The Hypothyroid experience

toomuchcoffeelady · 06-26-2008, 02:16 PM

Well. After having NINE vials of blood taken the other day, they tell me I have hypothyroid (4.6). Not a suprise, as my mom, and several of my aunts and cousins have hypothyroid or Hashimoto's. What I want to know is, why the bloody hell am I not on synthyroid right now? I was told to expect some other tests; WTF more proof do they need before they help me?

I was prompted to have more tests because, about 6 weeks ago, despite my 2000 mg metformin, all my PCOS symptoms came back, worse than before, plus some other symptoms. Hair loss like you wouldn't believe (noticebale difference in 3 days). ONE miniature 3 musketeers bar (I'm pretty strict about no sugar for obv reasons) and next thing I know I literally have a beard of acne, and have put on 20 lbs in the last 6 weeks (all in my stomach). I am sleeping 12 hours a day and waking up exhausted. Having dizzy spells, having trouble staying hydrated.

Also, what other joys can I expect if/when they every freaking get me on thyroid meds? I suppose this will just eff up my hairline, weight, complexion and fertility even more?

LaTejanaFria · 06-26-2008, 02:26 PM

I decided to go the "natural" route for hypothyroid meds before trying the tradition hormone medications. I've been on Thyroid Support Px for about two months. I just went into the naturopath yesterday to review my bloodwork to see how I'm doing. The original plan was to try out the Thyroid Support, check blood levels, and if I hadn't improved, I'd be sent back to my GP to get the traditional meds.

Here are the results:
TSH 4.92 (10/31/07) 2.79 (6/25/08)

Since I've made significant progress and I'm feeling a lot better, I've decided to stick with the Thyroid Support and hold off on the traditional meds for later if I need them.

As for your tests, they might have done just an initial TSH but need to go back to get the T4, Free, T3, and Thyroid Antibodies in order to pinpoint your exact ailment. Since Hashimoto's is in your family, I'm certain they want to make sure they're treating the right one.

toomuchcoffeelady · 06-26-2008, 03:31 PM

Thanks!

Can I ask what was the advantage you found in taking the naturopath route rather than the western medicinal route? I still haven't given up the TTC ghost...

Renee3600 · 06-27-2008, 09:50 AM

They probably want to test for the Hashi's antibodies, but why they won't start treatment right away is beyond me. They are going to treat you the same way even if you do have the antibodies.

Good luck!

LaTejanaFria · 06-27-2008, 09:02 PM

Thanks for asking. I tend to be a bit long winded, but I'm covering everything so you can see how I came to the treatment I'm on.

In general, I tend to err on the side of caution, wanting to keep traditional Western meds for later. I'm most concerned about long term use of medication, as I understand that PCOS is managed, never cured. So with that in mind, I prefer to start with the least aggressive plan possible (in this case herbs and other supplements) so that if I need to step up the treatment later, I can turn to those medications and postpone long term side effects for a while longer.

I was on Yasmin for 5 or 6 years and while it did help with my acne (a little) and I lost about 6 lbs., I was seeing my triglycerides and cholesterol levels getting worse, with no change in my diet. I remember asking the nurse's practitioner about Yasmin's efficacy for me, and she said I was doing great, despite the bad results on the blood work.

When I finished my last pack earlier in March, I decided to really take this on. I don't want to mask symptoms, I want to treat the underlying problem. My doctor offered Metformin, but because I'm concerned about long term use, I decided to go with the naturopath. I should also add that I'd gone to a women's wellness talk on campus offered by a local naturopath. She talked to me about the program that I'm now and recommended that I talk with my doctor before starting it. I had also been doing quite a bit of reading on the Alternative Remedies board and had found the good results posted about the program I'm on.

I asked the doctor about it (she also does holistic medicine), but she said that she doesn't know enough about this program specifically to be able to give me good advice. She advised that I see the naturopath who recommended this to me. While I know that alternative route also has long term use issues, I PERCEIVE it as less aggressive.

I took my most recent blood panel results with me to my first visit with the naturopath and she's the one who warned me about the thyroid problem. Strangely, my GP (who saw the same results the week before) didn't say anything. I guess I chose the herbs because 1) I was talking to the naturopath at the moment who recommended trying the Thyroid Support first and 2) I could always use the hormones if the herbs didn't work. I'm happy that it worked out the way that it did.

The number one thing that I'm most concerned about is gaining health. In my view, traditional medications solve problems, but tey don't always get at the larger issues. In this case, Metformin probably would, but it has the problems of being hard on the liver after a while. Even though I'm not "young" (38), I don't want to have to take a drug for the rest of my life if I don't have to. So, that's part of the rationale too. Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to give you a sense of my thought process.

CarrieBerry · 06-28-2008, 07:50 AM

I can totally understandy why you are so frusterated with not being on meds. It isn't fun dealing with any of this and the sooner it gets under control the better! When I was first diagnosed it took me about two-three weeks to first start my meds.

My doctor sent me for a thyroid scan. You can't be on the medicine if you have a thyroid scan because it would throw off the levels. So they might send you for one of those. Here's a site with more information about thyroid scans. http://www.medicinenet.com/thyroid_scan/article.htm
The thyroid scan checks the size of your thyroid, if it is hot or cold, the amout it is over or underactive, rules out cancer...ect.

It might not be that they need more proof that you have hypothyroid, but they might need to do some tests to figure out how to better help you in the long run instead of just throwing meds at you and hoping they work.