Born-With-Congenital-Hypothyroidism-In-1968-Still-Suffering
Lisa Houk, Thyroid Thrivers
Thyroid Nation


45 years old

Wisconsin, USA
Congenital hypothyroidism
Diagnosed in 1968

My name is Lisa and I was born without a thyroid gland, lucky me! My diagnosis of congenital hypothyroidism was confirmed at St. Mary’s, in Madison, Wisconsin in 1968.

My parents noticed after one week, that I was losing weight . My large tongue was causing me to be unable to eat. I had no problem sleeping, in fact, I slept all the time, which worried them. Not like most parents who are glad when their newborn sleeps, my sleeping was not normal, and they could sense something was wrong. Not to mention, I didn’t hardly move. They were scared.

My smart grandmother told my mom to take me to the hospital immediately.  Luckily, there was a young intern learning about the thyroid. He looked at me, as many doctors did that day, and determined I did not have a thyroid.

Upon this discovery, I was put on medication.  To this day, I am still taking 200 mcg. of levothyroxine.

The problem with this is, I don’t have a thyroid, congenital hypothyroidism, despite that fact, I am currently having a lot of thyroid related health issues.  For one, I believe I’m in the early stages of menopause. Can this be? That is very disheartening, discouraging and frustrating, to say the least, as I am still young.

I’m desperately searching for a good doctor that can help me. I have been ignored one too many times. All the doctors I’ve seen, have dismissed me and it has to stop. My health is at stake. Someone needs to HEAR me!  A few of the doctors have cared about me and my well-being, but don’t know or understand enough to do anything to help me. They certainly don’t know enough about congenital hypothyroidism to make a difference in how terrible I am feeling.

Vitamin D supplements are part of my daily routine and I know I need to incorporate others. There is just so much information out there, that it gets overwhelming and I’m not sure what to take and what to stay away from.

At last, I finally have insurance. I am currently looking and searching for a great doctor and am open to suggestions. (hint!) I need a wonderful, caring person that will look at me as a whole and not just my lab tests.

Thank you for reading this and I hope anyone out there who has thyroid/congenital hypothyroidism/autoimmune disease, gets the help they need and deserve. We are all in this together.


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