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Title: A shock reaction to giving birth!

I was thirty-three years old and had recently given birth to my first child. As all new

mums know tiredness takes over your life. You yearn for the days when a long hot soak

in the bath meant just that. I was ecstatic at finally having my much wanted son, that I

guess I didn't take notice of my body sending out warning signs, that not all was well.

I was tired all the time, coupled with being extremely jumpy. The doorbell would ring,

and I would find myself running from one side of the room to the other. I felt like an

animal caught in the glare of an oncoming vehicles headlights, yet could not explain what

was wrong. Even hubby, who isn't the most observant person, began telling me to have

an early night or even an afternoon nap! Yet to me it felt that my symptoms were due to

being a new mum, and the new pressures it brought.

Sitting having a cuppa with my mother one afternoon, she blurted out that I was looking

very slim and my eyes looked swollen. Thanks, mum I thought, yet she did have a point. I

had lost an incredible amount of weight, in a short amount of time (my son was now

three months old) and my eyes were so swollen that even my normal bags had bags of

their own. It was the prompt I needed, so without delay made an appointment with my

GP.

In the consulting room many questions were raised, and I found myself blurting out

every little problem I had. I didn't want to leave anything to chance. A blood test was

arranged, and two days later found myself back at the surgery receiving my results. Post

pregnancy hyperthyrodism was the outcome. I had never heard of the condition, let along

understand and absorb what my GP was explaining. Apparently, my body had a shock

reaction after giving birth, which in turn meant my hormonal system was suffering. The

symptoms I had been suffering with, anxious - jumpy - extreme tiredness - weight loss

and swollen eyes were in fact all related to an overactive thyroid gland.

Over the following months, many scans were performed on my neck (the area where the

thyroid lives). Thankfully, all were fine, so I was placed under the care of a thyroid

specialist. No medical or surgical treatment was needed, I just had to give my worn out

body time to recover. One year on and my thyroid results were back to normal, although

now the specialist was giving me another thing to ponder over, that an early menopause

could be brought on by the thyroid condition. I had dreamed of having another child,

maybe a few years down the line, yet could I chance waiting? No was the answer, so we

tried in earnest for a second child.

Nine months later, my beautiful daughter arrived! This time around I had regular blood

tests, every three months to be exact, until one year had passed. Everything was back to

normal and no signs at present of the dreaded menopause. Tiredness, anxiety and

insomnia are things us mums deal with everyday. Yet, they can also be associated with

hyperthyrodism. Look after yourself, and if concerned don't hesitate to book an

appointment with your GP. You owe it to yourself and your family!

Word count: 550

Learn more about this author, Lisa Thaxter.
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