My adventure into hypothyroidism...

Happyflowerlady

Happyflowerlady

Vagabond Flowerchild
Location
Northern Alabama
I have always been a chubby person all of my life, often losing weight in the summer, and gaining it back when winter came. When I dveloped the CHF and a-fib, then I was unable to even exercise like I did before, and subsequently, lost a lot of my muscle tone.
After the heart surgery last summer, I was doing much better and exercising more, and even lost some weight. However, over the winter, I started gaining weight, regardless of exercise and what I was eating (or not eating).
That I was freezing all the time, and lethargic, as well as foggy-headed , I simply attributed to the cold winter, and my poor circulation. Nevertheless, when it continued this spring; I decided to tell my cardiologist about it.
He said it could be my thyroid, and sent me for a blood test , which turned out to show hypothyroidism.

My primary care doctor wanted to start me on Synthroid; but after reading about the bad reactions that others had with this drug, I refused to take the Synthroid. She told me that it was perfectly safe, and that both she and her mother had taken it for years.
That was NOT what I wanted to hear, either !
I wanted to correct the thyroid problem, not just take a drug to treat it for the rest of my life. When she realized that I was not about to take the drug; she said that I could try Armour thyroid, which is a natrual thyroid extract made from pigs' thyroids.
I had read excellent reports about that so I agreed to try it.
The first day, I took the pill along with my nighttime vitamins and heart meds, and I didn't get to sleep for HOURS !
So much for that idea, after that, I took it first thing in the morning and it has worked perfectly for me. Coffee is now for the enjoyment of having my morning coffee, and not to dispel the morning brain-fog.
At this point, I am feeling much better, am being a lot more active, and have even lost a little weight; so it is all a good sign, and I am pleased that i seem to be making progress with the situation.
 

Good for you HF, for standing up for yourself and making a choice you felt was best for you. Good to hear you are doing better with the different plan. It's always going to be different for each person what does or doesn't work for them as well as side effects, this path isn't ever easy, but it's always good when we are part of the decision making process as to what we do or don't want to have administered to us based on our educated or well researched opinions.
 

Thank you Pappy, and I am sorry to hear about your wife having to have the thyroid removed. Apparently, some people are just fine with taking the synthetic drug, and if she has no more thyroid gland, then she does not have much of a chioce anymore.
Due to the diet that most Americans eat, we do not get enough iodine that our thyroid needs to function properly. This is why they added it to commercial salt, to help increase the iodine needed by our bodies.
Then, they tell people (seniors especially) NOT to use salt. Therefore, it is estimated that perhaps up to 30% of Americans are iodine deficient.
When I suggested to my doctor that I was probably iodine deficient; she said, oh no, it was just my age causing the malfunction.
If age causes it, why was she (early 40's) taking it ? She said that both she and her mother had taken Synthroid for years; so obviously, she was not interested in healing the thyroid, just putting a bandage on the problem, so to speak.

I ordered a thyroid supplement that has the needed vitamins and minerals that support thyroid function, and have increased the foods that are high in iodine in my diet; and my goal is not to just treat the hypothyroidism, but to cure it and have a thyroid that functions properly again.
 
Hi Happy,

I'm glad you avoided Synthroid. I also take NDT (Armour) , in addition I take a small does of Cytomel (T3). Has your doctor had you tested for a complete thyroid panel? Many doctors test only for TSH and you really need to have the entire panel in order to determine the ideal dose. Have you monitored your basal temperature? That's a good measure of how well your metabolism is functioning?
 
I've also taken Synthroid for about 25 years with no ill effects. I take it first thing in the morning about an hour before my morning coffee and I include a kelp tablet for the iodine benefit at the same time. The other important thing is to avoid the foods that are goitrogenic as these have a blocking effect on the thyroid hormones. It's actually quite a long list and include walnuts, cabbage, broccoli, strawberries, wheat products and peanuts to name just a few. I have read that heating these foods limits the goitregens effect making it possible to eat those things in moderation. My doctor checks my levels once a year or so and when I left wheat products out of my diet, he was even able to adjust my dosage down.

You mentioned your youngish doctor taking Synthroid and that isn't unusual as it can be a bit of a genetic issue. In my family, my mother, one of my cousins, my aunt and one of my daughters all have thyroid issues. My reading has also indicated that malfunctioning thyroids can't be healed just supported so your doctor isn't being lazy so much as she is aware that this is a form of auto-immune disease.
 
Thank you for the input, Debbie !
I am operating on the principle that it depends on why the thyroid is not working as to whether it can be fixed or not. If it is not working because I am iodine or mineral deficient; then quite possibly just including enough iodine in my diet to bring the levels back up to a functioning level might be all that I need. If there is something actually wrong with the thyroid that can't be helped with proper nutrition and supplements, then I will probably have to continue to take the thyroid medicine.
One of the most recommended books seems to be Thyroid Power, and I have found a copy of that on eBay and bought it. Once that arrives (next week?) then I will have a much better idea of what I am dealing with.
Amazon has a lot of books on hypothyroidism, and although many of them are expensive, quite a few of them are available to read for free through the Amazon Lending Library; so I will probably be researching my way through this adventure as I go along.
For now, just that I am feeling like "my old self" is satisfaction enough.
 
I read a link once that says that 8 out of 10 women are actually struggling with the effects of a slow thyroid and that it can even be triggered by stress on the adrenal glands as a result of pregnancy. So genetics, cancer, pregnancy......multiple whammy's eh? And I've also read (maybe in that same link which I can't for the life of me find right now) that the tests that doctors do are not as sensitive as they should be, or the accepted understanding of the 'numbers' revealed by those tests are somewhat inaccurate which means that often women who are tested are told that they're in the safe range which does nothing for how they feel.

My youngest daughter was feeling yucchy and had many of the symptoms that are attributed to a slow thyroid, but when she was tested by the doctor she works for, she was informed that she was in the safe range. Not satisfied with that, she went to another doctor and after explaining the family history and how she was feeling, he tested her, then told her that while she was in the accepted safe range, he was willing to try her on a very low dosage of Synthroid and she said it was like the fog had finally burned away and the sun came out! She felt so much better and could think more clearly! So as you said, feeling normal and 'like yourself' is the best judge of whether you need med support. You gotta wonder how many women are struggling through life 'because they're in the safe range'?

Good luck with your studies on your new status happyflowerlady!
 
I have been reading more about the likelihood of having an iodine deficiency, and found this short video by Dr. Brownstein, who is one of the doctors who treats thyroid problems with natural means. He explains how common things like chlorine, flouride, and bromide (used in flour) will destroy our already low amount of iodine.
I ordered a bottle of Lugol's Soloution, which is how they used to treat thyroid issues, and it worked well, and was safe to use. I also ordered some high-mineral Himalayan sea salt to use instead of the plain sea salt that I usually use. He says it is important to use the sea salt and lots of water when your body starts to flush out the toxins.

http://youtu.be/afZg2jzHuCs
 
Happyflowerlady said:
I have been reading more about the likelihood of having an iodine deficiency, and found this short video by Dr. Brownstein, who is one of the doctors who treats thyroid problems with natural means. He explains how common things like chlorine, flouride, and bromide (used in flour) will destroy our already low amount of iodine.
I ordered a bottle of Lugol's Soloution, which is how they used to treat thyroid issues, and it worked well, and was safe to use. I also ordered some high-mineral Himalayan sea salt to use instead of the plain sea salt that I usually use. He says it is important to use the sea salt and lots of water when your body starts to flush out the toxins.

http://youtu.be/afZg2jzHuCs
Click to expand...

I'm also supplementing with Iodine. Have you had the two thyroid antibody tests (serum). If positive they suggest the cause of your hypothyroidism is Hashimoto's disease which is the single most common reason people have hypothyroidism.
 
Josiah said:
I'm also supplementing with Iodine. Have you had the two thyroid antibody tests (serum). If positive they suggest the cause of your hypothyroidism is Hashimoto's disease which is the single most common reason people have hypothyroidism.
Click to expand...
Josiah, the only test that my doctor has done is the regular blood test that indicated if you have hypothyroidism. I am supposed to go back in July for another test; but in the meantime, I am reading and watching/listening to youtube information about thyroid issues. Since I also have RA; and my daughter has MS; I think it is pretty likely that mine if Hashimoto's; but I am still in the beginning of my learning process on this problem.

I think that I know why it happened so suddenly though.
After my heart procedure, I felt great, lots of energy, and I could breathe again since the heart was working better. About mid-winter, it just changed, almost overnight and I woke up drained and barely able to stagger around the house again. I thought it was my heart had gone wacky again; but the cardiologist said it was healing and doing fine.
Well, last night, I was reading which medications have iodine in them, and one of them is called "amiodarone" and it helps keep your heart in rhythm.(it is actually the iodine helping to do that). So, when they took me off of the amiodarone; then I went into iodine shortage.
I probably was low thyroid from lack of iodine even before the operation, and had just always blamed everything on the (obvious) heart problems of a-fib and CHF.
 
I am feeling much better already, but think they may increase my dose of NDT next month when I go in. The usual low doseage is supposed to be 60mg, and she started me at 30 mg, to see how much it helped. I take it first thing when i wake up. Later, I have breakfast, and take my other vitamins and the thyroid supplement, plus the drops of Lugol's iodine. I started out at 1 drop, and then went to 2 drops, and now I am taking three, with no problems, or side effects.
I have more energy, eat less, and have even lost a few pounds, which is a great inspiration to keep on with this regimen.
I really love the pink Himalayan sea salt. It is a "saltier" taste, if that makes any sense. I think it is the minerals in there that add to the flavor of this salt.
 
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I'm on .88 mcg of synthroid and have been for a very long time.

is there a test that shows if you are low on iodine?
 
I don't have a Thyroid Gland since it was removed 10 years ago because of muiltiple toxic nodules and have been taking one tablet daily of Levoxyl since. No problems or complications.
 
LynnD said:
I'm on .88 mcg of synthroid and have been for a very long time.

is there a test that shows if you are low on iodine?
Click to expand...
Lynne, i am not sure if there is an actual test that shows that; but when I started reading about low-thyroid and iodine, it sure looked like I had most of the symptoms. A google-search on iodine will show you a lot of information.
I also posted one of Dr. Brownstein's short lectures about thyroid and iodine, and it is on the thyroid thread.

Most of the people in America are iodine deficient, according to the books and articles that i have been reading. As long ago as the 1920's, many school girls had a goiter. It was almost an epidemic; so they started adding iodine to salt, and it helped.
However, even if it is enough iodine to keep a person from getting a goiter; it is not an optimal dose, and most people are still low on iodine. Since every single hormone that our bodies make (not just the thyroid) need iodine, the shortage can cause all kinds of different symptoms, besides hypothyroidism.
It is easy to get a bottle of Lugol's iodine and see if you notice the difference. I also ordered a thyroid mineral supplement , because our body also needs selenium and other minerals to best process the iodine.

http://holisticfamilymedicineblog.c...mal-alternative-treatment-for-hypothyroidism/
 
I'll take a look, Yvonne. That interests me because I hardly use salt, so it could be possible. I do feel that although my tests always come back in the normal range with my dosage of synthyroid that my thyroid is still off...


i just just looked to see if the roasted seaweed snacks I eat occasionally have enough iodine but they don't.
 

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