Re: New to list....Labs...Tish your AMAZING! (very long sorry....)

November 17, 2004

Hey guys,

First thank you Topper and Tish for making me feel comfortable here! Tish you just floored me with your response to my labs. You were so right on! I'll try to fill in some of the blanks for you with some more history....

I turned 51 on Nov. 8th, and I am a TRUE Scorpio! (Could be part of my adrenal problem huh?...lol) I am also suffering with estrogen dominance symptoms. Which we all know "mimic" hypo/adrenal symptoms. I started Endau cream mid September along with Vit E, B-12 Complex, zinc, magnesium, and selenium. My hot flashes/night sweats are better, but not gone. I'm waiting to start a multi-vitamin until I know more about what going on with my thyroid. Meaning I don't know if I should take one containing iodine or one without. Any recommendations are welcomed! Now I'll address your response to my post.

> I understand why your doc wants to try the 's on you. It is> because your numbers are kind of on the borderline. However> something is definitely going on because your TSH is high. Are your> symptoms bad? If your symptoms are bad, it could be 's or you> could have a type of autoimmune thyroid condition where thyroid> hormone is being attacked and removed in the blood. In this case you> won't always have strong hypo numbers on tests but may feel very> hypothyroid. Autoimmune antibody tests do not pick up everything by any means.

Symptoms - Fatigue, Fatigue, and more fatigue. Depression, brain fog, headaches, heart palpitations, and pounding of my heart, especially after some meals, often feel faint upon standing, no motivation, physical activity exhausts me, have to have a daily nap around 2 or 3 pm, 30 lbs of extra weight, (waist, hips and thighs,) (all I have to do is look at food to gain, I don't have to actually eat it) Dry, gritty light sensitive eyes. Seems hard to get enough air when taking a deep breath, my skin has a “leathery” texture, and seems like it’s hard to get lotions to actually absorb. I also have, for lack of a better description, what looks like white freckles on my forearms, don't sleep well, low blood pressure, pulse averages 65, basal temp averages 97.1, no libido, moody, irritable, anxious at times for no reason really, and I'm so HEAT INTOLERANT! I thought HypO meant you were cold all the time. The heat just KILLS me. The sweat just RUNS out of my hair. I've had numerous friends and family members ask me "Do you always sweat like that?" It's embarrassing! And I've developed a strange body odor. It smells like... well that soured laundry order like when you forget about a load of laundry in the washer and the next morning when you open the lid of the washer that "smell" that hits you? It's so GROSS!

The day I went in to have my tests done my doctor was out of the office. His PA (the four eyed weasel) drew my blood. I did ask to have my antibodies tested. He gave me that "look" that we're all so familiar with...rolled his little stool over to me, felt of my thyroid gland, and says, "I don't feel any abnormalities....we don't need to test your antibodies." Grrrrrrrrr... I also asked that they test my ferritin levels. I don't see and Fe symbol on my labs......

> The thyroid fathers (endos) have recently changed the TSH ranges but> the majority of labs in the US have not. The new TSH ranges are 0.5> to 3.0. You are quite close to 3.0. Anything above 2.0 is impaired> thyroid function and studies on people like you have found that the> majority will go on to develop overt hypothyroidism within the next> 10 to 20 years. They also have higher rate of cardiovascular disease> and other conditions related to hypothyroidism. The best TSH numbers> for health are around 1.0 and less.

I will ask him about the new TSH ranges on my next visit. My TSH on my first labs in August was 1.75 so it jumped that much in 8 weeks. He didn’t test my Frees the first time so I don’t have a comparison for those. The cardiovascular part scares me! He told me after my first set of labs that my blood ph was alkaline, and asked me if I’d ever suffered a heart attack?

> Your Free T3 and free T4s are actually a bit low. The ranges for> both these tests are skewed toward hypothyroidism due the fact> that these test ranges are determined by who has the tests. The> majority of people who have thyroid tests have low thyroid function> to some extent. They are either older or sick. Both these things> lower thyroid function and so skew test ranges. Even though your> numbers seem just pegged near the middle, you really need to be in> the upper half of the range and it would be perfect if you were in> the upper 1/3. The middle of the free T3 range is 3.25 and you are> below that. Your Free T4 is also below the midline. Really your labs> show something is going on. In thyroid failure, typically T4 goes> near the bottom of the range or below it and T3 just barely brushes> up against the middle of the range. This is because as the thyroid> is less and less able to make enough hormone, it begins to make more> and more T3 in order to try and give more energy for the body with> less hormone. But, both your Ts are equally low, which is> interesting. I would say that it's a pituitary problem, but your> pituitary is registering that something is wrong with elevated TSH.> Then my next guess is that you have a health, nutritional or> emotional issue pulling your down. This could lead to s. It> could be that you are in the very early stages of thyroid failure> and it could be that your thyroid function is impaired by poor diet> and nutrition or you have had a major stress of some kind. This> would also raise reverse T3. Low adrenal function also slows thyroid> function down because cortisol and other corticosteroids are needed> for thyroid hormone to get into tissues and for proper blood sugar> levels which are important for thyroid to be able to work. Your> blood sugar is on the low end and this sort of bears out that you> have adrenal fatigue or maybe have been overly restricting> carbohydrates. Cortisol from the adrenals is needed to maintain> proper glucose levels. Adrenal issues themselves can impair thyroid function.

There aren’t enough adjectives in the English language to describe the emotional roller coaster I’ve been on for the past year. We had to place my dear sweet little mother-in-law in a nursing home in November of 2003. (My mother-in-law’s story is a very long, very sad one.) Sadly, we lost her on Nov. 2. She was such a good person. I miss her terribly. (She was 78, and on Synthroid since her early 20s by the way. And – the reason I started researching Thyroid problems in the first place.) So, I’ve spent the entire past year battling not only her doctors, but also the nursing home staff night and day 24/7 to try and keep them from killing her. They finally succeeded! It INFURIATES me as I write about it! In addition to running back and forth to the nursing home or the hospital, which both are hour drives one-way. We also have livestock and pets that have to be fed and tended to. I was forced to re-home our parrot. That broke my heart too. Hubby’s job requires that he be gone 2 weeks every month, sooooo guess who gets to deal with it all while he’s gone? Just little ol me…. lol

Needless to say, I have not one teensy, weensy, iota of respect for doctors of any kind! I’d so very much love to strangle ALL of the ones involved with my mil’s care, or lack thereof. The jury is officially “still out” so to speak even on this current one. And nursing homes…oh boy do we not EVEN want to go there!

>I am wondering whether you are getting enough good quality protein,> selenium, chromium and maybe Iodine and other nutrition. All these> are needed for proper thyroid function. Typically in hypothyroidism> Iron and blood protein goes low. You will get low blood cell levels> and low but large red blood cells. Yours all look ok. But, you show> some signs of an infection. Also, I am wondering if you diet a lot> or have dieted a lot or maybe don't eat regularly or restrict> carbohydrates too much. If you don't get at least some> carbohydrates, thyroid function slows down. This is why people can't> stay on extreme low carb diets. Also, do you eat a lot of> cruciferous vegetables, beans (soy) and nuts. All these will slow> thyroid function and are goitergens. It's also possible that you> have a digestive system problem. The body reuptakes huge amounts of> thyroid hormone from the small intestines. It is eliminated there by> the liver and then much of it is reabsorbed. So, if you have a> digestive system problem like celiac disease, parasites or> something, this can make a lot of work for the thyroid to make up> for thyroid hormone that being lost and can't be taken back up for> reuse in the intestines.

> Anyway, I really think you need to take a look at your nutrition and> general health if you haven't already, just to be sure something> isn't dragging you down. The way women are taught to eat today - low> fat, meager meals, no meat is not good for thyroid function.

Again you’re right on! I have “yo-yoed” with dieting all my adult life. My eating habits are horrible. How do you other thyroid/adrenal challenged guys cope? I’m too TIRED to cook! This doc did tell me I had a carb absorption problem. So it’s not that I limit carbs really, it’s that in addition to the fact that all of my hormones are totally screwed up, why not my digestive system too? This doctor suggested a diet higher in protein, and lower in carbs. (I’m confused…?) I don’t eat enough veggies period. I do try to limit sugar, most of the time. I’ve cut my coffee way down too. Wow how does one avoid soy? It’s in EVERYTHING!

> I have been on the 's program and have to say it was a> failure. If you have a real thyroid problem such as low level> antibody destruction of the gland or antibody removal of thyroid> hormone from the blood, 's will never cure you. Your numbers> do not prove anything either way right now. They just show that your> function is impaired. I talked to several 's specialists when> I was doing the program and was told that only about 5% ever are> able to totally go off thyroid hormone. I have seen only two cases> of people having success with it in my lifetime. 's does not> address the underlying cause of too much reverse T3 production, which> is usually some type of body stress. A damaged under functioning> thyroid itself can cause the body to make too much reverse T3> because it is a stress on the body to not have enough thyroid> hormone. Reverse T3 is the body's way of slowing down the person so> that they will recover from too much of something. The body makes it> for a reason. If you have nutritional problem or emotional stress or> some type of infection that doesn't get taken care of, the program> cannot often fix it and the thyroid problems will just come back> when you stop. You have to fix the cause, too. I also found that all> T3 therapy was very hard on my adrenals. Believe it or not T4 has> important functions even though it is not very active. It works to> regulate the heart and it is like a bank account for a rainy day. If> you are running on all T3 and you have a stressful or active day and> use it up, then the adrenals have to kick in with cortisol and> adrenalin to give you energy because there is no T4 to convert to> T3. Also, the adrenals have to try and regulate the heart when there> is no T4 and so it just makes more work for them. Though I felt ok> on it, I was severely limited in how much activity I could do or I> would crash. I did much better on Armour, energy wise.

All he put me on was ’s ThyroCare and Adaptogen. He did want me to take the Happy Foundation, which is Ginseng and St. ’s Wart, but they both make me sun sensitive so I told him I couldn’t take it. He also wanted me to take the Happy PMS progesterone cream, but I like the Endau better.

Self-dosing with Armour with you guys to help me doesn’t scare me at all. Taking any kind of steroid natural or otherwise for the adrenals DOES! I had infectious hepatitis as a teenager. In only two weeks time on prednisone, I looked like a bloated, acne covered COW.

I go back in 4 weeks to re-test. What additional testing do you suggest that might indicate what’s really going on?

And Tish… there’s a very special place in Heaven for you! I can’t thank you enough!

Becky

November 17, 2004