Have You Checked Your Thyroid Lately?
Posted: Saturday, June 04, 2005
by sigridmac
Sigrid Macdonald
Christine Owens of Duncan, British Columbia suspected that something was wrong with her thyroid. She was losing her memory, felt disoriented, developed asthma and carpal tunnel syndrome and was exhausted most of the time. Since she was already on Synthroid, a synthetic medication to treat an underactive thyroid, her doctor assumed that Christine’s thyroid was fine and offered her antidepressants. Christine refused. It was not until she met Dr. David Derry of Victoria, BC who placed her on natural desiccated thyroid that Christine began to recover. "I went from being an aerobics instructor to a depressed 245 pound wreck on Synthroid." Christine declared. Most of her disabling symptoms disappeared and she lost 65 pounds altogether on desiccated thyroid.
Tiredness, low body temperature, weight gain, dry skin and hair, and heavy or irregular periods can be symptoms of an underactive thyroid weakness, insomnia and anxiety are more likely to occur with an overactive thyroid. Ironically, the treatment for overactivity – radiation or surgery - often results in an underactive thyroid. Moreover, thyroid production often decreases around midlife so that women in their 40’s or 50’s who complain about fatigue, insomnia or menstrual problems are often misdiagnosed as menopausal.
Since the early 1900s, hypothyroid patients were treated with natural desiccated thyroid. Diagnosis was based on clinical symptoms or on various tests including the measurement of thyroxine levels (T4). When synthetic thyroid was introduced, patients were switched to compounds like Synthroid or Eltroxin because their absorption seemed to be more stable. In 1973, clinical observation was replaced by the TSH test, which measures thyroid stimulating hormone. Until recently, a TSH of 0.5 to 5.0 uU/ml was considered to be normal but in January 2001, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists announced that a TSH of more than 3.0 uU/ml might indicate hypothyroidism.
Some women are returning to desiccated thyroid like Armour or Parke Davis Thyroid in Canada, which contain both thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). Others are adding a synthetic form of T3 called Cytomel to their T4 meds. Not everyone needs T3. Many people feel perfectly well on an adequate dose of T4, although Synthroid does not seem to be as stable a compound as Eltroxin or Levoxyl. Synthroid was the last T4 drug to receive FDA approval even though it is the number one choice of doctors who tend to be influenced by the pharmaceutical industry. Some people do well on Synthroid but others notice an immediate improvement when they switch to Eltroxin or to a T3/T4 combination.
When T3 works, it can be a miracle. Leslie Blumenberg from Waldoboro, Maine told me "I found my success after 23 years on Synthroid only when I asked my doctor for a T4/T3 combo. I had to experiment with various doses but I'm finally doing well. I've lost more than 50 pounds in the last 6 years, 22 of which were since last September after getting my thyroid meds optimized."
Jeanette from Boulder, Colorado was misdiagnosed for 12 years. T4 helped a bit but she needed T3 to relieve her "extreme fatigue, slow weight gain and severe depression." She focused on getting her free T3 and free T4 levels to the midpoint of the reference range rather than relying solely on the TSH test. Jeannette told me that it took her almost 18 months to feel well again and she strongly recommended a healthy diet, exercise and ample amounts of patience to recover from thyroid disease.
Thyroid sufferers meet to chat and learn more about the condition at http://thyroid.about.com/mbody.htm. "About Thyroid", coordinated by Mary Shomon, is easily the best thyroid web site on the Internet. Most of the women on the "About Thyroid" message board avoid soy products and supplements or eat soy in small quantities despite the fact that doctors have encouraged women in perimenopause to increase their consumption of soy for its phytoestrogen properties. Soy has been known to act as a goitrogen, meaning that it can inhibit thyroid function. Other goitrogens include raw broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts and cooked millet. Dr. Larrian Gillespie, author of "The Menopause Diet", claims that she went hypothyroid in 12 days by taking soy isoflavenes! But she still recommends small servings of soy foods to her patients. You can read more about the soy controversy at http://www.soyonlineservice.co.nz/
Unfortunately, most doctors are still following the old protocol. If your blood tests come back with a TSH under 5, your doctor will probably say that thyroid is not your problem. And many physicians believe that synthetic T4 medications are the only form of reputable treatment these doctors may be reluctant to prescribe T3.
What can you do? If you are already on thyroid medication, try the following:
* Take your thyroid on an empty stomach, preferably before breakfast
* Wait 4 hours after taking thyroid before taking iron or calcium
* Try 50 to 100 micrograms of selenium daily
* Consider desiccated thyroid or adding Cytomel to your T4 meds
If you are not on thyroid medication:
* Ask your doctor to run a free T3, free T4, and TSH test and request copies
of your lab results
* Read "Living Well With Hypothyroidism" by Mary Shomon and "The Thyroid
Solution" by Dr. Ridha Arem.
* Get a second opinion if your symptoms strongly suggest thyroid problems
Sigrid Macdonald. Author of GETTING HIP and D'Amour Road,
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