I’m rebuilding my body following a savage, friendly fire attack. In October my thyroid became overactive. The increase in thyroxine affected my heart, my digestive system, my eyes, my balance. I lost strength and stamina. The fatigue was awful.

But I’m now on medication that is bringing down the excessive levels of thyroxine circulating in my body. I’m feeling great.

I never stopped exercising even when the fatigue was at its worse. Although I had to modify it significantly. It seemed as if the gap between my resting heart rate (up from below 60 bpm to 80 bpm) and the heart rate I could reach before I started feeling dizzy was very narrow. Before I knew what was wrong with me this was scary. The weights I could lift plummeted. I went from warming up for a deadlift with 60kg to maxing out on 40kg. But as soon as I got a diagnosis it all made sense. Classic symptoms of an overactive thyroid.

As my thyroxine levels have lowered my strength and stamina is slowly returning. I’m 63 in seven weeks time. I don’t think I’ll be back to where I was this time last year by then but I want to be pretty damn close.

Where food is concerned I’m challenged with returning to my normal diet after a few months of an ‘all you can eat’ approach. I lost a lot of weight during the last months of 2021. As with my other symptoms this frightened me. I responded with eating a lot. I ate as if it was Christmas. But still the the kilograms dropped off me. As the medication started to work I have started to put it back on so I’m now eating too much. I need to get back to where I was. Counting the macros, building muscle, losing body fat. I always find it so difficult to get into the zone where my diet is concerned but once I’m in it I stay there. I first need to squash my yearning for salty and sweet popcorn.

One of the most important issues to be addressed when recovering from ill health is sleep and adequate rest. When I was recovering from heart surgery I slept a lot. I’d have a morning nap, an afternoon nap, an evening nap. And then I’d sleep all night. Slowly the naps stopped but I still got a lot of sleep. This time I’m struggling. My body doesn’t allow naps. I do try. And I often have a problem with getting to sleep and/or staying asleep. Insomnia is a symptom of an overactive thyroid. It seems to be the last one to disappear.

And I’m moving forward in getting a long term solution. A few days ago I had my first appointment with the endocrinologist. He confirmed that the excessive thyroxine (Free T4) had come right down to near normal so he reduced my medication. He has referred me for an ultrasound to help determine what has caused my thyroid to become overactive. He is, however, confident that I have Graves Disease.

Graves’ disease is an auto immune disease. 75% of people with an overactive thyroid will be as a result of Graves Disease. As I already have one autoimmune condition, psoriatic arthritis, I knew I was susceptible to developing another. The endocrinologist confirmed that this was the case.

So moving forward, I will be reviewed every 8 weeks with my medication calibrated to the results of my blood tests. I’ll be on medication for 12-18 months before being weaned off. That may be the end of it. But if my thyroid continues to be overactive a more permanent remedy will be required. Most likely zapping it with radioactive iodine. For the second time in two weeks I left a hospital appointment feeling very positive.

I’m in a completely different place to where I was three months back. I know what is wrong with me, the medication is working, my body is recovering and I feel in safe hands. Priceless.