Hashi who? Hashimotos is an autoimmune disease. Autoimmune is when a mishap occurs in the immune system and it mistakenly attacks its own body. In this case, my immune system attacks my own thyroid, which frankly, I find rather bizarre. It started when during a general check-up, the doctor was kneading the tender sides of my 40 year old throat when he noticed swelling. Questions ensued. I was tired, but who wasn’t? No, my hair wasn’t falling out, what the hell? Yes, I already told you, I’m tired by mid-day. Aren’t you?
As he suspected, the culprit was my sluggish, behind-the eight-ball thyroid. Medication seemed to be the only answer. Off I went back into my very wonderful and active life with Levothyroxine in hand, hypothyroidism in body. Over time, the fatigue got worse and I noticed I was having trouble recovering from physical activity, which back in those days included gym workouts and a generous amount of tennis. I knew something wasn’t right, but I assumed I had already figured it out. Eventually, a wise friend recommended a Naturopathic doctor, who quickly, like a first grader standing out of her seat with her arm outstretched waving her hand eagerly shouting “Hashimotos”, successfully diagnosed my future. As we humans do well, I shrugged it off, brushed it under, anything to just make it go away. I was too busy, too stubborn and too naive. Some years and some tears later, I saw my third and final Naturopathic doctor and I woke up and dove in. Like it or not, I had hypothyroidism and Hashimotos just as much as I had a beautiful, beating heart. The message was as loud and bright as a bolt of lightening in an east coast thunderstorm. Time to take out the earplugs and do something about it. Note: In credit to myself (if you’ll allow me), no one talked about autoimmune disease, even ten years ago, like they do today. I’d like to think that my naiveté was not all mine. But that could be a coping mechanism, I’m not sure.
I went through the phase of questioning how it happened, what did I do? Sad that Hashimotos and I were wed forever with no cure in sight. I learned that a healthy lifestyle is the answer to feeling good and therefore, what I eat and drink, how I sleep, how I address stress, how I recover from activity are directly linked to how I feel. Period. Bottomline. I’ve spent years dutifully reading the dos and don’ts, which continually change as new research surfaces. I do blood draws and track “my numbers” like a responsible patient trying to understand the opponent. Most importantly, I’ve learned how to do “healthy living” in a way that makes me feel involved in the quality of my life. The rest is proof that I don’t have full control. Life happens.
Today, I live with Hashimotos as a life-long friend. Sometimes this friend lives in the background easily taken care of and sometimes, this friend screams loudly for my attention. We go back and forth between dancing freely, living our best lives together, and then dancing like a fifty-eight year old break-dancer, not too well.
Hashimotos is one of the reasons I dove deeply into yoga. Yoga is about inner and outer health, the physical body and the mental body, the whole enchilada. It is about learning to accept the situations we are given and growing from them. Hashimotos tapped me on the shoulder and said “wake up, live healthfully” and for that, I can find gratitude.
If you have questions about living with hypothyroidism and/or Hashimotos, I’m here for you.