Shortly after I started college, I went to the doctor complaining of overwhelming and unrelenting fatigue. All the tests she ran came back normal and she told me my tiredness was "just life" and that I needed to "sleep more."

Granted, I was a college student carrying a heavy load of classes, working, running a pet sitting business on the side and burning the candle at both ends. Looking back, I wonder how I made it through those sleep deprived years with my GPA intact. But still, I always felt like there was something more to my fatigue. Even when I should have felt rested, I never did.

It took many more years and visits to the doctor with the same some complaint, but I eventually got a diagnosis: hypothyroidism.

The thyroid is a butterfly shaped gland in the neck that affects almost all the metabolic processes in the body. Hypothyroidism has several causes, but the net effect is the same. Lack of adequate thyroid hormone leads to symptoms such as fatigue, cold intolerance, weight gain, memory problems, brittle fingernails, depression and irregular menstrual periods. Untreated hypothyroidism can be harmful to the baby during pregnancy and can also cause infertility.

 My doctor put me on the most common medication to treat hypothyroidism, Synthroid. I took it daily and had regular bloodwork to check my hormone levels.

The treatment worked. I felt better. I felt warmer and my nails stopped breaking. My hair stopped falling out.

During both my pregnancies, I had regular bloodwork to monitor my thyroid function and my dosage changed multiple times.

After my second child was born though, I didn't feel like myself again. I was exhausted, couldn't seem to lose the baby weight, was severely depressed and always freezing cold. My head ached constantly and my joints were wracked with debilitating pains. I struggled to produce enough breastmilk. I went back to the doctor, who said my thyroid was fine and put me on antidepressants. They helped a little, but not much. 

The baby was over a year old when I read a column in Prevention Magazine by Andrew Weil, a well known and highly respected holistic doctor. He recommended the medication Thyrolar, which unlike Synthroid, is a combination of two thyroid hormones. I went to the doctor and asked about it. She flat out refused to even discuss it. "I don't prescribe that," she said.

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