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Illustration by Saida Hmami “While looking at the thyroglobulin antibodies, Gabriella has been diagnosed with the early start of Hashimoto’s disease.” This...just...it took my breath away…we were able to get on the phone with him in order to understand what I need to do, if this is going to affect my active life, what supplements do I need to go and the pathway I have to take in order to get better. Hashimoto’s disease is an autoimmune disease when the immune system attacks the thyroid gland, which is the butterfly gland in your neck, a lot of symptoms occur such as fatigue, achiness throughout the body, cold sensitivity to cold, slow heart rate, joint stiffness, muscle weakness and sensitivity to the heat. As a 21-year-old female, I have to admit that it does suck, but I am living through it. As of November 10th, I went back to TaeKwon-Do and just pushed myself day by day to get where I am today. This year, I have been on multiple supplements such as Thyroid One, Calcium Magnesium, Fish Oil, Vitamin D, Digestive Enzymes, Lactoral Prime and Nettle Root. As of right now, on this present day, I feel 100 % better and that my mental, physical and emotional health is in better condition than it was before a muscle strain decided to ruin me for a period of time. On this very day, I am back to doing TaeKwon-Do, pushing myself every day and with the challenges, I never give up and tend to have perseverance to whatever crosses my way. On the bright side, I tried very hard not to lose the sense of humor that I’ve had but at the same time, the pain was trying to
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oversight my happiness as I try very hard to smile, laugh and even help my friend’s or anybody really that needed a smile on their face. For how I handle this disease mentally, physically and emotionally, I still work out, participate in TaeKwon-Do and try to maintain a healthy gluten-free/dairy-free diet and where I see myself in the future with Hashimoto’s, it’s all about maintaining a healthy ongoing lifestyle and trying to get your head in the game with what you eat, what you do, what you drink and mainly, try not to have so much stress added onto you! As a matter of fact, I do have to keep up with the doctors in case if something goes wrong, they can always send me for bloodwork or to my medical doctor for more information. If I slack off medications, then my body starts to experience symptoms such as fatigue, achiness, depression, cold, sensitivity to cold, weight gain and even sensitivity to the heat. Where I see myself going/being with this disease, hopefully continuing to better my mental, physical, emotional health and working on the diet so that way, I will not have problems in the near future. Last but not least, when juggling the responsibilities that get to me, I have no problem whatsoever because taking care of myself is mainly important overall. Actually, that goes for anybody really and let me tell you, it’s interesting not being like twenty-one year old’s out there who are experiencing diseases like me! As Dean Martin sings, “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head!”
