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Re: BP thyroid (again) » Flame

Posted by fires on September 9, 2005, at 18:52:50

In reply to Re: BP thyroid (again), posted by Flame on September 9, 2005, at 7:45:54

"Once my "numbers" got back to normal .. which was quite quickly... I slowly weaned myself off that PTU. For sometime I was feeling quite well .. doing "nothing" in particular for my thyroid. But, since then I have turned hypO. My reading and talking to other thyroid patients has taught me that this can and DOES happen to Graves patients. (Although the drs. don't tell you that part ..)"

What causes it to happen? (hypo with Grave's)

" Hashimoto's is what I call the "other side" of Graves. They are both autoimmune diseases, but Graves is (generally) hyper and Hashi's is (generally) hypO. I'm assuming that with Hashi's you can also get hypEr? (Is that what your possibly experiencing?)"

Years ago some docs told me that during some stages of Hashimoto's one can swing from hyper to normal to hypo then back and forth...

The endo. I saw usually treated Hashimoto's by doing a total thyroidectomy. The reasoning: antibodies wouldn't have anything else to attack and thyroid replacement therapy was found to work fine.

In fact he used only Synthroid or other synthetic T hormones -- he said that dessicated thyroid could provoke one's immune system to continue producing antibodies.


" As far as not getting any better .. my feeling about how drs. are treating thyroid problems nowadays .. is most often that they are NOT correct."

The endo. I saw intentionally made me slightly hyperT by having me take a little more Synthroid then I needed. He was affiliated with UCSF, so I trusted him. It didn't harm me, but it didn't help either.

" When you get your tests results back next week, make sure you scrutinize those well. Drs. will generally tell you that you are "normal" when you are in fact "low-normal" hypO (and feeling just awful.) Make sure your doc orders for you the FT3, FT4 AND TSH. The FT3 & FT4 results should both be in the upper ends of the ranges your lab gives you .. to be feeling your best. Even if your "numbers" fall in the "low normal" range you can still be feeling awful. Thyroid patients are finally realizing that they need to try to get their numbers in the upper quarter of what their labs/Drs. consider "normal". As far as Synthroid .. I have "heard" .. not the greatest responses on it. I talked to a lot of people w/success stories, before I started on Armour. The change in my outlook, energy levels, etc. have been phenomonal! (So, of course .. at this point I have only good to say about Armour! ;-) )

I had my blood draw earlier today. FT3, FT4, and TSH. I asked for the antibody test but my psych. said to wait on it.

According to a lab sheet I have, FT4 includes T4 total and T4 uptake. Same for T3. Results should be in my neuros hands when I see him on Monday. I wouldn't be surprised by any of the possible results (hyper, hypo, or normal).


> What are your other symptoms that are "hypEr? Dry skin .. I thought was an indication of being hypO ... ?? Really anything is possible, I guess, when you have thyroid problems. Your particular thyroid problems don't necessarily have to fit the general symptom catgories."

Other possible hyper symptoms:

Hot face and neck from time to time. Osteoporosis.

Weight loss -- could be due to decreased appetite from taking Wellbutrin. Also, my upper legs hurt at times.

Also, I feel like my muscle mass is decreasing -- not just losing fat?


> "I've read that thyroid hormone is sometimes used for mood stabilization even if the patient's blood tests are entirely normal. One pdoc wrote that he has quite a few treatment resistant BPs who are *much, much* better on thyroid."
>
> Yes, I guess I have heard/read this also. But .. I think that what a lot of doc's are finally "discovering" (just like your article said on your first post in this thread) is that before prescribing those antidepressants, etc.. they should do a full thyroid work up, to rule THAT out. Thyroid disease diagnosis' has become more and more common in recent years .. Our lifestyles are finally catching up to us! (??)

I had the thyroid blood tests about a year or 2 ago, but everything is different now.
>
> Well, I hope I've given you at least a little bit to "chew on" in regards to your situation.
>
> Good Luck!
> ~Flame~


Thanks!


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poster:fires thread:552304
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050909/msgs/552872.html