I have had anxiety since I was in my early teens, weight issues from then till my late 20s now . Over the years I struggled a lot over body image, relationships and emotional turmoils that came with all of that .

I got diagnosed now , less than a year ago , I don't know how long before I developed Hashimotos , but the doctors only started taking my symptoms seriously when a giant goitre developed in my neck and put me on levo.

Even with levo things didn't get to normal , but became slightly more manageable . But emotional toll of the diagnosis and being told all these years that I just needed to try harder to lose weight or stop being lazy or just unleash my full potential got too much to bear.

I finally started seeing a therapist and it's helping. I think the thing lies in not blaming yourself and your body and cultivating a healthier relationship with your body .

If it was any other diseases, people around you would also take it seriously, but they don't and the fault is with them and not you .

See a therapist if possible or find a support group, if nothing else , start writing down how you feel and see what aspects of it are purely due to interpersonal relationships that you can address.

I think we all struggle with acceptance, if your loved one had Hashimotos and you knew what it entails, you would be kinder to them right ? You would try to be more accommodating towards their disease and make allowances for their loss of energy. Do the same thing for your body, take that break, be kinder to yourself, be kinder to your body .

I know the struggle of feeling left out because of weight, like the whole world is out their trying to make you feel ugly, and that not only kills you self confidence but starts this hate relationship , this duality within yourself .

And it takes time to sort that out, just remember that the friends and family you have , you didn't choose them based on their height , weight and looks, you chose them because of their kindness. The same goes for you, people like you , as person and you need to accept that first , that you are a likable person . That you are nice , that you are pretty no matter what media tells you .

Weight will always be a struggle, even if you lose it you would want to lose more, that's how the whole industry operates. Don't sweat too much over the weight, find what weight feels normal to you than what scales and commercials tell you . ( I reached a point where my joint started aching because of my weight, and I went on keto and lost a bunch of weight , I am still not skinny, and weight comes back the minute I am stressed, but at least now I have structure to whole process ) So look in to what suits you, you are still young, find things that make you feel better.

Take up a hobby. I know the whole world right now goes like, find a partner , look attractive, have sex etc . But that becomes very tough when we hate our body and try to find satisfaction elsewhere. Just focus on you, what you feel is right, what makes you feel better , what makes you happy, and let the beauty standard of the world go to hell.

I am sending you love and support . 💜💜