease affects something like 1% of the population (depending on who you ask). It’s an autoimmune disorder that causes the immune system to attack your thyroid gland.
The thyroid is sort of like your body’s throttle. If it doesn’t work properly, a lot of other things won’t work properly.
Symptoms include (from the Mayo Clinic Website):
Increased sensitivity to cold
Muscle aches, tenderness and stiffness
Irregular or excessive menstrual bleeding
Problems with memory or concentration
Swelling of the thyroid (goiter)
Enlargement of the tongue
For my part, the big issues are the fatigue, aches and pains (my hands are sometimes so stiff I cannot move my fingers, and right now my back is killing me,) depression, and memory problems. As in, I will be sitting there working on a drawing and between the time I look at my reference and the time I look at my drawing I can’t remember what I just saw in my reference.
Also not on the above list: edema, anxiety, high cholesterol, poor heart function, an enlarged heart and irregular heartbeats. I had to have a CAT scan in December, and my anxiety has been swinging back and forth into the red zone for months.
When well managed, I don’t notice it much, but when not well-managed, my life grinds to a halt.
Since cancer treatment, I’ve felt the usual fallout from all that cancer entails. But I honestly thought I should have been feeling much better by now.
But I’m not. I’ve been up and down, but mostly down.
Finding out I’ve been improperly medicated for 7 months certainly explains a lot. A friend of mine who got the defective medication notice from her doctor thought she felt poorly due to long Covid. Another was sinking for months, unable to understand why.
Well, at least we know why.
This doesn’t affect everyone on the medication, just those with certain lot numbers from certain manufacturers. And if you are highly sensitive to hormone fluctuations, even a small variation will knock you right on your keister.
Several people I know heard from their health care providers. Others heard nothing until they asked.
It’s not like I don’t have a lot of stress right now, and figured my anxiety, poor mood, and weight gain originated from dealing with what I’m dealing with.
Well, at least some of it is because my medication hasn’t been hitting the sweet spot.
Bad luck, but it is what it is.
It’s going to take about 6 weeks before I start to feel better, but at least I am working it.
