I've been diagnosed as being hypothyroid for the past 8 years.... During this time, every time I would have a blood test, the doctor would increase my meds. I was up to 150mcg's until last April when I was told to cut back to only a half a pill 3x/week. For the last month, I have been experiencing hot flashes, night sweats and heart palpitations so as an experiment, I haven't had any thyroid meds for the last 5 days and all of those symptoms have been greatly diminished. The heart palpitations have completely ended and I have only experienced mild flushness. Has anyone else had a similar experience and if so does this mean the possibility my thyroid function is returning to normal?
Thanks,
Linda
Healing and thyroid function
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Hi Linda,
It might. There's also the possibility that your thyroid may have developed a nodule or two, which tends to cause hyperthyroidism (because the nodules can produce thyroid hormone without regard to chemical/hormonal instructions that are sent to the thyroid by the pituitary gland). Such nodules can usually be detected by palpation, and your doctor may have done that when she/he noticed that you needed a reduced dose of thyroid hormone supplement. Sometimes a scan is necessary to detect nodules that can't be felt.
Of course, the fact that your symptoms have mostly ended, suggests that you may well be right on target with your assessment of the situation. If your symptoms should return, over the next few months, that would be an indication of possible nodules, and it would be a good idea to have them checked out. In the absence of any hyperthyroid symptoms though, you should be fine.
The symptoms that you describe are also associated with menopause, of course, so that can be another factor to confuse the issue.
Tex
It might. There's also the possibility that your thyroid may have developed a nodule or two, which tends to cause hyperthyroidism (because the nodules can produce thyroid hormone without regard to chemical/hormonal instructions that are sent to the thyroid by the pituitary gland). Such nodules can usually be detected by palpation, and your doctor may have done that when she/he noticed that you needed a reduced dose of thyroid hormone supplement. Sometimes a scan is necessary to detect nodules that can't be felt.
Of course, the fact that your symptoms have mostly ended, suggests that you may well be right on target with your assessment of the situation. If your symptoms should return, over the next few months, that would be an indication of possible nodules, and it would be a good idea to have them checked out. In the absence of any hyperthyroid symptoms though, you should be fine.
The symptoms that you describe are also associated with menopause, of course, so that can be another factor to confuse the issue.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Zizzle,
I've never had it confirmed that I have Hashimoto's but I do have an elevated ANA. It registered 1:80 with a speckled pattern. I don't know much about this but if I remember correctly Hashimoto's is an autoimmune condition.
Tex,
Menopause happened 4 years ago. So I don't think it's a hormonal fluctuation but am making an appointment to see the doctor once I get back home. What are the consequences of having nodules on your thyroid? Is this something that is treated with meds?
I've never had it confirmed that I have Hashimoto's but I do have an elevated ANA. It registered 1:80 with a speckled pattern. I don't know much about this but if I remember correctly Hashimoto's is an autoimmune condition.
Tex,
Menopause happened 4 years ago. So I don't think it's a hormonal fluctuation but am making an appointment to see the doctor once I get back home. What are the consequences of having nodules on your thyroid? Is this something that is treated with meds?
Most don't need any treatment, unless they cause troublesome symptoms. If they indicate a need for treatment, whether meds or surgery are used will depend on their type, and various details such as location, size, etc.
FWIW, after taking a thyroid supplement for over 6 years, my TSH began to drop, and now, a year later, it's below range (way below range — 0.01 mcIU/mL). I don't produce thyroid antibodies (at least I didn't a couple of years ago, when that was checked), but I continue to take 1 grain of Armour, because my Free T4 is also still low, and my Free T3 is normal. I don't show any hyperthyroid symptoms that I'm aware of, but I do show a few hypothyroid symptoms.
The bottom line is, I have a hunch that untreated gluten sensitivity can play havoc with the thyroid, and when it does, it might take a while to recover, but in some cases it seems to regain some of it's ability to function more normally again. I'm just going by my own experience and the experience of a few others here.
Tex
FWIW, after taking a thyroid supplement for over 6 years, my TSH began to drop, and now, a year later, it's below range (way below range — 0.01 mcIU/mL). I don't produce thyroid antibodies (at least I didn't a couple of years ago, when that was checked), but I continue to take 1 grain of Armour, because my Free T4 is also still low, and my Free T3 is normal. I don't show any hyperthyroid symptoms that I'm aware of, but I do show a few hypothyroid symptoms.
The bottom line is, I have a hunch that untreated gluten sensitivity can play havoc with the thyroid, and when it does, it might take a while to recover, but in some cases it seems to regain some of it's ability to function more normally again. I'm just going by my own experience and the experience of a few others here.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Hi Linda,
The same thing happened to me recently. My heat palps came back, would wake up in the middle of the night warm and even have slight lower abdominal cramping. I then lowered my Armour dosage and all palps went away and I'm a lot better. I honestly think since I've gone GF I don't need as high of a dose of Armour Thyroid as I was taking before. But I won't know for sure till I have blood work done in February. I've had hyper-thyroid before from overdoing the Armour so I knew that those symptoms I was having could have been a hyper-thyroid issue. It's possible though that I could be leaning towards Hypo again as I'm getting sluggish with the bowels again. Who knows.
Terri
The same thing happened to me recently. My heat palps came back, would wake up in the middle of the night warm and even have slight lower abdominal cramping. I then lowered my Armour dosage and all palps went away and I'm a lot better. I honestly think since I've gone GF I don't need as high of a dose of Armour Thyroid as I was taking before. But I won't know for sure till I have blood work done in February. I've had hyper-thyroid before from overdoing the Armour so I knew that those symptoms I was having could have been a hyper-thyroid issue. It's possible though that I could be leaning towards Hypo again as I'm getting sluggish with the bowels again. Who knows.
Terri
Diagnosed with Lymphocytic Colitis in July, 2012 then with Celiac in November, 2012.
Terri,
You can edit your posts if you click on the edit button in the upper right corner of your post. After you edit the text, just click on the "Submit" button.
Tex
You can edit your posts if you click on the edit button in the upper right corner of your post. After you edit the text, just click on the "Submit" button.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.