Guest guest Posted October 2, 2004 Report Share Posted October 2, 2004 You bet ya, this type of stuff can happen especially around pregnancy and just after. You have auto-immune thyroid disease and autoantibodies are being produced that attack parts of the thyroid. Some of these mimmick TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) from the pituitary and they make the thyroid overfunction because TSH tells the thyroid to make hormone. So, these antibodies are both damaging the thyroid over time and over stimulating it. The reason for the up and down has to do with the natural waxing and waning of autoimmune function. Pregnancy plays hovac with it because of hormone fluctuations. In pregnancy, thyroid demands really go up and in normal people their thryoids would increase production. But, in a person with autoimmune thyroid disease, this increase in function also stimulates the increase in autoantibody production. Something in the production chain in the thryoid for making hormone is the trigger and the more activity in the thyroid the more it triggers autoantibody production. Hormones also play a role in autoimmune activity. if estorgen rises, then autoimmune antibody production tends to increase. Both estrogen and progesterone rise significantly in pregnancy and there are many hormone fluctuations after pregnancy which can cause problems. It is very common for women to develope thyroid disease in pregnancy or just after. It is thought that the high hormone levels trigger it. It also tends to have a genetic predisposition involved. Your doctor might be right that things will settle down in a while. He may also be wrong. There is no way to know. It might be a good idea to just wait and see if you are not suffering too bad. But, you should know that treating autoimmune thyroid disease can actually greeatly reduce autoantibodies and destruction to the thryoid. The treament has to contain doses of thryoid replacement high enough to suppress your own thyroid function. Treatment at high enough doses can actually cure thyroid disease in about 11% of thyroid patients when donoe for about 6 to 8 years (from Werner and Ingbar's " The Thyroid " ). This is because it lowers activity in the thyroid and thus loweres the stimulation of antibody production. Also, treatment calms the thyroid and is very likely to get rid of the up and down thyroid activity that is such a stress on the body. Over time the suppression of your thyroid can cause the autoantibody production to cease and it is possible to be cured. The healthy human thyroid makes about 4-1/2 to 5 grains of Armour equivelent a day or about 333 to 370 mcg of Synthroid equivelent. Any thyroid replacement that is done to reduce anuto-antibodies should be up there approaching full replacement. If it is low, like is so commonly done today, auto-antibodies will still be being made because the thyroid will still be active making hormone to make up the difference between what you are taking and what your body needs. So, if you are really lucky and can find a doctor that is educated about this and has actually read up on the thyroid, you can be put on supressive levels thyroid hormone and it would probably help you and level things out and make your life much better. It might also cure you over time. You can try to find a doctor that specializes in thryoid problems and pregnancy and hope that he has read the literature and research done on this. Otherwise, you can expect that eventually your thyroid will become too damaged and you will have to go on replacement. It may take many years or go quickly. You may also get lucky like your doctor hopes and get better. My opinion is that you would fare much better on Armour than on synthroid if you decide to try therapy. Many people with auto-immune thyroid disease have problems converting the T4 only hormone in Synthroid to the other thyroid hormones needed and produced by the healthy thyroid. To read about Armour and why it is better than Synthroid: http://personal.bellsouth.net/w/u/wurmstei/ Tish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 2, 2004 Report Share Posted October 2, 2004 You bet ya, this type of stuff can happen especially around pregnancy and just after. You have auto-immune thyroid disease and autoantibodies are being produced that attack parts of the thyroid. Some of these mimmick TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) from the pituitary and they make the thyroid overfunction because TSH tells the thyroid to make hormone. So, these antibodies are both damaging the thyroid over time and over stimulating it. The reason for the up and down has to do with the natural waxing and waning of autoimmune function. Pregnancy plays hovac with it because of hormone fluctuations. In pregnancy, thyroid demands really go up and in normal people their thryoids would increase production. But, in a person with autoimmune thyroid disease, this increase in function also stimulates the increase in autoantibody production. Something in the production chain in the thryoid for making hormone is the trigger and the more activity in the thyroid the more it triggers autoantibody production. Hormones also play a role in autoimmune activity. if estorgen rises, then autoimmune antibody production tends to increase. Both estrogen and progesterone rise significantly in pregnancy and there are many hormone fluctuations after pregnancy which can cause problems. It is very common for women to develope thyroid disease in pregnancy or just after. It is thought that the high hormone levels trigger it. It also tends to have a genetic predisposition involved. Your doctor might be right that things will settle down in a while. He may also be wrong. There is no way to know. It might be a good idea to just wait and see if you are not suffering too bad. But, you should know that treating autoimmune thyroid disease can actually greeatly reduce autoantibodies and destruction to the thryoid. The treament has to contain doses of thryoid replacement high enough to suppress your own thyroid function. Treatment at high enough doses can actually cure thyroid disease in about 11% of thyroid patients when donoe for about 6 to 8 years (from Werner and Ingbar's " The Thyroid " ). This is because it lowers activity in the thyroid and thus loweres the stimulation of antibody production. Also, treatment calms the thyroid and is very likely to get rid of the up and down thyroid activity that is such a stress on the body. Over time the suppression of your thyroid can cause the autoantibody production to cease and it is possible to be cured. The healthy human thyroid makes about 4-1/2 to 5 grains of Armour equivelent a day or about 333 to 370 mcg of Synthroid equivelent. Any thyroid replacement that is done to reduce anuto-antibodies should be up there approaching full replacement. If it is low, like is so commonly done today, auto-antibodies will still be being made because the thyroid will still be active making hormone to make up the difference between what you are taking and what your body needs. So, if you are really lucky and can find a doctor that is educated about this and has actually read up on the thyroid, you can be put on supressive levels thyroid hormone and it would probably help you and level things out and make your life much better. It might also cure you over time. You can try to find a doctor that specializes in thryoid problems and pregnancy and hope that he has read the literature and research done on this. Otherwise, you can expect that eventually your thyroid will become too damaged and you will have to go on replacement. It may take many years or go quickly. You may also get lucky like your doctor hopes and get better. My opinion is that you would fare much better on Armour than on synthroid if you decide to try therapy. Many people with auto-immune thyroid disease have problems converting the T4 only hormone in Synthroid to the other thyroid hormones needed and produced by the healthy thyroid. To read about Armour and why it is better than Synthroid: http://personal.bellsouth.net/w/u/wurmstei/ Tish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 2, 2004 Report Share Posted October 2, 2004 You bet ya, this type of stuff can happen especially around pregnancy and just after. You have auto-immune thyroid disease and autoantibodies are being produced that attack parts of the thyroid. Some of these mimmick TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) from the pituitary and they make the thyroid overfunction because TSH tells the thyroid to make hormone. So, these antibodies are both damaging the thyroid over time and over stimulating it. The reason for the up and down has to do with the natural waxing and waning of autoimmune function. Pregnancy plays hovac with it because of hormone fluctuations. In pregnancy, thyroid demands really go up and in normal people their thryoids would increase production. But, in a person with autoimmune thyroid disease, this increase in function also stimulates the increase in autoantibody production. Something in the production chain in the thryoid for making hormone is the trigger and the more activity in the thyroid the more it triggers autoantibody production. Hormones also play a role in autoimmune activity. if estorgen rises, then autoimmune antibody production tends to increase. Both estrogen and progesterone rise significantly in pregnancy and there are many hormone fluctuations after pregnancy which can cause problems. It is very common for women to develope thyroid disease in pregnancy or just after. It is thought that the high hormone levels trigger it. It also tends to have a genetic predisposition involved. Your doctor might be right that things will settle down in a while. He may also be wrong. There is no way to know. It might be a good idea to just wait and see if you are not suffering too bad. But, you should know that treating autoimmune thyroid disease can actually greeatly reduce autoantibodies and destruction to the thryoid. The treament has to contain doses of thryoid replacement high enough to suppress your own thyroid function. Treatment at high enough doses can actually cure thyroid disease in about 11% of thyroid patients when donoe for about 6 to 8 years (from Werner and Ingbar's " The Thyroid " ). This is because it lowers activity in the thyroid and thus loweres the stimulation of antibody production. Also, treatment calms the thyroid and is very likely to get rid of the up and down thyroid activity that is such a stress on the body. Over time the suppression of your thyroid can cause the autoantibody production to cease and it is possible to be cured. The healthy human thyroid makes about 4-1/2 to 5 grains of Armour equivelent a day or about 333 to 370 mcg of Synthroid equivelent. Any thyroid replacement that is done to reduce anuto-antibodies should be up there approaching full replacement. If it is low, like is so commonly done today, auto-antibodies will still be being made because the thyroid will still be active making hormone to make up the difference between what you are taking and what your body needs. So, if you are really lucky and can find a doctor that is educated about this and has actually read up on the thyroid, you can be put on supressive levels thyroid hormone and it would probably help you and level things out and make your life much better. It might also cure you over time. You can try to find a doctor that specializes in thryoid problems and pregnancy and hope that he has read the literature and research done on this. Otherwise, you can expect that eventually your thyroid will become too damaged and you will have to go on replacement. It may take many years or go quickly. You may also get lucky like your doctor hopes and get better. My opinion is that you would fare much better on Armour than on synthroid if you decide to try therapy. Many people with auto-immune thyroid disease have problems converting the T4 only hormone in Synthroid to the other thyroid hormones needed and produced by the healthy thyroid. To read about Armour and why it is better than Synthroid: http://personal.bellsouth.net/w/u/wurmstei/ Tish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 3, 2004 Report Share Posted October 3, 2004 I'm having an extreme problem seeing why this doctor is not seeing antithyroid antibodies of both types as a big problem. It is obvious from the way everything has been bouncing around, on and off, and especially during and after your pregnancies, that you have Hashimoto's Disease. Those two listed there are thyroid antibodies! And they are starting to climb right on up there. You're probably have hyper and hypo swings back and forth. Get a doctor who knows more about all of this, or, if he's trainable, present a lot of info to him. The one on August 9th shows that you are in extreme trouble with your thyroid, as you are very very hypo. The antibodies are working on your thyroid to destroy it, and you need thyroid hormone now, to at least try to hold them back and to treat your symptoms. Test Results - CONFUSED, PLEASE HELP!!!! > > Hi! I posted here before, but I didn't have a copy of my results. > So now I finally got a copy of them and would like some input. > > June 25, 2004 > > TSH 0.03 > > July 6, 2004 > > FT4 1.32 > Thy Micro AB 204 > (not sure what this stands for, but it's one of the anti-body tests) > > Thyroglobul AB 326 > > August 9, 2004 > > TSH 91.61 > FT4 0.38 > > I just had a baby in April and my doctor seems to think this will > just go away like it did before. I had twins in May of last year > and I had hyper issues during the inital part of my pregnancy. The > test results became " normal " after a few months so they didn't treat > me. A few weeks after I delivered my son in April I noticed the > same symptoms (only worse this time). Then my thryroid did a 180. > Does anyone know how this could happen in six weeks? I'm confused. > > Thanks, > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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