I’m sorry to hear all your wife has been through. That is hard for you not knowing how to help. Here is an article from a husband’s perspective about thyroid disease and he wrote a book about it as well: https://hypothyroidmom.com/married-to-hashimotos-wheres-the-woman-i-married/

I applaud you for trying to educate yourself about your wife’s condition. I’ve been reading all these comments & yours is the first one from the spouse. As a wife with hypothyroidism & a large thyroid nodule, more than anything I just want my husband to tell me he believes me & that I have his full support even though he doesn’t understand. The daily guilt about my illness is almost as overwhelming as the disease itself!

So many people & especially women, are undiagnosed with thyroid conditions because #1- Gender Bias: 40,000-80,000 women die annually due to inadequate healthcare because drs discount their symptoms & attribute symptoms to hormones or mental illness.
#2- Thyroid blood tests are pointless unless drs tell the patient they need to test, “clean,” for the most accurate test results.

My TSH tests were negative for 10 years until I researched how to get the most accurate result. Once I tested clean my TSH was so high I finally got the diagnosis for hypothyroidism & they later discovered I also have a very large thyroid nodule on my left lobe. And for two years after that discovery, no Dr. bothered to tell me that all of the symptoms I’m experiencing could be caused by the thyroid nodule. Nor did they tell me that hypothyroidism could be causing all the symptoms I was experiencing.
Plus, menopause can cause a lot of symptoms. So, having all three of these situations is a nightmare! So, I was trying to get a diagnosis for other hypothyroid conditions with no luck. I have since given up trying to get an additional diagnosis and instead, I am just trying to live my best life and deal with my symptoms on a day-to-day basis. I mostly do not eat dairy and gluten anymore, not because I was actively avoiding them but I noticed when I couldn’t eat and was barely eating anything and have not been eating dairy and gluten I was doing a bit better. And when I eat something with gluten or dairy it definitely makes me feel worse, probably from inflammation I’m guessing. Enough about me!

TO TEST CLEAN: For at least 72 hrs prior to the blood test, DO NOT TAKE ANY NSAIDs (Tylenol, Advil, ibuprofen, Motrin, Naproxen, ETC,) also NO SUPPLEMENTS (especially BIOTIN,) & when I tested, it was first thing in the morning having had only water-NO food or medications (except those which you absolutely have to take.) Good Luck & God Bless you ALL. And thank you to the spouses, partners, children, parents, family & friends of people suffering with these & other undiagnosed illnesses. Take care, everyone! Be kind to yourselves & NEVER GIVE UP! Katy in Missouri xoxo