As much as I love this little monkey so, so much**, I’ve got to admit something: momming has been really hard lately.
This is due in part to this crazy thyroiditis I developed around Christmastime. Yes, Christmastime. And it’s almost the end of March. It’s been a long and annoying time.
Even more annoying? There is very little information on the internet about my situation. There’s a lot about thyroiditis. Tons about Hashimoto’s and Grave’s disease. A good amount on thyroid inflammation in general. But painful thyroid inflammation? Hardly anything.
What have I found out about it? One, it’s rare. (Hurray me.) Two, it can last anywhere from several weeks to several months, though duration for months is rare. (Again… hurray me. I am totally winning the thyroiditis lottery.) Three, it can be caused by an upper respiratory infection (something I’d never had before, but after reading that, I remembered I did have an unusually lingering cold just before Christmas). And four, there’s nothing that can be done about it apparently.
So just in case there’s anyone else out there searching for someone in a similar situation, here’s my Very Painful Thyroid story.
When the pain started getting to be too much (and I was taking way too much ibuprofen to keep it at bay), I finally went to urgent care, where I was almost immediately diagnosed with thyroiditis and told to make an appointment with my regular doctor and get an ultrasound. I did both those things, and came out of it with a prescription for Prednisone and the knowledge of a 1.1 cm nodule on my thyroid.
Here’s the deal: If you’ve got really painful inflammation going on, Prednisone will do the trick. For awhile I didn’t even need to touch Ibuprofen. Unfortunately, a few days after being finished with the Prednisone, the pain came back, even worse than before. My doctor gave me another 7 day prescription. We did this about four times, while I waited over a month for an endocrinologist appointment. Somewhere in the third prescription, I realized that the Prednisone was not as potent as it once was, and I was having to supplement again with Ibuprofen in order to keep going with work and general life stuff.
The pain was really bad. It wasn’t just my thyroid hurting anymore. The inflammation pain had spread out to my jaw, my ear, behind my eyes, down my neck, and into my shoulders. One day I swear even my fingertips were aching from it. I would come home from work exhausted, and sick feeling from all the Ibuprofen I was taking. I would lay down in bed and just pray to fall asleep quickly so I wouldn’t feel the pain anymore. I was missing my time with Lincoln, and my husband was having to handle things by himself in the evening.
Then, last Wednesday, my endocrinologist appointment day finally arrived. I was so ready to get answers and find out what I could do to relieve this pain once and for all. Imagine my dismay when the guy told me that I just had to keep waiting it out. AND he said he didn’t want me taking Prednisone anymore, since long term use can be detrimental to a person’s health. (So is long term inflammation, by the way, doctor, but whatever.)
So… I was not a happy camper over the weekend.
Here’s to hoping that endocrinologist is right and this will be over soon. And if anyone else is going through something similar, I’d love to hear about it. Not for the whole “misery loves company” thing, but because I really would like to hear I’m not the only one in this weird thyroid situation.
In the meantime, I’m off to try making a thyroid support roller. Just got my most recent order from Young Living, and I specifcally got every oil that supposedly helps keep the thyroid going.***
** I mean, look at him. Sitting on his little potty writing on a post-it. Come on with the cuteness already.
*** Finally found a use for my roller bottle labeled ‘Naughty.” Going to fill it with a blend for my very naughty thyroid!
