Why do people talk about \”butterflies in your stomach\” when the thyroid gland (shaped like a butterfly) is in the neck?

An under-active thyroid gland is no joke. Hypothyroidism causes constant fatigue; sluggishness; weight gain; and more.

Over the years I\’ve been told both that I\’m hypothyroid, and that my thyroid is normal. Which is it?

For almost 14 years I dragged along, horribly exhausted and unable to sleep. Focusing my mind was a brutal effort. I was criticized at work for being below par.

Naturally the constant feeling that I had an anesthetic hangover made me question how my thyroid gland was doing. Blood tests for thyroid function, done fairly early in that miserable period, were \”normal\”; and I got so everlastingly sick and tired of being told that my problem was \”mental\”.

It was only after all those years that a doctor ordered an overnight sleep study; and guess what? I have a sleep disorder! I wish somebody had done that study years earlier. I could have been spared a lot of misery.

Yet some thyroid-panel tests have shown my \”numbers\” to be a bit on the low side. One doctor says that that might be explained by small variations from one lab to another. Years ago I saw one doctor who did think I was hypothyroid, because my temperature was running low. But was my thermometer accurate?

We need our thyroid glands to be \”up to speed\” so we can function in daily life, and on the bicycle. It\’s amazing how important that small gland is. As for butterflies, I prefer the ones that I see on flowers.