Is Your Thyroid the Cause of Your Insomnia?
For people who suffer from insomnia, there is nothing more important than finding a way to sleep.
After all, the inability to sleep, feeling tired all the time and the frustration of failing to sleep night after night takes its toll.
For most insomniacs, myself included, getting a doctor to actually take you seriously and try to find the root cause of your insomnia can be difficult.
I started having difficulty sleeping through the night when I was 23 years old.
I never had difficulty falling asleep but I could almost set my clock on the time I would always wake up, which was around 2am.
It was always the same thing, I couldn't turn off my thoughts which were just racing around in my head, sometimes I would type out my thoughts, which was really annoying.
I could never really hang onto a thought, as I would be onto the next topic and on and on...
I tried praying but I couldn't even get past the first couple of sentences of a prayer and I would be off on another subject.
I would toss and turn and turn some more until around 5:00 or 6:00 am when I would fall back to sleep, however never very soundly.
This is not a prescription for being well rested! In addition to insomnia, I had difficulty getting pregnant.
I had 2 miscarriages before I finally gave birth to my first son.
I could eat like a horse and never put on any weight.
My doctor ordered Thyroid test and they always came back in the "NORMAL" range so that would be it.
Diagnosis - my thyroid was not the cause of my problems.
It was always, avoid chocolate, don't drink anything with caffeine in the afternoon or evening, don't exercise just before going to sleep (who can exercise when your exhausted?).
I followed those instructions but it made no difference.
Now, in my 50s, my blood pressure became elevated and my pulse rate was always over 100 without exerting any energy.
My doctor ordered a thyroid test and again, it was in the "NORMAL" range.
One Sunday morning, as I was brushing my teeth, I looked up into the mirror and noticed that my right eye was popping out of my head.
Not in the cartoon way, but it was noticeably larger than my left eye.
I thought I was imagining things but went back to the mirror over and over again that day and each time I freaked out a little more.
I thought it was my blood pressure causing my eye to pop out so I quickly downed another dose of blood pressure medication; I took an aspirin in case my blood was not thin enough.
I tried to calm myself but I was alone at home and thinking the worse.
When my husband came home, I asked him to look at me and tell me if my right eye was bigger than my left eye and he said it looked bigger to him as well.
On Monday morning, I camped in my doctor's office until I could be seen.
I was told that the most common cause of "Unilateral Propotosis" (bulging eye) is Graves Disease, Thyroid Eye Disease, tumors or bleeding.
The preliminary diagnosis was Graves Disease.
My doctor gave me a referral to an Endocrinologist and an Optician for my eyes.
My Endocrinologist confirmed that I suffered from Graves Disease.
Finally, "IT" has a name, Graves Disease.
I now had to choose a method of treatment.
My options, were 1) take an antithyroid medication (which could take years to see any improvement), 2) Radioactive Iodine Treatment (which is administered orally and the iodine targets and enters the Thyroid where it radiates the thyroid cells, damaging and killing it.
The thyroid function slows down, reversing the hyperthyroidism); and 3) surgically remove the Thyroid Gland.
My Optician told me that my eye would never go back to normal which made me want to cry (in fact, I did - a lot).
I thought I would look like a freak for the rest of my life.
My Endocrinologist told me that it would be less noticeable once my thyroid treatment took place.
I hoped that she was right.
I elected to go with the Radioactive Iodine Treatment.
This was administered as an outpatient and it was a painless procedure.
I was told that I shouldn't sit close to anyone, kiss or shake hands or even pet my dogs or cats for 3 days.
What truly amazes me to this day, is that my doctors have never mentioned that the dysfunction of your thyroid gland is the root cause of insomnia.
In addition to insomnia, a faulty thyroid may cause you to feel depressed, become irritable and have trouble concentrating at work.
You may even lose interest in sex.
You may develop irregular menstrual periods or become infertile.
Your hair may turn coarse and dry, or even start to fall out.
Your skin may turn pale and rough.
You may develop headaches and always feel tired.
You may feel cold all the time.
You may get either constipation or diarrhea.
You may develop goiter, which is a swollen thyroid gland.
Taking thyroid treatment supplements may also help to restore deficient iodine levels, as adequate amounts are vital to a healthy thyroid gland.
Thyroid supplements work by stimulating the body to produce normal levels of thyroxine, because the supplements are all natural this may be done without side effects.
The body is also provided with necessary nutrients that help it to function properly.
Thyroid treatment supplements may also help to restore deficient iodine levels, as adequate amounts are vital to a healthy thyroid gland.
When your thyroid is working against you, looking and feeling better is like trying to exercise with no energy! If you recognize yourself in any of this, please consider taking a thyroid supplement while trying to determine if you suffer from thyroid disease.
And, when you speak to your doctor, ask him/her to test your thyroid levels.
If it comes back as "NORMAL" ask the doctor how many people are tested to be considered Normal? Is it 10,000 out of a million? There is a lot of room for error, I can tell you that from personal experience.
What is normal for You, is the question.
I was a poster child for thyroid disease but because my levels were deemed "Normal" I ended up having to suffer Graves Disease before my doctors got a clue.
I hope that by reading this article you can correct or at least slow down your thyroid issues before it is too late for you as well.
PS: Although my right eye is still larger than my left eye, the swelling did subside somewhat and I don't feel as self-conscious as I did earlier.
After all, the inability to sleep, feeling tired all the time and the frustration of failing to sleep night after night takes its toll.
For most insomniacs, myself included, getting a doctor to actually take you seriously and try to find the root cause of your insomnia can be difficult.
I started having difficulty sleeping through the night when I was 23 years old.
I never had difficulty falling asleep but I could almost set my clock on the time I would always wake up, which was around 2am.
It was always the same thing, I couldn't turn off my thoughts which were just racing around in my head, sometimes I would type out my thoughts, which was really annoying.
I could never really hang onto a thought, as I would be onto the next topic and on and on...
I tried praying but I couldn't even get past the first couple of sentences of a prayer and I would be off on another subject.
I would toss and turn and turn some more until around 5:00 or 6:00 am when I would fall back to sleep, however never very soundly.
This is not a prescription for being well rested! In addition to insomnia, I had difficulty getting pregnant.
I had 2 miscarriages before I finally gave birth to my first son.
I could eat like a horse and never put on any weight.
My doctor ordered Thyroid test and they always came back in the "NORMAL" range so that would be it.
Diagnosis - my thyroid was not the cause of my problems.
It was always, avoid chocolate, don't drink anything with caffeine in the afternoon or evening, don't exercise just before going to sleep (who can exercise when your exhausted?).
I followed those instructions but it made no difference.
Now, in my 50s, my blood pressure became elevated and my pulse rate was always over 100 without exerting any energy.
My doctor ordered a thyroid test and again, it was in the "NORMAL" range.
One Sunday morning, as I was brushing my teeth, I looked up into the mirror and noticed that my right eye was popping out of my head.
Not in the cartoon way, but it was noticeably larger than my left eye.
I thought I was imagining things but went back to the mirror over and over again that day and each time I freaked out a little more.
I thought it was my blood pressure causing my eye to pop out so I quickly downed another dose of blood pressure medication; I took an aspirin in case my blood was not thin enough.
I tried to calm myself but I was alone at home and thinking the worse.
When my husband came home, I asked him to look at me and tell me if my right eye was bigger than my left eye and he said it looked bigger to him as well.
On Monday morning, I camped in my doctor's office until I could be seen.
I was told that the most common cause of "Unilateral Propotosis" (bulging eye) is Graves Disease, Thyroid Eye Disease, tumors or bleeding.
The preliminary diagnosis was Graves Disease.
My doctor gave me a referral to an Endocrinologist and an Optician for my eyes.
My Endocrinologist confirmed that I suffered from Graves Disease.
Finally, "IT" has a name, Graves Disease.
I now had to choose a method of treatment.
My options, were 1) take an antithyroid medication (which could take years to see any improvement), 2) Radioactive Iodine Treatment (which is administered orally and the iodine targets and enters the Thyroid where it radiates the thyroid cells, damaging and killing it.
The thyroid function slows down, reversing the hyperthyroidism); and 3) surgically remove the Thyroid Gland.
My Optician told me that my eye would never go back to normal which made me want to cry (in fact, I did - a lot).
I thought I would look like a freak for the rest of my life.
My Endocrinologist told me that it would be less noticeable once my thyroid treatment took place.
I hoped that she was right.
I elected to go with the Radioactive Iodine Treatment.
This was administered as an outpatient and it was a painless procedure.
I was told that I shouldn't sit close to anyone, kiss or shake hands or even pet my dogs or cats for 3 days.
What truly amazes me to this day, is that my doctors have never mentioned that the dysfunction of your thyroid gland is the root cause of insomnia.
In addition to insomnia, a faulty thyroid may cause you to feel depressed, become irritable and have trouble concentrating at work.
You may even lose interest in sex.
You may develop irregular menstrual periods or become infertile.
Your hair may turn coarse and dry, or even start to fall out.
Your skin may turn pale and rough.
You may develop headaches and always feel tired.
You may feel cold all the time.
You may get either constipation or diarrhea.
You may develop goiter, which is a swollen thyroid gland.
Taking thyroid treatment supplements may also help to restore deficient iodine levels, as adequate amounts are vital to a healthy thyroid gland.
Thyroid supplements work by stimulating the body to produce normal levels of thyroxine, because the supplements are all natural this may be done without side effects.
The body is also provided with necessary nutrients that help it to function properly.
Thyroid treatment supplements may also help to restore deficient iodine levels, as adequate amounts are vital to a healthy thyroid gland.
When your thyroid is working against you, looking and feeling better is like trying to exercise with no energy! If you recognize yourself in any of this, please consider taking a thyroid supplement while trying to determine if you suffer from thyroid disease.
And, when you speak to your doctor, ask him/her to test your thyroid levels.
If it comes back as "NORMAL" ask the doctor how many people are tested to be considered Normal? Is it 10,000 out of a million? There is a lot of room for error, I can tell you that from personal experience.
What is normal for You, is the question.
I was a poster child for thyroid disease but because my levels were deemed "Normal" I ended up having to suffer Graves Disease before my doctors got a clue.
I hope that by reading this article you can correct or at least slow down your thyroid issues before it is too late for you as well.
PS: Although my right eye is still larger than my left eye, the swelling did subside somewhat and I don't feel as self-conscious as I did earlier.
Source...