Re: FRIEND NEEDS HELP FAST! Hyperthyroid/ Florida Doc

[Guest guest]

Hyper, especially storm, is a LOT worse than hypo... I " ve had to deal

with both....

I'm not too thrilled to hear of the Zoloft and Xanax... but the

propanolol will help block some of the thyroid hormone.

It's really important when hyper to eat... don't go hungry, eat GOOD

food, proteins, fats and carbs... be very conscious of nutrition... When

the body is in hyper mode and sucking down calories it's going to start

cannibalizing muscle and organs for nutrients and calories if it's not

getting enough food to cover the elevated needs.

As the blockers kick in that will help.. but it depends on how hyper and

if she's on the right dosage.

Did they determine what is causing her to be hyper? Anything said about

Grave's or Hashi's or anything??

Increasing the levels of goitrogens she eats will help a bit too...

eating lots of cruciferous vegies (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower).

Encourage her to relax as best she can, it will reduce some of the metal

stress she's going through.. it can be really scarry...

I was hyper, we're guessing, for about 20 years before I went into

Thyroid storm... then they gave me RAI to kill my gland... then I went

severe hypo... Severe hypo is when they bonk you on the knee with the

hammer, to check reflexes.. and it takes a full 10 seconds before your

leg kicks....

It's good that she can come to the states... I don't know much about

health care in Peru... might be the US is better... I'm not familiar with

the Florida area docs, maybe someone else can bop in with a

suggestion....

Topper ()

On Wed, 07 Mar 2007 12:26:52 -0000 " iheartmycity "

iheartmycity@...> writes:

> Hello Everyone,

>

> I have a friend who lives in Peru and she was recently diagnosed

> with

> Hyperthyroidism. As a result her docs have put her Zoloft once a

> day,

> Xanax every 8 hours and Propanol every 8 hours. The hospitalized

> her

> because she had an emotional episode and they were worried about

> her

> heart. She lost 16 pounds in less than 3 weeks. I have

> Hypothyroidism, not Hyper, so I don't know much about it, but this

> all

> sounds so insane to me. I know enough that people use thyroid

> supression treatments and radiation and then can become

> hypothyroid,

> which opens another can of worms. Anyway, my friend is well off

> enough to come to the States for treatment and her family has a

> home

> in West Palm Beach. I want to recommend to her that she go to the

> states for treatment. Can anyone recommend a good Doc in that area?

>

> And, any advice from the hyperthyroid experts are welcome. Thanks

> for

> your time.

>

> Best,

> Ann

[Guest guest]

>

> Hello Everyone,

>

> I have a friend who lives in Peru and she was recently diagnosed

with

> Hyperthyroidism. As a result her docs have put her Zoloft once a

day,

> Xanax every 8 hours and Propanol every 8 hours. The hospitalized

her

> because she had an emotional episode and they were worried about her

> heart. She lost 16 pounds in less than 3 weeks. I have

> Hypothyroidism, not Hyper, so I don't know much about it, but this

all

> sounds so insane to me. I know enough that people use thyroid

> supression treatments and radiation and then can become hypothyroid,

> which opens another can of worms. Anyway, my friend is well off

> enough to come to the States for treatment and her family has a home

> in West Palm Beach. I want to recommend to her that she go to the

> states for treatment. Can anyone recommend a good Doc in that

area?

> And, any advice from the hyperthyroid experts are welcome. Thanks

for

> your time.

>

> Best,

> Ann

>

She needs to drop the Zoloft..Propanalol will help protect the

heart.. Xanax is controversial but considering hyperthyroidism does

effect the mental health( can cause complete physcosis) I would keep

her on it until her numbers drop down on thyroid.

What she needs to do is get on ATD's pronto.. not waiting til she

comes state side or anything else like that..

Considering she is coming state side dosage, meds etc.. really does

not matter..what matters is that she gets meds to bring her numbers

down.. tell her to make sure she is taking the meds 3 times a day..

avoids iodine and naturally high containing iodine foods ( seafood,

fish etc) . The body uses iodine to produce thyroid hormones so

lowering her iodine content will starve the thyroid and give it less

fuel to make hormones.

The usual protocol for hyper is ATD meds at a high dose for the first

4 weeks and then labs and then the dose needs to be decreased as her

numbers come down to normal..she needs the meds now..it will

stabilize her heart.. reduce her risk of thyroid storm( that and the

propanalol) and make it easier for her to travel to the states and

allow her to think more clearly regarding treatment options, finding

a doc etc..

Right now though realize labs regardless of hyper or hypo work the

same way.. the method is different..with hypo the TSH result can be

skewed and you want to test FT4 and FT3 and bring the numbers up to

the upper 1/3 end of the range..

With hyper TSH can be even more skewed.( antibodies effect TSH and it

is possible and common to have no TSH and T4 below the range and be

medicated hypo) ..the difference is the goal is to lower FT4 and FT3

into the upper 1/3 end of the range.

So even being hypo you understnad the labwork, which labs to order

etc.. I have no advice on finding a US doc.. if you post at the yahoo

graves_support group I am sure a few can help you with that..

But right now make sure she is on ATD's..

For ATD's( anti thyroid drugs) there is Tapazole, the chemical

generic is Methizole and the European countries use a version called

carbizole that the body converts to Tapazole in the body..

The other medication is PTU..Propylthiracuil which is considered safe

during pregnancy etc..

There is obviously more to hyper then this, and the fine tuning on

meds , labs , herbs etc.. which work , which won't etc...but hyper is

a medical emergency and she needs to bring her thyroid numbers down

first and forth most..

Kats3boys

[Guest guest]

I'm glad your friend will be pursuing a good doc stateside because I'm really concerned over her current condition/treatment. The American Thyroid Association (www.thyroid.org) will have referrals in the Florida area; she should call ahead to make an appointment and be sure to bring her lab results.

As for the "general protocol," I was hyperthyroid way before becoming hypothyroid. At the time I was diagnosed with Graves' disease (autoimmune hyperthyroidism), I was in a very severe, horribly symptomatic thyroid "storm." I agree -- it's way worse than being hypothyroid. I had three choices of treatment: radioactive iodine treatment to "kill" part or all of the thyroid gland, surgery to remove all or part of the gland, and a drug called, in short, PTU, which is what I chose to do. It took a year and a half to get my thyroid levels back to normal and, in subsequent years, I did have episodes of hyperthyroidism.

If what your friend has is autoimmune hyperthyroidism (they'll probably want to do a thyroid uptake and scan to see if all or part of her thyroid gland is overactive), it's likely that she will become hypothyroid either from RAI or surgery, or just because the thyroid gland has a tendancy to burn itself out over time. This is what's happened to me. But the thought of, somewhere down the line, becoming hypothyroid is not something to worry over. What's important is that she get good, solid treatment and monitoring from now on.

Please keep us posted! I'll keep your friend in my prayers.

Maureen PrattAOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com.