er E

o :k,
1.

td
n

three pounds by the end of the first week ond steodily goined weight until lwos bock to 9st. For 15 months lwos the mother l'd olwoys dreomt of being: I ployed with Drew, we loughed os I chosed him round ploygrounds ond I fell osleep ot o normol, grown-up time. It qll seemed too good to be true. And it wos. Just over o yeor ofter I wos first diognosed, the speciolist told me the toblets weren't o long-term solution. He recommended surgery t6 remove porf of my fhyroid glond, but odmitted lhere wos o cotch: becouse doctors don't know exoctly how much of the thyroid to cut qwoy, they con get rid of too much, leoving me with on underociive thyroid. lf thot hoppened I would suffer tiredness, oching muscles, o
sensitivity to cold ond... weight goin. ln effect lU be swopping one illness

'Time and again

I went back to the doctor'

for onother, but I wos reossured on underoctive thyroid could be treoted with o thyroid-replocement hormone I could toke sofely for the rest of my life. I hod no choice so, in August 2006, I hod the surgery. Almost immediotely I suf{ered new symptoms; cold honds ond feet, my body oched, I hod no interest in sex ond the weight piled on, no motter whot I ote - oll the symptoms of on underoctive thyroid. I couldn't believe my bod luck. I wos prescribed levothyroxine,

o toblet you toke doily, which in most coses, solves the problem. But for the next five yeors I struggled wifh the some symptoms ond, worstof oll, weightgoin. Time ond ogoin, I went bock to the doctor's, but without success. By the winter of 20L1 I wos tired, fot ond horribly depressed. I weighed 13st 8lb ond wos o size 18. lU hod enough. I decided to do my own reseorch into my condition. I begon with the Thyroid UK website ond found out os much os possible. I looked ot my blood test results ond tried to moke sense of them; it took me severol weeks, but it struck me thot I wos locking o hormone colled T3. When I put this to my doctor, she gove me o dose of T3 ond, within hours, the oches in my bones disoppeored ond I felt more qlert thon I hqd done for yeors. I wqs sent to o speciolist for more tests os the toblets lU been toking should hove forced my body to moke T3. But tests proved the drug simply wqsn't effective in my body - qnd there wqs no olternotive. I wqs devostoted. lU struggled to get through doily life ot 6st, ond here I wos bonling ogoin ot 13st. I wqs determined there hod to be o solution to my problem. I scoured the lnternet ond chotted to other sufferers oll over the world. lt wos then I found out thot desiccoted pig thyroid wos used by thyroid potients until the 1970s. lt didn't sound very oppeoling,

but I wqsn't squeomish

just wonted to

know if it would work for me. I got o prescription from my doctor ond begon toking it in copsule form. Within ten doys, the poins thot hod plogued me {or five yeors hod gone, I wos sleeping normolly ond I hqd the energy to enjoy every doy. Best of qll, it took just three months for my weight to return to its noturql 9st - my confidence soored. Todoy, I feel os heolthy ond hoppy os I did before the nightmore begon. Three yeors ogo I hod no life: I didn't see friends, slept for most ol the doy ond
couldn't enjoy being o mother. Now, I drop Drew off qt school, lhen go to my locol pool to swim 40 lengths. I hove o regulor girlie night out, go shopping with Mum, ond Govin ond I get o night owoy together os often os we con. I hove o full ond fontostic life - I never thought lU hove thot ogoin.

It

conlrols how your body

uses energy, but if ils this

overcciive or u nderoctive. is the effect. ..

WEIGHT

No matter how much you eat, the pounds fall off.

Younibble
your food, but your weight continues to balloon.
at

BODYHEAT
You're always hot, even sweaty You feel chilly, especially your hands and feet.

ENERGY

You're

overly energetic and may have insomnia, too.

Evenal2-hour
o
l

sleep doesn't ease fatigue.

I o

]VIENTALSTATE
.

tr

Anxiety and even

z
= I
I il

panic attacks canbe common.

You're slow, can't l k concentrate and feel depressed.

ESSENT ALSI'IAGAZI N E COI.I

.,

ESSENTIALS 55