Hypo symptoms - please explain. Think my 9yo hypo too?

[lazydog]

I diagnosed (after 11 years) in Apr with Hashi Hypo and my antib were 3435.  What does this mean for future wellbeing?  
Told my condition is

[allisonl]

i really appreciate your input. i am nervous about switching to armour compared to the thyrolar that i have been on. my new doctor is a big fan of armour, and from what i am hearing, you are too. i would love to locate that website.

[ancientmariner]

I belong to the Natural Thyroid Hormones group on yahoo, and there are many people who have lost weight on Armour - but mostly not until they reached their optimal dose, the point where all their hypothyroid symptoms were gone.

[allisonl]

I was just to my new doctor and he would like to switch me to armour from thyrolar. Has any one had good luck with weight loss and renewed energy from this? Does anyone have any concern regarding the pig thyroid and any possible problems related to that?

[allisonl]

thank you so much for that information. i didnt know that. i have been seeing a doctor that will not tolerate an increase in dosage of the thyrolar. i wish i could do without the hrt, i just cant- quality of life issues. i did try armour at one point and it just didnt cut it for me. i also tried cytomel and synthroid. i was really doing quite well for a few years with the thryolar and then everything just changed back to the way it was. i am starting with a new doctor in my area, and hopefully there will be some understanding and support. again, thanks for the diagnosis. my current doc makes me feel as though no one would ever prescribe the quantity i am taking.

has any one had chronic hives/excema? i can't get rid of them without medications.

[ancientmariner]

I didn't have a lot of hair loss (except for my legs and armpits). My worst symptoms were extreme fatigue, joint pain, exercise intolerance, muscle weakness, insomnia and brain fog (unable to concentrate and unable to remember things). I was eating better than ever, and finally exercising regularly and my muscles were getting weaker and I was still gaining weight. When I started Armour, I immediately felt better, particularly mentally. But it only lasted for a few days. I found out that you have to keep increasing the dose based on symptoms (the Armour insert says that, too). Now I am up to 195 mg of Armour, and I am starting to have energy again, not so confused, and the weight gain has stopped. I haven't lost weight yet, but I'm hopeful. I am feeling better than I have in 3 years. I still need to tweak my dosage a bit to try to get rid of ALL the hypo symptoms, but it's amazing how much better I feel. (And I had to start shaving my legs/armpits again.)

[Jen612]

Hello - I was curious as to how different you felt on amour vs synthroid?  I was diagnosed hypo in July and have been on synthroid ever since.  My TSH is finally in normal range for my age, .88, but sometimes I think I still feel symptoms.  Definitely not as bad as when diagnosed, TSH was 18.96.  Now I have intermittant muscle soreness, foot pain, mood swings and my hair loss still hasn't stopped.  Just wondering if they are the kinds of things that might feel better on Amour.  I probably wouldn't change drugs now only because my husband and I are dying to start trying to conceive and my TSH is finally normal so I don't want to disrupt it now - but any advice would be appreciated.  Thanks!   Jen

[ancientmariner]

The anti-microsomal ab means antibodies. Your test indicates that you have Hashimoto's Disease. I have read that with Hashimoto's, the TSH is very unreliable. You might want to do some research on it. Also, estrogen (Premphase) blocks thyroid receptors, so if you are taking thyroid AND estrogen, you need MORE thyroid to feel well. Just my opinion, but if it were me, I would stop the HRT and get the thyroid treated. Have you tried Armour thyroid, or natural desiccated pig thyroid? I was on Synthroid for 3 years, and never felt well, but Armour has improved my condition immensely. Just some things for you to look into.

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

With regard to your antibodies - this is consistent with Hashimotos (the most common reason for hypothyroidism in areas of the world with adequate iodine intake).  Research shows that this means there is about a 4-5% per annum chance of developing "overt" hypothyroidism and there are patients who will have small TSH fluctuations for years before becoming permanently hypothyroid.  Some symptoms are not typical of hypo - but that doesn't mean they are definitely not hypo -- would consider starting thyroid replacement to keep the TSH around 1 and see if your symptoms improve.  

Regarding your son - would start with TPO antibodies and TSH/Free-T4 and see if thyroid disease is playing a role.

[allisonl]

I am confused about my lab results and my symptoms. I always feel sluggish and have gained 7 pounds in less than a year, in spite of extremely healthy eating and exercise. I have chronic uticaria and have been on thyrolar 4 grains per day for 6 years. my lab results : TSH usually 0 or .40 at times with FREE T3 usually 6.60 and Free t4 2.20.I take estrogen Premphase and have experiemented with all types of natural forms of estrogen and thryoid medication. I tend to feel depressed on other forms of thyroid medication. I am 53 years old and weigh 145 pounds and am 5'6".

[allisonl]

does any one know what anti-microsomal ab test of 461H indicates in terms of thyroid issues?

[tina999]

Hi you guys,

I emailed the forum and they have not responded either here or my email to me.    In the past there have been multiple people who were contacted off board due to post content so they monitor the forums very, very closely so I am not sure why they did not respond.

Dr.Mark apprers to be an honest person with a lot of integrity so I think he'd drop us an email if he decided not to answer questions anymore.

You can email office@medhelp and perhaps they can get the forum moving again.

[lazydog]

Hi.  Did any of your children have the urticaria?  My boy's was all over him - they came and went all over his body - they were like v.large mossie bites.  This is what prompted me to take my boy to the paed. in the first place.  He also had glands up on back of head just beneath skull which I'd never seen before.  You'd think the immunologist would have done a blood test for me.  I have always thought this physical not a mental problem.

[ancientmariner]

I beg your pardon? I, for one, do not like the tone of your post. Where do you get off blaming Armour advocates for sabotage. Do you have any evidence of this? Have you checked with the people who run the MedHelp boards to find out why no new posts have appeared? If you have no information to back up your opinion, you might be better off to keep it to yourself, because an opinion is all it is.

As for my being an Armour advocate, here's why I post about it: On Synthroid, I felt lousy for 3 years. Armour has given me back my life. I found Armour by accident (or divine intervention), and I wish someone had told me about it 3 years ago. Knowledge is power, and if I can empower just one person to avoid the suffering I went through, then it's worth all the name-calling and slander you can throw at me!

[mmfd]

It appears to me that there is some board sabotage going on.  People will click to post a new question and then purposely NOT post one so no one else can.  Very immature if that is indeed going on.  I don't know where Dr. Mark is, but there are people posting new questions  WAY down on this board, like 20 questions ago.  I find that very odd.  On threads that had no comments for days, now there are new questions.  I think the Armour advocates who are constantly pushing the natural thyroid message board are the ones responsible.  Why not just stay on that board and not keep trying to take over this one?

[PNWBabe]

First of all,I don't think that it's possible to click to answer a question, then not answer and block the board somehow. I am pretty sure this board is more sophisticated than that.

Secondly, I think it is short sighted and immature to suggest that just because there are people answering questions far down the forum, that there is an agenda going on. Those questions were obviously not being answered by anyone, and whether or not you agree with their answers, at least someone was responding. would you rather that someone get NO response?

Thirdly, why are you condemning something as another forum? Have you been there and see what they have to say? If not, I would suggest you do and see if people are being helped there.

[CATHYZOM]

Where is everyone???????  why I dont see any new questions posted since oct. 29th on the thyroid forum???????   If the staff reads this please advise of what is happening????

[mmfd]

This is a test post to see if anything is wrong with this forum!  Maybe Dr. Mark is out of town??  Or maybe some people are clicking to post a message AND then not posting??????  That happened on the heart forum once when some people got disgruntled.  Hope it all gets straightened out!

[PNWBabe]

Oh yes! Familiar pregnancy! My term with my youngest was very difficult. Constant fatigue, diarhhea among other problems. My blood pressure which had been very low all my life climbed to dangerous levels. She was early and very thin. All my other babies were healthy weights.

There is so much to learn about Hashi's. I am into my 4th year now and feel like I am only scratching the surface, but, at least I can concentrate on reading now!

[lazydog]

Thanks for your comments.  They very helpful - I can see I have a lot to learn.  I will try and find the Yahoo site as I think this synthroid makes me nauseus.

Your comment re moods has rung a bell - my boy has been so grumpy all his life - he only improved this last 12 months.  My pregnancy with him was a shocker - nauseus for whole time and after eating breakfast was fatigued and had to lay on couch for rest of day. And he was 6 weeks early. Does this sound familiar at all?  Boy, a lot of things have made sense since my diagnosis.  

I will get my 11 y.o. girl checked too - although she has boundless energy she gets what we think is heat-induced urticaria on her face - very badly.  Takes about 1 - 1 1/2 hrs to go.

[PNWBabe]

hi ! I would get your son to his pediatrician ASAP. Since you have Hashi's there is a good chance he does too and many of his symptoms fall in the hypo category. I have hashi's and so took all of my children for several baseline thyroid tests. These included, TSH, FREET3, FREET4, antibodies and I also asked that there ferritin be checked. This is a storage protein that can affect the processing of thyroid hormone. What we found was that all three of my children are hypo and all have antibodies, though only one had them high enough that the doctor was concerned, she is now 12, but was 11 at the time. This is a family medical history concern and I would think that your pedictrician would be willing to help since the well being of his patient is at hand. My youngest is now on Armour, natural dessicated thyroid and is doing wonderfully. She no longer has chronic sinus infections, her moods have stabilized and she hardly ever terrorizes her brother and sister!

For yourself, I would start to read as much as you can about Hashi's. Broda Barnes has a very good book that you can find through amazon.com. Natural dessicated thyroid,"Armour" has all of the thyroid hormones that your body makes on it's own, not just the T4 of Thyroxine. A normal, healthy thyroid gland makes T1, T2, T3, T4 and calcitonin, which keeps your bones healthy. You might want to research all of this and join other thyroid support groups. There is a really good natural thyroid group on yahoo!