B/Thyroiditis

[Guest guest]

,

I did a quick check on the net with search word: HASHIMOTO'S DISEASE

That is another name for chronic auto-immune thyroiditis. The first item

that came up was the General Health Encyclopedia -- link to the page on

Hashimoto's Thyroiditis.

The information there is a good summary of basic info to include the tests

that are done to determine if you have Hashimoto's. You may have to print

it out if your browser can't save it to a text file (AOL would do that).

If you find out you have auto immune thyroiditis (Hashimoto's) be sure to ask

your doc about Cytomel. A recent study found that a lot of patients feel a

lot better when they take Cytomel along with Synthroid. It is supposed to

be especially helpful with mental sharpness. I may have a URL for that

study -- I think I posted it on the list last week. I took Cytomel

pre-radioactive scan back in 1967 and I know I felt better on that than on

synthroid. I did not take the two of them together, though. The doc back

then said that the Cytomel suppressed the gland a little better than

synthroid.

With auto-immune thyroiditis it is important to suppress the gland.

My daughter was treated for thyroiditis for three years -- she was probably

taking natural hormone -- and when I told her I have Hashimoto's she was

retested and it turned out that she has it too. What is important in her

experience is that when they tested her in the first place they did not do

any tests specific for auto-immune thyroiditis. That is hard to believe

since any doc worth his diploma knows that all thyroiditis is not the same.

You would think the test for Hashimoto's would be routine when thyroiditis is

suspected. My daughter lives in Singapore and was living in Hong Kong when

first diagnosed. Maybe they don't check for auto immune factors there.

My web search on Hashimoto's disease brought up a LOT of sites on the web.

Those who have hypothyroidism may want to try that search themselves and

visit some of those sites.

I happen to know about the difference between auto-immune and other

thyroiditis because I have had Hashimoto's for over 30 years and have

gradually learned. It was first diagnosed when I got nodules (like small

tumors or lumps) on my gland. Some of them were sort of tender to touch.

The gland was also enlarged. Surgery showed that the nodules were

inflammations from auto immune disease -- lead to scar tissue on the gland

and gradually destroy it. The enlargement was because the gland was growing

in order to provide the hormone I needed in view of how it was being

neutralized by antibodies.

You can see who has had thyroid surgery by a tell tale scar on the neck -- in

particular among people 55 and older. After my surgery they came up with

non-invasive ways to find out if a nodule was benign as in Hashimoto's or

cancerous and the numbers of people with the neck scar decreased

significantly. Back then surgery was the only way they could be sure there

was no cancer.

The exam for Hashimoto's should always include having the doctor feel the

gland to see if there are any lumps or if it is enlarged. Sometimes you can

find tender spots yourself by gently applying pressure all around the gland

area. It sort of feels like a pimple feels when you start to squeeze it.

Sometimes you can actually see that the gland is enlarged, too.

My PCM was always concerned that I had Hashimoto's and that I'd had it for so

long. He said that people with A-I hypothyroidism are more apt to get other

related auto immune problems and heart/vascular disease as they get older.

That was just before I was DX with RP. All of you who have it should be sure

it is always included in your medical history with info on how long you know

you have had it.

The comments about the generic forms of synthroid are pretty accurate per my

experience. The USAFA hospital went to generic meds in their pharmacy as a

cost cutting measure for a couple of years. During that time I had to be

tested about every three months or within 30 days of starting a new

prescription or prescription refill because the doc could not trust the dose

to be accurate. Sometimes I had to take 3 x .01 mg per day (yellow),

sometimes it had to be 2 x for 2 days and 3 x for one day. Right now I take

2 x even days and 3 x odd days and that seems to be pretty stable.

If you have just started taking thyroid you should be tested every 30 days or

until you know the dose is right.

Since USAFA tried the generics they are slowly returning to branded meds in

some cases. I guess they found out that some generics are more trouble than

the cost savings is worth.

I would not condem all generics but generic synthroid is known to be a

problem.

H.