Is it Hereditary?

Yes it is!. If you have thyroid disease, chances are that your parents or other relatives had it as well. Check your family history. So if you have children you will have to monitor them to see if they have any symptoms as they grow up, even if they don't have this disease at birth.

The Good News

We all know that as you get older your metabolism slows down and if you don't start an exercise regime you tend to put on weight. Well the good news is that being hypothyroid, it means that I take thyroxine tablets daily to regulate my thyroids. This keeps my metabolism stable and normal. So I will never gain weight unless I overeat. I have been 110 pounds for the last 4 years and I don't even exercise.

A Common Disease

The incidence of Thyroid disease is very high in the Caribbean. The Endocrine Clinic at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Hospital, Trinidad, is operational every Thursday and each time I attended this Clinic, I always saw new faces along with the old ones. The ages of patients range from teenagers to the elderly.

Thyroid Disease, Hereditary and Stress

In most cases thyroid disease is brought on by stress. However, it can be hereditary as well. In my case, my grandmother on my father's side had an enlarged thyroid and had to have it cut. It is my belief that my father had an overactive thyroid but was never diagnosed. I seemed to have inherited it as a child, but it worsened due to stress, when I became an adult and I had to seek medical attention in 1999.

Taking Radio-Active Iodine

It had no color. It had no taste. It looked like water. Only a little (a few tablespoons) was required to burn out my thyroid gland. But it was costly. I drank it in my quest to be cured and became radioactive for the next seven days.

Doctor Visits

I visit the Doctor with my blood test results once a year. However when i was pregnant i had to go every 6 weeks and my medication was adjusted accordingly. It is very important to get this done so that my baby would be normal and healthy.

My Medication

I take 1 Thyroxine sodium (Eltroxin 100mcg) tablet every day. I have to take this tablet for the rest of my life. However, when I was pregnant my dosage was increased for the duration of the pregnancy.