Guest Author - Jim Lowrance
Below is information I shared with a man who described to me symptoms he was experiencing from hypothyroidism. He was experiencing the typical hypothyroid symptoms but the two of most concern to him were his emotional ones and his diminished libido (sex drive). Following below are some of the things I shared in response to him.
The titration (dose adjustments) of your thyroid medication can take several changes over several months, before they get you to a good euthyroid (normal hormone level) state. It's hard to be "patient" with the process but we have no choice. Also, while you might be a patient that sees very good resolution of symptoms with thyroid hormone therapy, many of us have somewhat satisfactory relief but never reach 100% of what we were before experiencing the disease. I've had many improvements but still get occasional fatigue, brain fog etc... These are much improved in many ways and less frequent, since being treated.
The libido problem should also improve for you over time. I almost completely lost interest as well for a while when my symptoms were at their worst and before treatment. This is an embarrassing area of symptomology to talk about but it helps to be able to relate to other male patients going through the same things. At least I do have a moderate to good sex drive back now, since being on thyroid hormone replacement treatment that is optimal for me.
The same is true of the emotions. They will improve with treatment over time but if you go through an especially bad time at some point, emotion-wise, don't hesitate to get extra help with that via meds or therapy if you have to. It's definitely not something to be ashamed of because you certainly can't help the fact that you have a medical condition going on in your body!
Everything you described in your symptoms, I've been through and I can tell you with absoluteness that it will all improve over time with your treatment. Also be aware that your body may occasionally kick-in with some symptoms during this process because of medication-dose adjustments and possible antibody flares on occasion as well (thyroiditis-flares). Antibodies are connected to symptoms because they cause inflammation and can flare up with extra stress or extra hard physical activity. This aspect is not often mentioned by medical sources but is true non-the-less.
The following famous men had/have thyroid disease (mostly the autoimmune type):
President George Bush Senior
Bobby Engram, NFL wide receiver with the Seattle Seahawks
John F. Kennedy Jr. diagnosed (Graves' disease) in 1999
2nd Pres. of the U.S. John Adams, is believed to have suffered from Graves' Disease
Rod Stewart (musician)
Ben Crenshaw (Pro Golfer)
Carl Lewis (10 Olympic Gold Medals Track & Field)
Joe Piscopo (actor)
Peter Gotti (mobster)
Charles Marion Russell (cowboy artist)
Roger Ebert (movie critic)
