Re: Am I crazy? Advice welcomed!!

[Guest guest]

First and foremost.. welcome to the group!

Are you crazy? Only if you stay with the doc that you have.

The antibodies are showing that you have Hashimoto's thyroiditis... it doesn't settle down.

The entire purpose in life of the antibodies is to kill your thyroid gland.. in the mean time, your thyroid and adrenals are going to do there very best to keep you alive, regardless of the cost to the rest of your body....

The antibodies cycle. How quickly that happens depends on the individual, for some it's days, for others it's weeks, for others years... for some.. their life time. The cycle I refer to is the swing from hypo to hyper and back. You can quite easily test hyper one time, hypo another time and normal the next time and the whole time feel like crap.

The first thing that you need to do is find a doc that is willing to treat you for Hashi's. You'll also have to determine what the nodule is from...

Depending on your circumstance treatment may involve:

a total or partial thyroidectomy...

and/or RAI to destroy part of all of the thyroid...

and/or TSH suppression therapy with the use of replacement thyroid hormone.

You do have quite a list of symptoms. My guess is that you've been dealing with this for a while. Your problem is not your sanity.. it has to do with a doc that is not learned in thyroid care... so I strongly suggest that you find another.

IMHO, of course.

Do you have copies of your labs and the lab's ranges to share with us?

Are there any others in your family that have thyroid problems?

... and, as I said, you're not crazy.. cause if you are... then so are all of us and we're not crazy!!! hehehehehehe

Congratulations for looking farther and not just sitting back (like I did the first time I went to the doc...... )

Topper ()

On Sun, 29 Aug 2004 21:30:06 -0000 "denmich12" writes:

Hello, I am new to this support site and would welcome any and all advice from those who suffer from hypothyroidism.I have been suffering from almost all the "classic" symptoms to the not so classic symptoms for a number of years now with no real help from my doctor. I suffer from extreme fatigue, dry skin and hair, hair loss, cold hands and feet, trouble loosing weight and a decreased libido. My not so common symptoms associated with hypothyroidism include a change in bowel routine, been to see my doctor for carpal tunnel, possible gout, CNS nerve damage and I have a milky discharge which comes from my breasts.I have had bloodwork done with the results showing hypothyroidism and thyroid antibodies. I also tested false positive for Hepititis C which is known to happen in individuals with hypothyroidism. I was then sent for an ultrasound of my thyroid which showed I have a nodule. BUT, when I went for the dye scan it showed that I was hyperthyroid. When I went back in for bloodwork again I was showing within the "normal" range for thyroid function.I'm still suffering from all the symptoms but my doctor refuses to medicate me until my thyroid "settles down and decides what to do one way or another". Any advice?????

[Guest guest]

First and foremost.. welcome to the group!

Are you crazy? Only if you stay with the doc that you have.

The antibodies are showing that you have Hashimoto's thyroiditis... it doesn't settle down.

The entire purpose in life of the antibodies is to kill your thyroid gland.. in the mean time, your thyroid and adrenals are going to do there very best to keep you alive, regardless of the cost to the rest of your body....

The antibodies cycle. How quickly that happens depends on the individual, for some it's days, for others it's weeks, for others years... for some.. their life time. The cycle I refer to is the swing from hypo to hyper and back. You can quite easily test hyper one time, hypo another time and normal the next time and the whole time feel like crap.

The first thing that you need to do is find a doc that is willing to treat you for Hashi's. You'll also have to determine what the nodule is from...

Depending on your circumstance treatment may involve:

a total or partial thyroidectomy...

and/or RAI to destroy part of all of the thyroid...

and/or TSH suppression therapy with the use of replacement thyroid hormone.

You do have quite a list of symptoms. My guess is that you've been dealing with this for a while. Your problem is not your sanity.. it has to do with a doc that is not learned in thyroid care... so I strongly suggest that you find another.

IMHO, of course.

Do you have copies of your labs and the lab's ranges to share with us?

Are there any others in your family that have thyroid problems?

... and, as I said, you're not crazy.. cause if you are... then so are all of us and we're not crazy!!! hehehehehehe

Congratulations for looking farther and not just sitting back (like I did the first time I went to the doc...... )

Topper ()

On Sun, 29 Aug 2004 21:30:06 -0000 "denmich12" writes:

Hello, I am new to this support site and would welcome any and all advice from those who suffer from hypothyroidism.I have been suffering from almost all the "classic" symptoms to the not so classic symptoms for a number of years now with no real help from my doctor. I suffer from extreme fatigue, dry skin and hair, hair loss, cold hands and feet, trouble loosing weight and a decreased libido. My not so common symptoms associated with hypothyroidism include a change in bowel routine, been to see my doctor for carpal tunnel, possible gout, CNS nerve damage and I have a milky discharge which comes from my breasts.I have had bloodwork done with the results showing hypothyroidism and thyroid antibodies. I also tested false positive for Hepititis C which is known to happen in individuals with hypothyroidism. I was then sent for an ultrasound of my thyroid which showed I have a nodule. BUT, when I went for the dye scan it showed that I was hyperthyroid. When I went back in for bloodwork again I was showing within the "normal" range for thyroid function.I'm still suffering from all the symptoms but my doctor refuses to medicate me until my thyroid "settles down and decides what to do one way or another". Any advice?????

[Guest guest]

First and foremost.. welcome to the group!

Are you crazy? Only if you stay with the doc that you have.

The antibodies are showing that you have Hashimoto's thyroiditis... it doesn't settle down.

The entire purpose in life of the antibodies is to kill your thyroid gland.. in the mean time, your thyroid and adrenals are going to do there very best to keep you alive, regardless of the cost to the rest of your body....

The antibodies cycle. How quickly that happens depends on the individual, for some it's days, for others it's weeks, for others years... for some.. their life time. The cycle I refer to is the swing from hypo to hyper and back. You can quite easily test hyper one time, hypo another time and normal the next time and the whole time feel like crap.

The first thing that you need to do is find a doc that is willing to treat you for Hashi's. You'll also have to determine what the nodule is from...

Depending on your circumstance treatment may involve:

a total or partial thyroidectomy...

and/or RAI to destroy part of all of the thyroid...

and/or TSH suppression therapy with the use of replacement thyroid hormone.

You do have quite a list of symptoms. My guess is that you've been dealing with this for a while. Your problem is not your sanity.. it has to do with a doc that is not learned in thyroid care... so I strongly suggest that you find another.

IMHO, of course.

Do you have copies of your labs and the lab's ranges to share with us?

Are there any others in your family that have thyroid problems?

... and, as I said, you're not crazy.. cause if you are... then so are all of us and we're not crazy!!! hehehehehehe

Congratulations for looking farther and not just sitting back (like I did the first time I went to the doc...... )

Topper ()

On Sun, 29 Aug 2004 21:30:06 -0000 "denmich12" writes:

Hello, I am new to this support site and would welcome any and all advice from those who suffer from hypothyroidism.I have been suffering from almost all the "classic" symptoms to the not so classic symptoms for a number of years now with no real help from my doctor. I suffer from extreme fatigue, dry skin and hair, hair loss, cold hands and feet, trouble loosing weight and a decreased libido. My not so common symptoms associated with hypothyroidism include a change in bowel routine, been to see my doctor for carpal tunnel, possible gout, CNS nerve damage and I have a milky discharge which comes from my breasts.I have had bloodwork done with the results showing hypothyroidism and thyroid antibodies. I also tested false positive for Hepititis C which is known to happen in individuals with hypothyroidism. I was then sent for an ultrasound of my thyroid which showed I have a nodule. BUT, when I went for the dye scan it showed that I was hyperthyroid. When I went back in for bloodwork again I was showing within the "normal" range for thyroid function.I'm still suffering from all the symptoms but my doctor refuses to medicate me until my thyroid "settles down and decides what to do one way or another". Any advice?????

[Guest guest]

Yep, plenty! It sounds to me like good ole Hashimoto's Disease, with all

it's unpredictable stuff to go with it, all designed to keep you in a

confused state, as well as feeling rotten all the time, with states of over

production of thyroid hormones, normalizing, then going way too low. This

doesn't necessarily happen rapidly either, as I am living testimony to that,

after 11 yrs on thyroid meds. You still need to be on thyroid hormone

because it really doesn't settle down that much in most people, as the

antibodies, unbridled, will work to destroy your thyroid over a long period

of time. The thyroid needs to be " shut down " of making it's own production,

because the more hormone it produces on it's own, the more the antibodies

attack it. After all, the antibodies are mostly to the thyroid hormone and

the iodine atoms that are a part of it. The hormone we take from the

outside helps to accomplish this, even when the thyroid is in higher

production, as it will downplay what the thyroid actually produces. Many

doctors just don't understand this. Heck, none of us really understand it

that well. My opinion is that a suppressed TSH actually helps to shut down

the antibodies somewhat, though it certainly doesn't guarantee it. You may

actually have had Hep C, at one time, because it can be a cause of what is

going on with you, rather than a fals positive. It's just the opposite, Hep

C can cause the thyroid problems. Also, the interferon alpha given for

treating Hep can cause hypothyroidism itself. It sounds as if you had a

" hot " nodule, one that produces it's own thyroid hormone, dumping the

hormone into your blood with the rest of what's made. The ONLY thing that

shrinks these nodules is to give enough thyroid med to shrink the nodules,

enough to suppress the TSH, so your doctor doesn't seem to understand the

thyroid disease very well. You need to post your lab values, alongside the

normal lab reference ranges, so that we can take a look.

Am I crazy? Advice welcomed!!

> Hello, I am new to this support site and would welcome any and all

> advice from those who suffer from hypothyroidism.

> I have been suffering from almost all the " classic " symptoms to the

> not so classic symptoms for a number of years now with no real help

> from my doctor. I suffer from extreme fatigue, dry skin and hair,

> hair loss, cold hands and feet, trouble loosing weight and a

> decreased libido. My not so common symptoms associated with

> hypothyroidism include a change in bowel routine, been to see my

> doctor for carpal tunnel, possible gout, CNS nerve damage and I have

> a milky discharge which comes from my breasts.

> I have had bloodwork done with the results showing hypothyroidism

> and thyroid antibodies. I also tested false positive for Hepititis

> C which is known to happen in individuals with hypothyroidism. I

> was then sent for an ultrasound of my thyroid which showed I have a

> nodule. BUT, when I went for the dye scan it showed that I was

> hyperthyroid. When I went back in for bloodwork again I was showing

> within the " normal " range for thyroid function.

> I'm still suffering from all the symptoms but my doctor refuses to

> medicate me until my thyroid " settles down and decides what to do

> one way or another " . Any advice?????