Well there is a new label & it's called "Hashimoto's Thyroididts" - a bit of a mouthful, aptly named after the Japanese doctor who discovered it no less. It's an autoimmune disease, my results were pretty scary - lets just say my Antithyroid antibodies were 962 when they are supposed to be below 6! It's all new to me, I'd heard of it before but knew nothing about it even though it's supposedly one of the major causes of hypothyroidism. It's apparently a bit of a battlefield between psychiatry & medicine too, with endocrinologists believing a lot of people have been misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder and/or anxiety disorders when what they really have is Hashimoto's. I don't really care - it's all just labels for a series of symptoms isn't it. I have to admit though that the thought of having a "medical" rather than "psychiatric" illness is appealing - my psychiatrist just believes that bipolar & thyroid problems are inextricably linked somehow & they don't really know why. Well I'm off to see another specialist on Thursday - we'll see what he has to say, Oh, and I might have to have some tests done on my heart to check that there is no problems but I'm pretty sure it's okay, apparently the Hashimoto's can cause heart failure when left untreated - lovely!
