Re: re: Gracia's opinion about hypo/hyper

[Guest guest]

Same way with hyper and hypo-

--they could be two expressions of the same problem---a sick thyroid.

I think this depends. While they are both expressions of the same thing, we

have to be careful about saying that Armour, or any other replacement

hormone, could be the answer to hyper. Obviously, hyper can kill you faster

than hypo, so we need to watch here. Too much T3 will eventually cauld

cardiac problems, thyroid storm, and death. In the cases where someone has

Hashimoto's, and they have hyper symptoms from that hashitoxicosis reaction

(when each cell dies in the thyroid it can release its store of iodine and

hormones into the body, cauing a temporary hyper reaction) this is something

I THINK they usually just keep you on the replacement for. However, many

people who are hyper and go on the anti-thyroid drugs will eventually go

into remission and get better. There is a theory that hyper, left untreated,

will eventually " burn out " the thyroid and you will go hypo. I think this is

propagated by docs who just want to use RAI to get the " same result faster "

because they would rather treat hypo badly than treat hyper at all. Its

possible that temporarily hyper can be a symptom of being hypo, but I don't

believe this is always the case.

RAI is widely used and claimed to be safe and an answer in North America.

HOwever, the doctors in Europe would disagree. Once I was told a doc in

Belgium told his Canadian patient (who went overseas for help because they

wouldn't treat her with drugs in Canada and she was left untreated because

she refused RAI) " I don't understand why you are having a problem...I

thought Canada was a civilized country! "

In many countries in Europe, because the doctors are paid for by the gov't

rather than us, there are plusses and minuses. WHile there is more

competeion here and better " heathcare " than in a lot of places around the

world, in the case of thyroid disease, docs here are looking for an easy way

out of something they do not understand. And many many of us are

undereducated about our problems and the docs get to us before we can learn.

In 's case, they used the old " take RAI or die " line. I think some

really believe that is the only option, or they are scared to try the

antithyroid drugs on someone because they do not know how to prescribe the

dosage or monitor the progress. In both cases, whether through ignorance or

evil, they are wrong.

went undiagnosed until very sick because of her weight, same with me.

I was underweight for years, and always getting smaller, so hypo was not

something that came to mind. But like you said Janie, some get a cold and

sneeze, some cough. Our bodies react their own ways. But I must mention that

confirmed hyper treated with replacement therapy could be very dangerous for

some people.

[Guest guest]

..

Gosh I wish I had had time to talk to someone all those years ago... but

the internet wasn't around much yet then, no one I knew had thyroid

problems.. and I was just so sick they nearly scared me to death...

resting heart rate 160.. body pumping out so much heat I couldn't even

wear a jacket in the winter, in Minnesota! and food.. I was eating

between 20 and 30 thousand calories a day and still losing weight.. and

couldn't sleep because I had to stay up to eat. The told me that I could

have a heart attack just sitting in a chair watching tv, the told me that

even with the RAI given immediately that I'd not be able to work for at

least 6 months.... They just gave me the whole routine and then handed me

the release form...

...the whole time I'm going back to what the second doc said.. that the

first docs notes on my chart listed all the 'text book symptoms' of

hyperthyroid... and his note: Grossly obese, needs to lose weight.. I had

just had a body fat done about 4 months before.. before the hyper

symptoms had started.. before I'd started dropping weight... My body fat

was 21%.... That is the low end for normal, healthy at a woman of my age

at the time...and I'd lost more than 40 pounds by the time I went in to

see him.. he never looked at me other than I was not a skinny person.. he

did not look at bone structure.. he did not look at body proportions, he

did not look at anything other than when I stepped on the scale my weight

was over the charts. OOOOOOooooo I still want his nuts on a dart board!!!

Topper ()

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/The_Thyroid_Support_Group/

http://toppertwo.tripod.com

On Wed, 12 Mar 2003 06:23:52 -0500 " Jobes "

writes:

> Same way with hyper and hypo-

> --they could be two expressions of the same problem---a sick

> thyroid.

>

> I think this depends. While they are both expressions of the same

> thing, we

> have to be careful about saying that Armour, or any other

> replacement

> hormone, could be the answer to hyper. Obviously, hyper can kill you

> faster

> than hypo, so we need to watch here. Too much T3 will eventually

> cauld

> cardiac problems, thyroid storm, and death. In the cases where

> someone has

> Hashimoto's, and they have hyper symptoms from that hashitoxicosis

> reaction

> (when each cell dies in the thyroid it can release its store of

> iodine and

> hormones into the body, cauing a temporary hyper reaction) this is

> something

> I THINK they usually just keep you on the replacement for. However,

> many

> people who are hyper and go on the anti-thyroid drugs will

> eventually go

> into remission and get better. There is a theory that hyper, left

> untreated,

> will eventually " burn out " the thyroid and you will go hypo. I think

> this is

> propagated by docs who just want to use RAI to get the " same result

> faster "

> because they would rather treat hypo badly than treat hyper at all.

> Its

> possible that temporarily hyper can be a symptom of being hypo, but

> I don't

> believe this is always the case.

>

> RAI is widely used and claimed to be safe and an answer in North

> America.

> HOwever, the doctors in Europe would disagree. Once I was told a doc

> in

> Belgium told his Canadian patient (who went overseas for help

> because they

> wouldn't treat her with drugs in Canada and she was left untreated

> because

> she refused RAI) " I don't understand why you are having a

> problem...I

> thought Canada was a civilized country! "

>

> In many countries in Europe, because the doctors are paid for by the

> gov't

> rather than us, there are plusses and minuses. WHile there is more

> competeion here and better " heathcare " than in a lot of places

> around the

> world, in the case of thyroid disease, docs here are looking for an

> easy way

> out of something they do not understand. And many many of us are

> undereducated about our problems and the docs get to us before we

> can learn.

> In 's case, they used the old " take RAI or die " line. I think

> some

> really believe that is the only option, or they are scared to try

> the

> antithyroid drugs on someone because they do not know how to

> prescribe the

> dosage or monitor the progress. In both cases, whether through

> ignorance or

> evil, they are wrong.

>

> went undiagnosed until very sick because of her weight, same

> with me.

> I was underweight for years, and always getting smaller, so hypo was

> not

> something that came to mind. But like you said Janie, some get a

> cold and

> sneeze, some cough. Our bodies react their own ways. But I must

> mention that

> confirmed hyper treated with replacement therapy could be very

> dangerous for

> some people.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Grossly obese, needs to lose weight.. I had

> just had a body fat done about 4 months before.. before the hyper

> symptoms had started.. before I'd started dropping weight... My body fat

> was 21%.... That is the low end for normal, healthy at a woman of my age

> at the time...and I'd lost more than 40 pounds by the time I went in to

> see him.. he never looked at me other than I was not a skinny person.. he

> did not look at bone structure.. he did not look at body proportions, he

> did not look at anything other than when I stepped on the scale my weight

> was over the charts.

On my Mom's side of the family, we have two types of women. The really tiny

ones from the irish side (thats who I look like) and the big boned tall

women on the polish side (that's my Mom). My Mom tends to carry a little

extra weight, she has for most of her life. I have seen her skinny when I

was a preteen, and to be honest, she didn't look right. If you have a large

frame and you don't carry the right body fat to support it, you look funny.

Plus, if you still had muscle mass at the time, muscle weighs way more than

fat. Now, I have the same problem on the other end of the spectrum. All I

ever hear is gain weight! Anorexic, too thin! I am tiny. My bones are tiny.

If I were to gain 30 lbs, it would be like someone else gaining 70. I was a

little overweight during puberty, the only time in my life. I looked like

the 8th dwarf Cheesy. What you should be depends upon your body frame for

sure!

So, from either side of the coin, I guess the bottom line is that when you

don't show ALL the classical signs of the disease, you get misdiagnosed and

untreated. Or mistreated. Docs are too often trying to say " there is nothing

wrong with you, its stress, go home, oh and would you like an

antidepressant? " I get so disgusted its not even funny. I don't blame you

for taking the RAI. You didn't have the information and you were being

threatenned by a doctor (who shuold know best) with death. Hell, I might

have taken it too under those circumstances. Well, there is no way to go

back now, so you do what you can to get yourself out of medically induced

hypo hell, and focus on wellness.

BTW, my hair color changed too. I don't know why. I think it has to do with

the overall health of my hair, which is crappy. I am getting it cut on

Saturday to get some of the dead stuff out of it. As far as what you said

about advice on iron, to do it with food I think is good. I have been trying

to eat more red meat in addition to the supplements. Plus I like it. But try

to get a walmart supplement. Even if you only take an extra 125 mg a day,

I'll bet you improve. I have improved dramaticly. Now, mind you, I started

on 125 mg a day and that did NOTHING for me. But chances are you guys aren't

as bad as I was. I was hvaing 8 day periods and heavy! And it was that way

since I was 11 years old. That is the only thing improved in me by the

Levoxyl, my periods have lightenned a bit. While I feel hypo as all get out,

a lot of my more serious pain is gone. And getting rid of the pain is more

important to me than the fatigue and the hair and the edema and etc. I can

get things done and pace myself as long as I don't have to be in so much

pain. Now I have pain like a regular hypo person, I guess, as opposed to the

crippling pain I had a few months ago.

[Guest guest]

I got a letter form my HMO telling me to go off thyroid meds

immediately!!! I still have this letter, labeled exhibit A! (for my class

action lawsuit). My bp was as high as 280/120 and I was told I would have a

heart attack too. Well I probably would have.

What I found very interesting is that ARMOUR thyroid meds calmed me down, and

that's why they work for ADD/ADHD. But I had to add other hormones with it,

progesterone being a big one.

Gracia

..

Gosh I wish I had had time to talk to someone all those years ago... but

the internet wasn't around much yet then, no one I knew had thyroid

problems.. and I was just so sick they nearly scared me to death...

resting heart rate 160.. body pumping out so much heat I couldn't even

wear a jacket in the winter, in Minnesota! and food.. I was eating

[Guest guest]

I lost 30 years of my most prductive life after partial thyroidectomy and no

meds (because I had " normal " tsh). Hypers aren't treated properly and we must

stop the insanity! Question Authority. Remember when children had sore

throats so they took their tonsils out? Well they stopped that fad, so they can

stop RAI too.

Gracia,

I keep wondering what would have happened if I knew back then what I know

now..for one I wouldn't have went home when the first doc told me to...

for sure I wouldn't have had the RAI...

[Guest guest]

Gracia,

I keep wondering what would have happened if I knew back then what I know

now..for one I wouldn't have went home when the first doc told me to...

for sure I wouldn't have had the RAI... It would have been caught soon

enough to treat.... AND, if things had ended up getting as messed up as

they did.. I would have been sueing left and right, whether I could win

or not I would have made the whole thing so damn public they would have

offered me life time labs and meds just to shut me up...

If only we were wise when young...

Topper ()

On Wed, 12 Mar 2003 21:48:27 -0000 " Gracia " writes:

>

> I got a letter form my HMO telling me to go off thyroid meds

> immediately!!! I still have this letter, labeled exhibit A! (for my

> class action lawsuit). My bp was as high as 280/120 and I was told

> I would have a heart attack too. Well I probably would have.

> What I found very interesting is that ARMOUR thyroid meds calmed

> me down, and that's why they work for ADD/ADHD. But I had to add

> other hormones with it, progesterone being a big one.

> Gracia

[Guest guest]

I was part of the tonsil fad. We all had them out before we started school, up

here. Why does it take the medical community so long to admit that they were

wrong about a treatment??

I feel like I've lost 30+ years of my life with this thyroid problem also. When

I think of what I 'could' have been like...as a mother/wife/employee...just

living life in general What a waste!

Take care...Val

I lost 30 years of my most prductive life after partial thyroidectomy and no

meds (because I had " normal " tsh). Hypers aren't treated properly and we must

stop the insanity! Question Authority. Remember when children had sore

throats so they took their tonsils out? Well they stopped that fad, so they can

stop RAI too.

Gracia,

[Guest guest]

How true!

Topper ()

On Thu, 13 Mar 2003 03:36:31 -0000 " loboshe " writes:

> > If only we were wise when young...

>

> If only DOCTORS WERE WISE when we were young.

>

>