You drop weight quickly. After a year, the doctor told Martin her thyroid levels were normal. But she still felt sluggish and her hair continued to fall out. When she complained, the doctor told her to go on Prozac. I decided to get pro-active.
Men can have thyroid disease, but most thyroid patients are women.
Some, like Martin, blame medical sexism. Even worse, a mother's thyroid problems can affect her baby's intellectual development, says the Foundation for Blood Disease. And the Colorado study showed for the first time a link between low thyroid and high cholesterol. On the Internet and by reading widely, Martin, now 32, learned there was more than one way to diagnose and treat thyroid problems. Six months ago, she had an old, rarely used test that provides more data on how thyroid hormones fluctuate.