PLEASE SPREAD THIS!!!

ethereal-daydream08:

secretsandwiredscissors:

ethereal-daydream08:

Eating disorder sufferers (of all kinds) are EXTREMELY prone to endocrine dysfunction (especially autoimmune).

Thyroid damage is also incredibly common in those who participate in disordered behavior.

Your thyroid is a vital organ that regulates pretty much everything in your entire body, including metabolism. There is not a single cell that is not affected by thyroid hormones.
Which means that if there is any thyroid damage, your health is dangerously at risk.

I personally have experience with this, as my ED has destroyed my thyroid beyond repair. I am now dependent on medication to provide vital thyroid hormones (T4 specifically) that my body can no longer produce on its own.

When I eventually got tested, the doctors discovered that my T3 and T4 levels (which are produced by the thyroid) were almost nonexistent, while my TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) was the highest the clinic had ever seen. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease that presents initially as hypothyroidism.

My eating disorder caused this, and exacerbated it.
And if I had been tested sooner, my health would not be nearly as bad as it is now.

So–
IF YOU HAVE AN EATING DISORDER, PLEASE GET TESTED FOR ENDOCRINE PROBLEMS.

You MUST catch this kind of shit early.

Some symptoms include:

-Extreme fatigue

-Hair loss (even in eyebrows and eyelashes)

-Sensitivity to cold

-weight gain (specifically central body weight gain)

-Puffiness in the face (due to water retention)

-Pitting edema in extremities (usually feet) (swelling that, once pressed, remains “pitted” for any amount of time afterwards)

-reduced body hair growth, or patchy body hair growth, mental ‘fogginess’, and hormonal problems, amongst other symptoms.

If left untreated, these symptoms can progress to the point of myxedema coma– which can be fatal.

I am not a medical professional, but I do know these things as facts, because I have lived them.

PLEASE GET TESTED. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARE NOT DEVELOPING ENDOCRINE PROBLEMS. I AM FUCKING SERIOUS. THIS IS VITAL TO YOUR HEALTH AND YOUR LIFE.

Thyroid issues are also genetic, so if anyone in your family has them you should say that immediately to any doctor.

When my mum took me to the doctors and I said I was eating normally, they tested my thyroid because thyroid problems cause drastic changes in weight.

Even if it’s your grandparents, tell your doctor because, as the above makes VERY clear, thyroid problems will destroy your life if they are there.

(For reference, underactive causes weight loss, overactive causes weight gain)

^THIS A THOUSAND TIMES.
(Thank you so much @secretsandwiredscissors)
Keep spreading the information loves. It’s so so so important.