Newly diagnosed

Thank you very much that is helpful but i would like to make sure I'm clear on what you've said. The first part seems to say it can be caused by environmental elements.

But then you go into hashimotos and graves...it is my understanding hashimotos is the most common cause of a hypothyroid. It is also my understanding that something HAS TO cause it. It doesnt just happen "because".

Where i get concerned is at the possibility of either autoimmune disease just because of the other things that can follow. Is tgere anyway to find out HOW this happened?

Mercury, found in large fish is known to cause thyroid disease.  Birth control pills are another culprit. Genetics play a role... bromine is another chemical known to specifically cause thyroid disease.

Nutritional deficiencies, particularly Bs, D, C, minerals. Magnesium, boron, calcium can all contribute to thyroid disease.

Treatment is Levothyroxine. Just got a hold of records from that visit and all it says is low t4 w/ elevated tsh.

Other symptoms:

Lethargy

Sensitive to cold

Depression

Brittle nails

Dry skin

High cholesterol

Sluggishness

Irregular uterine bleeding

As dar as my father I'd only speculated about this affecting him. He always had weight issues but his was up and down, to my knowledge he didnt have any of the others. Honestly i think i spoke with no basis.

Brief update.....

It was really bothering me not knpwing if there was a definituve cause so i went back to the doc. Told him i didn't know family history, uncertainty is one and the same after all. I did however, tell him my father was overweight and i couldnt tell him why.

He said the reason he didn't test for hashimotos at all is because the two reasons i might possibly have hypothyroid is either family history or hashimotos. He said it was a 'safe bet' it was hashimotos.

He did offer to order the test for it and i said I'd think about it. I'm going to get test because i really do need to know but I'm curious...what would you do? Also as a side note, my TSH is elevated but my T3 & T4 are still in the normal range.

You have normal T3 and T4 but high TSH? You have something blocking your thyroxin from being effective. Either high rT3, or antibodies. Most likely antibodies since both are normal and your TSH. The meds can cause high rT3, exposure to mercury can cause high rT3.  Your doctor will treat by giving higher doses of meds to compensate for the bound thyroxin. Unfortunately, this often results in higher and higher doses of meds, because the meds can also result in high rT3 as well as antibodies. So docs generally dose low to try and prevent this problem or curb it.  Medication does nothing to deal with the cause of the disease. 

To deal with the cause of the disease, you have to treat the immune system. Start with eliminating all gluten products from your diet. Also no processed foods,  o artificial colors or preservatives. Everything fresh.  I buy my veggies at the local farmers market so I can see the person who grows them and ask questions about how they’re grown. This way, I have a better chance of actually getting really good quality foods. It helps a lot.

Don’t color or perm your hair if you don’t have to. Avoid smelly cleaners. There was a time when I was extremely sensitive to chlorine bleach and avoided it for a long time. 

Once you’ve eliminated great products (difficult because it’s in everything), eliminate corn products, and other grains as much as you can. The idea is to keep from retriggering your immune system 

Along with this is a healthy gut and healthy elimination. It’s important that your gut is healthy as it is part of the immune system.  It’s also important that your other organs are functioning well so that you get proper nutrition and glimjnate waste- so gallbladder, pancreas, liver, kidneys all need to function well.

Thank you very much! If anything else comes to mind please fill me in

You’ll find thyroid patients tend to troubleshoot every aspect of their health, because, as the thyroid goes down, the metabolism slows and the body starts shutting down “nonessential” functions. To try and preserve energy, the body first shuts down other aspects of the hormonal  system,   body temperature lowers to save energy. As the body temp lowers, the gallbladder and liver become sluggish because fats that are metabolized start to harden (due to lower body temp). and clog ducts and the liver in general. The liver becomes sluggish, slowing the blood flow to and from the heart, since the liver filters the blood. Then you get heart palpitations. Meanwhile, with the gallbladder duct jammed from cold hard fat, you can’t get bile  into your gut to digest fats properly. Then, there’s a huge connection between the gallbladder and the pancreas, so when the gallbladder jammed, the digestive enzymes from the pancreas can’t get to the gut. So you pretty much can’t digest anything. Which leads to every gut problem imaginable, malnutrition and diabetes. Meanwhile, your pancreas is still pumping out insulin and digestive enzymes but since they are blocked from the gut by the fat clogging up the common duct (between the gallbladder and pancreas),  the enzymes and insulin back up into the pancreas, causing insulin resistance and the digestive enzymes literally eat up your pancreas. Your gut bloats our with undefeated food, and your starving to death, and toxic and bloated. Pretty soon you can’t digest anything. You’ve got “subclinical” every disease imaginable and your organs don’t work and your body shuts down. 

One of the most important things you can do to maintain health with thyroid disease, is to keep your exercise up. Staying extremely active  goes a long way towards maintaining body functions.

Take good quality vitamin and mineral supplements, stay warm.  Visit saunas and hot tubs frequently- this helps give your body a break by warming things up so things can function normally , if only for a short time.

With thyroid disease, you need to take extremely good care of your body. No more junk food, no binging, no sugary snacks, nothing processed, you MUST get enough protein in your diet. Essential aminos can help supplement and will ease many symptoms of hypothyroid disease. 

Hypothyroid disease slows metabolism, which is basically rapid aging... as we age our metabolism slows, resulting in aging, as cells don’t reproduce and repair as quickly, etc. With thyroid disease, this slow metabolism can age us very rapidly, as our metabolism is like an elderly person’s. 

I may need to private message back if i have questions, i hope thats okay.