Re: Question for Topper - or anyone who knows ! = morphed into a Topper rant on TSH and synthetics - long

[Guest guest]

I've not read anything that says it has a purpose other than guiding the

thyroid gland's output.

Common sense says that it might have another purpose, if only a check and

balance thing. But....

I have a TSH receptor defect. So my gland never got any instruction by

way of TSH and my TSH levels and gland output were totally out of

sync.... Even from that perspective I've not read anything about TSH

having a particular pro or con in being outrageously high or low for any

length of time other than it's affect on thyroid production IF the TSH

receptors are able to pick up the TSH hormone and use it as a guide to

gland production...

I suspect part of my poor medical care might have been due to testing

only TSH. In my case my hypothalamus, pituitary, thyroid feedback loop

had never been established so the level of TSH in my blood had absolutely

nothing to do with my thyroid or thyroid hormone levels. I also believe

that part of the quick screen they did the afternoon I was diagnosed and

given RAI had to do with finding that the TSH and thyroid hormones were

soo far off in their relation to each other and my symptoms that when the

uptake scan showed that there were no nodules or growths of my gland that

it was quick to see what was going on.

The 'average' TSH level for a 'normal' person (with a healthy gland) is

about 1.25. That suggests that the TSH should be humming along at a level

that keeps the thyroid gland humming along itself. That level can vary in

the overall population though and can be higher or lower in folks that

still have healthy working glands, that's part of the reason that TSH

alone doesn't tell the whole story, it's only a 'first stage screening'

when looking for poor thyroid function. Then this thing about suppressing

TSH. I've read that TSH should never be suppressed... I've also read that

there are cases where it should be. So which is right?

Consider this....

*if TSH in a healthy normal person is about 1.25 and at that level there

is enough stimulation to the gland to keep proper hormone levels building

in the tissues to promote conversion of hormone

*if a person with little or no gland function (either antibody damage,

thyroidectomy, physical injury or RAI) is getting hormone replacement and

TSH is say... oh 2.0 (this is a level that is now being used as the 'lets

look closer at what is going on " ) That would suggest that the body is

perhaps a wee bit short on hormone and has kicked up the TSH to nudge the

gland into a bit better output. But if the gland can't put out anymore,

yet the body is still asking for more, would that not suggest that there

is insufficient thyroid hormone, granted not outrageously low, for the

body to feel well and it's asking for a wee bit more to be made than what

it has available? So does it not sound logical that keeping the TSH LOWer

would be preferable IF thyroid hormone levels are also checked to be sure

that they are not too high AND symptoms are monitored to make sure that

the body is not over stimulated with excess thyroid hormone?

*if a person is dealing with a situation where the gland functioning

stimulates antibodies (Hashi's) or potentially stimulates thyroid cancer

cells (in those that are dealing with thyroid cancer) and the more the

gland functions the more those antibodies react, or the more that any

remaining cancerous tissue is stimulated (don't go freaking out.. those

of you with Hashi's I'm grouping these two together in my suppositions

but Hashi's is NOT cancer and just because you have Hashi's does not mean

you will get cancer.. they are two separate conditions) does it not make

sense that you want to dramatically reduce stimulation to the thyroid

gland, halt it's production as much as possible? To do that you need to

suppress TSH to near zero, in effect halting the thyroid gland function

and reducing the effects which originally caused the problems - the

Hashi's antibodies and the thyroid cancer.

I'm rambling.... it's just that I've dug into this, it 'bothers' me...

that TSH suddenly became the ONE test that tells all (when the makers of

Synthroid needed to prove that their product worked they found that

synthetic T4 suppressed TSH levels which became the 'proof' that it

worked better than natural thyroid cuz more natural thyroid product was

needed to drop TSH levels as far. No testing was done to determine actual

thyroid hormone levels, no follow up was done to determine long term

symptom severity or relief... From that point the ad campaign started...

Synthroid is able to drop TSH levels faster and farther than natural

thyroid, it's more stable cuz it's synthetic, just one pill in the

morning and the patient will be better than new.

Doctors no longer needed to monitor symptoms, no longer needed to spend

numerous visits with their patients, they were given a list of companion

drugs to treat any symptoms that might arise after the thyroid issues was

'treated' to relieve any symptoms which later occurred that were

OBVIOUSLY not related to the now 'cured' thyroid condition.

You guys have seen some of the stuff on that list of drugs...

antidepressants

pain meds

anxiety meds

PMS meds

skin cremes

hair remedies

sleep aids

.... there are more... too many more.....

More and more stuff to sell you to mask the symptoms resulting from

thyroid hormone levels and adrenal hormone levels that are too low due to

incorrect levels of hormone replacement...

Basically..... If you look at TSH level and relate that to the level of

the usable thyroid hormones (Free T4 and Free T3) AND symptoms, that's

when you get a more accurate picture as to whether or not the body has

sufficient hormone levels to be functioning healthy.

Okay.. shutting up... sliding soap box back into the corner...

Topper ()

On Sun, 25 Mar 2007 12:18:05 +0200 " liliane wise " lililiz@...>

writes:

> Hi there,

>

> It probably should have occured to me to wonder about this before,

> but it

> didn't !

>

> About the TSH - one tends to think of it as just a number on a lab

> report,

> but it is a real hormone. So, what I'm wondering is does this

> hormone have

> any effect on the body, apart from the thyroid ? Does having too

> much of the

> stuff in our blood, because our thyroids can't respond, contribute

> to making

> us feel lousey ? Or, if we have very low TSH, does any other part of

> our

> body - like the brain, for instance - feel the lack ? Is TSH

> necessary for

> our well-being, apart from stimulating thyroid hormone production ?

>

> I'm not sure if that's clear, feeling a bit brain-fogged at the

> moment, just

> have to wait and see what sort of answers I get - if any ! lol And

> sorry if

> it sounds like a stupid question, but it's been bothering me a bit

> lately.

> Most hormones, after all, have multiple effects on us.

>

> Thanks for any information,

>

> Lili