thyroid misery

dubbo

Orla K wrote: »

It is possible to lose weight with a thyroid problem (I don't know much about pcos so I won't comment on that one) it's not so much about how much you eat but about what your eating and doing. I'm sure I've written about it before. I've lost weight and improved my thyroid functioning without any meds, it's a slow process but if you stick to it then it will happen.

Hi Orla,do you mind me asking how you improved thyroid function without tablets?i take levothyroxine and feel like a new woman,but still have bad days.I'm wondering what I could do diet wise etc to help?i don't eat gluten at all as it really messes up my tummy,and generally find I need to eat quite often with a lot of protein to keep my energy up.I would be really interested in what else you have found? Thanks a million

Orla K

dubbo wrote: »

Hi Orla,do you mind me asking how you improved thyroid function without tablets?i take levothyroxine and feel like a new woman,but still have bad days.I'm wondering what I could do diet wise etc to help?i don't eat gluten at all as it really messes up my tummy,and generally find I need to eat quite often with a lot of protein to keep my energy up.I would be really interested in what else you have found? Thanks a million

I think I did a post a while back saying a few things about that.

Gluten is the first thing to go and you've already figured that out for yourself.
Next one is eat real food, by that I mean not things that are in packets or jars or that have ingredients I mean fresh food, meat, fish, vegetables, fruit and so on. This is going to sound odd but listen to your body pay attention to what you do what you eat and how you feel for a day or two after, that way you'll learn more about what your body/thyroid can and can't tolerate.

I would say keep up the protein to 1g per 1lb of bodyweight so if someone weighs 150lb/10st10 they eat 150g of protein. I also find calorie cycling handy as if your trying to lose weight than just eat less the whole time after a few weeks I get really cold, tired, can't focus so much that I can't actually do anything. Calorie cycling would be taking your weekly calorie intake and divide it up differently so say day1-1500cal day2-1700 day3-2100 it makes it easier to lose weight if you need it.

Can I ask do you need to eat often because you start to feel weak/light-headed? It can be a sign of low cortisol which can happen a lot when the thyroid isn't working right.(the same with any adrenal disfunction) No harm getting it checked by the doc next time your in, there's two tests for it a morning blood test(which has it's doubters if it actually picks up on the problems) and a 24hr saliva test(which also has it's doubters) I think the saliva test is sent to England. If you do get tested it will probably be the blood.

Start off eating in like this website it's all about eating fresh food, nothing from a factory(although if you follow an 80/20 rule you should be fine, stay on track 80% of the meals and then have what you want 20% of the meals)

There's goitrogens avoid the biggie soy! and don't eat the rest raw and not everyday.

Get in two brazil nuts a day for selenium.
Don't be afraid of fats, eating cholesterol is actually good for you every cell in your body needs it. Just avoid industrial oils like vegetable oil. Get in omega 3 (oily fish) a few times a week.
Since I mentioned cholesterol there's a good 3part pod cast about it on that website, and I'm sure most of us know that a high blood cholesterol level is a symptom of hypothyroidism, it explains it on the podcast.

That's all I can think of for now. If you've anymore questions feel free to ask.

Reducing stress on the body also helps, and that can be things like using less chemicals in house/personal products, filtering the water, stopping smoking(this is a biggy) or even doing less exercise.

dubbo

Orla,thanks so much for your helpful reply,I appreciate you taking the time I eat often because I get lightheaded and feel sick if I don't eat!they checked me for addisons disease on my first endocrinologist appointment with a blood test and didn't find anything.

I completely agree about eating real food,my only problem is I live at home so don't have full control over dinners(I can control breakfast lunch and snacks),so there are things about my dinners that aren't great (ie oven chips once a week) but I mostly eat meat vegetables eggs porridge,can't be doing with gluten free bread etc its awful stuff!

Stress is a major one for me,doing a phd and working a few jobs in terms of exercise,I try,but cardio just destroys me these days,takes too much out ofme. I would like to try weights instead but would love a proper plan to follow,can't afford gym! The thyroid is so delicate it wrecks my head,so great to get help thank u

Orla K

dubbo wrote: »

Orla,thanks so much for your helpful reply,I appreciate you taking the time I eat often because I get lightheaded and feel sick if I don't eat!they checked me for addisons disease on my first endocrinologist appointment with a blood test and didn't find anything.

I completely agree about eating real food,my only problem is I live at home so don't have full control over dinners(I can control breakfast lunch and snacks),so there are things about my dinners that aren't great (ie oven chips once a week) but I mostly eat meat vegetables eggs porridge,can't be doing with gluten free bread etc its awful stuff!

Stress is a major one for me,doing a phd and working a few jobs in terms of exercise,I try,but cardio just destroys me these days,takes too much out ofme. I would like to try weights instead but would love a proper plan to follow,can't afford gym! The thyroid is so delicate it wrecks my head,so great to get help thank u

I have to say you can have messed up adrenals without having addisons disease. One hour of cardio kills me, I realised one day after doing an hour and I was in bed the next day with no energy. I tend to stick to weights with rest periods and I go for high weight low rep, but I don't go all out to the last rep.

Also there's gluten in porridge mainly because it's cross contaminated(I don't think there's much gluten in them and the GF porridge is expensive) I wouldn't be bothered with GF free stuff as it's normally unhealthy.

If I find anymore info on adrenal fatigue I'll post it up but most of it has to do with the saliva test.

Orla K

I'll also add getting a good b&c vitamin and d vit. The D one is mainly because we live in Ireland with no/little sun and it's difficult to get enough from food.

Orla K

I went to the doctor today with a list of blood tests I wanted to get done, things like thyroid antibodies, adrenal, ferritin all things thyroid related.The doctor saw no reason to get most of them done:( and started telling me which ones were expensive, and that they don't do the Free T3 tests anymore(it was sent to Naas who sent it to Tallaght who wouldn't do it either)

I did get my lipid and TSH (maybe FT4 too) I thought he'd put it into the comupter for me to get an appointment for that but instead I got a surprise blood test.

I'm not happy, luckily it wasn't my normal doctor.

cltt97

I had the same experience recently. I used to always get my FT3 tested in Tallaght, but the last time I went the result came back as "test not routinely available". My endo reckons they stopped the assay as it is expensive. So now James don't do it and Tallaght don't do it anymore. Could people who get it tested share with us which hospitals still do it (in the Dublin area)?

cyning

Oh I really hope Kerry don't stop doing it: I find it so weird how they can just *stop* doing a fairly vital blood test. I wonder if people emailed the complaints department of the HSE would it do any good?

My TSH has gotten worse so now (as and of Monday) FT4 10, TSH 58.72, FT3 3.42. So normal FT4 and Ft3 albeit on the low side of normal, but a TSH 50 times what it should be!

I'm starting to think I will always have a wonky TSH and I should just give up.

Cora Mahoney

cyning wrote: »

Oh I really hope Kerry don't stop doing it: I find it so weird how they can just *stop* doing a fairly vital blood test. I wonder if people emailed the complaints department of the HSE would it do any good?

My TSH has gotten worse so now (as and of Monday) FT4 10, TSH 58.72, FT3 3.42. So normal FT4 and Ft3 albeit on the low side of normal, but a TSH 50 times what it should be!

I'm starting to think I will always have a wonky TSH and I should just give up.

God I am sorry to hear your TSH is so high

Have you looked into Gina Nolin's facebook site called "Thyroid Sexy". She and Mary Shalom seem to be working together to get out good info on all the latest in Thyroid news, etc:

https://www.facebook.com/thyroidsexy

cltt97

cyning wrote: »

My TSH has gotten worse so now (as and of Monday) FT4 10, TSH 58.72, FT3 3.42. So normal FT4 and Ft3 albeit on the low side of normal, but a TSH 50 times what it should be!

I wonder if this has anything to do with you taking Eltroxin again? If I remember correctly you were doing pretty good on just T3 before?

Since starting with T3 my TSH has come down from 50 to 6, so it works very well for me. My endo also mentioned that because my TSH has been so high (somewhere between 50-100 over the last few years) there is good reason to believe that my pituitary gland has grown a bit to meet the demand of TSH production and that it might take a while for the TSH to normalise again.

penderella

cyning wrote: »

Oh I really hope Kerry don't stop doing it: I find it so weird how they can just *stop* doing a fairly vital blood test. I wonder if people emailed the complaints department of the HSE would it do any good?

My TSH has gotten worse so now (as and of Monday) FT4 10, TSH 58.72, FT3 3.42. So normal FT4 and Ft3 albeit on the low side of normal, but a TSH 50 times what it should be!

I'm starting to think I will always have a wonky TSH and I should just give up.

I have been in the same boat with the lab not running tests (FT3 & FT4) ordered by GP & Endo.
I emailed my complaint using the HSE auto form on Tuesday this week. Not sure if they will pay any heed Dr.s don't want to rock the boat.
But i must say when i call my GP to get results on Monday only TSH is available then GP calls lab and hey presto the Frees are available the next day. i understand that there must be cut backs but not when our meds are being adjusted when we are on T3 or Armour.
It is so important to get the balance correct.
My bloods go to Drogheda

Orla K

I'm just wondering with the people that didn't get FT4 or FT3 done when it was asked for was your TSH within the lab range or near it? My TSH was within range but my FT4 had dropped right down to the bottom of the lab range.

angeleyes44

Orla K wrote: »

I went to the doctor today with a list of blood tests I wanted to get done, things like thyroid antibodies, adrenal, ferritin all things thyroid related.The doctor saw no reason to get most of them done:( and started telling me which ones were expensive, and that they don't do the Free T3 tests anymore(it was sent to Naas who sent it to Tallaght who wouldn't do it either)

I did get my lipid and TSH (maybe FT4 too) I thought he'd put it into the comupter for me to get an appointment for that but instead I got a surprise blood test.

I'm not happy, luckily it wasn't my normal doctor.

Hi Orla I got free t3 and 4 done in tallaght in October .im due to get my bloods done on tuesday again .i hope they are doing them ill keep you posted

penderella

Orla K wrote: »

I'm just wondering with the people that didn't get FT4 or FT3 done when it was asked for was your TSH within the lab range or near it? My TSH was within range but my FT4 had dropped right down to the bottom of the lab range.

Yes Orla the last 3 times my TSH was in range but FT3 & FT4 where well below range.

cltt97

My last test was in November, TSH 6.7 and FT4 6.4 - this was when the lab report came back saying FT3 - test not routinely available. The last FT3 measurement I have is from March 2012 from Tallaght and they had reported it every time it had been requested up to that point. I have to go again in February, so I'm going to ring beforehand and find out if they still do it, and if not I'll try and find out where else I could go.

penderella

Well I got a response from Drogheda Hospital re my complaint.
It is just a first response letter fairly standard.
But it states that my complaint has gone to the lab manager for investigation.
so i will let you all know what happens next.
I think it is worth lodging your complaints let the know that we need these results to get the correct treatment from our Doctors.

http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/ysys/Tell_us_your_story/Complaint/

jameswburke

Flouridation of water could be a contributing factor. In Ireland it is imposed on local authorities. If you drink only bottled water you can avoid this. See link for more info: http://mythyroidireland.webs.com/

Cora Mahoney

jameswburke wrote: »

Flouridation of water could be a contributing factor. In Ireland it is imposed on local authorities. If you drink only bottled water you can avoid this. See link for more info: http://mythyroidireland.webs.com/

Doesn't bottled water in Ireland have flouride also?

suomi

I'd like someone's opinion on something, I hope it's okay to ask here

Basically I've had an underactive thyroid for about four years now and for the past two or three years I've been taking 0,05 mg every day and it's been working fine, except for about a month ago when I went to the doctor because I was feeling tired and they had me do the usual blood tests. The tests showed that my levels had gone up a bit (TSH was 2.3 or 2.4 about eight months ago and now it's 2.8) and so the doctor told me to take 0,05 mg every day except once a week I'd take 0,1 mg. I've been doing that for three weeks now and it has just made things worse! I'm trying to lose weight at the moment and I'm doing everything right, counting calories, exercising and my weight keeps going up. Not even staying the same but I'm actually gaining weight! :mad: I weighed myself today and apparently gained 0.6 kg over night, yesterday morning I had gained 0.2 kg. This has been going on for about two weeks. Also I'm having some of the usual symptoms I had before - cold, tired etc. So, finally, my question is: is it possible that increasing the amount of the hormone I take temporarily makes the symptoms worse and after a while I'll go back to normal? I'd love to hear if this has happened to anyone else.

cyning

Soumi that always happens me: feel crappier for a few weeks and then fine again after awhile. No idea why it happens but it's always the same

suomi

Oh great, it's such a relief to hear that it's happened to someone else too! Thanks.

Orla K

I've gotten my test results back. FT4 is 20.1 gone up from about 12.5 and TSH is 0.02 below 'range'
Cholesterol is also just within range,

Total 5 (<5)It was over 7
Trig 0.7 (<1.7) This has gone up from .4 totally due to a diet heavier in carbs
HDL 2 (>1.2)This went up
LDL 2.7 (<3)This has gone down, from about 5.?

The lipid profile is important the thyroid hormone controls the LDL. If you don't have enough thyroid hormone then the LDL sticks around in you blood too long.
Some people think that the lipid profile might be a better indicator if the meds are working.

It's odd that other peoples doctors would think a TSH of 0.02 would be hyper but others wouldn't, my FT4 is still in range and that matters more.

Seaneh

So I had my follow up test a week and a bit ago, results came back "within range" and I've been kept on 50mg eltrocix, but I'm feeling like ****.

Suffering from a serious case of apathy/lethargy and general "why bother" to everything, little bit of brain fog too and generally achy, annoying background headaches as well, constantly. Should I phone my doctor back and tell her this and ask for different tests or something?

Cora Mahoney

Seaneh wrote: »

So I had my follow up test a week and a bit ago, results came back "within range" and I've been kept on 50mg eltrocix, but I'm feeling like ****.

Suffering from a serious case of apathy/lethargy and general "why bother" to everything, little bit of brain fog too and generally achy, annoying background headaches as well, constantly. Should I phone my doctor back and tell her this and ask for different tests or something?

Sorry to hear you are not feeling well.

Have you been reading Mary Shalom's site? She gives a lot of advice on how to talk to your doctor :

http://thyroid.about.com/

http://thyroid.about.com/b/2013/01/26/how-to-be-an-empowered-thyroid-patient-not-a-pain-in-the-neck.htm

I go back for my next blood test this week, hoping my bloods show improvement (tsh was 7.8 down from 29.2 the first time).
I definitely feel better since my eltroxin was upped to 75 mg a day, but I am not back up to 'full power' yet at all, so we shall see.

Good luck, I am sure others will have better advice, but I learn a lot from the 'thyroid sexy' site on facebook, and from Mary Shalom.

Wyldwood

To be honest I don't know where I am at the moment. I get a run of really good days and think I've cracked it then all hell breaks lose again and I have palpitations & racing heart etc. Had a really scary bout of tachycardia a few nights ago, when I was just falling asleep, really thought I would end up in A&E.

Recent blood test results were TSH 7.85, FT4 13.7 & FT3 3.7, all out of range, an allowance needs to be made for the fact that I was feeling very unwell the week before and had come off the meds 5 days previously (25mcg daily).

The cardiologist has assured me that the tachycardia I have is benign but it sure is scary. I have beta blockers but find they make me very tired and sometimes lightheaded so the cure can be as bad as the disease!

I'm now back on 12.5/25 mcg alternate days in the hope that I can get back to 25 daily again.

I think there is something else causing the tachy & palps. I have lowish ferritin but the endo says if whole blood count is ok then ferritin isn't an issue so doesn't recommend supplements.

Hope all fellow sufferers are well.

suomi

Wyldwood wrote: »

To be honest I don't know where I am at the moment. I get a run of really good days and think I've cracked it then all hell breaks lose again and I have palpitations & racing heart etc. Had a really scary bout of tachycardia a few nights ago, when I was just falling asleep, really thought I would end up in A&E.

Recent blood test results were TSH 7.85, FT4 13.7 & FT3 3.7, all out of range, an allowance needs to be made for the fact that I was feeling very unwell the week before and had come off the meds 5 days previously (25mcg daily).

The cardiologist has assured me that the tachycardia I have is benign but it sure is scary. I have beta blockers but find they make me very tired and sometimes lightheaded so the cure can be as bad as the disease!

I'm now back on 12.5/25 mcg alternate days in the hope that I can get back to 25 daily again.

I think there is something else causing the tachy & palps. I have lowish ferritin but the endo says if whole blood count is ok then ferritin isn't an issue so doesn't recommend supplements.

Hope all fellow sufferers are well.

I could've written that post a few years ago before I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I thought I was going to get a heart attack before I'd turn twenty. Do you have high blood pressure? A doctor once told me to take beta blockers because I had palpitations too and a mixture of really fast heat beat and really, really slow. I also had low blood pressure so taking beta blockers would've probably stopped my heart, since it's used to lower blood pressure and make your heart beat slower. :eek: Anyway, if you already have low-ish blood pressure, that might be why the beta blockers are making you feel tired and lightheaded. Hopefully you'll feel better soon.

cltt97

I ended up in A&E in 2009 with tachycardia, and it certainly isn't fun whatsoever, so I totally sympathise with you Wyldwood! I'm not sure what exactly worked for me, but I added a small amount of HC, switched from Eltroxin to Erfa, added iron (my ferritin was also low and my bloodcount ok), found that Erfa I could also only tolerate up to a certain level (although much better than Eltroxin), then added T3 only and that has worked for me. I've also added Vit D, as levels were found insufficient. Are any other of your bloods out of range? I could totally see the correlation between lipids/cholesterol and thyroid hormones, also my kidney filtration got worse. I also take fish oils, zinc, Vit C and magnesium. Funnily enough, if I take Selenium it makes me feel worse, although recently I read that you need to have sufficient iodine, which is not recommended for Hashimotos, but that appears controversial, so one of these days when I'm in the mood, I'll look into that, but sometimes I just don't want to think about this darn thyroid lark!
But besides all this, I've come down with the mother of all head-colds, feels like the sinusitis from hell. Usually not prone to these, but this one as been at me for weeks now... Any house remedies, anyone?

Aeternum

Just spotted this thread here and though I'd ask if anyone has any experience with Dr.Bell from Galway? I've been seeing her for 3 years but would like to know other peoples experiences.

lovelystuff

Hi everyone,I hope you don't mind me joining,I read this thread all the way through and there is lots of great info and support. I'll introduce my thyroid misery,started feeling awful aged 15 (I'm now 26),but this was put down to anemia at the time.I always felt exhausted and not quite awake if that makes sense?

So this carried on for years even though my tsh was always a bit high (around 6 or 7 so not majorly terrible).doctors said I was grand and just run down even though I have a family history of underactive thyroid.

Jump ahead to 2012,I was doing a full time phd,working 2 part time jobs.I literally couldn't get out of bed some mornings,put on a stone and felt depressed.I even went for counselling. My gp still wouldn't treat as my tsh was just under ten,gp said it had to be above ten even though my life was a mess at this stage. I was working in a hospital part time and collapsed one day there,and was seen by a&e,eventually got an endocrinologist referral.

THis was last summer.been on levothyroxine since,50 a day,was feel brilliant up until 2 weeks ago,now I'm all wrecked and puffy and emotional again!

Apologies for the long post,just happy to find a thyroid community

cltt97

Well, hello there and welcome to the thread...

lovelystuff wrote: »

My gp still wouldn't treat as my tsh was just under ten,gp said it had to be above ten even though my life was a mess at this stage.

it is such a shame that so many GPs are still in the middle-ages when it comes to thyroid, I thought I'd heard it all, but above 10 is a new one yet!

lovelystuff wrote: »

THis was last summer.been on levothyroxine since,50 a day,was feel brilliant up until 2 weeks ago,now I'm all wrecked and puffy and emotional again!

Well, you probably need to up the dose, make sure you get a blood test, you should actually have had one every six weeks from starting the eltroxin. I hope you have changed GP since!