Welp, I’ve finally inherited the ancient t family heirloom that spells doom for my thyroid :(

OlivetheNerd

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For those of you that follow me, you might’ve noticed that on almost every other post I’ve made this past year it’s included the line: “I haven’t been feeling well lately.”

Well, I think I found out why.

My maternal family has an ancient heirloom that has literally been passed down from every single person in every generation: Hashimoto’s Disease.

Hashimoto’s Disease is an autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks the thyroid until it essentially stops working, resulting in hypothyroidism.

I plan to do a full post on thyroid health when I’m feeling up to it.

My family probably had Hashimoto’s Disease before the name even existed, because when I say every single generation inherits it, I mean that quite literally.

• Great-great grandfather

• Great grandmother

• Grandmother

• Mother

• My uncle

• My twin brother

• Now me (probably)

There are only three people in the new generation that have yet to get it:

• My cousin
• My younger brother
• Me (technically)

.

I was beginning to show symptoms of the family heirloom and the results of my blood draw did not disappoint lol.

Yep. That’s a lot of thyroid, meaning that it’s having to work overtime to compensate for something impacting its normal functioning.

Now, technically I can’t say that I do/don’t have it, because I haven’t seen the doctor for the follow up yet, but the results are pretty obvious to me.

It’s not the biggest deal in the world. I’m so relieved to finally understand why I haven’t been feeling well at all for the past several months.

Still, I was really hoping to be the one that dodged this particular unpleasant inheritance.

It looks like this thing is determined to kill the thyroids of every single twig in Olive Nerd’s maternal family tree.

Maybe my cousin and younger brother will be spared, but I highly doubt it now.

thelatebillstickers

My Dad has this. Was only diagnosed at the age of about 75 but he’s probably had it all his Iife. He takes a pill (a thyroid hormone, I think?) for it and otherwise seems to be living pretty much normally for his age. So it’s not necessarily a severe, life-affecting disease.

I have tested negative for it, so far.

4 days ago |

SergeantTerryJeffords

I've been on levo for 16 years. It's not the worst chronic illness you can have, but it's a little annoying

Roune

Have they talked about starting you on Levothyroxine? I’m on that and it’s helped immensely with thyroid problems

5 days ago |

CabezaPlata

Before I got the synthroid, my TSH went up to 155. The doctor ran it twice because it was such a ridiculous number that he thought it was a lab error.

It's definitely manageable, and a mostly normal life is possible. Make sure you take it at the suggested time, take vitamin D supplements if it doesn't seem to be absorbing, and eat any foods with iron on the opposite end of your day.

oneduringwanderer

^ This ^. Been on levo for 20 years and was feeling less than great last fall. Vit D deficiency—not helped by developing a light allergy. Added 50,000iu of D to the weekly rota.

ClericOfTheProsperityGospel

Damn. Fuckin sucks. I got special hate for the autoimmunes.

Cause they hit me, otc.

But they just have this special flavor of pointless suffering.

Like at least cancer is trying to survive itself. It's just stupid.

IGotLordVoldemortsNose

i saw a documentary where they spoke about the kind of people that survived the black death had an agressive immune system, that unfortunatley sometimes attacks the body by mistake, but if you weren't blessed with the agressive type your lineage were less likely to make it through the bubonic plague.

giraffytaffy

Interesting!

Cpu46

Hey, thyroid problem club! My antibodies were at 160 IU/ml when they caught it. Now I'm on levo for the rest of my life! Weeeeee!

bahamutepyon

I was diagnosed with the same, except my immune system wasn't attacking the thyroid. It was attacking the cancer nodule inside it, not damaging the thyroid itself. Antibodies dropped off pretty quickly after thyroidectomy. Not exactly a better diagnosis.

LadyCritCat

Sorry to hear that. Hope you get skipped.

Thank you for the sweet thoughts! ❤️

PostalHeathen

Autoimmune disorders are horrible. My wife had autoimmune hepatitis, and doctors missed it until after it went away on its own. Now she's dealing with late stage cirrhosis, and it's not been a good time.

TheLordFoxington

They love to run in families. Sometimes they have fun and unique quirks like not showing up on any of the standard tests for it. My mother's side of the family have rheumatoid arthritis that isnt diagnosable until the damage shows up on MRIs. (We're pretty sure my great grandmother had it and know that my grandmother, my mother, and my aunt, and we're fairly sure that I managed to nab it too, but it is too early to prove. I'm the first known male to have it in our family too.)

I’m so sorry she’s suffering so much. Sending her internet hugs, if she’d like them!

I'm right there with you in the genetically inherited autoimmune disease club. I'm 4th (that we know of) generation Type 1 diabetic. I'm watching my kids like a hawk.

Tarmaccian

Well, damn, that sucks.

And today I’ve learned about a condition I didn’t know about before.

…and half the symptom list is stuff my wife has struggled with all her life. Damn.

HavetsHerren

My wife has it. And except the morning pill she takes every day, she's doing fine. But now we're waiting to see if she has inherited her mother's lupus...

That sounds like my family tree. My mum has both and I've got one of em. Waiting on the ANA for part 2

3owlsinaraincoat

I have hashimotos. Its manageable. You'll have rough days, but you'll also feel better once you get your levels under control. I know its rough, but hang in there. You aren't alone

SirSage

It sucks to get an autoimmune disease but thankfully its treatable with thyroid replacement like levothyroxine. Just get weaned on by your doctor until youre in range and you won't even know you have it. You should have your thyroid levels checked more frequently just to make sure you're not over or under replacing. Dont go a year without a checkup to find your dosage is super off like I did.

RobErtE87

Continuing the moto cycle

117

MyGreatestFearBoner

So its not a hashi or miss type disease?

Someone’s gotta keep the wheel turning, I suppose.

IMakeLotsOfReferencesAndRemakes

I did dodge my mom's thyroid problems... I got 2 other autoimmune diseases as compensation.

seenunseen

My SO has that, sucks :(

itsfunnybecause

Oh shit, mine was 155.

Davd1

Tail end of 2025 my legs started cramping and made walking difficult. A visit to my GP showed my thyroid wasn't making its hormone anymore causing muscle decay. They told me it was Hashimoto's (hypothyroidism), It was a scary time when my family also has a history with MND.

I wish you the best in your recovery OP

Saeraphym

About 8% of the US population has Hashimotos. It's the most common form of hypothyroidism. Its not a death sentence and there are accessible treatment options that are easily adhered to.

Erryl

I have both TPOAb and TgAb but my thyroid still works. I've been on a very strict AIP-diet for 6 years which has reduced the antibodies to where I do not need to take any medication.

dankenmutt

Yo, go talk to a clinical geneticist!!! If it runs in the family like this there's a good chance its a rare variant, getting the family sequenced could track down this variant, and in the future you might be able to get a gene therapy for it.

straha242

That sucks OP :( if it is that, best of hopes for you, and that treatment gets it manageable.

Thank you! ❤️

KingHippie

Ive been on Sythroid for years. Dose was really low at first, and I did not notice much. Its increased over the years and stabilzed now. I definitely feel more tired if I forget to take it. I skipped it for a while when it was a low dose because I did not think it was doing anything and then ended up with weird racing heart beat sometimes. Got scolded by the doc for that. So...take your meds. Hashimoto's aint so bad.

ArcaneM37

I got non -hashimotos hypothyroid. It took them forever when i was 7 and 8 years old to figure out what the issue was because it skips a generation, so my parents and great grand parents don't have it, and it usually becomes symptomatic when people are 50+, so my grandparents did have it, but we didnt know that because they hadn't shown symptoms yet.

So i seemed to be the first in my family with it, but really i was just first to be symptomatic.

RetrogradeLlama

Pizza My Heart

Pizza often soothes the heart, though I personally prefer either a good American style hamburger when it comes to comfort food.

Now I’m hungry lol.

Sorry, Imgur only gives me the Pizza option.

I accept it nonetheless! ❤️🍕

Flodos

So literally every generation before you has this issue, and you only got it checked out when you started having issues..?

I'll take "News that guarantees someone is from the USA" for 400, Alex.

notmoof8

Sup thyroid issue buddy. I'm at the other end of the spectrum with Graves. Ended up nuking my thyroid out of existence and just dealing with pills forever. But at least now I don't shake and my heart's stopped beating funny.

Tpj809

My partner did the same now just getting her meds right. I'm happy she is no longer at risk of thyroid storm. Hope you have a happy healthy life.

Efreeti

Graves here too, I'm in remission but will probably in the end have surgical removal.

Zhreca

8 years since nuking mine as well (I think nuking it is better than surgery but to each their own, there are possible issues with either procedure).

My doctor recommended surgery cause 'chicks dig scars and think of the bullshit you could come up with to explain it!' I went with the nuke. Plus I got a card to show airport security why I was radioactive.

1 day ago |

PandaStonetree

My sister has/had Graves. She lost over 200lbs in 3 months, just wasting away even though she ate all the time. Finally got the thing removed and on pills, now back to normal weight and doing well.

2 days ago |

sarmalander

I'm sorry to hear it. The good news is that it's treatable with pills for the rest of your life, and once your doctor finds out the right dose for you, it's a manageable condition. I very likely have it too but it comes and goes. In my experience, if you're a woman with hashimoto, pregnancies can influence the evolution of the disease.

Gwananawanana

Exactly this! The wife has been under treatment for the past 15 years and it works, no problemo. The only change was during pregnancy but it was just basic hormonal turmoil

3 days ago |

Yep. I also know of people who took their thyroid out and are on meds just the same and it seems manageable as well. What happened to me was that due to a pregnancy I got my thyroid so confused that I'm having both Hashimoto and Graves at the same time, and they are somehow opposite conditions. My GP is working with me currently for the right dosage of levo and thyroid suppressor. That's pretty weird.

SisyphusRollin

Genetics are strange. I hope for the three. I've got one brother and he's an example of being able to escape the genetic path. We're all bald, all the men lose their hair early, I got all the genes for that and it skipped my brother somehow. He's the only one, the only male I know over 20 who hasn't gone fully bald/balding badly. So here's hoping your brother/cousin might find themselves lucky.

shmorlockthewarlock

Yeah my family's all over the place w/ our autoimmune disorders: i have psoraisis, my brother has crohn's, and my mom has hashimoto's and crohn's. As for the hair, my uncle (mom's side) who i take after looks/size wise started balding at 20, while i still am going strong w/ my hair at 23. My brother's is starting to thin out at 25, and he very much did not take much genes from my mom's side of the family.

I feel you on hoping that at least one of the family dodges the incoming car of bad genetics.

I hope your brother continues to remain unscathed!

Well he's nearing 50 so he's already won, I was 21 when the long hair started hitting the shower floor. Fucking crazy how shit works right? I find out I have panic attack disorder in the navy, THEN grandma starts telling me about her panic attacks THEN my old man tells me about his... communication on that was zero. Likely many more family members with this genetic defect that refuse to acknowledge it (like my bro probably as well). Weird animals we are.

I’m sorry about your panic attacks, especially if you were in the navy. That seems like a rough combination.

But you are right that genetics are strange.

Funny how life works, being overly paranoid because your entire life you (unaware) had massive anxiety and fear driven by a fight/flight fuckup in your brain.... kinda makes you a really good sailor. That paranoia becomes vigilance and you get awards then you become a civilian again and you're back to "crazy paranoid guy" but now I'm fucking talented at it :) Genetics are a trip, I always look to George Burns. Smoking/drinking heavy until 100 years old. Died at home in bed. Crazy.

ExecutiveProducerWolfDyck

Wow, this sent me down a rabbit hole. I'm now convinced I have hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, and thyrotoxic periodic paralysis.

I understand the health spiral, and I promise you that you don’t have all three of these because it’s physically impossible.

The symptoms are very noticeable as well. One big symptoms is hair loss, and it’s not a few strands.

Every time I brushed my hair, large clumps would come off. I clogged the drain during one shower. My entire apartment is covered in loose strands of hair because it’s shedding like a cat.

That’s excluding hot flashes. In 60° weather I was sleeping with an ice pack.

WhereismyMrKnightley

Hair loss - check. Eyebrows vanishing - check.. Heat sucks - check. Even without Hashimoto's. Just a lazy thyroid. I am on levo, cant say it made my hair come back. Yay.

Intellectually, I know that I can't possibly have contradictory conditions, but I have all symptoms listed. As for the hair, I'm saving up to make a blanket.

That does sound troubling. Here’s a visual for the hair loss in case this helps any.

This is how much hair comes off of me at one time. If this is what comes out of your comb, you should definitely see a doctor soon because hair loss like that is not normal.

I clear about a fistfull of hair out of my brush everyday, but my hair never seems any thinner for it.

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