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Avatar universal

Do MEN have as many up/down's as WOMEN with thyroid issues??

Ok, so I'm not trying to be sexist or say that women are weak, etc ... but I am a 27 year old male and just had a TT last monday and I don't understand the up's/down's that most of the women on this board are complaining about while on thyroid medication.  I have been reading on here for a couple of months now and it appears to be 95+% women complaining about problems with weight gain, depression, moodiness, fatigue, etc... and it all seems overly exaggerated.  I was beginning to get worried about the impact that my TT would have on my life so much so that I would never feel the same.  So far, I haven't noticed any change at all in myself.  I do realize it has only been 8 days now without a thyroid, but I had read of others that said they started having issues pretty much immediately.

Anyway, men out there who have thyroid issues, especially those who have had TT's ... do you experience any of the symptoms being on thyroid medication that most of the women on this board are complaining about??  With all of the hormonal issues that women go through, it really sounds like us men need not be compared to women for symptoms on this board.
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Avatar universal
NOTE -- YES, i do understand that some of you on this board are having real problems with thyroid medication and have the symptoms that I'm constantly reading about... I am trying to go from a scientific basis and see if it is more women on here complaining about the issues they feel because

1) there are more women with thyroid problems
2) women in general talk about their feelings more than men so there is just a lack of men discussing here.

Helpful - 0
499534 tn?1328704178
Well, the thyroid gland is one of the master glands....so the first thing that normally happens to a woman with thyroid problems is that it affects her other hormones. When a woman is severely pms ing and having a lot of menstrual problems, the first thing her doc checks is her thyroid. It affects all of our hormone levels, including our immune system, heart, etc. Now tell me....women.....thyroid problem....estrogen and progesterone problem....hence mood swings and depression from hell.....fatigue....etc etc etc you have read our complaints. Also keep in mind the auto immune problems, cancer, nodules, etc have to be taken in consideration with diff symptoms as well. Just being hypothyroid without complications would be a blessing. You should feel blessed!
This coming from a woman who never had any health issues, never experienced PMS, never had mood swings or any complaints. Heck I had a wonderful pregnancy and did natural birth with no drugs. So , yes this thyroid issue I believe does affect women differently. And yes we are more open to discuss....  lol...:)
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Avatar universal
Yes,

Men do feel many of the same issues.  I am 36 yaer old male diagnosed with Hashimoto's in October 2007.  The first 3 months went great.  I lost weight, gained tremendous amount of energy and all of my hypo-related problems such as high cholesterol, anemia, skin dryness, regularity etc. all dimished.

I February I feel like I hit a wall.  Since then my physical sense has been a train wreck.  Tons of side effects which I believe are from Synthroid.  Muscle aches, joint pains, wierd tearing like pains, burning sensations, emotional stress (from not feeling well) and worst of all insomnia bouts.

My "old self" had many hypo issues but my daily life did not appear to suffer as much.

Yes I do think that men experience many of the same issues.  Perhaps they tend to keep it inside rather than posting online.  I just began to searche through these boards to hopefully get some insight and find an answer to my problem  Atleast it give me a sense of sanity knowing that I am not the only one experiencing issues.  It seems that some of the doctors do not acknowledge the side effects of Synthroid.  To them it is an adjustment phase.  Could be but I tend to disagree since I felt great in January 3 months of adapting.

Dave
Helpful - 0
213044 tn?1236527460
I think the OP is very fortunate and does not realize it.

I hope you continue to feel well, but thyroid disease affects men much the same as it does women.
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Avatar universal
thanks guys
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213044 tn?1236527460
Hey, don't thank me.

You know how much I got done today?

Two hours of stuff including errands, a short visit with my BIL, and 15 minutes of fixing a broken cooktop. I'll finish the other 15 minutes of work on the cooktop tomorrow. :-/

And it made me sick.

I hate my life because every day is wasted. Two hours to get things done, and if I actually do something, I get sick. I had heart pains in the shower this morning. I took a two hour nap after lunch, like I HAVE to every day.

I haven't worked since October and I won't be working this year. I'm losing everything I own. I'm losing my business. Thinking about money makes me sick, literally.

glocklt4 is lucky. I hope he transitions to meds smoothly and lives a wonderful healthy life. But the tone of the question bothers me more than it bothers you.

Roughly 80%-90% of thyroid patients are women. Obviously there are going to be significantly more women posting on thyroid boards. And they do have more complicated issues with other hormones and dealing with things like pregnancy and menopause, giving men an advantage when dealing with the disease.

I would wager that 80% of thyroid patients have never posted on a thyroid board. Half of them have no problem, don't even know what a TSH is, and are living normal lives. The other half are just suffering and putting up with it.

Men can have ongoing difficulties getting euthroid and staying there. Men can suffer all the same emotional upheaval and physical complaints that women do. Well, almost.

glocklt4, hopefully you will not have such difficulties. If you do, this board will be a good place to find help. In the meantime, cheers to good health.
Helpful - 0
492307 tn?1214186739
I have to say AR-10 that you are right. Most people with thyroid issues don't know ANYTHING about it. I have two friend who are on thyroid medication and have no idea what tsh or free t4 is. I was shocked when I talked to them. In fact, one friend has felt tired for 3 mos. but was told by her Dr. that her levels were 'normal'. I tried to talk to her about taking control of her health, and she just kept saying 'the tests say'!!

I really feel for you! I just have a tiny issue with thyroid and it's thrown me off! I can't imagine how you deal with it all. Someone asked me if I would start working full time once my 3 yr old was in pre-school. The thought made me scared! I dont' know if I could work a full day! I'm hoping by then to have some control over my levels.

Hang in there~
Helpful - 0
280485 tn?1249013844
First:  I felt really good after my TT too!  It wasn't very complicated and the recovery was pretty quick for me.  Second:  I didn't have anything in the least, I considered at the time, a "symptom", before my dx & surgery.  Third:  Maybe you've posted this, and I've missed it, but I don't know why you had your thyroid out and you're profile does not say.  But if it was cancer, (and I don't mean to be disrespectful here...) but man, woman or child....the best is yet to come.  

I started on Cytomel right after my TT and things looked pretty good.  After one dosage change, that is, and I got the right level of that drug for me.  Sure, I had sleeping issues, but about every third night or so, I slept pretty darn good.  I thought this thing would be a peice of cake!  

After spinning down the drain into hypothyroidism prior to RAI, I thought Hey, this is the storm, I'm SO ready for the "calm".  When I started up the Levothyroxine and Cytomel combo, I was patiently awaiting that "calm"... but instead came weeks upon weeks of dosage changes and calcium & vitamin D deficiency issues, sleep/wake issues and brain fog.  TONS of brain fog...  

I felt jittery all the time and not able to sleep, but hey that was cool, cause I could do more stuff when everyone else was asleep.  I had muscle aches and tingling in my fingers and toes.  Totally weird for me, and I ignored it for weeks on end, cause I'm not a complainer and I thought it wasn't really "an issue".   Then I dropped the Cytomel & upped the Levothyroxine.  A vacation... a trip to hypo-land again.  WOW! too fun the second time around!  Instead of sleeping very little, now I NEVER wanted to get out of bed...  

Oh and I almost forgot... the weeks upon weeks of wondering and thinking that my quality of life just had to be better than this after TT or I'd just have to ask for that cancerous thyroid back!  

I switched to Synthroid a little over two months ago thinking that the grass would be greener on the "name brand" side of the fence.  After two dosage changes on that, and finally arriving at what should be the right dosage for me, the joint pain is killing me!  UGH!  Will it never stop???

All of these symptoms are new for me.  And if you haven't guessed yet, I'm not a traditional "woman who likes to complain".  I'm more the "play through the pain" kinda gal.  

The surgery was the easy part.
Helpful - 0
87651 tn?1259602403
Everyone is different as to symptoms and tolerance to their meds etc.. My FIL has Hashi's and you would never know it either. He is also someone that never complains. He just underwent a hip replacement and a few years back bypass surgery. So I dont know if he was even having symtpoms, he would even know where it was generating from.

Everyone is different and I truly believe that there are many many men out there experiencing just as much as us women. Some just choose to keep to themselves.

MK
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I'm a male with 24 years of experience in adjusting thyroid levels. I had a benign nodule removed 24 years ago and they took part of my thyroid with it. The surgeon would have done me a favor had he taken out the entire thyroid. Now I'm left with a partial sensitive thyroid that changes its mind about working every now and then.
Over the last ten years I have had my synthroid level changed 5 times: twice up and three times down. My current endo says that it was stress related. I left a very stressful job and my own thyroid decided to start working again.
My problem is that even though the palpitations have significantly decreased after the most recent synthroid lowering but I have had two days of significantly diminished energy. I just have a hard time using that as an excuse for not getting my work done. I guess it is valid, however. Others have any thoughts?
Helpful - 0
649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
Lack of energy is most certainly a valid reason for not getting work done - I traveled down that road for a long time before I was ever dx'd and I'd be rich if I had a quarter for every time I was called "LAZY" for needing to take a nap instead of washing the dishes, or doing the laundry or sweeping the floors...........I dragged myself to work everyday for years, simply thinking that I didn't get enough sleep, for whatever reason.........

My doctor tried to shove antidepressants at me because I didn't have the energy to do things I normally loved.  Then I began gaining weight and was told simply that I "need to MOVE more" when I was working out daily for at least an hour, plus walking at least 5-10 miles/day at my job --------

In 2007, I was dx'd with pernicious anemia and started on B12 shots which were supposed to solve all the problems; and although they helped immensely, they just didn't do the trick for all the other symptoms - constipation, weight gain, thinning hair, dry "alligator" skin, etc ----  so I went started doing research and went back to my doctor and literally BEGGED to get my thyroid tested........... My TSH was 55.51 and my Free T4 was down to 0.4 (range: 0.8-1.8)........No wonder I fell like @#$%&* all that time --------.  I was started on synthroid which did very little to alleviate my symptoms, but my doctor refused to consider anything else - also refused to run Free T3, or any other tests..............

I was later sent to an ENT for what was supposedly unrelated, he sent me for more tests, then on to an endo.  I'm currently on levothyroxine + cytomel and although I'm not 100%, I feel better than I have in years, in spite of the "attacks" I get periodically.  

Sometimes when we don't have that extra little "umph" it takes to get up and get moving - we need to just stop and take stock ------------- yes, lack of energy is most certainly an excuse for not getting work done........Like I said, I've managed to drag myself to work every day, but by the time I make it through a work day, I'm done and the dishes don't always get washed, my hubby has to help with the laundry and other chores, etc ----------- Sometimes, we can only push ourselves so far and our body says "Whoa - I'm done".......... Listen to it...........

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Avatar universal
I totally agree with the other postings.
But sometimes remember that some have Hashi's and have surgery and some have Graves and have surgery.
Some also have RAI (I've had both).
Compared to the he!! before the RAI , I feel great now but it did take some time to get like that.
I am one of the lucky ones who survives on T4 med only and it does the trick.
Which is good in a lot of ways as with having heart problems a T3 med is out of the question for me.

Personally I think its early days for you yet.
You still have to level your meds, you still have to get a 'right balance' and then find that for no apparent reason...your levels go out of whack.
You dont say if you have Hashi's or Graves....only that you have had surgery (TT).
You dont say if you have antibodies either?
Maybe you can enlighten us on these subjects and post a history.

I really cant see the point in someone complaining about aches, pains, headaches etc unless they are really experiencing them.
But I do know that this is a great forum for those who arent at their 'comfort level.

After all....I used to be one of those whinging women lol.
And if it wasnt for AR-10, I probably wouldve fallen apart.
He was a lifesaver to me when I first came here feeling like a leper after having RAI.

One word of advice though...keep an eye on your testosterone level as Synthroid can make it low.
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Avatar universal
maybe because hypothyroidism occurs in females more than in males !
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Avatar universal
Thanks!
Helpful - 0
798555 tn?1292787551

This forum is a good learning tool, so you can be educated in what to ask your doctor. Remember, doctors are people, not gods.

Men are less likely to go public with health issues, and less likely to learn about them. I'm male who was a serious and successful endurance athlete into my mid 30's, so health issues are something I never thought I would have.

Was I wrong. Hoshimototos was a speed bump at first, then after 5 years on only T4, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I had a LOT of muscle and joint pain. I was no pain, no gain type of guy, so when I say I had unbelievable pain you can believe it! Carpel tunnel, back pain, neck pain and foot / leg pain all at once.

Getting much better now, but not 100%. Monday I hiked 8 miles in the wilderness of the Lake Superior National Forest and then rode my bicycle 30 miles!!  No pain next day. Wow! 10 years ago that was easy, for the last five years it was impossible!!

Adrenalin rush and testosterone both help in physical activity to cover fatigue and low thyroid, we men benefit from this. Daily activities - I am still slow as, well, a moose (had to throw that in).

Everyone is different. You are lucky. Hope you stay in good health.
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Avatar universal
I found this to be an open and honest posting from a man with thyroid problems.....interesting reading.

......http://boztopia.com/?p=888
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Avatar universal
No i dont beleive this at all. I understand that most of you are "veterans". I am 23 years old (male), I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism at the age of 15. I have had this problem for 8 years and can say that while there are a number of complications, there is nothing major. I can see how people can logically link other problems to hypothyroidism and say "you're lucky op!" but honestly most of the individuals posting are merely complaining. I do not feel lucky in hypothyroidism as I also have a number of health issues such as athsma, WPW, and nephrotic syndrome. However, when it comes to Hoshimotos there really is no debilitating issues at hand. Anyone who can say that they are truly hindered by this disease all in its own is exxagerating.
Helpful - 0
649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
No one is saying it's the Hashimoto's that causes the debilitating symptoms -- it's mostly the hypothyroidism caused by the Hashi's.  

The above posters were not complaining; simply trying to address the issue from an experience point of view.  

While there does come a time when we have to look elsewhere for the cause of symptoms,  hypothyroidism is linked to many symptoms, that one would normally not connect with it.  

A lot of people don't realize that just have TSH, or thyroid levels in the "normal" range, is not good enough for everyone; almost all of us have our "sweet spot", at which we feel the best.  Maybe your "complications" come from not having found that spot yet??
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