I am ALWAYS cold. It’s not unusual for me to wear a fleece in tropical temperatures, and even when walking in bright sunshine at thirty plus degrees my body is cool to the touch. I have long known that this is perhaps not exactly normal… But I just assumed it was one of my various oddities, something that might be annoying to live with for me, but that no doctor cares to diagnose.
I have had my thyroid checked a few years back and found out then that something is off with it, but it wasn’t bad enough yet that it warranted treatment.
Until now.
After my latest blood tests, I was diagnosed with sub-clinical hypothyroidism and prescribed medication. It’s helpful in terms of fertility to get that sleepy thyroid going, apparently, so I was fine with taking something for it.
So has it done anything…
After six weeks of taking a daily tiny pill, the most noticeable thing is that my dry skin is gone. Especially my legs had it badly, and now my skin is smooth and nice. But then that could also be the changing of the seasons?
I have also lost weight without trying whatsoever. It’s been odd seeing my weight go down every time I weigh myself, I’m not used to that happening at all! But maybe that has been the stress of these last months as well?
But then… last week I was in school, sitting outside during a break. The person next to me was shivering. Someone else was jumping up and down. I could tell that it was cold outside, but I felt fine. No shivers, no goose bumps, no icy hands and feet. Someone even turned to me and asked, “Aren’t you cold Nele? You’re always cold!”
And I got to shake my head and say, “…No, I’m not.”
I knew it was chilly, but my hands and feet didn’t feel frozen. And it might be a little thing, but it isn’t for my quality of life. I am genuinely terrified of winter, for me it has always meant suffering the whole way through.
I had my blood drawn again yesterday to check my thyroid function – yet another bruise in the crook of my arm – and I’m happy to report that my numbers are looking a lot better now.
Here’s to feeling slightly less terrible this winter, fingers (and thyroids) crossed!
Very interesting article that convinced me to get an appointment with a GP when I’m back from holidays. :-) I used to have yearly thyroid checkups in France because I have cysts, but for whatever reason my GP in Ghent doesn’t think it’s necessary so I haven’t had any checkup for the last 4 years. After reading your article, I’m now wondering whether I may have some other thyroid disorder: I’m always super cold (I even have cold hands and cold feet in summer), I have dry skin, hair loss, fatigue, etc. I’m glad you found out about your hypothyroidism. Thyroid disorders impact so many things physically and psychologically! Everyone should have a checkup once in a while because usually people have no idea there’s a problem, connect their symptoms to something else that doesn’t require to see a doctor, and find out “by accident” years later. That was also my case with the cysts 15 years ago. I just thought I had a sore throat and that I was tired because I didn’t have enough sleep. I hope your experience will raise awareness among your readers!
My GP in Belgium said that here they usually only treat when the numbers are super high or low, so in Belgium I would probably still not have been treated, while in the UK it was considered very important that I was! So I would make sure you see the blood test results yourself and argue your case. It’s very odd but there really seems to be a difference country-wise in how much they want to intervene.
I would be super glad to know that this did anything for anyone out there! No one should have to suffer through any of it if it can be helped.