Hashimoto's...

So, for those of you who see me regularly...you may have noticed or heard me complain about my "allergic reaction". Since September 17th I have been having abnormal skin reactions to anything I come into contact with. I, and many others, thought that it was just my skin being allergic to my mother's laundry detergant. When I went to Salem for my "vacation" my mom washed all of my dirty laundry, and it wasn't until I began wearing those clothes that my skins starting swelling, breaking out into red, itchy, puffy hives. It didn't matter what I touched, I got hives. As stated in an earlier post, I'm a self diagnosed hypochondriac - so, thinking that it was just a simple allergy I began taking benadryl....daily, multiple times daily. It did nothing but make me feel like a zombie. So after two weeks of this "allergy" I finally called my doctor. My doctor spoke to me over the phone and told me to try a couple of changes and that if it was still reacting the same after a week she'd see me. She told me to change from my current detergent to Dreft, to change so that I used non fragrant body wash, face wash, lotion....everything. I did it - still had hives. So I went to the doctor. It had now been 3 weeks of me having these stupids hives. I got to the doctor around 1:35 for my 2:00 appointment. I sat, and sat, and sat. Finally at 2:20 they called my name. I went to the exam room, sat for another 20 minutes and then finally the doctor came in. She asked me to explain my problem. Her response... SHE DREW AN "X" on my arm and timed how long it took for it to swell up, turn red and become a huge, ugly hive. Oh - about 1 1/2 minutes. She then asked if I was taking any medicines. I told her benadryl at night, Claritin (from the hospital's nurse practitioner) during the day. She said "Great" well, I think we'll replace the Claritin with Zyrtec and continue with the benadryl. She also said I had Urticaria - a complicated word for hives. Gee - thanks doc. She said that in order for urticaria to be treated by an allergist it required that it be chronic - meaning it lasts for more than 6 weeks. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!? So, I left and waited, another week went by, still had hives, another week, I couldn't take it. So I called and requested another followup. At this appointment my doctor pretty much said the same thing, but prescribed Zyrtec - as opposed to the over the counter kind I had been taking. Could this not have been done earllier? Still, another week went by and I still had hives. So, another trip back to the doctor this time, where by now my doctor was as sick of seeing me as I was of her. She order blood tests and gave into my demand for a referral to an allergist. The one good thing about my doctor's office is that they use an automated phone service to provide results from any lab work. It only takes 3-5 business days to get the results. If anything is abnormal the doctor will call you directly. But, rather than waiting, I immediately called one of the ten allergists my doctor recommended to see if I could schedule my appointment. "Um, December 8th is the first appointment we have, would you like morning or afternoon?" What? December, I can't wait that long - was what I was thinking in my head, but I resisted the urge to be rude (myself) and said, "well, if that's the first you have, I'll take it". The woman proceeded to ask the normal questions - "What's your name, address, date of birth, and what is the diagnosis" - when I said "urticaria with contact dermatitis" she said "Oh, can you come in this Thursday at 2:00?" - um...........let me think about it........... YES!!!!! Shockingly, last night - the night before my allergist appointment I was about to take a relaxing bath to calm my nerves when Mike popped in to say "Your doctor's on the phone". It was 7:30pm on a Wednesday night....but I answered it. And boy am I glad I did. It was my doctor calling to tell me about my lab results. The results showed that I have thyroid antibodies - a condition called Hishimoto's Thyroiditis. To which my response was "that sounds fake - are you making this up?" But she continued - she told me to go ahead with the allergy appointment and she'd followup. So, today when I went to the allergist they confirmed that it is in fact Hashimoto's. Which means that my thyroid will constantly change from hyperactive to hypoactive and occasionally be normal. It also explained why in my many attempts to lose weight why there would be periods where I would lose weight easily, then would stop losing weight then gain weight or just plateau. It also explained some of the other symptoms I have had - extreme fatigue, headaches/migraines, irritability, increased sweating, muscle weakness and occasionally shaky hands. That was at least comforting - now I finally knew what was causing all of this - now just to treat it. While at the allergist I also had an allergy test done where I had a positive reaction to all of the samples - grass, trees, mold, dustmites and I don't remember the last one.

The first set of pictures is right after she applied the samples. A positive result is indicated by a red, swollen bump (hive) in the spot where the sample was applied. At the bottom of this post is my "positive" reaction to all samples tested. It was a first for the nurse who administered the tests - she had to go get the doctor to explain it to both her and myself. So, the next step is to see an Endocrinologist - one specifically that specializes in auto-immune disorders. I will most likely have to see an Endocrinologist monthly for bloodtesting to determine the proper dosage of medication to regulate hypo versus hyperthryoidism. I will also have to have my allergies retested once my thyroid is properly regulated. So, thank you to everyone for their support in the recent weeks, I hope to have more answers in the weeks to come.