Do you love your thyroid?  Do you hate it?  Or more importantly, do you even know where it is?

A small, butterfly-shaped gland located at the base of the neck (just below the Adam’s apple), the thyroid influences the function of the heart, brain, liver, kidneys and skin.  That’s why it’s so important to know if you have a thyroid problem – especially if you’re a woman.  Women are five times more likely than men to suffer from hypothyroidism, which occurs when the gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone for the body to function properly.  Hypothyroidism can cause weight gain, miscarriages, forgetfulness, irregular menstrual periods and numerous other symptoms.

In honor of Thyroid Awareness Month this January, we wanted to spotlight Dear Thyroid, a website that encourages literary self-expression from thyroid patients, including patients with lesser known thyroid conditions such as thyroid cancer, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and hyperthyroidism.  The slogan is “Healing Our Thyroids One Letter at a Time, As Many as It Takes,” and each love/hate letter is displayed with retro and pinup artwork as “subversive” yet “iconic images of perfect health and beauty.”  Got a few things you’d like to say to your thyroid?  Write them down today and experience how good it feels to let it all out!  (Read Dear Thyroid’s submission details.)

Another source of relief comes from finding people who truly understand what you’re going through – namely, other patients like you.  Connect with the more than 3,500 patients with hypothyroidism at PatientsLikeMe today and see how they are managing their condition.  How many of them are taking Levothyroxine (branded as Synthroid, Levoxyl, Levothroid and more), a synthetic form of the human hormone thyroxine?  And how do they rate the effectiveness, side effects, cost and more?  Dig into our in-depth treatment evaluations to learn from real-world patient experiences with this common hypothyroidism medication.

This entry was posted on January 7, 2013 at 12:18 pm and is filed under Conditions, Openness. Tagged: Dear Thyroid, Hashimoto Thyroiditis, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, hypothyroidism treatment, irregular menstrual periods, Levothroid, Levothyroxine, Levoxyl, miscarriage, synthetic hormone, Synthroid, Thyroid Awareness Month, thyroid cancer, thyroid patient community, thyroid problem, weight gain. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.