One of the absolute worst Hashimoto symptoms is being cold. You are probably reading that and thinking, “What? Everyone gets cold.” Yeah…. it’s not like that. Hashimoto cold is awful. It is almost disabling.
Starting in late September, it begins and runs its course until about the end of May. No lie. It is a problem, that for me, got worse as years went on. The winter before Dr. Jack was absolutely the most awful winter ever. I remember not ever wanting to leave the house for any reason.
The first day of the year I got it, it starts in the evening. I would catch a chill. And I would start to feel cold, so I would put on a sweater. But that isn’t enough. So now I would add in an extra pair of socks, I would crank up the heat and while everyone around me is sweating like it is summer, I was shivering. And I mean like my teeth are chattering. I would try drinking warm liquids, no relief and then my skin starts to tingle. My goosebumps have goosebumps.
For me, that chill usually started at my second job. It seemed like my metabolic state started shutting off about 2 p.m. and got progressively worse. I would put on my coat to leave, mittens, a hat, a scarf. Mind you under my uniform I usually wore CuddleDuds, or long underwear, and a long underwear shirt, and of course double socks. Often that wasn’t enough so I would wear a sweater, too. One the way there, I would stop at Tim Horton’s and get a hot chocolate. For whatever reason, the hot chocolate always warmed me up where the coffee or tea did not. The “warm” never lasted. At the end of my shift, I would bundle up and literally run for my car, well as fast a someone over a hundred pounds heavier can move.
I would crank up the heat to its absolute max and drive home with my teeth chattering and my skin prickling. When I got home, I would tear into the house. I would change into thermal pajamas, under sweatpants and a sweatshirt. I would brush my teeth as fast as I could and put on two pairs of socks and jump into bed. I kept a hat and gloves in my bed. I slept under a comforter and at least three afghans. I would find a spot and not move because as soon as you moved to cooler spot, the chill set in again. And once it was there? You are done.
It would take me HOURS to fall asleep, mostly from exhaustion, from energy spent trying to get warm. At about three a.m., I would fall into a deep sleep only to be awaken by the alarm at 5:30. Then I would be warm, but jump up to shower and guess what? repeat….. My fingers were always blue and purple, always like ice. Always…. September to May… every year, every day, all day, and it got worse and worse and worse. I dreaded shaking hands with people who would jump back and say, “Your hands are like ice, is that normal?” Well, hello, no it’s not normal. But when you have Hashimoto’s nothing is ever normal again!
That was until about this time last year. I had stopped drinking hot chocolate, coffee and tea when I started the program. And one day, after school I got into my car to drive to my second job and I realized that I had turned the heat down in the car. I thought that was weird. Maybe I was coming down with an illness. I wasn’t cold at my job and I walked to my car, cold but not shivering. I got home and went to bed with only pajamas and a comforter.
I remember in the morning, showering and getting ready and I was not ill, I was not cold, my teeth were not chattering…. I was…. NORMAL!!! I had my Tuesday phone appointment with Dr. Jack. “Dr. Jack??I am not cold!!!!” Dr. Jack: silence followed by “Ummm… yeah?” Me: “No!!! NO!!! YOU don’t understand, I am like WARM!!!” Dr. Jack: “Yes, I understand, you aren’t cold?” Me: “NO!!!! No, no, you aren’t listening. I am like WARM!!!! Seriously!!!!! YOU are not listening to me!!! I am warm!!! Like I am warmmmmmm!!!! Like … like NORMAL PEOPLE!!!!” Dr. Jack laughed. I still can hear it. It was a joyous laugh of recognition. I remember us talking about how everyone gets cold and I started explaining how bad it had been. All along, Dr. Jack has been so happy for me as my symptoms fell away, and my crazy outbursts of just JOY that they did. When you have it that bad, relief is just so welcomed.
This year? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh….. even better…… It is so nice to wear a top and a pretty sweater, not one of those super thick ones. It’s amazing to me what has changed, and this one?? As I am sitting here writing this in a short sleeve tshirt in November? Ohhhhhhh I am so warmly grateful for this one.