...MAYBE YOU'RE A HYPOCHONDRIAC?

I have been called a hypochondriac by acquaintances, family members, co-workers and friends…like…OMG abazillion times!!! I’ve also heard “Are you sure it is not all in your head, or could it be psychosomatic??

Often times, these are people who barely know me or family members with whom I am not very close. But those who are very close to me and have said this…it really hurts.


After ten years of hearing these folks “ diagnose” me, I FINALLY received a clinical one –An autoimmune disease affecting my thyroid, I wanted to go back to all those people and say SEE…HAHAHA…I TOLD YOU SO!!...YEA!!...oh…umm…wait a minute!?


Anyway, I am not sure why folks are so quick to call a person a freaking Looney Tunes instead of believing there is really something physically wrong with them.

Society loves to SMACK extreme labels on people and it is usually a severe mental health disorder…have you noticed this?? For example:


Someone who:

…Is moody has Dissociated Identity Disorder
…Is the life of the party… is an Alcoholic
…Falls asleep while watching TV is a Narcoleptic
…Is skinny has Anorexia Nervosa
…Frowns has clinical depression
…Frowns on a cloudy day has Seasonal Affective Disorder
…Has a chronic illnesses (diagnosed or undiagnosed) is a Hypochondriac.

Soooooo ridiculous!!!

Do we throw these “buzz” medical terms around just because we can? Just because we’ve heard of them? This reminds me of a small child blurting out an offensive four-lettered word for the first time. The little tot (hopefully) has no idea what they are saying or the meaning behind the word. They just repeat what they’ve heard.

If you look up these terms hypochondriac, dissociated identity disorder, anorexia, etc., they are REAL disorders, but because of their severity, I am pretty sure quick glances and conversations should not bring about a clinical determination. I wouldn’t even want an MD to do this!

If I’ve really got something…test me, poke, me, prod me (the doctor)...not my acquaintances, family members, co-workers, etc.

Also, if a person wants to give THEMSELVES an extreme diagnosis label…that is OK they have the right. If I want to call myself fat, I can. No one else should! (Hubby are you reading this??…You cannot call me FAT!)

Be sensitive to others…think before you give someone your “medical” opinion.

Crazy Thyroid Lady

Don't forget to get your copy of my thyroid book Wow Your Mom Really is Crazy

Dawn of a Different Dead





Resident Evil, 28 Days later, The Crazies…these were considered “fiction” movies. But, I know the real story. You see, my friends… zombies are real and they are all around us. They drive, shop, work and operate heavy machinery. They are your everyday average thyroid sufferers.


Real- life zombies 101 – Unlike most zombie movies there are two different types of these horrific creatures – Treated and Untreated.


Medically Treated – These zombies appear when they forget to take their medicine, have extremely high stress levels or heck… with thyroid disease you seriously don’t know when this creature will emerge. Doctors don’t know either. For me, I have honed in on my inner zombie, I call her Zenith and she comes out when it is that time of the month, the aftermath of stress, a drastic diet change or an infection. You can talk to Zenith but she may travel far off into some other time zone, without even moving a muscle. Zenith drives to work but she can’t remember how she got there. Zenith is thinking, “Good morning,” but she may not verbalize it, she may grunt at you instead. Coffee, Red Bull or 5-Hour Energy do not work for Zenith. Zenith just wants to eat flesh (dinner) and go to bed.


Medically Un-treated (Doctors can’t figure out what the heck is wrong with you, despite your pleas for help) – These zombies are scary and resemble what is depicted in the movies. I would stay away from these zombies -between MD’s telling them they are crazy and the daily horrors of thyroid disease they are liable to bite your head off. When I went approximately ten years untreated my inner zombie was the nastiest creature east of the Mississippi. She would snarl, bark and bite. She had bruises all over her body because she ran into walls a lot from clumsiness and poor eyesight. You could find her wandering around in the Wal-Mart parking lot for long periods of time trying to figure out what kind of car she drove there.

Unfortunately, both types walk among us. Zombies are..er...um people too, so give them love and don’t take it personally when they may look through you instead of at you.

ZENITH’S TOP 5 ZOMBIE –LIKE MOMENTS (Treated or untreated)

5. Walking around the grocery store for about an hour not realizing why I came there in the first place.

4. Going with my husband (of nearly 20 years) to a family get together and not remembering half of the names of the people there. I was in my 30’s at the time. (My MD thought it was a good idea to take me off my thyroid medication for six weeks.)

3. Going through an entire week and not being able to recollect what I did during the week. Where I drove, who I talked to, what I did at work, what I cooked for dinner, conversations…etc., This is a serious situation and was pre-diagnosis (THANK GOD!)

2. Sitting at my desk at work for 8 hours…yes that’s right 8 hours doing pretty much nothing but stare at the cubicle, then the computer, then back to the cubicle.


AND THE NUMBER ONE ZOMBIE LIKE MOMENT…DRUM ROLL PLEASE…

1. I signed my son’s permission slip that it was OK for him to keep the classroom “pet rat” after his class was done with their little experiment. So yes, he brought a RAT home because his mommy said it was OK.




What eludes me is how so many MD’s do not understand how a thyroid disorder can wreak this much havoc. The thyroid is bosom buddies with the pituitary gland (in the brain). They are close co-workers. Sooooo doesn’t it make sense one would have mental issues associated with thyroid disease???


Please leave a comment and tell me your number ONE zombie moment…hopefully docs will read this!


Next week’s blog – Hypochondria….hahahahaha, if you are a thyroid disease sufferer, reading that word just ticked you off…hahahahaha…calm down

Short Term, Long Term...It's Gone

Before the onset of my thyroid disease, simialr to Superman’s strength and Spiderman’s senses, I too had a Superpower... a Super Duper Keen Eidetic (photographic MEMORY)!

Here is an illustration of my power:

(Disclaimer: I would only use my power to fight the forces of Evil)

Time Period: Grade school
Event: Story Time with my class, and my 2nd grade teacher
Where: In the classroom, in our usual semi-circle

Our teacher would read to us for 15 minutes every Friday before the end of the day, her name was Ms. ???? (There’s not a chance in hell I could recall this lady’s name, for I have accepted the Kryptonite that has damaged my superpower). Teach was sweet, demure and soft spoken, that is until you pissed her off! Her ire was quite obvious; well…at least to me… her hair told the whole story... She had stick-straight hair, but when she got angry, it would start to puff up like a Brillo Pad!

On that particular day during our reading circle, I noticed teach’s hair began to pop out from its prone position. She was frantically, trying to locate the page number where she left off…all the while her little kiddo’s were tuning up. Doing what kids do best when it is too quiet for too long – chatter. As we were getting louder, her hair grew bigger. In a matter of moments this chick’s hair went from Audrey Hepburn to Albert Einstein. I knew if her hair reached Einstien status we would get an earful.

Trying to save the day, I immediately I spoke up and said “Ms. ____ we are on page 39.”

“Thanks Carol,” she said.

Whew, everything grew calm, even her hair. Another major catastrophe averted!

FFFFFFAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTTFOOOOOOOORRRRWWWWWARDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD – Pre-Thyroid disease diagnosis - at my sickest!

My husband and I are watching a “Whodunit” mystery. He could always rely on me to know before the second commercial who was the murderer, AND how it was going to be solved. As we were watching together the commercial came on and he turned to me to ask,

“So what do ya think, who’s the killer?”

At that moment, I realized I had no idea who was the killer…and I had no idea what we were watching! Seriously…If you placed a gun to my head, I would not have been able to tell you what television program I had on at that moment...

Now, I bring this story up to illustrate that most of us thyroid sufferers know we have memory issues associated with our thyroid disease...

Why don’t MD’s have this memo?!?

A few weeks ago I had one of my annual trips to the ER, so I brought a notepad with all my stymptoms jotted down, and told him I had memory issues because of a thyroid disease and this is why I needed to use the notepad... He had the nerve to say “Memory problems… this is not a symptom of thyroid disease.”

You know, when you are in one of those situations where you wish you had said something but you didn’t? This was one of those moments for me! – I sooooo wished I would have said:

“Oh, OK, can I cancel this visit? Please do not bill my insurance company or me.! I came here seeking help from someone who knows what they are doing, and obviously you don’t!”

Thyroid disease sufferers, I ask you:

WHY SHOULD WE CONTINUE TO PUT UP WITH POOR MEDICAL SERVICE...
WE AREN’T EXPECTED TO IN ANY OTHER PROFESSION??!!!

Next week’s blog is about: ZOMBIES!

Crazy Thyroid Lady

My first post as the Crazy Thyroid Lady. Boy have I come a long way since then. I don't have the same fluctuations as I did before. Changed doc, diet and disposition. Came to the understanding that I had to take more control of my health. And of course, I still strive for CRAZY Conserving Restoring Adding Zest IN You Keep going CRAZY, my thyroid family.






Why do Md's ignore a thyroid disease sufferer’s body fluctuations? We can travel from hypo to hyper with regularity, on or off medications. These swings cannot be good for us both mentally and physically. It is very rare that I am in the "normal" range. I am talking MY normal, not the normal someone made up, which is supposed to encompass all of mankind on the planet.

I think, blood work should occur as often as a diabetic patient. If we are feeling bad…prick us? Seriously…if we did this, I believe we would live in a kinder, gentler nation.

I have been struggling with thyroid problems for more than 10 years. I have my body fluctuations down to a science, for example, see below:

The following scenario illustrates me checking out at the grocery store and the store clerk asks me an innocent question – “Do you want your receipt with you or in the bag.” These are my thoughts depending on my thyroid levels.

Me – Hypothyroid - “You can put it in the bag.” ….Sigh...Whatever, I don’t care, I shouldn't’t even be in here spending this money. I am one paycheck away from sleeping in gutters with the rest of the homeless people. Maybe you should give the receipt to me; I may have to use it as toilet paper when I am a hobo living on the streets.


Me- Normal thyroid levels – “You can put it in the bag.”…Awww look at her pretty smile, I bet she brightens a lot of customer’s days when they come in here.


Me- Hyperthyroid – “You can put it in the bag.”…Take this receipt and shove it up your ass, what kind of stupid question is that?


If these are my thoughts, can you imagine what my attitude must be like during these thyroid swings?

COME ON THYROID SUFFERERS WE MUST GET THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY TO UNDERSTAND SOMETHING NEEDS TO HAPPEN TO TRY TO KEEP US NORMAL!!!!

Don't forget to get your copy of my thyroid book, Wow Your Mom Really is Crazy. Buy it on Amazon today.