Thyroid results are in

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 1:16 pm

My thyroid tests came back technically normal, even though I have apparent "clinical hypothyroidism." My thyroid anibodies have been negative over the years (tested 3 times, most recently in March)

TSH: 2.11 optimally my doc said it should be under 2.0 for my age, but I doubt this is significant. New normal range is .3 to 3.0.

Free T3: 2.7 Quest's narrow range is 2.30-4.20

Free T4: 0.9 Range is 0.7 to 2.0. Less than 0.7 is considered indicative of possible hypothyroidism.

So I'm good, right? Time to stop barking up the hypothyroid tree?

Post by **tex** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 2:16 pm

Those results look good to me (I wish they were mine -- both my free T4 and my TSH are below range

).

Tex

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 2:47 pm

I was reading about the "Thyroid wars", with experts not wanting to adopt the new suggested .3 to 3.0 TSH range, which used to top out at 5.0. They say at the old range, 5% of Americans would be considered hypothyroid. At the new reference ranges, 20% of the population would be affected. That's more than epidemic proportions!!

Sure could explain, in part, the rates of obesity and depression, among other things.

desertrat · Post by **desertrat** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 3:45 pm

Zizzle,

My results are somewhat similar to yours. My thyroid antibodies are negative too. Yet, my PA still wants me to take thyroid meds, which I refuse to do. You stated you have apparent "clinical hypothyroidism". If you don't mind me asking, what are those apparent things?

Plus, have you taken your temp around 3 pm? If it reads normal, say around 98.6, that is a good indication of not needing thyroid meds.

Mandy

Deb · Post by **Deb** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 4:09 pm

My TSH number was nearly 5 but Mayo still uses that as their upper limit- though I believe I have a thyroid issue. I didn't get T4 and T3 readings. My mid-afternoon temp can be below 97. I guess I wonder if so many people may have thyroid issues, is this a new phenomenom? I understand that some of it comes with aging but do you think environmental/diet issues could somehow be contributing to it? I suspect adrenal issues for me too and I think that got bad after an extended period of extreme stress. Deb

mzh · Post by **mzh** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 6:08 am

Has anyone read "Stop the Thyroid Madness?" There is also a website with that name. It also deals with adrenal issues. It seems that thyroid and adrenal issues have been mishandled for lots of people over the years.

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 8:23 am

mzh wrote:Has anyone read "Stop the Thyroid Madness?" There is also a website with that name. It also deals with adrenal issues. It seems that thyroid and adrenal issues have been mishandled for lots of people over the years.

Yes, I perused that website. I'm beginning to think thyroid and adrenal issues are THE cause of the typical middle age weight gain.

Deb · Post by **Deb** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 9:43 am

I know that thyroid and adrenals have impacted my weight and inability to lose it. I gained 25 lbs the first year after a hysterectomy nearly 28 years ago. There was definitely a hormonal problem at work. It was almost a joke. Each time I stepped on the scale...another pound. I recently ordered the STTM book after reading a lot of their website. I think women, in particular, are being done a disservice in that menopausal weight gain is treated so lightly and if we would "just eat better and exercise more" it would all go away. B.S.!

mzh · Post by **mzh** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 10:13 am

BS is exactly right!

MBombardier · Post by **MBombardier** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 10:30 am

You may remember that I took control of my own thyroid medication about three months ago. I used information from the STTM site, Dr. Rind's temperature chart, and information from Datis Kharrazian and Jeffrey Dach, among others. I based my medication on my temperature and how I felt. I increased my desiccated thyroid from 1 grain (60 mg) to 4 grains, and began losing weight. Some who have been on the board for awhile remember me lamenting that the 40 lbs. I gained in eight months in 2005 was stuck like cement to my body and nothing that I did worked at all.

When I had lost about 10 lbs. I started experiencing some hyperthyroid symptoms--heart palpitations, and feeling shaky. I backed off to 3.5 grains. I have lost 20 lbs. now, and am starting to consider backing off another 1/2 grain. I take my thyroid twice a day--2 grains in the morning, and 1.5 grains in the afternoon, three hours after eating and an hour before I eat again. And I chew it into a paste before swallowing, both times I take it.

A myth that many doctors believe concerning thyroid is that it affects the heart negatively. The heart palpitations are annoying, but they don't hurt the heart, and according to the huge Hunt study, http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article ... eid=414170 lower TSH is actually heart-protective, at least for women.

In this prospective mortality follow-up of more than 25 000 people from the general population, thyrotropin levels within the reference range were positively and linearly associated with fatal CHD in women. In men, there was no convincing evidence of an association.

There is some concern that over-medicating the thyroid can lead to osteoporosis. I haven't studied that much because I am only perimenopausal. Of course, weight-bearing exercise is good for building bones.

A caveat to increasing thyroid medication: Weight loss was not my only goal. I wanted my energy back. I wanted to feel normal, to be the woman, wife, and mother that God designed me to be. Please don't increase your thyroid medication motivated only by a desire to lose weight.

Post by **tex** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 12:10 pm

Zizzle wrote:Yes, I perused that website. I'm beginning to think thyroid and adrenal issues are THE cause of the typical middle age weight gain.

And yet, doctors go out of their way to warn everyone not to take thyroid meds just to lose weight (which, as Marliss pointed out, is good advice for those patients who truly don't have thyroid problems). The problem is, because of that bias, many, many patients unnecessarily struggle with weight issues (which leads to other health problems) simply because their doctors don't understand how to recognize and properly treat hypothyroidism. The problem is indeed at epidemic proportions, IMO.

Note how this grave error in the general policies of mainstream medicine exactly parallels the situation with gluten sensitivity. Doctors are constantly warning everyone not to adopt the GF diet without celiac screening, and then when the test results come back negative, they continue to hammer away with incorrect advice, by advising the patient to continue eating gluten. The reason, of course, is the same as in the thyroid issue -- doctors don't understand how to diagnose gluten sensitivity, so they pretend that it's not a problem. Hell, they can't even diagnose celiac disease until the patient has been so sick for so many years that the lining of their small intestine looks like a battleground, and even then, they still miss a lot of cases.

Yep, I usually wear boots when visiting my doctor's office, because one never knows what might be encountered there. :yuk:

Tex

mzh · Post by **mzh** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 12:40 pm

Love the BS graphics, Tex!

Deb · Post by **Deb** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 3:31 pm

I have started on natural desiccated thyroid as well. I am now up to 2 grains. My energy level had become so bad I could hardly function (especially after my last MC flare). That already seems to be better and my blood pressure has also improved. I had multiple other symptoms as well, including hair loss, low body temp, etc. as well as the weight that "sticks like cement". Maybe my doctor will forgive me when I return svelte, normal blood pressure and cholesterol and bounding with energy....ya think??

mzh · Post by **mzh** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 4:18 pm

I'm assuming you all got the thyroid meds from a doctor so what you're doing is tweaking the dosage on your own?

MBombardier · Post by **MBombardier** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 5:03 pm

I bought mine on amazon.com, actually. Not Armour, but a generic. When I went to the doctor in June, she gave me a prescription for 4 grains/day of Armour. She figured that if I was going to treat myself, she wanted me to have what she was confident was a consistent dose; at least, as consistent as desiccated porcine thyroid can be.