thyroid misery

Equanimity wrote: »

Hi all
I have been reading through this thread which is full of some amazing support & information.
I am here in search of information as I am cracking up although I am not even sure if I have a thyroid problem. Through my own research I am pretty positive I do however I was having bloods done and the GP did thyroid function & said it was fine.
I wanted to ask if that means there is no chance at all or can it sometimes not show on the standard test and perhaps there are other tests that are better.

As most of you know when you are trying to find out what is wrong with you, while you are in pain and so unwell, with some very unhelpful medical people out there, it can feel like you will never know. I am literally at the end of my tether and am back with my GP on Monday and wanted to push that more to find out if it is a thyroid problem but the question about the blood test will help me decide if it’s worth pushing.
Thanks in advance
S

Ok ..Equanimity,



As Wyldwood mentioned , Doc's usually only test for TSH, and possibly Free T4.

To get a fuller basic picture.

Free T3 Free T4 , also T3 AND T4 would be a good tests to have done.

Often one will see precousers to Endocrine issues.

Lack of vitamin B12 , and vit D are seen far too often,


while getting the Thyroid test done it would be a good idea to get these tests done too.


Ensure you get prints of your results, good to look back if / when needed.



goodluck
Chessguy

your ana was high? how high? i was in hell for years, St toms. London diagnosed Primary Sjogrens Syndrome, with the RA factor, ask for complete lupus screen..anything above the recommended on the ANA needs further investigation, dont listen if they say its ;only a little high,' irish medicine hardly knows sjogrens exists...

Hey guys,
Thought I would chime in here. I've been diagnosed with Hypo T since I was 14, been dealing with it since generally pretty well. I wouldn't be considered fat but certainly I gain weight very easily, not sure about everyone here but I would be on what would be considered pretty high dosage of 300mg daily.

The weight stuff has never bothered me all these years until maybe the last year, I had ankle surgery and since then, have had problems getting the weight off and "out of the rut" I am also think Ive got the sads (depression), although this is prob self diagnoses and not good for me either. I just cant get motivated, excited about things and a very numb feeling and its taken its toll, especially on my relationship with someone. I don't know why I am typing this now but thought I would spit it all out in the hope that someone may know anyone (a DR.) that is that would specialise in "thyroid depression" I know this sounds silly, but my current GP has checked my bloods etc and I am in check and normal, cholesterol was a bit high but it does that at times (ate before bloods were taken. I still think though that it has something to do with my thyroid. Any help would be appreciated.

Rattlehead_ie wrote: »

Hey guys,
Thought I would chime in here. I've been diagnosed with Hypo T since I was 14, been dealing with it since generally pretty well. I wouldn't be considered fat but certainly I gain weight very easily, not sure about everyone here but I would be on what would be considered pretty high dosage of 300mg daily.

The weight stuff has never bothered me all these years until maybe the last year, I had ankle surgery and since then, have had problems getting the weight off and "out of the rut" I am also think Ive got the sads (depression), although this is prob self diagnoses and not good for me either. I just cant get motivated, excited about things and a very numb feeling and its taken its toll, especially on my relationship with someone. I don't know why I am typing this now but thought I would spit it all out in the hope that someone may know anyone (a DR.) that is that would specialise in "thyroid depression" I know this sounds silly, but my current GP has checked my bloods etc and I am in check and normal, cholesterol was a bit high but it does that at times (ate before bloods were taken. I still think though that it has something to do with my thyroid. Any help would be appreciated.

Hi Rattlehead,
hypothyroid patients have a higher rate of depression than people without hypothyroidism, the only treatment protocol as far as hypothyroidism is concerned is T3 synthetic or natural such as armour or efra, have you ever tried this approach? Generally you would get a blood test and see where your T3 and T4 levels are, come down on Eltroxin dosage and add a little T3 (synthetic) or come off Eltroxin completely and start using a natural product which has both t4 and t3 about 3 grains in your case- have a look at the video for more information.


if you need a doctor who will prescribe natural thyroid hormones you can check out Aylesbury clinc in Tallaght

Hi there

Back with GP today and am having Thyroid bloods done again although I felt the GP wasn't buying it. We then realised my blood pressure is sky high. This is most unusual for me, it was up a bit on my last visit but has since really increased.
Has anyone else had high blood pressure with your Thyroid disorders?

Thanks
S

Gar - Have you been tested for antibodies to see if your hypothyroidism is auto-immune? I would do that first before doing anything else, sometimes this can also be transient or to do with iodine deficiency. In that case I would also not meddle with adding hormones. If it is auto-immune it may be that only a tiny bit of your thyroid gland has been destroyed so far and is still in good working order, however, this will not last and deteriorate slowly but persistently. So if that is the case, you're likely to prevent a host of unpleasant symptoms by pre-empting the gradual depletion of the hormone in your body.

Rattlehead - I agree with Rob, you may need T3 - given the high dose you're on, it suggests that you may have peripheral resistance - i.e. your body doesn't convert T4 sufficiently into T3, especially at tissue level. There is actually someone on this forum that has been diagnosed with this and is being treated accordingly (with T3). So I would suggest that you discuss with your doctor whether you can either switch to dessicated thyroid - ERFA or Armour - these are not licensed but can be prescribed - or to add T3 to your mix (and reducing the T4 accordingly).

Equanimty - my blood pressure is usually ok, but it does fluctuate quite a bit. best if you get yourself one of these 50 euro blood pressure monitors in the pharmacy and measure it a few times a day for a period of time to see if it is persistently high. If yes, I would suggest a kidney function test and possibly also a test of renin/angiotensin. Would also recommend a test on iron status and catecholamines. But the doctor will probably look at you and think you've gone mental if you suggest all this!

Rattlehead I don't convert T4 properly: there is no test as such for it: but for me I was upped to 500mg before a new Endo put me on T3: I improved so much after been put on it. My blood test results were a bit different: my T4 were normal: albeit very low normal, but my TSH was sky high.

Best thing I can reccomend to you is go to an Endo: and if they don't listen, find one who does listen. My endo is seeing me fortnightly at the moment because I'm thyrotoxic (pregnancy!!) and it really really makes a difference to have a good doctor "minding" you for want of a better word.

I feel the same way about Armour: some of the stuff I read scared me. But then loads of people have very positive experiences on it! I'm just glad the combination T3/T4 works for me.

Garhjw I would be very very slow not to take thyroid tablets even if you aren't displaying any symptoms. Like Cltt97 said if it is autoimmune long term the health complications would ge far worse. Even if you do decide not to take Eltroxin etc go for regular bloods and keep a really close eye on it. The other side is regular exercise etc is really good for anyone with thyroid problems so that may be why you aren't experiencing any problems.

Also if it is autoimmune in some people (like me!) the symptoms might not necessarily show up the way they do for most people: I have Graves Disease which is hyperthyroidism (before it was treated with radioactive iodine): and when I was first diagnosed I went from a size 10 to 18 in 5 months: the complete opposite of what you would expect.

Equamity - I suspect that the TRT is probably TFT which stands for thyroid function test - but this is usually just TSH and T4 (sometimes they do report FT4)

Have you looked at what fluoride ( water, toothpaste etc ) & goitrogenic foods are said to do ?

garhjw wrote: »

evening guys, so i met with my GP earlier to review the results of my blood tests: they were:

TSH 8.17
Free T4 10.8

we discussed the options - prescribing hormones which i would probably have to take for life.
we also discussed the option of natural treatments. he agreed it is worht trying. My GP told me another patient of his has cured her hypothoroidism by natural treatments last year. my sister in law has a health food shop and extensive knowledge of natural medicines, herbs and vitamins. i went to see her this evening and thei is what i am going to do:

Diet:
1 cut out wheat
2 cut out sugar
3 no more coffee

Vitamins/Herbs:
1 a concoction with ginseng, muira puama, sasparilla and other stuff
2 pro bio tablets
3 selenium
4 vit b complex

in about 3 weeks, i will be adding more vits and herbs. will post them up then.

in 2 months i will go for more tests and see what effect it is having.

thanks agan for all the help on here.

Thanks Gar, keep us posted on this- did your doctor do an antibody test? it would be interesting if making the recommended changes brings down thyroid antibodies

And just to add to the debate - if you have antibodies and your thyroid is being destroyed, in order to meet the hormone demand of the body, the gland starts to grow - and then you get a goiter (that happened to me). So, next time when you go for your test in two months time, make sure you ask for the antibody test (TPO), so you can be sure what the underlying cause of your hypo state is. If you're one lucky guy, yours is caused by iodine deficiency or is transient or whatever else and can be fixed by nutritional intervention.