Now that I am postpartum, I have been thinking about my hormonal recovery. Well, I have been thinking about recovery in general, but my hormones have been in the back of my mind. After dealing with the immediate hormonal drop off that I felt the week after delivery, I can only imagine that my body is still working on recalibrating.

I just finished reading The Autoimmune Cure by Sara Gottfried and it briefly mentions pregnancy and autoimmunity. She argues that 70 to 80 percent of autoimmune diagnoses are for women and the reason for that could be the drastic hormonal shifts that we go through.

Already having an autoimmune disease (Hashimoto’s) I am acutely interested (and paranoid) about my condition worsening, or developing a new one. I know these things come together.

Gottfried argues that the cytokines that are created during gestation and postpartum can attack the thyroid – great. I am aware that lots of women go on Hashimoto’s meds during pregnancy and a lot of Hashi diagnoses are found postpartum.

But where does that leave someone who has had Hashimoto’s the whole time?

Oddly, I did not have to increase my levothyroxine medication during pregnancy. However, I have not been checked postpartum and I will only be checked if I go into my primary care doctor and advocate for myself.

This is a problem.

Women struggling with Hashimoto’s are on a constant hormonal roller coaster and are only ever checked when they request to be checked. But our bodies are constantly changing. Pregnancy, perimenopause, menopause. And so, we walk around feeling like shit most of the time.