Holy Shit.

Dudes, Hashimoto's is no joke.

The way that it works is that the immune system attacks the thyroid. What happens as a result of this is generally being hypothyroid, with an occasional "thyroid hormone flush" where symptoms swing wildly into hyperthyroidism. This is generally an indication of a flare-up, which is caused often by changes in diet that cause inflammation through the body and increased autoimmune response.

The long and short of it is that I'm pretty sure that I'm in the middle of one of those flare-ups right now.

I know that googling symptoms or googling specific conditions is generally not a good idea, but I do it a lot around Hashimoto's because it's relatively unknown to me. I was given the diagnosis and encouraged to do research on it and more, to be mindful of my symptoms in order to figure out what exactly a flare-up looks like for me, with the knowledge that they're different for everyone.

I think I'd been having them a lot before I started getting treated for it. I had been humming along really well taking the thyroid hormone that I've been prescribed and feeling a general increase in energy and mood. It's been pretty good.

Then this past weekend happened.

I chalked it up to a stressful week at work as well as dietary changes since I reincorporated gluten, and this past week (and this current one) are a DOOZY. But I had NO patience, my anxiety level was higher than it has been in years, and while that has reduced, there are other things that have not.

Primarily, I'm hot. Anyone who knows me knows that I am perpetually cold. I wear sweaters until it's in the 80s, and then I graduate to long-sleeved shirts. I wear pants year-round, but if I'm comfortable, I might throw on some capris or cropped pants. Never shorts. I get too cold. Even if it's like 90 degrees outside. However, it's like 30 degrees out right now, and I just walked outside to take out the garbage with no jacket or anything on and I was fine.

Sleep has also been an issue, but I just chalked that up to stress - I was up at 4:30 this morning, wide awake. That NEVER happens. I have also been struggling to get to sleep the past few nights. My energy levels have also been through the roof and I have had a difficult time concentrating - all stress-induced, I thought. Most alarmingly though (and again, this also happens at high levels of stress for me), I have been having pretty significant heart palpitations since Monday. I'll just be sitting there in a meeting and all of a sudden my heart will start fluttering and I'll feel like I'm going to faint.

Nope. Not stress.

I just looked up the common symptoms for thyroid hormone flush, and I have every single one.

So, I'm not taking my thyroid meds today, because that will only make it worse, and calling my doctor to see if I can get in earlier than the appointment I have in April. I'm also going to get some blood drawn in the next day or two and see if my counts have changed. I can all but guarantee that they have.

In the meantime, I'll just keep telling myself that this is only temporary.