Cassy Legaspi opens up about hypothyroidism diagnosis
Cassy Legaspi got real about her health struggles after being diagnosed with hypothyroidism.
Sitting down with Maey Bautista alongside her twin Mavy on Kapuso Artistambayan, Cassy shared that she was diagnosed with the disease when she was around 19 or 20 years old.
“Grabe po ‘yung side effects, naging lethargic, naging super fatigue ako tapos intense falling hair, sobra talaga," she shared, adding that her friends and family also noticed how sick she looked at the time.
“Tapos palagi akong nilalamig, parang may fever ako palagi, pero fever na nilalamig, parang ganoon," she continued, adding that it also made it challenging for her to work out.
“I’m always sick,” she said. “Hindi na ‘ko madaldal.”
Being aware of her condition also helped her change her goal from losing weight to focusing on being healthy instead.
“Sabi ko talaga, 'Alam mo, at this point, Cassandra, 'wag ka nang magpapayat, maging healthy ka muna,'" she said. Now that she has noticed her weight loss, the actress said that she has also returned to being physically active, such as doing tennis, paddling, and pilates.
She added she’s also not strict when it comes to her diet. “I don’t cut out carbs anymore. I don’t like restrictions because that’s what got me into this mess in the first place,” she briefly explained in a separate interview with 24 Oras.
Dr. Eunice Tan, an endocrinologist at St. Luke’s Medical Center previously explained that hypothyroidism happens when “thyroid hormone production becomes inadequate.”
There are many causes of the disease, with the most common ones being thyroid gland removal via surgery and the radioactive iodine given to patients with hyperthyroidism when more thyroid hormones are being produced than how much one’s system requires.
“Another common cause is thyroid failure due to an autoimmune disease where there are autoantibodies attacking your own thyroid gland,” Dr. Tan said, referring to it as Hashimoto's Thyroiditis.
If left untreated or undetected, hypothyroidism could lead to long-term complications, including hypertension, and bradycardia (very slow heart rate) that can cause syncopal attack or fainting, as well as stroke and heart attack due to a remarkable increase in bad cholesterol.
Fortunately, hypothyroidism is “very, very simple to treat.”
“Thyroid hormone replacement is the treatment. TSH is monitored every quarter to determine the adequacy of replacement dosage,” Dr. Tan explained.
