My Symptoms Were Pinned To Postpartum Then I Was Diagnosed With This Condition – mindbodygreen.com

I started losing my breast milk supply three months postpartum. Along with the breast milk, I had lost about half of my hair and nearly all of my weight. It didn't matter what or how much I ate, I couldn't keep on a pound. It felt like my body was deteriorating.

As I was dealing with my undiagnosed health problems, my newborn was dealing with his own. He was throwing up multiple times a day, unable to keep any food down. So, I focused all of my attention on getting him the help he needed. I was making formula from scratch after losing my milk supply (he wouldn't tolerate anything on the market), I was taking him back and forth between doctors' appointments, and meanwhile, I wasn't getting a minute of sleep.

Eventually I reached a breaking point and sought out a doctor for myself. I knew I needed someone who would truly listen to menot just draw a lab and dismiss my symptoms. I ended up finding a doctor with an interest in functional and integrative medicine who drew several labs to identify the root cause.

Because of these labs, I learned I had Hashimoto'sand it was severe. As I learned, Hashimoto's is an autoimmune disease where the body attacks its own thyroid and related tissue, often leaving it unable to produce enough hormonesalso known as underactive or hypothyroidism.

The immune response against my thyroid was so strong, it caused the thyroid cells to explode and release tons of hormones into my bloodstreampresenting as hyperthyroidism, and leading to my rapid weight loss. By the time the attack on my body stopped, I was left with about half the amount of functioning thyroid tissue. That was very obvious in my lab results, too.

Suffice it to say, I was not allowed to drive myself home after that visit. After calling someone to pick me up, the doctor prescribed a low-dose hormone replacement medication (similar to the one given in my second trimester) and sent me on my way.

The dosage of the prescription was not nearly enough to cut the thyroid problem, so I made an appointment with an endocrinologistwell, actually, several appointmentsuntil I finally found someone to help with my recovery.

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My Symptoms Were Pinned To Postpartum Then I Was Diagnosed With This Condition - mindbodygreen.com