Passing those not-so-subtle signposts
When I was in my mid-forties, I was finally diagnosed as hypothyroid. I’d had symptoms of hypothyroidism since I’d been twenty-eight. However, no doctor cared enough to put together these various symptoms of mine to do anything about it.
The diagnosis wasn’t that dreadful. It wasn’t as if I’d suddenly been told I had cancer.
However, it did require that I change my attitudes in terms of what I considered healthy.
Before that time, I’d only taken medication when I was sick. I would stop taking whatever was prescribed for me when I got better. This included my migraine medication. I never considered myself a “sick” person, even though I was frequently ill.
Now, I was having to take medication every single day. It took me some time to come to accept that I wasn’t “sick” — I just didn’t produce enough of the right hormones. I had a chemical imbalance, and all I was doing was fixing that. It doesn’t sound like much in hindsight. However, it was a really large shift in my attitude and how I thought about myself.
In addition to the thyroid medication, I was also now taking hormones every day. Again, just an imbalance. Not an illness.
It felt as though I’d just passed one of those aging milestones. I wasn’t as young as I once had…
