THYROID/HASHIMOTOS

[blahblahblah305]

Hello
Confused and going nuts here.  I was diagnosed with Hashimotos about a year ago.  I was on Armour and Naturthroid for a while, did not notice much difference,  then doc said I might as well stop.  Sept 4 2012 blood test show
total chol 271
HDL 89
Trigs 69
LDL 168
Ratio 3.0
TSH 9.33 (0.40-4.50 mIU/L is the range)
T4 total 7.5
T4 Free 0.9
T3 total 105

Doc wanted me to take Synthroid, I said no, I want Armour.  I have been taking Armour 30mg in the morning for 10 days.  After 3 days, heart palps, hot sweats, violent panic/anxiety, racing hyper manic feeling, hysteria etc.  Day 11 stopped cold turkey, could not stand it any more. Day 2 of no Armour, very weepy and depressed, in the pm had to sleep, wake up with anxiety.  
I know I have some adrenal burn out.  Head hair loss, a very little weight gain, I eat super healthy, walk most days 30 mins.

I have read a lot of the information and advice given in this forum, and quite frankly, I am at my wits end to have some one tell me what is going on!  Doc says to take Valium for anxiety, and go on anti depressants.  terrified of getting addicted to benzos, and past experience with anti deps result in severe side effects.

I asked my doc to do all the thyroid labs, but she said that the ones that show Hashis, no point to do them, cos once they show high, they will always show high......the TPO tests?

when I am off Thyroid pills, a lot of the time I do fairly ok, yes hair loss and low mood and some anxiety.

I am 65, good blood test except for chol and thyroid, but chol is not from food, I eat really well.  I am getting Medicare in 3 months, so am trying to hold out to go to an endo doc at which time it will not cost me anything.  I live in the USA, land of the medical system set up to gouge and con its population!

many thanks from blahblahblah

[goolarra]

We are all fellow patients, not doctors.  There is an expert forum that you can post on.  However, they only take so many questions per day, and overflow is often referred here.  So, it may be that you posted on the expert forum, but your question ended up here.  

Read up on iodine and Hashi's...iodine is often contraindicated with Hashi's.  It can have the effect of exacerbating the autoimmune reaction.    

[blahblahblah305]

Hi, thank you so much for your response and the information.  I am new to this site.  Are there any medical doctors on this site, who are good with thryroid problems?  Or any naturopaths?  My naturopath told me to take liquid Iodine for the thyroid, and Ashwagandha for the adrenals, but they seem also to be producing bad symptoms.  

I am not clear if I posted on the general blog,or if I posted on the medical doctor blog on this site.  confused!

Many thanks to you from Rose

[goolarra]

What often happens when we are hypo for a while is that the adrenals move in and try to compensate for the lack of thyroid hormone by producing more adrenal hormones.  That works for a while, but then adrenal fatigue often sets in.  If that's the case with you, the adrenal issues have to be addressed first.  Adrenal fatigue often manifests as intolerance to thyroid meds...that "can't live with them, can't live without them" experience you are having.

Depression due to hypo often does not respond favorably to antidepressants, in fact, ADs can make it worse.

High cholesterol is a symptom of hypo.  

It's true that once you test positive for antibodies (TPOab), there is no point in running the test again.  Once you have antibodies, you have them for life