The Thyroid Thread (Part II) - Page 43

[lil_miss_understood]

This suggests that the studies have been inconclusive (unsurprisingly, considering my recent readings on how scientific studies are conducted ). The thyroid About.com site by Mary Shomon, however, states that there is a clear correlation between increased anti-thyroid abs and m/c.

[nurturebaby]

This has probably been discussed already, but there are so many pages here!

Wondering if anyone has a recommendation for a thyroid support supplement. My doc recommended I start taking one along with extra iodine in the form of some more seaweed in my diet. She said to try and find a supplement with thyronine? I think that's what she said.

I was thinking either Dr. Ron's thyroid/liver support or nutri-meds thyroid?

I have hashimoto's and my numbers are still within 'normal' but doc is worried because my tsh doubled since last test a few months back. I'm also having hypo symptoms and want to try to tackle it before it gets to the point of needing meds.

[Barcino]

Hi ladies! I am hypothyroid. I got diagnosed after pregnancy but it never went away.  I actually think I started hyper during my pregnancy and it swang to hypo by the time we discovered it.   

I had not been doing a great job taking care of it in the last year or so - having two kids instead of one totally threw me off I guess!  Anyway I have not been super consistent with taking my synthroid like I should and I have been going too long between checks and started feeling funky. Went to get bloodwork done thinking I was anemic and my TSH was up to 3.05.  NO wonder I felt bad - I am usually fine when I am around 1.   Anyway another thing that came off was my cholesterol which was very low.  Total was 113 has def dropped from the last test I had done in 2007.   The doctor was not concerned about this but I know this is not a good thing.  Anyway...  Anybody else with hypo and LOW cholesterol problems?  My vitamin D was also deficient at 30 although the doctor said it was fine because it was at the very bottom of the range.  I think this time my Free t3 was low.  They gave it to me in a new unit 2.7 range was 2.3-4.2  So I think it is 270.  Does this mean I am now not converting?  I have never had an issue with this before.  I have been out of the loop so long about all this that I feel like I have to re-educate myself.  

I have been working out and eating  better over the last two years and I  have lost 40 lbs with much better eating and consistent excercise (cardio and streght training with a trainer) I thought that it would mean everything was better but looks like everything is just a mess.  I am so frustrated.  

Anyway any input on the low cholesterol, low vitamin D, 

I have started supplementing my vitamin D3 - they upped my synthroid to 100 from 75 and I am upping healthy fats and taking nordic natural ultimate omega as well.  I need to find another doctor that will look at the rest of my hormones I think everything is just upside down. 

[JaneS]

Swing hypo and hyper sounds autoimmune to me, Barcino.

I'd have the 3 antibodies tests recommended at Stop the Thyroid Madness' website.  I think 30 is low for D, it should be above 50.  Yes conversion could indeed be an issue if you are on Synthroid and there are a number of things that effect conversion.  And the fact that Synthroid might not be the best med for you.  Are you supp'ing with selenium?

[Barcino]

They did test me for autoinmmune a couple years back and it didnt show it.  I wonder if I should retest? 

[JaneS]

Nuturebaby,

If you have Hashi's you need to be very careful about iodine and other thyroid support... it sound to me that your doctor is not up on the research and the supplements.  I would find an iodine literate practitioner listed at Breast Cancer Choices website.  I would not eat seaweed or take kelp supplements at all because they can be contaminated, see THE Iodine Thread for more info.

Are you taking selenium?

[JaneS]

I would and there is more than one test to check.

[Anastasiya]

So is this a totally dead thread now?

Because I'd love for it to start up again. :)

[mamabeth]

Me too. I am minus half a thyroid as of December 2010 with Hashimoto's and have lots of questions.  It is such a frustrating disorder!  Should we start a new thread, perhaps?

[abeliamama]

Hi! I'm new to the thyroid madness...Had a panic attack(?) at a convention which landed me in the emergency room, then to regular doc for blood tests. Got an thyroid ultrasound and have nodules. TSH came up low so I am hyperthyroid.

A little background...I have been through a rough few years with my husband battling addiction and my business hanging on by a thread. DH is clean now (yea!) and things are looking up.  Shortly after the panic attack and blood tests, I started started therapy, got on an anti depressant and got my frickin' IUD removed.

My symptoms are: Panic, anxiety, weight loss (could be IUD removal), itchiness, blurry vision (could be being 44 years old), light headedness, no memory(could be SSRI), hot flashes, then cold, neck pain, headaches and racing heart.

Here are my test results:

TSH:  .089

T3 total:  138

T4 free:  1.8

Thyroid antibody: 1.8

Doctor says I could see an endo but I am doing research on my own first. My doc doesn't seem to know a lot about thyroid.

I started taking a multivitamin (with 200mcg selenium), as well as a kelp supplement (225 mg), and magnesium (500 mg) daily.

Anyone have any advice on what I should be doing? Hyper resources? Experiences?

Is this considered a mild case?

Thanks so much in advance.

[calapitters]

Does anyone here have a child with congenital hypothyroidism or CH themselves?  My youngest (now 14 months) was diagnosed with her newborn testing.  She is a happy, healthy, developing little girl and I don't have any concerns, but I'm interested in hearing of other people's experiences.  I don't know anyone else whose child was born with CH.  

[Xavismom]

Wow there is a ton of back information on this thread.. and now it seems to have died off? I can see I have much reading to do. I hope some of you come back. I am so overwhelmed today.

Went to see an ND for my thyroid and asthma. Got my results back, and I have Hashimotos. Next, she wants to do a food allergy blood test, specifically for gluten/dairy. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around that too.

[gabbyraja]

I don't know if the yahoo iodine group was suggested here or not, but what a tremendous wealth of information (like how to make your own lugol's drops to minimize cost)! It's run by a very knowledgable ND. I thought ya'll might be interested in this, from the group:

"I've been diagnosed with extreme intestinal candida along with extreme small intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) and low stomach acid...What if you suspect an ongoing bacterial infection such as mycoplasma bacterium. Dr. Brownstein says this bacteria shows up in 50 to 70% of Hashi's and Graves patients. (p. 122 in "Overcoming Thyroid Disorders")"

WuWei is right. All disease DOES begin in the gut!

Here're some helpful threads:

http://www.mothering.com/community/t/1096747/where-to-start-help-101

http://www.mothering.com/community/t/1091794/the-iodine-thread

www.mothering.com/community/t/1153174/the-adrenal-fatigue-thread

www.mothering.com/community/t/1063558/everything-one-needs-to-know-about-stomach-acid

http://www.mothering.com/community/t/952566/please-comment-on-susun-weed-letter-titled-candida-is-a-helper-it-is-keeping-you-healthy

http://www.mothering.com/community/t/1299176/working-on-some-new-thoughts

[gabbyraja]

There is also an excellent yahoo group for Natural Thyroid Hormones. Here's some info I learned there:

NP Thyroid by Acella is a generic from of Armour. You can ask your pharmacist to sub it for your armour Rx. It works like the old formulation of Armour. Dissolves better under the tongue, tastes better, WORKS better, requires less.

"If vitamin E is deficient, the absorption of iodine by the thyroid decreases to 5 % of normal. Because the glands, attempting to compensate for the deficiency, may become overactive or toxic, anyone with hyperthyroidism should take generous amounts of Vit  E over a prolonged period. Giving adults 500 mgs daily has caused their thyroids to absorb twice as much iodine and the protein bound iodine in their blood has increased to normal. A high protein diet speeds the activity of a sluggish thyroid glands by supplying the amino acid thyrosine, from which the thyroid hormone is made. Tyrosine however, cannot be used without Vitamins B6 and C nor can the hormone be made without choline. Thyroxin is inactivated by oxygen if Vit C is undersupplied or destroyed.  From Adele Davis's book "Lets get Well". A goldmine of a book as some well know."

"You should have a complete iron panel with ferritin done to try and sort out what is going on. It helps to take 5000 iu of Vitamin D3 as well and sublingual methyl B12. http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/ferritin/ " However, new info is coming out against D3, so we take Blue Ice fclo instead for our vit D.

[slmommy]

HELP?!?!

I'm sorry I can't read this whole thing, I'm sure my situation has been covered but maybe someone can give me a heads up? I know it is an old thread...

I've have hashis since I was about 14, (28 now)... always synthroid... prior to pregnancy was on 175 for many years, fluctuated during pregnancy, decreased after, and has been rising back up slowly. 6 Months after my daughter was born I found out I am Celiac too, so have been off gluten for about year and a half... I had been on synthroid 150 for quite a well, tested fine (tsh and t4) in May, then in Dec (with no symptoms):

TSH - 14.89  mcUI/mL (0.3 - 5.0)

Free T4 - 1.2   ng/dL (0.8-1.9) 

T3 Total - 80

T4 Total - 6.3

So I was moved back to 175. Since then I've been having A LOT of emotional problems, depression, anxiety, I feel almost bi-polar - real ups and bad downs. Whenever I've had depression in the past it has been thyroid related. Also having sleep issues. My old dr. moved, so I tried a new one, did some reading on Stop The Thyroid Madness Website site and had her test (this week):

TSH - 1.32  mcUI/mL (0.3 - 5.0)

Free T4 - 1.5  ng/dL (0.8-1.9) 

Free T3 - 295 pg/dL (200 - 420)

TgAb - 549.8 U/mL (under 115)

anti-TPO - 26.8 U/mL (under 34)

Reverse T3 - 46.46 ng/dL (8 - 40)

I emailed the new dr. with the results and she tells me everything is fine, we will re-test in a month. Everything is not fine with me, I really don't want to wait another month feeling so bad. I made another appt. with a different dr. for friday, but I want to be clear on what I'm reading on the STTM website...

My reverse t3 is too high, right?

I just want my ducks in a row because I do not live in the US and need to be very clear with the drs. here. I plan on printing out the STTM info, supposing the new dr. is fluent in english... and neither Armour nor Cytomel are available here. I want to find the root of the high RT3 anyway... I would not be surprised if it were low iron/b12... but I want to know... and also, I am confused about whether or not people with Hashis should be taking Iodine? If I need to start taking vitamins, whether or not I should get one with or without Iodine...

Could someone help me out? I just feel really not confident about what is going on, and also scared that these symptoms are not thyroid related. :/

ETA: ranges of exam results

Edited by slmommy - 1/31/12 at 1:55pm

[gabbyraja]

1. It's almost assuredly thyroid related. 2. I don't have much advice for you, but I'd do whatever I could to get on desscated thyroid. There's a canadian thyroid Erfa, and there are companies that with s RX they will ship it to you. I may be able to find the link I saw recently... Iodine is necessary for EVERY cell in your body, not just the thyroid. Iodine is successful in treating both hyper and hypo thyroid, and is very helpful in Hashis. I highly recommend you hit the yahoo groups for iodine and natural thyroid hormones. You'll learn a lot about why synthroid (or whatever brand name you call it where you live) is next to useless, as just as many people have trouble converting T4 to T3 and have trouble manufacturing T4. So, simply subbing T4 is ridiculous. There are T3 only medications, and some do have luck with those, but almost always it's in addition to natural thyroid hormones. NTH group also has a good list of great thyroid drs, though I don't know where you are so don't know if they would be able to help with that. One person sugested caling local pharmacies and asking who is prescribing Armour, then go to them, but that wouldn't help you either, it seems...

My Dr. treats Hashi's patients with iodine only, with great success. It takes very high amounts, and you must build up slowly. The Yahoo group can give you the info you need on co-nutrients and such that help flush the toxins you release when you begin using iodine. There are also homeopathics that can help heal the thyroid. And getting nutrition under control is crucial! Get more traditional foods into your diet, and a magnesium supplement, STAT! Mag is very helpful with depression, anxiety and mood swings, as those are the most common symptoms of a Mag deficiency. 500 mg (NOT Mag citrate) at a time, at least 30 minutes apart, especially before bed. If you develop loose stools, back down to one less dose for maintenance, up it when under unusual stress (like getting sick, for instance). HTH

[slmommy]

Thank you for the reply,

Can you get dessicated thyroid in US/Canada/Europe without a prescription?? Maybe I'll have to wait until the next time I go to US ( I am in Brazil now), to find a dr, if I need a prescription.

I signed up for STTM fb group and a yahoo group... just have to wait for them to let me in!

Ironically, I have been going towards TF diet in the last few weeks, it makes a lot of sense to me and I hope to do more.

Here in Brazil, homeopathic drs are much more accepted than in the US, I am trying to get an appt with a highly recommened one but it might take a while...I'm really upset (once again) by the general mainstream approach to this. And lettting a patient walk out of your office clearly not well, with no hope, with no explanation... it just makes me so angry. 

[gabbyraja]

No problem! I don't know about Europe, but no on the other US/Canada. There is similar stuff you can get w/o rx, though. Lemme find that info...

Here are many of the known thyroid drugs compared. http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/armour-vs-other-brands/ Don't know which can be ordered w/o a rx, but I THINK thyrogold can be.

"Thyro Gold does not have any hormones removed and it is quite a strong form of NTH. It is not an extract, but includes the tissue as well, so it is measured differently. Because it is bovine instead of porcine, it has a slightly higher ratio of T3 to T4.

In my experience, three Thyro Gold capsules are equal to 5 grains of Thyroid S or NP Thyroid. I was very happy on Thyro Gold, but just couldn't afford it as I need a higher dose of NTH than many folks."

[slmommy]

Just wanted to post this in case anyone is ever in a similar situation - it looks like i can order Armour, Naturethroid, or Westhroid over the internet (they only ship to an international address) and also synthetic T4 replacements and T3.

http://www.internationalpharmacy.com/en/home

and

http://www.collegepharmacy.com/

there seem to be specific country restrictions... I may try it if I have no more luck here in Brazil finding anything... I have some more drs appts lined up though.

This might be interesting too for anyone living abroad or traveling for an extended amount of time internationally... 

Edited by slmommy - 2/1/12 at 8:01am