A Sprinkle of Positivity

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.

I know most (all) of my posts about Hashimoto’s have been a bit (a lot) negative. This post is different. Yes, Hashimoto’s sucks. But I have found some new things along the way that have helped me deal with some of the crazy symptoms. I was diagnosed in April, but have been dealing with the symptoms for a few years.

Hair loss – I had a major surgery in 2007. I started to lose a lot of hair shortly after. My doctor said that it was due to the trauma of the surgery. In 2010, I switched hairdressers and my new hairdresser told me about this shampoo and conditioner called Bosley. I bought it on Amazon and it has helped restore my hair. It’s still a lot thinner than it was, but every time is see my hairdresser she reassures me that she continues to see new growth! I have also been washing my hair less often (don’t judge!). I used to wash it every other day. I now wash it twice a week. On special occasions, I’ll wash it three times a week but I notice it feels really dry that week.

Dry skin – My skin is so dry, it hurts sometimes. I use Jergen’s Wet Skin lotion and have seen major improvements. I put it on every night when I get out of the shower and can feel the difference instantly.

Achy joints/Sore muscles – Since being put on thyroid medication, I have had to switch to decaf (boo!) coffee because regular coffee interacts very negatively with my medication. Anyways, over the past year or so I’ve noticed my joints being very achy when I am still for a short period of time. It’s mainly my back, neck and ankles (those are joints, right?) I read somewhere about adding collagen (I use this Great Lakes brand) to relieve joint pain. I add 2 tablespoons to my morning coffee. I honestly don’t know if it helps with joint pain but I thinks it’s added a healthiness to my hair and nails.

My muscles are sore all the time. Even when I don’t work out for a few days (or even a few weeks), my muscles feel thrashed. I put Doterra’s Deep Blue lotion as often as I remember. I don’t know if it helps, but it smells good!

Brittle nails – As I said, I think the collagen is helping with my nails. I get gel manicures religiously and that’s helped a ton! My nails are very weak and brittle.

Stress – This isn’t a symptom, but it’s something I think everyone should avoid. Being stressed makes my other symptoms so much worse. It’s literally exhausting. I’m still trying to manage stress by eliminating toxicity from my life. This includes: people (sounds harsh, but it’s helped), extra jobs/commitments and learning to say “no” more often than not without feeling guilty. I don’t care what other people think of me (I know my worth). My doctor says my heart beat is a little slower than it should be. Suddenly increasing it too quickly could cause a heart attack. I keep this in mind when I feel stressed. I don’t have the focus needed to meditate, but I do pray more now. I thank God for each day I have with my family and friends.

I also ordered Yoga Burn to try at home. It should be here sometime this week. The Hashimoto’s Facebook groups swear by yoga and Pilates for joint pain and muscle soreness. I am extremely sore after I work out at Fit Body Boot Camp (but I absolutely love it and can’t give it up) and am going to incorporate this Yoga Burn to see if it helps.

Fatigue – I try to sleep as often as I can. I really started listening to my body when I began to nod off while driving to work in the mornings last year. It scared me into going to a doctor to see what was wrong with me (hence, the beginning of all this). I have never taken medication well. I have a very low tolerance and don’t like the way it makes me feel. I used to take a 1/2 dose of over the counter melatonin to help me fall asleep. I would have to take it 12-14 hours before I had to drive. I used to take it between 4:00 – 4:30 PM on Sundays so it would be out of my system by the time I had to drive to work on Mondays. About an hour or so after taking it, I would feel it kick in. I would start to get sleepy and could feel my heart beat slow down. I remember telling Mike one time “If I don’t wake up, this is what I took”. That completely freaked him out! Hashimoto’s has definitely cured me needing to take any type of sleep aid! I am tired all the time.

Weight gain – I am struggling hard core with this one. I work out as regularly as my body will allow. I remember hearing people say that they gained weight by just looking at food. Who knew that was a real thing?! I am in the process of eliminating different foods from my diet and seeing what helps. I went to a place called Gluten Zero Bakery over the weekend and the owner was so nice. She gave me her card and briefly told me about her Celiac disease and gave me a couple websites to check out. She recommended that I look into foods that work with my blood type. The next time I have blood work done, I’ll ask them to add my blood type (if they can) so I can look into this.

Cold intolerance – I had the pleasure of experiencing hyper- symptoms this summer which included major anxiety and extreme heat intolerance. But normally, I experience hypo- symptoms which include cold intolerance. There’s not too much that can be done except buying cute sweatshirts and gloves. We did buy a Mr. Buddy heater on Amazon to take to our daughter’s flag football games. It helped immensely! We weren’t the only people with one in the stands but we (me) were probably the only people who took it inside the house and used it after getting out of the shower to warm up! I am always cold. Like, bone chilling cold. Before finding out what was going on, Mike would tease me and call me “cold-blooded” (which prompted me to put my “cold-blooded” hands on his bare back as he was drifting off to sleep).

Brain fog – I am just learning to embrace the brain fog. I feel “cloudy/fuzzy” all the time. It was really frustrating and embarrassing at first (I would actually stutter because I couldn’t string together a sentence sometimes), but it is what it is. I use a lot of Post-it notes to help me remember things. My iPhone calendar is full of reminders and alarms. I also try to say “Ummm” as cutely as I can 🙂

Hopefully this helps someone, somewhere dealing with some of these same symptoms! Leave a comment below if you have any other tips or tricks for these fun symptoms.