- Hello!

[Guest guest]

Yea!!!!!!!!!!! Another radical!!!

I'm in Michigan, too, so I totally understand!!

My husband and I were trying to start a family of "two-legged children" (we already have a family of four-legged children ) a couple of years ago and I, too, I was reading all the Mothering magazines I could get my hands on in preparation! I was definitely going to be the home-birthing, attachment parenting, homeschooling, make-all-my-own-organic-baby-food kind of parent. But, it didn't work out... we actually went the IVF way (long story I won't go into) and are still paying off the $11,000 it cost us.

I'm actually grateful for it now because I'm so tired I don't know how I could ever be a proper mom. I have trouble in daily litterbox cleanings and poop detail for our two dogs... I manage, but it's not something I would want to add changing diapers and nightly feedings to. That, plus my 40-hour-a-week day job and college classes... I'm already close to dropping to my knees from exhaustion.

If you manage to find one of those truly holistic doctors (not just a fringe healer -- who may be very good, but it's difficult to tell most often), please let me know! I already drive over an hour for my dentist appointments, and an hour for the healer I'm seeing. While her treatments have been nice and the herbs she has me on are great, she recently ordered Iodine for me. My first inclination was to think... hmmm... iodine... I don't have an iodine deficiency, I have Hashimoto's... she doesn't seem to know enough. Looks like I have to do all the research for her recommendations, too. <sigh> I won't be taking iodine, thanks.

I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only out-of-the-mainstreamer !

Suzy

Re: Introduction> > > Ahhhh, the wonderful up and down thing with Hashimoto's! We> just love the confusion of it. If the gland never gets eaten alive by> the antibodies, then it goes on a roller coaster ride for yrs to come> (encouraging huh?). I take Armour, and I news on the Thyrolar from> Forest Pharmaceuticals is that production won't be into full swing> again until sometime in the fall because of a change of some sort in> production methods. I made the change to the Armour myself a yr ago,> the end of this month. I have Hashi's too, and my antibodies are in> the thousands, so they may have been pummeling away at my thyroid for> yrs and me not knowing it until around 6 months ago, when I finally> ordered my own labs and tested it myself. I was on Synthroid, then> Levoxyl for 10 yrs before that, getting sicker and sicker. I never> quit my job, just kept going like a robot. It was about 4 yrs ago> that I started getting ill, though I'd done fine on the synthetic> treatment for a few yrs before that. I'll never know how high the> antibodies got before that, as I was rather ignorant about that part> of it until a couple of yrs ago. I worked on doing my own> investigation for the last 3 to 4 yrs, then started seeking support on> various thyroid group sites, and it has has been astounding at what> help I've gotten from the Groups, including this one. It is very rare> when someone does not need thyroid hormone for the rest of their lives> with this disease because the antibodies are formed to thyroid and> they continue to destroy it until they accomplish their goal. All the> various forms of thyroid diseases have come from various breaks in> different chromosomes, as an accident waiting to happen, brought into> being by various physical, emotional, and mental stressors, EBV being> one of them. It is also quite common to go into adrenal fatigue or> exhaustion, particularly when life stressors have been very heavy and> the thyroid disease has been very chronic. It's sort of one of those> things where it's which came first, the chicken or the egg. That's> why all the inserts on various thyroid meds always say that, before> thryoid treatment, have the adrenal glands checked to see if that> could be at the bottom of it being brought into being. They believe> that, when the antibodies are formed, viruses, stressors, pollutants,> mercury, and other chemical sensitivities may be responsitble. There> are so many angles to this, I would think it might be impossible to> figure out exactly how we "came down" with it. I still don't feel> completely well, and feel worse sometimes than at other times, but I> would probably be dead, if I hadn't gone and started my own treatment,> as the doctors in my area just don't know enough about how to treat> it, and I have no insurance either, so that's another cause of that.> I do some people who have good doctors, but it seems that the ones who> feel their best have had a doctor who not only puts them on natural> dessicated thyroid, but also balances the other hormones and> substances, like all the adrenal things, with the female hormones and> testosterone, cortisol, DHEA, progesterone, estrogens, and the like,> plus a good diet and supplements. Some people have more trouble> converting T4 to T3 than others, then other people can convert it, but> the antibodies in the blood can keep the T3 from entering the cells> and working properly. If the thyroid hormone is blocked at the> receptors at the entrance to the cells, it floats around in the> bloodstream, unused. Thus, the false thyroid hormone lab readings, of> a higher Free T3, and the Free T4, in this case, is usually lower than> it. My labs show a suppressed TSH, at .005, a Free T4 between the mid> to upper range, and a Free T3 just over the top of normal. I have to> take them with a grain of salt though, because of the very high> antibodies of Hashi's, both antithyroglobulin and> antithyroidperoxidase. I've recently gotten some info that says that,> because I have both major antibodies, I may also have had Graves> Disease. That would fit, because I had such a prolonged period of> time where I was hyperthyroid, eating anything I wanted to, but very> skinny, nervous, and bipolar, at that time for several yrs.> Meanwhile, I had doctors diagnosing me with everything except the> right thing, feeding me tranquilizers, antidepressants, and the like,> without ever running any of the thyroid tests on me. The story is> more detailed and longer than that, so I'll stop here. The vitamins> you may want to take are the antioxidants, plenty of the B vitamins,> especially more than usual of B5, B6, B12, folic acid, and selenium> (for conversion of T4 to T3). There are many more, but I can't think> of them at this moment. Oh yes, never take your iron with thyroid> meds, take it 4 hrs apart. Same applies to calcium. Take thyroid> meds one hr before eating, or 2 to 4 hrs after eating. Armour can be> taken sublingually, so it's not as much of a problem for this.> > > > > Introduction> > > Hello everyone!> > I'm new to the group, and it was suggested that once a> person joins an introduction should be made. > Well, I don't want to overwhelm anyone with my laundry> list of maladies, but I'm happy to provide a brief rundown on how I> arrived at a diagnosis of Hashimoto's. > > I'm 40 years old next Friday. I was looking forward> to this birthday several months ago. Things are looking less exciting> now. :0/> > At any rate, I was very active when I was younger. I> played tennis regularly, rode my bike everywhere, and was into body> building for a period. > At the age of 27 I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid> Arthritis after undergoing a knee surgery. I began gold treatments> and Feldene. > At that time, I was barely able to walk and even touch> my face with my hands... the joints most affected were knees and> elbows. > My days of playing tennis were over.> > > > > *Note: Information is freely exchanged on this board based on> patient experiences, and should not be considered a medical> recommendation. > > > >