Aa
I have been going insane since July 2010!
It all started in July 2010, we had gone on vacation and I gained about 10lbs. I didn't think much of it at first since I have always had a struggle to evacuate my bowels while I am traveling. I started to have the heaviest periods to the point that I had to wear adult diapers! I was 31 years old and had always had regular menstrual cycles and this scared me. Every month for the next 6 months my weight steadily increased 10 more pounds. I have always been pretty tall 5' 10'' , 165-175 lbs give or take normal size 12 and happy...I'm not skinny and never really have been or wanted to be, just wanted to feel healthy. I had an active job, some work and family stress but nothing I felt that I couldn't handle. I sank into a deep depression when the scale hit 215 lbs. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what was going on. I started to isolate myself, wanted to sleep constantly, always tired, migrane headaches that made me want to die almost on a daily basis, thirsty, constantly moody and irritable(even more so during PMS), I truly felt like I was going crazy. I cried about everything, hungry all the time. I felt old, never felt like I thought I should feel for being barely into my 30's.
I went to several doctors and had labs, ultrasounds, you name it and nothing ever showed up as abnormal UNTIL this past April. Everything in my full lab workup was smack dab normal (including my TSH) EXCEPT my T4, it was high and my Triglycerides were high by 158 points! I had mostly signs and symptoms of Hypothyridism but lab results looked more Hyperthyroid.....WHAT?!
I got scared BIG TIME. I have two adolescent daughters that I wanted to be there for. I immediately went into a lifestyle change mode. I put myself on a strict 1500 calorie a day diet with lots of fresh veggies and fruits, smoothies for breakfast, calcium and fiber supplements, lots of turkey, chicken, fish, NO pork or beef. And my doctor put me on a RX for Prozac, which I do admit has helped take the "edge" off but I still do not feel like I know I should be feeling. I do not feel like any doctors I have explained this to have even payed attention to a word I have said.
So, I have been doing some research of my own and I have come across some Holistic remedies suggested by some other doctors. I do not like to take medication unless it is a last resort. I feel the human body is designed to heal things naturally... but, if all else fails then MEDS it is. The things I have read suggested that Iodine, selenium, iron, zinc and manganese can greatly impact the conversion of T4 into T3..which is what I have self diagnosed in my extensive reading about my specific case... Also, that near infared light therapy can help destress, detoxify the body and help those with auto-immune disorders...which does run in my genetic history.
I have yet to try anything as of now since I have also read that, depending on the case self medication of the above mentioned vitamins and minerals can be toxic if not needed or if over dosage occurs.
Thank you for listening to my story, sorry if I rambled, I think that is also a Hypothyroidism side effect. :)
My question is; Has anyone reading this tried the herbal supplements/methods mentions and/or had any positive success with their symptoms/disease? I would love to hear that I am not alone in this and that there may be a light at the end of this tunnel.
Thank you for listening
D-
I went to several doctors and had labs, ultrasounds, you name it and nothing ever showed up as abnormal UNTIL this past April. Everything in my full lab workup was smack dab normal (including my TSH) EXCEPT my T4, it was high and my Triglycerides were high by 158 points! I had mostly signs and symptoms of Hypothyridism but lab results looked more Hyperthyroid.....WHAT?!
I got scared BIG TIME. I have two adolescent daughters that I wanted to be there for. I immediately went into a lifestyle change mode. I put myself on a strict 1500 calorie a day diet with lots of fresh veggies and fruits, smoothies for breakfast, calcium and fiber supplements, lots of turkey, chicken, fish, NO pork or beef. And my doctor put me on a RX for Prozac, which I do admit has helped take the "edge" off but I still do not feel like I know I should be feeling. I do not feel like any doctors I have explained this to have even payed attention to a word I have said.
So, I have been doing some research of my own and I have come across some Holistic remedies suggested by some other doctors. I do not like to take medication unless it is a last resort. I feel the human body is designed to heal things naturally... but, if all else fails then MEDS it is. The things I have read suggested that Iodine, selenium, iron, zinc and manganese can greatly impact the conversion of T4 into T3..which is what I have self diagnosed in my extensive reading about my specific case... Also, that near infared light therapy can help destress, detoxify the body and help those with auto-immune disorders...which does run in my genetic history.
I have yet to try anything as of now since I have also read that, depending on the case self medication of the above mentioned vitamins and minerals can be toxic if not needed or if over dosage occurs.
Thank you for listening to my story, sorry if I rambled, I think that is also a Hypothyroidism side effect. :)
My question is; Has anyone reading this tried the herbal supplements/methods mentions and/or had any positive success with their symptoms/disease? I would love to hear that I am not alone in this and that there may be a light at the end of this tunnel.
Thank you for listening
D-
I agree, it's best to post labs here where everyone can readily see them. Sometimes these threads are read many years after they were written.
no just write the results in on a post.
Particularly the T4 and T3 levels. Hopefully they are "free" levels and not total as the free hormone levels are SOOOO much more valuable than total.
Your body only uses the hormones that are free from being attached to a protein. And the "free" test counts these. Total test on the other hand counts both the free hormones and the hormone molecules that have become attached to the protein and are now useless. If you don't have the free test you have no idea what proportion of the total is actually usable and which portion is biologically inactive and useless.
Understand many here have found that when they have become Thyroid balanced they no longer need antidepressants etc.
Also understand that there are no herbs or any other food or over the counter supplement that contains hormones. The FDA strictly prohibits the sale of anything with any measurable hormone in it. So don't fall for the over the counter sales pitches that proclaim to sell you whole ground up thyroid with hormone in it.
Finally fatigue is often caused and it is not uncommon for Hypo patients to also be deficient in a couple other vitamins that cause fatigue. These are: Vit D3, Vit B-12, Iron and Ferritin.
Vit D should be above about 60 and the B-12 should be above half if not towards the top of the very wide range commonly listed for B-12 reference range.
Particularly the T4 and T3 levels. Hopefully they are "free" levels and not total as the free hormone levels are SOOOO much more valuable than total.
Your body only uses the hormones that are free from being attached to a protein. And the "free" test counts these. Total test on the other hand counts both the free hormones and the hormone molecules that have become attached to the protein and are now useless. If you don't have the free test you have no idea what proportion of the total is actually usable and which portion is biologically inactive and useless.
Understand many here have found that when they have become Thyroid balanced they no longer need antidepressants etc.
Also understand that there are no herbs or any other food or over the counter supplement that contains hormones. The FDA strictly prohibits the sale of anything with any measurable hormone in it. So don't fall for the over the counter sales pitches that proclaim to sell you whole ground up thyroid with hormone in it.
Finally fatigue is often caused and it is not uncommon for Hypo patients to also be deficient in a couple other vitamins that cause fatigue. These are: Vit D3, Vit B-12, Iron and Ferritin.
Vit D should be above about 60 and the B-12 should be above half if not towards the top of the very wide range commonly listed for B-12 reference range.
I have a scan of my labs, if you would care to take a look and tell me what you think I would love the insight. I cant get it to scan into JPG, just PDF but i could sent if that would work for you..Thanks
Please post your actual thyroid lab results with reference ranges. Was anthing tested besides TSH and FT4?
"The things I have read suggested that Iodine, selenium, iron, zinc and manganese can greatly impact the conversion of T4 into T3..which is what I have self diagnosed in my extensive reading about my specific case... " Iodine doesn't impact conversion. T4 is converted to T3 by stripping off an atom of iodine. If you are hyper, you'd want to avoid iodine, and if you have Hashi's, iodine can exacerbate the autoimmune response. You're right about the other minerals. You really need to have FT3 tested to confirm your self diagnosis.
Have you had antibody testing to see if you have Hashi's and/or Graves'? TPOab and TGab are the markers for Hashi's, and TSI is the marker for Graves'. They're all simple blood tests.
There are lots of gimics and theories out there for people with autoimmune diseases. There's no cure for what we have, but there are plenty of people trying to relieve us of our money in the quest for one. As far as I know, meds are the only solution. Keep in mind that meds for hypo are not drugs, but exact chemical replacement of what our bodies ought to be producing.
You might try the Alternative Therapies forum.
"The things I have read suggested that Iodine, selenium, iron, zinc and manganese can greatly impact the conversion of T4 into T3..which is what I have self diagnosed in my extensive reading about my specific case... " Iodine doesn't impact conversion. T4 is converted to T3 by stripping off an atom of iodine. If you are hyper, you'd want to avoid iodine, and if you have Hashi's, iodine can exacerbate the autoimmune response. You're right about the other minerals. You really need to have FT3 tested to confirm your self diagnosis.
Have you had antibody testing to see if you have Hashi's and/or Graves'? TPOab and TGab are the markers for Hashi's, and TSI is the marker for Graves'. They're all simple blood tests.
There are lots of gimics and theories out there for people with autoimmune diseases. There's no cure for what we have, but there are plenty of people trying to relieve us of our money in the quest for one. As far as I know, meds are the only solution. Keep in mind that meds for hypo are not drugs, but exact chemical replacement of what our bodies ought to be producing.
You might try the Alternative Therapies forum.
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