BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Thyroid Health Hypothyroid:

Hey! I have been hypothyroid and on meds for decades and my mother before me...I do know that the AMA has decided that they would like all women over 40 or post menopausal to be checked every time they go to the Gyne. Almost all the signs of low thyroid are the same signs as those that pop up in perimenopause: those 10 or so years before one stops menses in which the body goes thru the opposite of puberty(remember how much fun that was..this is that in reverse!)

Hey Roni!

I also am hypothyroid along with having Hashimoto's. I was just diagnosed in May, so I guess I am still new to all of this. My ENT doctor has me on 100mcg of Synthroid to see if we can shrink my nodule and try to regulate my system a little better.

Life has really been interesting since May, dealing with all the symptoms that go with the disease.

I look forward to talking with you and others on how to beat the thyroid before it beats you!

Maryan

Hi Maryan:
Sorry I have missed you. I claim that I am forum access challanged; if there is a way to get answers to my posts delivered to my email I have not discovered it...Please feel free to ask me anything I am definitely an old hand at thyroid stuff and my Mom has been dealing with it since I was a child so we actually go back to the dawn of civilization...

My Mom just cut back on her meds because of splitting nails and brittle hair. She is also 77; so living one's life does change stuff...

I have been low thyroid on every test since I was in my early 30's. It is only when I developed diabetes, hypertension, and a few other fun maladies in menopause that I started to seriously use thryroid replacement---Armour, because it's the real stuff.<G> Besides being overweight, I never would have known that I was hypothyroid. Now you mention brittle nails. This has started in the past few months, but up until then, I had the ability to grow "talons!" I used to have to cut them back; simple filing wouldn't do it. When I did a serious manicure, people thought I had falsies.<G> I may have been low T3/T4, but I never knew it other than from the blood test and perhaps the weight, but I think that was/is appetite more than anything. I'm not cold, quite the opposite. Anything I should know?

Hi: Here is what I know....armour is not as good as a synthetic because it is not as control-able(is that a word?). My endocrinolgist( a MUST have for newbie thyroid issues) and I just had this very discussion. If you are receiving the proper med at the proper level then your brittle nails(how is your hair?) and other sorts of hypo issues should go away...

An interesting note: it has been rumoured in the past 30 or so years that the use of thyroid meds might lead to osteoporosis(?) now it has been determined that the use of too little medication is actually the culprit.

Have you ever tried Armour?

I was getting sicker and sicker on $ynthroid for 12 years. Then I blackmailed my internist and wrestled him to the ground to get him to write me an Rx for Armour. My gouty arthritis disappeared ten days after starting the Armour, and all other symptoms left over the next six months.

I found Armour to be much more consistent than $ynthroid, which was a constant rollercoaster. $ynthroid has had numerous recalls for variations in potency of up to plus or minus 30%! Armour has had exactly one for about a 2% subpotency during the last few months before the expiration date. [color:"blue"] [/color] [code]

I would also say that many of us have not found endocrinologists to be the best thyroid docs.

Two opinions on Armour. I have had two conflicting medical opinions: one from a gyne, who said the same thing as Roni, that as a natural product, it was unreliable. The other is from the prescribing physician, who swears by it and refuses to use anything else. His assertion is that because it contains T3 and T4, it's the best thing to use. I am happy enough with the results, because when I take enough, 60 mg. one day, 120 mg the next, I think I am better than I was.
The nail thing may not be thyroid related. I was looking at them and there's a dent in the nail that would date to about the time I was at my lowest. The new growth behind it looks pretty good.
My hair is in good shape, thank heavens.

I just watched a segment on this the other morning on Good Morning America. I took notes and they mentioned getting a simple blood test - TSH. The key symptoms I jotted down were brittle hair, dry skin and constipation.

However I looked in my Merck Manual and now I do not think I have this. I turned 45 this year, but I think I will ask for this blood test when I go to my new Doctor one of these months.

Bonnie you are right those are some of the signs for thyroid disease.
I have some more symptoms listed here.
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art31605.asp

In the next week I plan to have a quiz on hypothyroid and hyperthyroid. You can take the quiz to get a better idea if you could have either type of thyroid disease. I'll post the quiz here on the forums.

When you do go to your doctor have them test your tsh but also a t4 and t3 test are needed. So ask for a thyroid panel to be done. That will give you a better look at all levels of your thyroid. TSH test is just testing what your pituitary gland is telling your thyroid to do.

Thanks Tracy for the link. Looking forward to the quiz. I signed up for your newsletter too.

FYI
Here is a great graphic on the signs of thyroid disease.
http://www.thyroidfoundation.org/thyroidsymp.htm

I just took the quiz. First half were No, second half yes score 50%. Actually I was confused on lateraly eyebrow hair.

So I think that would now be a yes - the response after quiz was done explained it more clearly. Perhaps others do not know what that means and why it is significant.

I am not sure though if it was always light in that area or not. Anyway I did not answer yes for muscle pain since I work out and would be hard to distinguish that pain and for periods I am 45 and possibly perimenopause and that could explain the changes recently.

Also my face is puffy but I think it is from taking the prednisone for my eczema and my weight gain from that. Have not taken it again even though I need it for my skin, but boy does that medication alter the personality into nastiness. I call it the nasty pill

I just checked out the site with the graphic. That is very helpful.

Thanks!

Hello
Thanks for taking the quiz.
The eyebrows. It's the outer part of the eye brows. Lot of thyroid patients lose the hair on that end of the eye brow or they get thins hairs there.

Puffy face is from predisone if that's what your taking. That's more a moon face look.
The puffy face from thyroid is more puffy in the eye area and nose area. It would be hard to answer that question if you take predisone. And that does affect your weight too.
I guess if you are taking medication that affects things like that you need to answer if you can remember what you are like before the medication.
Muscle pain in thyroid disease is different than that of working out. It's a pain that doesn't go away like work out pain does. The muscles are just tired and they hurt and the pain is there day after day with thyroid. Some people have muslce to lock up on them.
I guess the quiz wasn't helpful for you. Since most of the questions are affected by medications and age.
Look at the page of symptoms and see if you have some of those symptoms. If you do ask your doctor to test your thyroid. It's a blood test.
I feel women should be tested at least once every other year. And if there are members of their family with thyroid disease they should be tested yearly. Every women should be tested during pregnancy and after pregnancy. And women going through menopause need to be tested every year. This is just my thoughts on when to test.

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I just watched a segment on this the other morning on Good Morning America. I took notes and they mentioned getting a simple blood test - TSH. The key symptoms I jotted down were brittle hair, dry skin and constipation.>>>>>>>

The false god of TSH. TSH is a petuitary hormone, not a thyroid hormone. TSH responds to the level of Thyroid hormone it "sees". If the petuitary is messed up, or if the body has a problem converting T4, or utilizing T3, the TSH reading is meaningless. Also, if there is an antibody problem ( hashimodo's or groves) it is worhless. Also, when you are taking suplimentation, it is screwed up as well.

The only valid use for TSH is to determine when a cnacer patient is ready for Radio active Iodine (very high TSH) and when the patient is supressed after RAI. (should be .01 or less. Other than those two, there is no valid use for the TSH test.

The test that should be used are FREE T3, and FREE T4. T4 should be in the 50% to 75% of the range. T3 should be 80% to 100% of range.

Oh, my -- another Armour discussion.

The truth is that many who were on Armour before the 1970's and were switched to Synthorid have said that they never again felt as well -- so Armour deserves to be reconsidered. If there were potency issues, they date back to the 1970's when the preparation was handled in a very different fashion. Most of the thyroid replacement hormone products have experienced recalls at one time or another-- so that one issue just doesn't seem to be a valid criteria any longer.

I do not myself use Armour, but have always been tempted -- TOO many people say that it made a big difference to them -- too many have said it made a difference with their weight issues. The doctors have, in the past, been deceived by the Synthroid salesmen and their "spin"-- a few years back a court case against Synthroid was successful. Synthroid had suppressed the studies revealing that Synthroid is NOT the only effective T-4 med. It is now acknowlged that all the available T-4 meds are effective. So, should the doctors who were deceived into believing Synthroid was the only true thyroid hormone be believed concerning Armour? No. They probably have again been influenced by drug salesmen.

The only valid issue with Armour (from my perspective) is that it has 20% T-3 which is very different from the percentage the normal human thyroid produces. That ONE drawback can be easily worked out by adding in a little more T-4 from a synthetic med such as Levoyxl/Synthroid or other.

My information is from reading thousands of posts from many patients. Also, I've researched references on the normal human thyroid.


There is another source for T-3 -- but, it is synthetic, and should be carefully structured to be less than 10% of someone's thyroid replacement hormone.

~ Maureen

Everyone deserves a full life -- translation: the hypothyroid should be diagnosed and optimally treated.

Have to disagree with the consistency comment. Armour in particular is one of the most consistent thyroid replacement meds on the market. The synthetic makers put out the inconsistent line.

Forest Labs did the recall this past spring because some older product was on the line of being under potent.

The way it is processed, the tabs are made from many batches of processed thyroid that are blended to get the desired potency.

True, the individual batches do vary. That is the reason they blend many batches, to get a consistent product.

To get a true picture of your thyroid condition, the test you need are the FREE T4 and FREE T3. The TSH is a petuitary hormone, not a thyroid hormone.

The group I follow on Yahoo finds that for optimal results, the Free T4 should be above the mid point of the range, and the Free T3 should be above 80%.

Once you start taking hormones, the meds mess up the TSH test.

My mother has hypothyroidism and she had very good results with homeopathy earlier this year (her homeopath is working closely with her GP). Has anyone else tried homeopathic or naturopathic remedies?

Hi. I am new and found this forum because I am looking for information about hypothyroidism. I have so many symptoms and know nothing about this. I am making an appt. with my doctor. What is homeopathy? Do this symptoms go away with treatment? Any info to someone who is clueless but sick and tired of feeling sick and tired would be helpful!

Thank you!

Hi Jenn

To answer your question about homeopathy: it is a complementary, holistic treatment, and the concept is treating the symptoms with tiny, frequent amounts of a (usually natural) remedy that mimics the same symptoms, slowly and gently stimulating the body's immune system and restoring normal function. Vaccinations work on this similar principle - treating "like with like".

Hi,

I am also hypothyroid and have Hashimotos Disease. If that's not enough, I also have Fibromyalgia, so I can't tell which I am aching from. Along with aching all over from head to toe, I am just drained and so tired all the time. Some days I am a little better than others. I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism on October 14, 2002. In September 2004, I found out that I have Fibromyalgia. I am still on the same dosage of 50 MCG (or 0.05 MG) of Synthroid Tablets. I go in and have my bloodwork done on a regular basis, and the doctor has never changed my dosage. This is strange to me, since everyone that I know of has to have their dosage regulated or adjusted. It's funny that the doctor seems to have just out of the blue, started me on the dosage that I am still currently on. I saw a Rheumatologist in 2002 (referred by my doctor). And this Rheumatologist then diagnosed me with Fibromyalgia and prescribed pain medication, a muscle relaxer and Ambien, to help with my symptoms. I'm still struggling with all the symptoms that I mentioned above. On January 9, 2006, I saw an Endocrinologist and he too did not change my Synthroid dosage. I am seeing my Rheumatologist this month, to see if he can help me further with my Fibromyalgia symptoms and to try to differentiate my symptoms between having Hypothyroidism (along with Hashimotos Disease and Fibromyalgia. I welcome your comments and any help that you might give about all of this. "Thank you."

P.S. I just wanted to add that I recently (on June 8, 2006) joined Curves (for Women), to see if exercise could help. So far, I can't tell much of a difference most days, but there have been a few days that I feel much better, emotionally and physically just by going to Curves! Some days after working all day and going to Curves, I have to lay down when I get home and rest and hopefully sleep, and then get up and do some things that I need to do to get ready for the next day. My husband helps at home a lot, and our daughters are 22 and 13 and they are helpful. I just push on and go to work even though in the mornings I can hardly go! I am married and have 2 daughters that I do things for, and I am hopeful that I will feel like doing fun things with my husband and my daughters, like going fishing, playing basketball, just whatever is fun to them, etc.
I am 45 years and old and somewhat overweight and I am hoping that Curves will help me to lose weight too, and I am hoping to feel less achy, tired and drained. I have lost 5 1/2 inches, but havn't lost weight yet, but I know that I will!