“So I’m not crazy?!”
Was the words of one of my patients.
We had just gotten her blood work results back. It revealed a thyroid gland struggling to keep up, elevated thyroid antibodies, and extremely low nutrient levels.
She had been to see her doctor numerous times because she hadn’t been feeling herself. She used to feel great on her current thyroid medication but recently it had become harder and harder to make it through the day. She was crashing on the couch as soon as she came home from work and feeling completely rundown. She was too tired to do any of her favourite hobbies, watch the kids soccer games, or spend time with her husband. She was told repeatedly that all her lab work and testing was completely normal, she was the picture of health! Then she had been told: “you’re just getting older”, “you’re probably perimenopausal”, and “maybe you’re depressed”.*
Not willing to settle for those explanations or feeling like a zombie for the rest of her life, she decided to look deeper. (FYI: If this sounds like you as well, it’s no coincidence. I hear similar versions of this same story almost daily in my practice!)
I like to tell my patients that YOU are your own expert. You live in your body 24 hours a day. You know how your body feels when you’re tired, or hungry, coming down with a cold, nervous, stressed, (you get the idea). You know what ‘normal’ feels like. You also know when you feel anything BUT normal.
I have watched countless patients with very similar stories look at their labs and say with triumph “I knew it!”
So,
If you’re feeling like no one is taking you seriously, and you’re starting to wonder if it really is all in your head, this is me saying to you:
You’re NOT crazy!
You can’t find the solution if you’re looking in all the wrong places. Ensure that you’re getting a proper thyroid and nutrient assessment and find a practitioner you trust (and who will take you seriously when you say “I just know something is off”)
Want to know more? Check out what I recommend as a starting point here and here
In honour of your body’s innate wisdom,
Dr. Katie Rothwell, ND
*Details have been changed to protect patient confidentiality. Shared with patient permission.