AUSTRALIA AND HYPO

[traylee01]

Has anyone been taking Thyroxine long term and had no effects, i worry because  becuase of long term causing Lung cancer etc and i did some reading and yes it links kind of to it, but we also dont no their outside environment or diet etc.



My dr and endo said its up to me if i want to take it as im borderline (but i suspect been this way for 11yrs but i only have just finally seen someone to listen and after losing 3 babies they listen to me finally.



My Tsh has mostly always been around 4.5 or below mIU/L

Free T4  12.4 pmol/L   or below (sometimes it has been around the 14.5 like last August

Free T3   3.9 pmol/L  (only tested once)

I tried taking Thyroplex for the last 6 weeks which a naturopath told me to try and sure enough it made no difference at all to my readings :(



so i now have the option to take the meds if i want the dr said but im scared to as i dont like drugs at all, and im scared of it causing more issues.

I have also been informed from another page to maybe try take iron, vit d and b12

i have no antibodies they checked for Hashi MY LEVELS ARe, they only tested Free T3 once and that was

19th May it was FREE T3 3.9 pmol/L

FREE T4 12.4 pmol/L and

TSH 4.0 mIU/L,

and this reading this week after Thyroplex for 6 weeks was

TSH 4.4,

Free T4 12.5, and

Free T3  i think about the same, and

Thyroid Antibodies (Thyroid Peroxidase AB are <1 , 25 Hydroxy Vitamin D 87 nmol/l, and i have one ferritn test  So  

22/4/2014 IRON 12 umol/L (lab ranges 5-30)

FERRITIN 69 ug/L Lab range (25-110)

04/11/2014            IRON 15                         Ferritin 64

[traylee01]

ok thank you :)  i seen a gyno today who has ordered, B12, Vit d, Folate, full blood count, and a chem 20 test, so glad she listened to me,

[Barb135]

Thyroid medications are not drugs, they're hormones and they're handled very differently by the body from the way drugs are handled.  You can't live without thyroid hormones.

Your liver and kidneys are not "filtering" them, but they are helping to convert Free T4 to the usable and very important Free T3.  Converting Free T4 to Free T3 is totally different from filtering drugs from your system.

[traylee01]

ok thanks i just so unsure to take meds and possibly for rest of my life, what about my poor liver and kidnes that have to filter it all

[Barb135]

No, you wouldn't necessarily have symptoms badly if you have Hashi's... Some people have symptoms for years before being diagnosed; some people have Hashi's for years with no symptoms and are diagnosed out of the clear blue sky.  Often it depends on the doctor you have, whether s/he's astute enough to do the right testing to catch it before symptoms get bad.  It affects us all differently.

[traylee01]

Thank you. I tried to ask drs for other tests but they won't. I will write a list and take it to Dr and ask if I can the rest as I thought just one antibody wasn't enough. Yea the other stuff being bad was also mentioned from stop thyroid madness page.    Wouldn't I have symptoms badly if I had hashi?

[Red_Star]

Bioceutical's Thyroplex contains a list of nutrients to help support thyroid function and some might find they improve because they were low or deficient in various vitamins and minerals essential for thyroid hormone production.

It would be worth trying a low dose of T4 to start with to see how you go. Just to warn you that hypothyroid symptoms could get worse before they get better. Give it about 6 weeks and see how you feel.

List of thyroid hormone products in Australia...

Sigma Pharmaceuticals:
Synthetic T4: Oroxine (brand name), Eutroxsig (generic)
Synthetic T3: Tertroxin

Synthetic T4/T3 are covered by the PBS.

Made up in compounding pharmacies:
Thyroid Extract USP (same active ingredient found in US product Armour)
Immediate or slow release T3

[Barb135]

What are the reference ranges for the Free T4 and Free T3?  Reference ranges vary lab to lab and have to come from you own reports.

If you haven't had ferritin and vitamin D tested since 2014, you should have them tested again, since things may have changed in over a year.  I don't see a B-12 result at all, so that should be tested, as well.

From a little bit of research on Thyroplex, there is no actual thyroid hormones in it... it contains only ground up thyroid and other glandular tissue with hormones removed so I'm not surprised that you felt no different after taking it for 6 weeks or that it didn't change your actual levels... you need to get a prescription for real medication from your doctor.

I'm not sure what you mean by "long term" use of thyroid medication... I've been on some form of T4 and T3 medication since early 2008 and we have members who have been on medication for over 20 yrs and have not been diagnosed with cancer... I'm not sure where you're getting that there's a link between thyroid medication and cancer.  We can't live without thyroid hormones and once the thyroid stops working we have no choice but to take medication.  Synthetic T4 thyroid hormones are identical to what the body would produce if it could. Desiccated thyroid hormones come from pigs.

I see that you had only one antibody test, which is the Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies (TPOab) you have listed above at < 1.  There are 2 antibody tests for Hashimoto's and without them both, you could be misdiagnosed.  The other test is the Thyroglobulin Antibodies test (TgAb).  You should ask your doctor for that one and if the TPOab was very long ago, you should ask for it to be repeated in case the antibodies hadn't ramped up yet.