My Thyroid Story - The Beginning

In the Spring of 2011 I began to experience symptoms that I had never had before.  I was having heart palpitations - rapid, irregular, sometimes really scary heart beats.  Sometimes I seemed really nervous and anxious for no reason.  My knees and ankles were swelling to the point that it was difficult to bend down, climb stairs, get in the car.  At my daughter's graduation in Nashville, my ankles were so swollen that my shoes were tight and uncomfortable.  For a while I had seen an upward spiral with my weight that "diet" and exercise were not correcting.  I have had weak nails that were chipping, hair falling out, brain fog and lack of concentration for years.  I thought much of it was part of getting older but then I began to worry that if at 52 I already seemed to be in this condition, what would the future hold for me?

 

In May 2011 I went to the doctor and had lab testing done.  I was convinced it was hypothyroid and one prescription would fix everything.  My tsh was almost undetectible, that's low, right?  But that was all he tested.  On this basis I was urgently referred to an endocrinologist.  He went over my family history - out of 7 natural siblings only 2 of us did not have a thyroid diagnosis.   I have suspected for a long time that I was HYPOthyroid as it is very prominent in my family.  In the past my labs always came back normal or borderline, no need for alarm, right?  What a surprise!  I have had symptoms of hypothyroid for quite some time, cold hands and feet, hair falling out, sluggish weight loss.

The doctor told me I had HYPERthyroid, probably Graves Disease.  I was at first shocked but then disbelieving.  I have one sister that had Graves Disease and all the other siblings are hypothyroid.  The endocrinologist basically gave me ONE option.  When my kids head off to school in the fall he would order radioactive iodine to "kill" the thyroid and its overactive production of hormones.    He prescribed Atenolol to regulate my heart and Methimazole to slow down the thyroid.  I should come back in August to get everything set up.

My first thought was, "I can do this."  Others have dealt with much more sever diagnosis.  But my second thought was "Why is this happening?"  Did the doctor know?  Did I ask enough questions?  Is it something I am doing wrong?  I became crazed, scouring the internet for hours trying to find answers.  I found much information on alternative treatments for hypothyroid but found almost nothing on hyperthyroid.  

At this point I was determined to find an alternative.  In a miraculous twist of fate we received a post card in the mail at work.  My husband, Dr. Tony Aboudib, is a chiropractor.  The card had come in reference to a Chiropractic Neurology program following the teachings of Dr. Datis Kharrazian, a Chiropractic Neurologist who has done extensive research on an Alternative "Non-Prescription" support for thyroid disease.  He was offering a seminar in Chicago as the first step in teaching his thyroid mastery.  I begged Tony to go and to help me to figure out what I could do to avoid the destruction of a major organ in my body.  There was hope!  And God had a plan......