“I enjoy my life and my vocation more because I have learnt to say no.”

I’d love to introduce you to my friend Nikki. She was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s about 10 years ago when she went to the doctor because she was having trouble catching her breath. I have heard other’s describe this as ‘air hunger’. Looking back she was also experiencing brain fog, hair loss & migraines and not long before she was diagnosed went through a very stressful time after her sister passed away.

Like many of us, when she was diagnosed she’d never heard of Hashimoto’s and has done a lot of reading and research – although after wearing herself out with research has learnt to find her feet with how to manage her health.

Nikki is a church Pastor (of the church I go to) and has had to learn over time how to manage her personal boundaries in a very people-oriented line of work. We chat in this podcast episode a fair bit about stress, how she’s protected her physical, mental and emotional health and how her faith has supported her during this journey.

Nikki’s top 3 things she wish she knew at the beginning of her thyroid journey are:

1. Laugh more
2. Learn to manage stress
3. Say no

Thank you Nikki for sharing your story with us.