iThei mdcdaelcinfd o c elllllrlllll tcfdohsc dtOctober 6,
Me: a twenty-seven-year-old woman, passionate about my career, newly
wed, proud owner of an adorable Pomeranian, frugal (yet trendy and
stylish), amateur chef, aspiring cosmetic chemist, family-oriented, ex-
smoker, non-drinker, yoga enthusiast, scrapbook lover, health care pro-
fessional ... with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.
What does Hashimoto’s mean to you? To me, it meant losing my hair and
feeling exhausted, anxious, cold, and forgetful (a.k.a. the infamous “brain
fog”), followed by pain and numbness in both of my arms.
To some, Hashimoto’s may mean recurrent miscarriages, an inability to
lose weight despite diet and exercise, depression, constipation, and years
of frustration.
To others, it means pale skin, premature aging, feeling lethargic, unmo-
tivated, and sluggish.
I suspect my journey with Hashimoto’s, like for many of you, began
many years before diagnosis, which in my case was in 2009.
The first defining moments in my disease development may have started
during my undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois. Due to
the communal living setting of dormitories (and less-than-stellar hygiene
habits of most college students), I experienced recurrent strep throat in-
fections and even contracted mononucleosis, a viral infection caused by
the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) implicated in triggering many autoimmune
conditions. I received multiple courses of antibiotics as well as flu shots
(which may be associated with EBV infection), and I also started birth
control for menstrual cramps.
I believe this combination had a profound impact on my gut flora and
thus my immune system—the significance of which you will learn in
upcoming chapters.
Up until the middle half of my freshman year in college, I used to be an
early riser who only needed six to eight hours of sleep. I woke up ener-
getic and ready to face the day each morning.
After one particularly nasty sore throat, however, I simply could not get
enough sleep, no matter what time I went to bed! I once arrived thirty
minutes late to an 8 a.m. exam, having just woken after sleeping for sixteen
hours straight (I had lain down for a quick nap the day before at 4 p.m.).