Possibilities?

I received my blood test results this past Friday. My cholesterol is high and so are my triglycerides. And the voice of the youngish girl that gave me the results still rings in my head. She had a midwestern accent. "Don't eat Faattty foods or friied foods".
"I really don't" I wanted to reply. Or not as often as one would think. Needless to say I went home from work depressed and spent Friday night searching the net for ways to lower my cholesterol. Many of the meal suggestions I have already incorporated so now what? I have been exercising almost every day for at least for 60 minutes.

Then yesterday, I received another call from my doctor's office. I started to interrupt the girl thinking that she did not know that someone had already given me my results. "No", she said. "Your TSH levels came back". "Which are?" I asked. "Your thyroid", she said.

So my TSH levels are very high which indicate an underactive thyroid but my doctor wants me to get retested in 2 weeks just to make sure the results were not a "fluke". Honestly I was relieved to hear these results. I did some searching and it turns out that high cholesterol and hypothyroidism (underactive) go hand in hand. Many report that with thyroid medication not only do their TSH levels drop, but so does cholesterol (and weight!).

I know I need to confirm all of this with my doctor but this condition would explain a lot. Since I turned 35 almost 4 years ago, I have steadily gained 10 pounds a year with relatively little change in my diet. I know, I know about aging and the correlation of weight gain but 10lbs a year is a lot in my opinion.

So hear are some other symptoms with hypothyroidism that I have suffered with especially the last few years that I just chalked up to age and diet:

• constipation (sorry folks but it's the truth)
• heavier periods (I had my tubes tied and this is one of the side affects)
• fatigue (let's face it- most working moms are tired and I am no exception)
• high cholesterol
• low blood pressure ( actually a good thing, relatively speaking)
• weight gain (thyroid regulates metabolism and when it's underactive, metabolism slows down)
• irritability

I am going back to the doctor's next week and will send an update at the end of the week if my results come back. The last thing I want is to be put on medication but if helps fix things, I would be very grateful)

C.