Hypothyroid page 4

[sgerster]

I have Hashimoto's, and I DID have to go around my doctor to have that part tested. They draw for immunoglobulins that are the markers for the autoimmune form. I tested postive, I also have endometriosis and have been through the ringer with horomone pills and things. Now I am going to see a integrative medicine doctor who will be open to mixing of T3 and T4 to get the best result. There is a really good book call " Everything your doctor didn't tell you about hypothroid." Written by MD endocrinologist who is open minded and found the best mix for his patients on the horomones....check it out. I was having a VERY hard time losing weight and was never the person who had to worry about my weight.. until recent. I would work out TONS ( Chronic cardio) and only gained weight which was NOT muscle... I ran across the PB on chance at B and N, it has been my answer for getting the weight off!!! I am glad to hear about the autoimmune connection with gluten and casein ....never knew about that. Thanks for all the great info that is posted and websites to check out.

[jenndiamond]

Diagnosed with papillary Thyroid Cancer in 1999 (I was 26 and just had a baby). Had a total thyroidectomy and I-131 a year later. I’ve been on 150 mcg suppressive dose of Synthroid with virtually no changes for past 12 years…until I started intermittent fasting. I started doing a 16 fast/8 hour eating window – Leangains.com – two months ago. Just got back from my endocrinologist and had some interesting changes.

Comparison of blood test in July 2010 and Feb 2011…only difference is the fasting (and ensuing 12-lb weight loss).

TSH
Then: <0.068
Now: <0.006

Thyroglobulin
Then: <0.5
Now: <0.5

Antithyroglobulin AB
Then:92
Now: 96

T4, Free (Direct)
Then: 1.69
Now: 2.12

Doctor lowered my dose to 137 for two months and said he may have to lower again depending on my results.

He wasn't sure if it was the IF that's doing this…Can IF make you more sensitive to Synthroid and cause the increase in T4? What's happening?

Thanks.

[willygest11]

Yes- Hashimoto's is first, and foremost, an autoimmune disease and must be treated as such. Just treating hypothyroid symptoms does nothing to address the core issue. Hashmoto's patients are nearly ALWAYS gluten intolerant (and many are casein intolerant, too), and that is the biggest part of why the immune system attacks the thyroid (because, to the immune system, the thyroid resembles gluten molecules!) Most are also Vit. D deficient.

Here is a short educational video explaining more:
YouTube - New Book on Hashimoto&#39;s and Hypothyroidism

Here is a Dr. talking about reversing Hashimoto's by treating the root causes and stopping the immune system from destroying the thyroid:
YouTube - Reversing Hashimoto&#39;s Disease | Dr. Robert Boydston

Again- practitioners of functional endocrinolgy are the people to seek out in order to successfully reverse Hashimoto's. Email these folks for a practitioner list:
Contact Info for Dr. Kharrazian

I really like the first one

[DFH]

Hi.

I just joined the forum and noticed this topic because I have been through this also.

This thread was started a while back, but if there still is any interest in hypothyroid, what to do about it, what diet helps, who to believe..I'm interested.

I am a big fan of Mary Shomon's books. She has helped a lot of people.

I was on Synthroid, the synthetic T4 hormone, and it wrecked my health. It really bugs me how many drs still insist that this is the only option.

I got on natural, bio-identical T3, and went full-on low carb, took omega 3 fishoil, vitamin D, and some other things and everything sorted out pretty quick. I also cut out gluten and milk.

The good results I got from low carb led me to this site, and I'm a big fan. If anyone wants to compare notes on thyroid issues, holla!

[ittybitty]

Hi.

I just joined the forum and noticed this topic because I have been through this also.

This thread was started a while back, but if there still is any interest in hypothyroid, what to do about it, what diet helps, who to believe..I'm interested.

I am a big fan of Mary Shomon's books. She has helped a lot of people.

I was on Synthroid, the synthetic T4 hormone, and it wrecked my health. It really bugs me how many drs still insist that this is the only option.

I got on natural, bio-identical T3, and went full-on low carb, took omega 3 fishoil, vitamin D, and some other things and everything sorted out pretty quick. I also cut out gluten and milk.

The good results I got from low carb led me to this site, and I'm a big fan. If anyone wants to compare notes on thyroid issues, holla!

I'm a newly registered user here though I've been reading this blog/forum for a while. I agree Mary Shomon's books/website/facebook are the best.

I have autoimmune hypothyroidism. It's been shown to often occur with gluten intolerance. I cut out gluten & grains ~4 mos. ago (aside from the occasional cheat) and it got rid of the heavy bloating I used to get after eating anything (even if it didn't have gluten). I think it was in one of Mary Shomon's books where I first read about gluten intolerance being related to hypothyroidism.

I'm gradually transitioning to this diet. I still need to eat more veg to get the proportions right. I grew up hating non-starchy veggies so right now I'm probably eating too much meat/eggs/fat in relation to the measly 1-2 servings of primal-friendly veg/fruit I have a day. I don't want to lose weight (If anything I've always tended to be on the slightly-underweight side, yes even when severely hypothyroid), I just want to eat healthier. This diet fit my idea of what my diet would look like if I ate better foods, so I'm giving it a try.

I did terrible on Synthroid, though other brands of synthetic T4 weren't as bad. I feel much better now on a combo of natural thyroid and a small dose of synthetic T4.

The worst thing about this disease by far is finding a competent doctor. A bad doc will just make you sicker by not listening to you/lying/refusing to do tests/refusing to prescribe meds.

[DFH]

..
The worst thing about this disease by far is finding a competent doctor. A bad doc will just make you sicker by not listening to you/lying/refusing to do tests/refusing to prescribe meds.

You certainly have that right!

It is SO frustrating. I could sit here and write a book about it... It would not be near as good as Shomon's though. I have traded a few notes with her on her facebook page.

I once tried to get my doc to also take into consideration my high trigylcerides, which another doc found years previous, and he didn't understand it. This new one did not want to look. "Nothing to do with it." So when I am walking to the lab for my tests, I marked up my lab sheet myself to add a few things, including lipids. She calls me the next day.."Can you come back here, we need to talk..." sheesh She saw the other things, did a google and decided that I had insulin resistance. She would never have ordered those tests.

That info was helpful, because I got some books on it and figured out that I could at least feel better by cutting out sugar/carbs, but it still took a hormone doc a few years after that to put everything together.

It seems the gluten intolerance is very common, and even when people don't test positive for it, they still do better if they avoid it.

My new doc won't even look at TSH anymore. He just looks at T3 and rT3. My thyroid meds are all T3 from a compound pharmacy.

That is interesting that you are hypo and not having trouble with weight gain. It looks like you did good with the doc choice.

[ittybitty]

I once tried to get my doc to also take into consideration my high trigylcerides, which another doc found years previous, and he didn't understand it. This new one did not want to look. "Nothing to do with it." So when I am walking to the lab for my tests, I marked up my lab sheet myself to add a few things, including lipids. She calls me the next day.."Can you come back here, we need to talk..." sheesh She saw the other things, did a google and decided that I had insulin resistance. She would never have ordered those tests.

That info was helpful, because I got some books on it and figured out that I could at least feel better by cutting out sugar/carbs, but it still took a hormone doc a few years after that to put everything together.

It seems the gluten intolerance is very common, and even when people don't test positive for it, they still do better if they avoid it.

My new doc won't even look at TSH anymore. He just looks at T3 and rT3. My thyroid meds are all T3 from a compound pharmacy.

That is interesting that you are hypo and not having trouble with weight gain. It looks like you did good with the doc choice.

Yeah it's weird but I've always been pretty thin. My usual weight is just under 100lbs. It's hard for me to gain weight but if I skip a meal it seems I lose a pound or 2. I did read that sometimes being hypothyroid can cause weight loss because of poor digestion. I'm also borderline anemic (low ferritin) which can also be contributing to that.

My current doc seems pretty good. I've been moving quite often since I got diagnosed, so I keep having to find a good new doc which is a pain. This new one I have (since I just moved again) seems to have a good bit of experience. He doesn't worry about TSH if everything else checks out & I am not having hyper symptoms.

I don't know if I have any casein issues. I don't seem to have a problem with butter. I never liked fluid milk so I have been avoiding it like the plague for years & wouldn't know how I would react to it now. Cheddar cheese very occasionally gives me slight gas, but I think just the kind that is dyed with annatto (I guess some people react to it, so can't be sure if it's the dye or the cheese). I plan to make some yogurt this week & see how my gut likes it.

Congrats on having success with low carb and having your thyroid-related issues sorted out.

[DFH]

I moved a lot too, and had a lot of trouble getting good advice on the thyroid stuff, and it wasn't just thyroid anyway. From experience, I can see why Mary Shomon's books are so popular, and so helpful. Endocrinology, at least the way it is typically practiced in the US, is 20 years behind the times. I think it is actually worse than diet and nutrition. As long as you are satisfied with the doc you have, consider yourself lucky!

If endos are not helping you with the big picture well enough, the next move is find a hormone doc that is also an endo. This is what I had to do. My hormone doc does a good business in So Cal helping people out of the mess their patients get into from bad endos, and there are a lot of them. They don't use any synthetic hormones at all.

I live in Alabama now, and there is no one around here I would even consider going to. I still work with my hormone doc in Ca, and mail in blood tests and talk on the phone, and I fly out there once a year. I don't see that ever changing. I was in a hospital for something else in 2009, and had a ton of blood work done. An endo visited my room and started in on me about my TSH. I go "doesn't matter, T3 matters, look at the whole picture. If my TSH is so far off, why is everything else in line? Have you ever had a patient with a TSH so screwed up, but with everything else where it is supposed to be?" She goes "Oh wow, thats amazing. How did you do that?" We talked a while and she gave up and left. haha

[mikebike]

I've been hypothyroid for seventeen years (no pituitary) and have been on Synthroid since. All the endo's I've seen are so focused on the TSH, even if I have all the classic symptoms. They won't consider prescribing national thyroid. I finally found a doc that doesn't go by TSH and tomorrow is my first appointment. He doesn't accept insurance so it's not cheap but I don't care. There's no better money spent then on your health.

DFH, were you able to lose weight after you started on natural dessicated thyroid? Which one are you taking? From reading Mary S. book it looks like Armour was reformulated and doesn't work well any more. I so sick of living with a bad memory and brain fog, plus a lot of the other classic symptoms.

[DFH]

mike--

good for you. I just posted a short story and before and after pics in "Success Stories."

You absolutely can lose weight being Primal on natural T3. This is what worked for me. You are doing the right thing getting to a different doctor. My insurance won't cover my hormones and natural T3 either, but I'm not going back to the other docs, ever. I lost 1/3 of my body weight after the T3, and diet changes, which are identical to Primal.

I'm really interested in how it goes so let us know!

I guess it is OK to post a link...I try not to link out too much.. Here is the doctor's office I go to and their handouts. Read all the thyroid stuff about T3 and reverse T3. What Synthroid did was cause my reverse T3 to increase and overcome the T3. Synthroid is synthetic T4, which is supposed to prompt your body to make T3. Mine was making rT3 instead and it shut down my metabolism to the "starvation" mode that you can get if you just try and lose by not eating at all.

If you read all that stuff, you will be ready to talk to your doc.

My T3 is natural bovine T3, from a compound pharmacy. It doesn't have a brand name.

Good luck and keep us posted. You are on the right track!