Sunday, September 19, 2010

Depression VS Hypothyroidism

In 1991, I had a total abdominal hysterectomy, due to uterine cancer, which meant I went through menopause at the age of 33.  In the months following the surgery, I noticed some changes in me one of which was that I did not want to go to family activities.  Now you must understand that one of the things I love about my husband is his family.  Those of you, who know them, know they are very special and I fell in love with that so when I did not want to attend activities, I knew something was wrong with me.  I could go to work and be fine but if I saw someone I knew at the mall, I would do everything I could to not have to see them face to face.

When I told my doctor about these things, he felt I was suffering from depression related to the hormonal changes from the hysterectomy.  (I was not able to take estrogen for five years because of the cancer.)  I wasn’t sure what was going on and what he was saying made sense so I have been taking antidepressants since 1992.

Since my diagnosis of hypothyroidism, I have been doing some reading on the subject, especially the book “Living Well with Hypothyroidism” by Mary J. Shomon and have learned so much about how the thyroid hormones affect our bodies.  One of the things I have learned is that there is a belief that depression may be related to the hypothyroidism which means that I would not get better by taking antidepressants but rather need to get the thyroid hormone levels in the proper range for me.  This is good news because I hate taking so many medications.

Next time, my experience with weaning myself off the antidepressant Effexor XR…you won’t believe it!

Till next time,
Linda <3

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