Recovering from thyroid surgery involves navigating unexpected challenges. Some of these aren’t thoroughly discussed pre-operation.

One of the less talked about aspects is the delicate balance of medication afterwards. Finding the right dosage can be a trial and error process, and it has a profound impact on emotional well-being.

I’ve experienced firsthand how fluctuations in medication can bring on intense feelings of depression. It can catch you off guard, leaving you feeling incredibly low.

I want to share this because it’s important to recognise that these tough emotional experiences may be tied to your medication levels rather than your personal circumstances.

But with time and patience in fine-tuning your medication, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

The Mental Crash After My Thyroidectomy

When I had my total Thyroidectomy in 2017 my surgeon breezed happily through the “it’s just a little pill you take every day” speech.

He started me on 75mcg of Levothyroxine which I now know was way too low for me.

In the weeks after my Thyroid was removed my own thyroid hormones slowly left my body, leaving me reliant on this low dose. 

Slowly my mood dropped lower and lower. As someone who wasn’t a depression sufferer before, this was extremely worrying and frightening. 

Thankfully I somehow knew the terrible feelings weren’t “really me” but instead were related to the low dose.

That helped me to hold on…

I fully admit that on the worst days I truly didn’t want to be around any more. 

My fear

It frightens me that some people may be going though this without knowing that the depression can be fixed by a simple med adjustment.  

I worry that there may be deaths connected to this.

I have also heard from a nurse that they watch out for sulcldal feelings when people have to withdraw from their medication before going through Radioactive Iodine treatment.

So the medical establishment know this can happen but don’t warn Thyroidectomy patients about it.

The same serious mental health issues can happen with hypothyroidism too but Doctors rarely mention it.

Know you will feel better

So, I want to offer a word of encouragement. If you find yourself in a similar state, where each day feels heavier than the last, remember that adjustments can, and will, make a difference.

Finding that therapeutic ‘sweet spot’ for your medication is not just hopeful thinking; it’s a realistic goal.

With the right levels, not only does physical health improve, but so does emotional health.

Remember – You CAN get back to great mental health

You can buy your own full and accurate thyroid test to do at home. Its quick and easy to do and you get Doctors feedback which you can then follow up with your own Doctor.

I use Lets Get Checked for my at home Thyroid tests and you can find out more details about them here
Use code THYROIDCOACHHELEN25 to get 25% off your test kit

If you are worried about your mental health a full Thyroid test could be the first step to feeling well again.

Let’s start a conversation and spread awareness about  the connection between Thyroid health and mental health

Hi.  My name is Hashimoto’s.  I’m an invisible autoimmune disease that attacks your thyroid gland causing you to become hypothyroid.

I am now velcroed to you and If you have hypothyroidism, you probably have me. I am the number one cause of it in the U.S. and many other places around the world.

I’m so sneaky– I don’t always show up in your blood work.

Others around you can’t see me or hear me, but YOUR body feels me.

I can attack you anywhere and any way I please.

I can cause severe pain or, if I’m in a good mood, I can just cause you to ache all over.

Remember when you and energy ran around together and had fun?

I took energy from you, and gave you exhaustion. Try to have fun now.

I can take good sleep from you and in its place, give you brain fog and lack of concentration.

I can make you want to sleep 24/7, and I can also cause insomnia.

I can make you tremble internally or make you feel cold or hot when everyone else feels normal.

I can also give you swollen hands and feet, swollen face and eyelids, swollen everything.

I can make you feel very anxious with panic attacks or very depressed.

I can also cause other mental health problems. You know crazy mood swings? That’s me. Crying for no reason?

 Angry for no reason? That’s probably me too.

I can make your hair fall out, become dry and brittle, cause acne, cause dry skin, the sky is the limit with me.

I can make you gain weight and no matter what you eat or how much you exercise, I can keep that weight on you. I can also make you lose weight. I don’t discriminate.

Some of my other autoimmune disease friends often join me, giving you even more to deal with.

If you have something planned, or are looking forward to a great day, I can take that away from you. You didn’t ask for me. I chose you for various reasons:

That virus or viruses you had that you never really recovered from, or that car accident, or maybe it was the years of abuse and trauma (I thrive on stress.) You may have a family history of me.

Whatever the cause, I’m here to stay.

I hear you’re going to see a doctor to try and get rid of me.

That makes me laugh.  Just try. You will have to go to many, many doctors until you find one who can help you effectively.

You will be put on the wrong medication for you, pain pills, sleeping pills, energy pills, told you are suffering from anxiety or depression, given anti-anxiety pills and antidepressants.

There are so many other ways I can make you sick and miserable, the list is endless – that high cholesterol, gall bladder issue, blood pressure issue, blood sugar issue, heart issue among others? That’s probably me.

Can’t get pregnant, or have had a miscarriage? That’s probably me too.

Shortness of breath or “air hunger?” Yep, probably me.

Liver enzymes elevated? Yep, probably me.

Teeth and gum problems? TMJ? Hives?

Yep, probably me.

I told you the list was endless. 

You may be given a TENs unit, get massaged, told if you just sleep and exercise properly I will go away.

You’ll be told to think positively, you’ll be poked, prodded, and MOST OF ALL, not taken seriously when you try to explain to the endless number of doctors you’ve seen, just how debilitating I am and how ill and exhausted you really feel.

 In all probability you will get a referral from these ‘understanding’  (clueless) doctors, to see a psychiatrist.

Your family, friends and co-workers will all listen to you until they just get tired of hearing about how I make you feel, and just how debilitating I can be.

Some of them will say things like “Oh, you are just having a bad day”

or “Well, remember, you can’t do the things you used to do 20 YEARS ago”, not hearing that you said 20 DAYS ago.

They’ll  also say things like,  “if you just get up and move, get outside and do things, you’ll feel better.” They won’t understand that I take away the ‘gas’ that powers your body and mind to ENABLE you to do those things.

Some will start talking behind your back, they’ll call you a hypochondriac, while you slowly feel that you are losing your dignity trying to make them understand, especially if you are in the middle of a conversation with a “normal” person, and can’t remember what you were going to say next.

You’ll be told things like, “Oh, my grandmother had that, and she’s fine on her medication” when you desperately want to explain that I don’t impose myself upon everyone in the exact same way, and just because that grandmother is fine on the medication SHE’S taking, doesn’t mean it will work for you.

They will not understand that having this disease impacts your body from the top of your head to the tip of your toes, and that every cell and every body system and organ requires the proper amount and the right kind of of thyroid hormone medication for YOU

…..Not what works for someone else.

The only place you will get the kind of support and understanding in dealing with me is with other people that have me.

I AM HASHIMOTOS

By Anonymous