Trying to understand the condition
Posted , 8 users are following.
I have been on before about my husband. Basically he's had underactive thyroid for about 7 years and both of us know nothing about the condition. He takes 125mg of levothyroxine a day.
?For months now he's been really down, irritable, really tired, cold, emotional, no energy - the list goes on.
?He went to the nurse and got his bloods taken and they came back perfect. He made an appointment to see our GP. He wrote a list of all the things wrong with him and the GP was not interested. He said you may have a mental health problem. As advised on this forum he asked for his readings which are
?Free T4 18.1 pmol/L (12.0-22.0)
TSH 0.78 mU/L (0.27-4.20).
Can anyone tell me what this means. He also got his blood pressure checked and it was really high so they are going to monitor that.
Is there anything he can do to help himself. I honestly feel for him. His personality has changed so much recently.
?Sorry for going on but i'm trying to learn about this condition (I was that stupid I thought some people who were thin had overactive thyroid and larger people had underactive thyroid). Oh how wrong was I.
0 likes, 9 replies
StelAnd diane22875
Posted
dave64969 diane22875
Posted
brownyrocks diane22875
Posted
All his symptoms are hypo. symptoms and he does NOT have a mental health problem. Doctors think because TSH and T4 are in range then all should be O.K. Your husband really needs his T3 checking as sometimes people do not convert the T4 in levo. into the active hormone T3 and if this is low you will still get hypo. symptoms. If Doctor will not check T3 you can get in done privately.
He also needs his ferritin, folate, vitamin D and vitamin B12 checking and Doctor can do this. These all need to be optimal for thyroid meds. to work.
Has he had his thyroid antibodies checked, as if these are high he will be classed as having hasimotos, which is the autoimmune type of hypo. These antibodies can fall and rise and can cause lots of symptoms.
Good luck.
diane22875 brownyrocks
Posted
Thank you all so much for your replies. He has to get bloods taken and I've just looked at the slip the boxes that are ticked for checking is:-
FBC
HbA1C
B12 and Folate
Ferritin
U&E
LFT
Calcium
Glucose
?I would do anything to make him feel better and through reading this forum I told him to ask to be referred to an endocrinologist but when he did the doctor wouldn't refer him.
?Do you know if I can just go private without a GP referral? I'm from Glasgow so not sure how this works.
MtViewCatherine diane22875
Posted
Really, the best thing you can do is go holistic, as there is no truly bioidentical thyroid medication.
Traditional Chinese Medicine and various supplements and diet will certainly offer some relief.
Also, many patients on levothyroxin thyroid medication find it causes their a1c to increase.
cathy35794 diane22875
Posted
Hi Diane, I know your confusion only too well including the triggered hypertension. I lived on a drug I am guessing now I never need for 4 years and went from real well to a physical wreck. The doctor treated me on my TSH level and dismissed my complaints like he was deaf. I was most frustrated and fearful I was developing some type of neurological syndrome. This was for 4 years. I see people on this thread hanging on hoping with every lab result. I have come to the conclusion it is all bunk that doctors are feeding people. Don't be sorry for the length of your post I get your frustration and fear. Hear are 3 sites I will recommend: Stop the Thyroid Madness, Medical Madness, there are 3 books one specifically on thyroid it sound good and I am planning on purchasing it. Then there is VeryWell site on it there is an area Real Life with Thyroid Disease. This last site breaks everything down to clear English. It isn't some type of alternate medicine site either, but it explains clearly. My opinion is that doctors don't know what they are doing. My experience and a lot of what I have read on this thread have caused me to question the integrity of health care and especially as it relates to thyroid and I really believe a lot of the symptoms we read about are triggered by the drugs used to alleged thyroid disease. I am left with some symptoms/side effects that I don't know I will ever be free, so I know your pain first hand.
MtViewCatherine cathy35794
Posted
My experience has been that not only is it a waste of time but many of the treatments and diagnostic tools are harmful, test results are generally incomplete, misunderstood, inaccurate or otherwise useless or harmful.
Medicine is a business. Be mindful that you are a consumer and look out for your own interests. Whether you pay for your care or not, there’s money to be made every time you go to the doctor and the marketing and advertising are disguised as “information” and “education”.
You need to understand thyroid disease. To understand it, you must first understand the belief systems the medical community subscribed to. From there, it’s easy to find scientific publications, case studies, etc that give a pretty good idea of the true value of medications. I read one case study that blew my mind! A healthy 25 year old woman (no other health problems other than hypothyroid) was put on levothyroxin and developed liver lesions taking 25 mcg for only a month. While this was only one study, it rang true since one of my very first diagnostics following taking levothyroxin (in the first few months) was liver lesions.
If you read the side effects published by manufacturers of levothyroxin, they all say side effects include hypothyroid disease, autoimmune disease (rheumatoid arthritis and fibromialgya are specifically listed), as well as many known symptoms of hypothyroid disease.
There’s an unbelievable amount of information out there and if you search, you find more reason not to trust the medications and very little valid support for taking thyroid medication other than your doctor’s prescription. There are literally thousands of posts from people taking thyroid medication who are still struggling and are at the end of their rope.
In fact, in all my research, I have not encountered a single independent source that offers any evidence that synthetic thyroid medications offer any relief of thyroid symptoms. It’s always, “you must take thyroid medication”.
My conclusion is that synthetic thyroid medications are an entire class of drugs that were grandfathered into the medical system prior to the existence of the FDA testing requirements.
Simply put, it may be worth your while to find another solution.
MtViewCatherine diane22875
Posted
Please read the insert that comes with your medication- lists of side effects, contraindications and other information must be provided with every prescription if you’re in the US. If you don’t have this, check the manufacturer’s Site for side effects. Also read in the levothyroxin group on this site, as there are many posts on side effects.
There are other options for meds. The best is a non prescription called ThyroGold. You can buy it online.
There are also many dietary changes you can make that help.
Supplements are also extremely helpful. You’ll need a good quality multimineral and multivitamin. I’ve found essential amino acids and extra phenylalanine to be extremely helpful, and in fact, more effective that the meds with less side effects.
Keep in mind that thyroid disease is autoimmune, so to treat the thyroid, you must address the environmental factors that trigger the immune system.
john42538 diane22875
Posted
I feel the pain I am a man with Hypothyroidism, and I don't understand my self
my test results are as follows TSH,BLD,QN 10.050 uIU/mL 0.300 - 4.200 uIU/mL
so his results look good maybe something else is going on I will keep you in my prayers.