Men and Hypothyroidism

[Boristhespider]

Is it terribly uncommon for a man to be hypo? I am a male who had a TSH of 16.96. I went and had more blood work done monday and still have not received a call from my doctor. I am just nervous and feel bad. I was just talking with guys at work and they never heard of men having thyroid problems, and then I check on line and it is rare. I was just wondering if anyone here knows of any men who have thyroid problems?
And if my 16.96 TSH is something to be concerned about.
THANKS!

[Chris51505]

Is it normal to be a 16 year old with hypothyroid that is slowly increasing. Doctors just tell me your thyroid might be inflamed and is autoimmune. I feel rather confused about what this mean. I am still young and all but should I be greatly concerned. They keep giving me pills that are never helping because my numbers continue to increase or decrease idk....

[giga612]

Ok I got the result for uptake scan and it may be hashitoxicosis or early graves.
I still need to get the antibody tests.

[gimel]

All I can tell you is that hypothyroidism is often associated with gingivitis, which frequently turns into periodontal disease, gum recession and bone loss.  

[giga612]

Hi
I just wanted to now does this affect your teeth
Because I do have to have 6 extractions 12 fillings/restorations  

[gimel]

From those labs it is no wonder that you have hypothyroid symptoms.  In addition, the ranges are far too broad and many members, myself included, find that symptom relief requires that Free T3 needs to be in the upper third of the range and free T4 around the midpoint.  

A good thyroid doctor will treat a hypo patient clinically by testing and adjusting Free T3 and Free T4 as necessary to relieve symptoms, without being constrained by resultant TSH levels.  Symptom relief should be all important, not just test results.  You can confirm what I am telling you in this letter written by a good thyroid doctor for patients that he sometimes consults with from a distance.  The letter is sent to the PCP of the patient to help guide treatment.  

http://hormonerestoration.com/files/ThyroidPMD.pdf

In the letter please note this statement.  "The ultimate criterion for dose
adjustment must always be the clinical response. I have prescribed natural dessicated thyroid for your patient (Armour or Nature-Throid). These contain T4 and T3 (40mcg and 9mcg respectively per 60mg). They are more effective than T4 therapy for most patients. Since they provide more
T3 than the thyroid gland produces, the well-replaced patient’s free T4 will be around the middle of its range or lower, and the FT3 will be high-“normal” or slightly high before the AM dose."

So this is the type of treatment you need.  If you give a copy of this letter to your doctor it might have some influence on him and change his mind about treating you.  If not, then you need to find a good thyroid doctor that will treat you clinically as described.

It would also be a good idea to get tested for the thyroid antibodies, TPO ab and TG ab, to see if Hashimoto's Thyroiditis is the cause for your hypothyroidism.  Other tests that would be advisable some time in the near future would be Vitamin D, B12, RBC magnesium, zinc, and selenium.

[Benjamin00]

29 Yr old male here in the military,.. Been struggling for several years but certain symptoms like constipation and fatigue have gotten un-ignorable over the last couple of years. I finally saw a doctor in August of this past year, and finally, after EGD, colonoscopy, ultrasounds, MRI, finally I think im getting close. I got the following lab results today
t3 91     (80-220)
FT3 1.3 (2.0-4.4)
FT4 0.93 (0.81-1.58)
TSH 1.67  (0.465-4.68)

I called my Doctor to ask for him to take a look at my lab results, he was not inclined to look into thyroid labs.. I started looking online and just went into the lab and asked them to draw the blood.

Thanks for any info and I appreciate all the support in this forum.