Thyroid...

[Storm Bride]

I know there are other threads, but the really informative ones are really long, and I don't feel up to wading through them.

I'm getting a strong feeling that I have thyroid problems. I don't have all the symptoms, but have quite a few of them (including the insomnia and trougle gettting moving in the morning - like until the afternoon, usually that seem linked to adrenal fatigue). I'm having a really hard time with "brain fog" and extreme fatigue (yes, I have an under a year old, but she's not a terrible sleeper - I'm not getting enough sleep, but it's not like I'm trying to function on 3 hours a night or anything - probably hitting about 6.5 most nights, and a little more sometimes). The only times I ever remember being close to this tired were during my first trimesters. This has been going on for a long time - the various symptoms - but the fatigue has been getting steadily worse over the last couple of years...thinking back, I never got over that "first trimester" feeling with dd2...was wiped out the whole pregnancy.

Anyway - I've had several c-sections over the last few years, and I've been putting all my mental stuff (depression, inability to concentrate, serious irritability, etc.) down to my reaction to those, and the physical stuff down to the mental stuff. I think I had it backwards.

I have an appointment with my family doctor for Monday. He's a nice guy, and is at least willing to say "I don't know", but he's definitely a very mainstream doctor, for the most part. I'm trying to wade through the info on STTM right now, but it's so hard to concentrate on anything!

Can anyone point me to (or give me) a simple, succinct explanation of the free T4 and free T3 labs, what they measure, and why they're important? And, the importance of ferritin and...ugh...already forgot the other one. I'm also wondering if there's any solid research I can find online? I really don't want to deal wioth the "you can't believe everything you read on the internet" crap, yk? (IME, the alternative health community is, overall - there are always exceptions, of course - more aware of what the scientific research actually says than most practicing doctors are!)

I don't even know how much info I need, or if I just need support or what. I just want to have something resembling energy again, and be able to think from the beginning to the end of a simple though (such as "I like chocolate"!) without losing track halfway through...oh, and getting rid of the muscle pain, and perpetual feeling that I'm coming down with a cold (due to vague throat aches and an impending ear infection feeling).

How does one take charge of one's treatment, when one of the symptoms is an inability to think?? This is driving me crazy.

[Storm Bride]

Skimming the labs on STTM, and very confused.

TSH seems to be the Holy Grail of thyroid tests, but it doesn't actually measure a hormone produced by the thyroid? Is that right, or am I reading it incorrectly?

And...if free T3 measures the actual thyroid hormone in your system, why is it not the standard lab, or part of the standard labs?

Ugh - I really don't have the brainpower to wade through this, but I need to figure it out a bit by Monday.

[sapphire_chan]

You could always try having a lot of seaweed, fish, and flax seeds and see if that boosts your thyroid enough to focus and understand all the things you'll want to look at.

[lil_miss_understood]

TSH is the hormone produced by the pituitary which tells your thyroid to produce more T4 and, therefore, is usually the LAST place you will see a problem.
T3 is supposedly the "only" form of thyroid hormone which is active (there's no research into what at least 2 forms of thyroid hormone do, to my knowledge)- yet they tend to try to treat hypothyroidism with T4... Anyway.

The problem is this: TSH is the last to be effected so it's an ineffective measure- by the time it's effected, you basically feel like death warmed over (broad generalization but..). T4 to T3 conversion can have a "bottleneck" caused by many things (Including but not limited to selenium deficiency) which makes IT an ineffective measure as well. This is why the "alternative" thyroid sites suggest testing T3.
For some reason, this logic seems to escape doctors.
As for ferritin, it is a measure of your body's iron stores. Iron is an essential building block of thyroid hormones and used in at least one enzyme for the conversion from T4 to T3.

HTH a little.

eta: Also, be sure to ask for thyroid antibodies tests! These can totally contribute to symptoms even without the other labs backing it up.

[Storm Bride]

Okay. So, ideally, I want

TSH (just because they'll do that, anyway, so why fight, right?)
Free T3
Ferritin
Thyroid antibodies.

Does that cover it all?
It seems like doctors are convinced that free T3 is too unstable to be a good measure, but I don't know why. It would seem to be the key one, as far as I can tell.

I was already thinking I'm anemic, but I've now had multiple people suggets thyroid. I'm not looking at symptoms and thinking "oh - that's totally me", but there's enough there that I'm kind of going...hmm...

What do you all think of dessicated thyroid, vs. stuff like synthroid? It sounds better to me, but I'm wondering about it, yk?

I know sitting at the PC isn't helping, but it's so hard to summon the energy to do anything else - and when I do, I fade fast. Fixing lunch for the kids, then running ds2 to preschool exhausts me...and preschool is a less than five minute drive!

[liqzierda]

The problem with using TSH or even T3 as a measure of how your thyroid is doing is that it doesn't reflect the fact that you can actually have resistance to using T3 the same way people develop insulin resistance. It's called Multiple Endocrine Axis Dysfunction. Then you feel horrible but your lab values are all supposedly normal.

See the Phase B paragraph of this page:

http://www.drlam.com/articles/ovaria...oid.asp?page=2

[liqzierda]

Oh, also check out this link:

http://www.drlam.com/articles/ovaria...oid.asp?page=3

I thought my problems were all thyroid, treated the thyroid part and now I feel horrible.

[Storm Bride]

This is all looking awfully confusing. Maybe I'll get dh to read some of this and see what he thinks. He can probably focus better than I can.

I've been tired for a long time, but I always had/have a "reason" (marital stress, PTSD from c-sections, surgical trauma, grief over stillbirth of my son, pregnancy, breastfeeding, etc. etc. etc.). At some point, it really is a matter of just not functioning, yk?

Ugh.

[Storm Bride]

So...yeah...not functioning. I saw "thyroid" on the lab requisition form and didn't even twig that he'd only checked the TSH. I actually hope they can find something, because something is just not right. I don't even know how I'm getting through the day. (Today, I just completely forgot that I had a pot of yams, which I was cooking for dd2, sitting on the stove, and left the house to run several errands. Fortunately, the water boiled dry, but they didn't burn or catch fire or anything. *sigh* )

[lil_miss_understood]

Lisa
I've btdt. I forgot I was boiling tea on the stove and we left to go to the city for the day. I was incredibly fortunate that the house did not burn down. No joke.
The other possibility, taking into consideration your high stress levels, is that it's adrenal fatigue. However, I have a hunch that your TSH will come back skewed. Whatever the result, I hope you get some answers.

[Storm Bride]

Adrenal fatigue is definitely on my radar, as well. I understand it can be cumulative, and it would honestly explain a lot. I also think (he didn't say for sure - my doctor tends to leave things pretty open) my doctor's first thought was thyroid, and he did make the comment that people can be hypothyroid for a long time, before certain symptoms show up (in response to my observation that I don't seem to have any of the hair-related ones).

I've never left anything on the stove before - at least not without remembering shortly after leaving. If I hadn't already figured out that something is really wrong, it would have been a great wake-up call...

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by Storm Bride

Adrenal fatigue is definitely on my radar, as well. I understand it can be cumulative, and it would honestly explain a lot. I also think (he didn't say for sure - my doctor tends to leave things pretty open) my doctor's first thought was thyroid, and he did make the comment that people can be hypothyroid for a long time, before certain symptoms show up (in response to my observation that I don't seem to have any of the hair-related ones).

I've never left anything on the stove before - at least not without remembering shortly after leaving. If I hadn't already figured out that something is really wrong, it would have been a great wake-up call...

I never did it prior to my hypoT dx either. I've done it on 3 different occasions since then. Really not a great wake-up call. I'd prefer something else.
I wish I didn't have hair-related ones. I seem to get every symptom in the book.

[Storm Bride]

I guess I'll make a determined effort not to burn down my house in future, then.

[subtlycrunchy]

Hey there Mama -- Just passing along a link to a holistic health website that has a ton of helpful, well-researched articles on Thyroid Health and hypothyroidism. Good luck!

[Storm Bride]

Oh - that's the site I stumbled across a couple of days ago. I did their checklist on adrenal fatigue and was told I have "moderate to severe" symptoms, "severe" demands and "fair" support. I could probably be doing a little better than that...

[JaneS]

There is also the simple (or not so simple) issue of nutrition. Building babies takes a lot out of a mother's body.

B vits, zinc, iodine, selenium, magnesium, vitamin A & D ... if any of these are deficient (and there is much evidence most people are) the thyroid cannot work, with some directly inhibiting T4 to T3 conversion.

Also I'm learning more lately about how high insulin effects the production of all our hormones, including thyroid and adrenal, which is extremely interesting given the standard high carb diet.

[CathMac]

Originally Posted by subtlycrunchy 

Hey there Mama -- Just passing along a link to a holistic health website that has a ton of helpful, well-researched articles on Thyroid Health and hypothyroidism. Good luck!

Do you know anyone that has actually followed their program or taken their supplements?

I have come across their site before. I took the quiz again but I'd forgot that you have to give an email address.  For some reason that puts me off.

~Cath

[Dr Rebecca Boyd]

I’m so sorry that you’re experiencing problems like this!  Not knowing what is causing your symptoms can definitely be frustrating.  I’m glad that you’re addressing this, and that you realize there could be a problem with your thyroid.  You do have many of the symptoms – and it’s very important that improper thyroid function does not go undiagnosed.

While it may not be comforting, it's always good to know you're not alone.  It is estimated that 59 million Americans are suffering from all kinds of problems that can be linked to a type of thyroid malfunction.  But a lot of these people have not been examined or even diagnosed.

With your thyroid being the master of your metabolism, it can seriously affect your weight, depression and energy levels.

Every aspect of your life can be affected in some way when thyroid function is less than optimal.

Your thyroid must be functioning at the right level in order for you to reach and maintain optimal wellness!

[marimara]

Here is my absolute favorite thyroid website Stop the Thyroid Madness http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/recommended-labwork/

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

About thyroid AND adrenal http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/adrenal-info/

good luck to you.  I just got on this train myself, I've had nodules and goiter for 12 yrs, they just removed most of my thyroid now I"m hypo.  They are just now treating me.

[marimara]

Also here is a link to a Natural Medicine doctor in my town that I am considering going to.  Here are her 4 part webinars on the thyroid if u have the time to watch them they are great, about 1 hr a piece.  maybe help to absorb the information.

http://www.becknaturalmedicineuniversity.com/thyroid_webinar_204.html