Author Topic: Thyroid Problems (Read 4329 times)

Asch · « **on:** July 04, 2011, 02:24:30 pm »

Seems to be a fairly common ailment. I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism in Oct '10 and recently had an antibody test for Hashimoto's Thyroiditis (the norm is 0.0 - 6 my levels were like 138). I'm stable on meds now but there are some things I've learned since starting meds, such as:

Forgetting to take the tiny magical pill will result in a meltdown roughly 24 hours later. TAKE YOUR PILL SELF.

Soy Milk screws with the uptake of the medication. ALMOND MILK ETC ONLY SELF

Empty stomachs are best for the meds, anything with minerals will bond with the meds and interfere with their function/uptake. TAKE PILL BEFORE BED SELF.

Any other tips? Oh also a couple pages with info on herbs that can help and herbs that can harm/exacerbate hypothyroidism http://www.yourbodycanheal.com/herbs-for-hypothyroidism.html and http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/hypothyroidism-000093.htm

Jujulinda · « **Reply #1 on:** July 04, 2011, 02:36:32 pm »

Quote from: Asch;755

Seems to be a fairly common ailment. I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism in Oct '10 and recently had an antibody test for Hashimoto's Thyroiditis (the norm is 0.0 - 6 my levels were like 138). I'm stable on meds now but there are some things I've learned since starting meds, such as:

Forgetting to take the tiny magical pill will result in a meltdown roughly 24 hours later. TAKE YOUR PILL SELF.

Soy Milk screws with the uptake of the medication. ALMOND MILK ETC ONLY SELF

Empty stomachs are best for the meds, anything with minerals will bond with the meds and interfere with their function/uptake. TAKE PILL BEFORE BED SELF.

Any other tips? Oh also a couple pages with info on herbs that can help and herbs that can harm/exacerbate hypothyroidism http://www.yourbodycanheal.com/herbs-for-hypothyroidism.html and http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/hypothyroidism-000093.htm

I was diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism when I was 13. I had a heart rate of 130 just sitting down. I never gained weight. It was strange. I had my thyroid completely removed when I was 13 too. I had nodules and some of them could have been cancerous. But they weren't and then they became concerned with my parathyroid glands. They thought they had removed one of them when they took out my thyroid. So, I got to eat about 4 tums ever 2 hours. Not the best way to spend a week in the hospital but what is? At least it was a children's hospital. They let me watch Stargate.

I don't know much about Hypothyroidism but my mom has it. She's on meds too and she's really up on natural remedies. I'll have to show her those pages. Thank you!

Asch · « **Reply #2 on:** July 04, 2011, 03:33:32 pm »

Quote from: Jujulinda;764

I was diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism when I was 13. I had a heart rate of 130 just sitting down. I never gained weight. It was strange. I had my thyroid completely removed when I was 13 too. I had nodules and some of them could have been cancerous. But they weren't and then they became concerned with my parathyroid glands. They thought they had removed one of them when they took out my thyroid. So, I got to eat about 4 tums ever 2 hours. Not the best way to spend a week in the hospital but what is? At least it was a children's hospital. They let me watch Stargate.

I don't know much about Hypothyroidism but my mom has it. She's on meds too and she's really up on natural remedies. I'll have to show her those pages. Thank you!

Glad they got your hyperthyroidism sorted out! A lady I knew (mother of a friend) had undiagnosed hyperthyroidism for years and is much healthier and happier now that her thyroid has been removed.

I hope the links are useful

I did come across a few sites that claimed to 'cure' hypothyroidism with herbs which I find very suspicious. I suppose it's *possible* but I would take a very long and hard look at it and absolutely involve my physician in any treatment.

Sidenote, apparently the pills the characters in Requiem for a Dream took in some scenes were a thyroid supplement, wtf?

Jenett · « **Reply #3 on:** July 04, 2011, 07:40:19 pm »

Quote from: Asch;755

Any other tips? Oh also a couple pages with info on herbs that can help and herbs that can harm/exacerbate hypothyroidism http://www.yourbodycanheal.com/herbs-for-hypothyroidism.html and http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/hypothyroidism-000093.htm

Starting with this, first, and then some other tips:

- That first herb page makes me think they don't entirely know what they're taking about: black cohosh is a very useful herb for some women, but not for everyone, and it's not a universal fix even for people with thyroid issue tendencies.

I've seen comments talking about myrtle essential oil as a thyroid balancer (a few drops in the bathtub is what I do, periodically.)

My herbalist liked rosemary a lot as a balancing herb (it probably won't mean someone goes off meds, unless they're on a very low dose, but it certainly helps, and it's pretty easy to include in cooking and as a component with other teas)

I've also found that using warming herbs/spices helps a lot: nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger all help with the tendency of hypothyroid folks to run cold (lower body temperature than usual) and help with slower digestion and some other metabolic function. Again, using these in cooking is pretty straightforward. I'm doing a lot of experimenting with tumeric and Indian cooking recipes for similar reasons.

My own tips:
- I take my meds first thing every morning (which is sometimes a pain if I need to eat before going somewhere, but a lot of the time I'm not hungry in the morning anyway.)

I found that if I mean to take them in the evening, I often forget. (Also, my evening schedule, especially when I eat, tends to be a lot more varied than my morning.) So I take my thyroid pill as soon as I sit up in bed, and I take my vitamins (including the prescription vitamin D) sometime in the evening, since they don't need to be balanced against food times.

- I am more likely to take my meds if they are in something I find attractive and easy to use. I have two pill cases from a place called Kyle Designs ( here's a link to the smaller box I use for thyroid meds), fill them every week, and then can easily see if I've taken everything.

- I still have occasional temperature regulation issues - mostly this means that being out for extended periods in heat is not really my friend, and that wearing clothing that helps with natural temperature regulation helps. (I go for natural fibers and a lot of easily removed layers, rather than, say, a bulky sweater that's a pain to put on or off.) But I also have an awesome wool mattress pad on my bed that made my life instantly better when I got it, even before treatment kicked in.

- I also find attention to nutrition helps: one of the things that's changed a lot for me is my appetite (I am actively much less interested in food, and I've gone through a couple of periods of several months of mild but persistent nausea while we were getting doses right and I was getting used to them.) These days, that's not an issue, but I still can't eat as much at any given meal as I used to, so if I miss a meal, I can't just eat more later to balance.

- I take a broad-spectrum multivitamin, some additional magnesium supplementation, a tumeric capsule to help, and I'm working on getting back in the habit of doing nourishing infusions (per Susun Weed's approach: I mostly alternate nettle and oatstraw, and stay away from red clover since the research I found isn't clear on the thyroid impact of the phytoestrogens in that.)

I have some other general notes from the anniversary of my going "I feel amazingly lousy, there is something significantly wrong" (about 8 months ago) that has some other stuff I've found helpful at http://jenett.dreamwidth.org/1327222.html

Asch · « **Reply #4 on:** July 04, 2011, 07:51:11 pm »

Quote from: Jenett;1023

Starting with this, first, and then some other tips:

- That first herb page makes me think they don't entirely know what they're taking about: black cohosh is a very useful herb for some women, but not for everyone, and it's not a universal fix even for people with thyroid issue tendencies.

I've seen comments talking about myrtle essential oil as a thyroid balancer (a few drops in the bathtub is what I do, periodically.)

My herbalist liked rosemary a lot as a balancing herb (it probably won't mean someone goes off meds, unless they're on a very low dose, but it certainly helps, and it's pretty easy to include in cooking and as a component with other teas)

Interesting I'll have to try Rosemary. I've never really used Cohosh and don't plan to in future, my biggest complaint regarding menses when I was undiagnosed was irregularity but now it's pretty much clock work.

Quote

I've also found that using warming herbs/spices helps a lot: nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger all help with the tendency of hypothyroid folks to run cold (lower body temperature than usual) and help with slower digestion and some other metabolic function. Again, using these in cooking is pretty straightforward. I'm doing a lot of experimenting with tumeric and Indian cooking recipes for similar reasons.

I'm a big fan of ginger and cinnamon anyway. I'm one of the unlucky ones with a slowed digestive process when off meds and a sensitive stomach when on meds so I really appreciate ginger (plus it's deeelicious).

Quote

- I still have occasional temperature regulation issues - mostly this means that being out for extended periods in heat is not really my friend, and that wearing clothing that helps with natural temperature regulation helps. (I go for natural fibers and a lot of easily removed layers, rather than, say, a bulky sweater that's a pain to put on or off.) But I also have an awesome wool mattress pad on my bed that made my life instantly better when I got it, even before treatment kicked in.

Interesting, I'm still a bit temperature sensitive mostly to cold. My Dad tends to ask me if 'it's cold in here' etc and I keep telling him that I am *not* the person to ask. Maybe one day it'll click.

Quote

- I also find attention to nutrition helps: one of the things that's changed a lot for me is my appetite (I am actively much less interested in food, and I've gone through a couple of periods of several months of mild but persistent nausea while we were getting doses right and I was getting used to them.) These days, that's not an issue, but I still can't eat as much at any given meal as I used to, so if I miss a meal, I can't just eat more later to balance.

I never went through the nausea but my appetite has fluctuated a fair bit I find now that it's healthier and more in tune with what I actually *need* to eat.

Quote

- I take a broad-spectrum multivitamin, some additional magnesium supplementation, a tumeric capsule to help, and I'm working on getting back in the habit of doing nourishing infusions (per Susun Weed's approach: I mostly alternate nettle and oatstraw, and stay away from red clover since the research I found isn't clear on the thyroid impact of the phytoestrogens in that.)

I am awful about remembering pills anyway - hence the note about not being an idiot and remembering to take my pill so I don't melt into a blubbering wrathful puddle 24 hours later - but I do have a multivitamin with a vit D kicker I try to take usually earlier in the day. I have nettle and red raspberry teas that I drink, I enjoy the taste of the raspberry but the nettle is pretty yacktastic at times lol.

Quote

I have some other general notes from the anniversary of my going "I feel amazingly lousy, there is something significantly wrong" (about 8 months ago) that has some other stuff I've found helpful at http://jenett.dreamwidth.org/1327222.html

Yeah I broke down and bought health insurance out of pocket 'cause I was fresh out of denial and about to quite literally lose it before I was diagnosed. I had no idea it was a thyroid issue I just knew that *something* was seriously and thoroughly WRONG.

Jenett · « **Reply #5 on:** July 04, 2011, 07:59:39 pm »

Quote from: Asch;1031

I never went through the nausea but my appetite has fluctuated a fair bit I find now that it's healthier and more in tune with what I actually *need* to eat.

That's mostly true for me now, too - just that if I forget to eat lunch (especially since I tend not to eat breakfast), I get into trouble because I just can't eat enough at dinner to get enough calories to make my brain work. Not a great catch-22.

Quote

I have nettle and red raspberry teas that I drink, I enjoy the taste of the raspberry but the nettle is pretty yacktastic at times lol.

Long infusions taste a bit different to me (Susun's method is about 1oz of dried herb to a quart of water, let it steep for 6-8 hours - overnight is handy. I do mine in a French Press coffee mug which is much easier to clean and strain for me.)

I put a pinch or two of rosemary in with the nettle, which both improves the taste, and gets a bit more rosemary in me. (And when I get sick of rosemary, I do a pinch of a peppermint/clove blend from a local tea merchant.)

Jujulinda · « **Reply #6 on:** July 04, 2011, 08:20:48 pm »

Quote from: Asch;826

Glad they got your hyperthyroidism sorted out! A lady I knew (mother of a friend) had undiagnosed hyperthyroidism for years and is much healthier and happier now that her thyroid has been removed.

I hope the links are useful I did come across a few sites that claimed to 'cure' hypothyroidism with herbs which I find very suspicious. I suppose it's *possible* but I would take a very long and hard look at it and absolutely involve my physician in any treatment.

Sidenote, apparently the pills the characters in Requiem for a Dream took in some scenes were a thyroid supplement, wtf?

Yes, your body slows down to a normal pace. That does sound strange and it would take awhile. I wonder if you could try that in conjunction with the meds. Guess that's a thing to ask the doctor.

Which scenes? I don't remember that....

Asch · « **Reply #7 on:** July 04, 2011, 08:29:13 pm »

Quote from: Jujulinda;1042

Yes, your body slows down to a normal pace. That does sound strange and it would take awhile. I wonder if you could try that in conjunction with the meds. Guess that's a thing to ask the doctor.

Which scenes? I don't remember that....

At one point when they're in a club and later, IIRC it's pretty early in the movie 'cause they all start popping needles ASAP.

Catherine · « **Reply #8 on:** July 07, 2011, 02:33:06 pm »

Quote from: Asch;755

Forgetting to take the tiny magical pill will result in a meltdown roughly 24 hours later. TAKE YOUR PILL SELF.

I set alarms on my phone 4 hours apart. One for my morning synthroid, then comes calcium, next is a multi, a Vit. D, and a Vit.C taken together, then finally I take my last calcium. My endo wants these things spread out and the only way I can remember is to get an alarm 4 times a day.

I also keep one of each vitamin and supplement in my purse in case I'm out when the alarm goes off. Otherwise, I'll forget by the time I get home.

Adder · « **Reply #9 on:** July 07, 2011, 08:02:20 pm »

Quote from: Asch;755

Any other tips? Oh also a couple pages with info on herbs that can help and herbs that can harm/exacerbate hypothyroidism

I know a lady who had Graves disease (hyperthyroidism) and she cured it by removing gluten from her diet. She didnt want the surgery scar and didnt want radiation either so was taking medication for over a decade before this simple dietary solution, now 3 years normal without any medication. Good luck with yours.

Asch · « **Reply #10 on:** July 07, 2011, 08:10:27 pm »

Quote from: Adder;2721

I know a lady who had Graves disease (hyperthyroidism) and she cured it by removing gluten from her diet. She didnt want the surgery scar and didnt want radiation either so was taking medication for over a decade before this simple dietary solution, now 3 years normal without any medication. Good luck with yours.

I've heard of a gluten free diet assisting in thyroid problems before but in the case above if it helped her hypERthyroidism I'm not sure it would assist my hypOthyroidism. I did try to do a gluten free diet once but the products were super pricey, plus swapping out gluten sometimes meant swapping in fats and oils and removing fiber. For now I'm just trying to eat reasonably healthy.

Who knows though it could really help some folks.

Jenett · « **Reply #11 on:** July 07, 2011, 10:47:14 pm »

Quote from: Asch;2724

I've heard of a gluten free diet assisting in thyroid problems before but in the case above if it helped her hypERthyroidism I'm not sure it would assist my hypOthyroidism. I did try to do a gluten free diet once but the products were super pricey, plus swapping out gluten sometimes meant swapping in fats and oils and removing fiber. For now I'm just trying to eat reasonably healthy.

I read the Thyroid community over on LiveJournal (http://thyroid.livejournal.com) as well as poking my nose in at the About.com thyroid forums. The info I've seen from there is that a noticeable number of people who have thyroid issues caused by autoimmune response also have celiac disease or a noticeable but less severe reaction to gluten. (Which makes sense: they're both autoimmune reactions, and those can run in packs, rather than singly.)

I haven't tried going gluten free yet (it is *really* not compatible with doing job interviews where they feed you if you're still trying to figure out how to make it work for you), but it's on my list of things to try for a month and see how it goes sometime later this year.

(I do do a lot better if I limit carbs. I think it's a carb reaction, not a gluten reaction. But the only way to be sure is to cut the gluten entirely for long enough to see what happens.)

Catherine · « **Reply #12 on:** November 22, 2013, 09:16:41 am »

Quote from: Jenett;2812

Just hanging my comment here to bump this thread because I need to vent.

Some of you know I had my entire thyroid removed due to follicular cancer almost 4 years ago. Well, I could have more thyca issues coming my way. I just had my annual check up on Wednesday, and both my TSH and TG levels are rising. So, in two weeks we're doing the labs again. If they come back the same, she wants to schedule another full body scan.

There are lots of reasons why my numbers might be rising, it doesn't necessarily have to be the cancer coming back. But given my past history with this stuff, I won't be surprised if it is.

I guess I'm kind of pissed off about it. I've suspected all along that my meds needed to be increased, but every time I go to the doctor, she tells me that I'm in the normal range. However, I know she's using the higher standard. My TSH has been above 3 this whole time, and my TG has been at 2 or lower. This was acceptable to her because they were stable. Now they're up and I can't help but wonder if this would be happening if I'd been on a higher dose of synthroid this whole time.

Also, I'm not feeling very confident about my doctor right now. The strange thing is, at first she wanted to increase my synthroid then check my levels after 6 weeks. I mentioned that after Dec. 15, I might have some insurance issues to deal with so she recommended having the scan right away to be sure it was covered. Well, I came home did some checking and made a plan for continuing my health insurance. When I called to tell her we could go with her original plan, she up and changed her mind on me. Decided to keep my meds the same, check again in two weeks, then jump right to the scan if my numbers come back the same. This waffling doesn't feel right to me.

I'm wary of getting more RAI because of the possible long term health risks (I've had two tracer doses and one treatment dose already), and the thought of more surgery is pretty anxiety inducing. I know I shouldn't wig out, that I should take it all one piece at a time, but she and I are headed for a nice long sit down after I get my labs done.

This sucks.

yewberry · « **Reply #13 on:** November 22, 2013, 12:46:17 pm »

Quote from: Catherine;130277

I guess I'm kind of pissed off about it. I've suspected all along that my meds needed to be increased, but every time I go to the doctor, she tells me that I'm in the normal range. However, I know she's using the higher standard. My TSH has been above 3 this whole time, and my TG has been at 2 or lower. This was acceptable to her because they were stable. Now they're up and I can't help but wonder if this would be happening if I'd been on a higher dose of synthroid this whole time.

I will never (ever, ever) understand doctors who don't suppress TSH in thyroid cancer patients. The risks associated are minimal, and the benefits are super-duper obvious even to the most idiotic endo. What is wrong with these people? Do they really believe they're omniscient?

Anyway, sending you a little push. I hope your doctor either wises up or you find someone without a god complex.

Brina

Catherine · « **Reply #14 on:** November 23, 2013, 12:27:37 pm »

Quote from: yewberry;130304

I will never (ever, ever) understand doctors who don't suppress TSH in thyroid cancer patients. The risks associated are minimal, and the benefits are super-duper obvious even to the most idiotic endo. What is wrong with these people? Do they really believe they're omniscient?

Anyway, sending you a little push. I hope your doctor either wises up or you find someone without a god complex.

Brina

Thanks, Brina.
I've started looking for a new endo in case I need to change doctors. I'm also considering contacting her boss, the one who owns the practice, to get her opinion on this. I'm going to wait until I get my labs done and go from there.

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