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Underactive thyroid

Fidelia

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From information I found from books. I've been reading up on it and Broda Barnes was the person who thought of the basal body temperature as a good indicator. How did I become interested, because my thyroid and adrenal glands are weakened and affect my physical and mental capacity. Through exploration of the subject understands why this continues to be an issue for many today.

How are you doing now?
 

lamp

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commence scattered thoughts

have you gone to the doctor and asked how thorough your previous tests were / if there is a point to doing a more thorough test?

ive had fluctuating hormone levels (both hypo- and hyper-) for the past 6+ years due to some autoimmune shit and it took forever to diagnose. I had radioablation treatment in may 09 and my quality of life has maximum improved since then.

hyperthyoidism sucks

generic hormone sucks basically

there have been times when I though I was in a period of hyper- due to insomnia and wild sleep schedules but I tested hypo-. conclusion is that I was crashing/sleeping so much + not exercising due to feeling like poo poo and therefore not getting tired -> stay up all night
 

sLiPpY

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I don't know - I've read a bunch on the internet. Some of it matches and some doesn't. I have dry, pale skin, have been chronically tired ever since I was about 12 or so (even with more than average amounts of sleep), and am freezing cold all the time to the point where even my nose is cold (this also dates back to when I was still a young teenager). The problem is that all of these symptoms could be explained in many various ways. I think I will go back to my doctor, but it takes quite awhile to get any kind of tests done here. I've heard some thyroid sufferers are missing enough zinc. Have any of you heard of that?

Have you ever been checked for hypoglycemia?
 

Fidelia

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Haven't seen a doctor for a couple of years, so maybe I'll check those things out.
 

PeaceBaby

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^ ummm yes you should fidelia!

*gives you long hard stare for not taking proper care of yourself
 

Fidelia

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There were no doctors where I lived for five years! And this year I was teaching every day the doctor was open, until now. Missing school is a lot of work!
 

stringstheory

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just came across this and wondering if you came to any conclusions?

Synapses advice was all great; if he hadn't have posted that i probably would've :alttongue:
 

Fidelia

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Went and got blood tests again and they registered as normal. Can't find out more without scheduling another appointment (usually would be 2 wks to a month long wait). Haven't done the thermometer thing yet (it's been a busy summer and I've been in lots of different places), so will do that before long for a better idea. Still cold a lot though. Been taking a multivitamin, so zinc should be covered.

My ankles have also been swelling like crazy, despite having a similar activity level to before. I've gained about 7 pounds despite eating better and almost cutting out Coke, which used to be a daily thing. Looks like I'm just retaining a lot of water in my legs especially. Maybe it's too much time at the computer, but I've been elevating them. I've always had bad circulation at the best of times. I have been taking a supplement thing that supposed to support thyroid, so we'll see if that impacts anything or not. I need to lose some weight and hopefully that will help as well.
 

Chloe

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I have hypothyreosis since I was 15. I didnt drink hormones until I was 19... it's never the same as when you dont have to drink them.

I know a lot about all this because i am in med school but really dont know what to say as very important, except drinking hormones, not eating 30 minutes before and after, and getting your blood checked regularly.
Life expectancy is the same.
 

stringstheory

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what bloodwork did you have done? did they check what your blood sugar looks like? Also, what's your diet like?

sorry for all the nosiness, i just never trust doctors to do what they should on their own and it's carrying over here :alttongue:
 

Chloe

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What does your blood sugar look like? And your diet?

whose? fidelias?

if you asked me - i have normal blood sugar, and i eat like i did before.

hypothyroid patients usually have high cholesterol

it's the least serious chronical illness.. but sometimes it can be hard to regulate it, if i forget to take meds for few hours i am dying, it starts to hurt a lot.
also my sister and mother have it too, Graves disease, genetical.
 

stringstheory

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Fidelia's^^

i ask because one of the other problems i had was insulin resistance and my blood sugar. I'm pre-diabetic and trying to get away from straddling that line by going gluten-free, i'm not sure what my bloodwork would look like now, but i know avoiding wheat/rye/barley has made me feel heaps better.

my cholesterol is actually pretty normal, in contrast to my father whom i am a near genetic carbon-copy of :alttongue:
 

Fidelia

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Got them to check blood sugar and cholesterol. Haven't heard anything, which indicates that there's nothing out of whack.

I eat decently, although since moving home, my folks often will have some kind of dessert with supper. My indulgence is a cup of homemade hot chocolate with two tsp sugar. Not good, but it's better than Coke. We don't eat out a whole lot, although maybe a little more during summer because of travelling. No processed food. My folks eat more red meat and less fish than I used to and I eat some bread and potatoes now (which I never used to). Always have brown bread and brown rice though and I love quinoa. Eat lots of salads with fresh peppers and nuts.
 

Nameless Hero

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Fidelia, as a fine American citizen, I can order thyroid medicine from Canada without a prescription. Only 1 in 1200 packages are inspected. Surely if this fine, (although Nameless) American citizen can get thyroid medicine without a doctor's advice, then surely you, a graceful Canadian should be able to as well...

Be bold, take the matter into your own hands. Bodybuilders do this as a routine thing.
 

Randomnity

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I'm thinking about asking about thyroid stuff at my next physical (which is several years overdue...). I have kindof a weird metabolism but it's hard to say if there's an actual cause or if it's just individual variation.

What has me a bit concerned is my neck, which looks almost exactly like this (maybe a bit more obvious), with a larger " neck segment" around my voicebox/thyroid. There's a noticeable bump there if I run my finger down my neck, and I'm not overweight so it seems strange to have a fat fold there.

grave_disease_1_031123-300x225.png


People have mentioned it looks a little strange and goiter-like, but it's been like that my whole life, and I'm embarrassed to ask about it because it might just be an awkward fat fold or something.

I'm also nearly always cold, ice-cold feet/hands/nose both to myself and others, and toes are often numb. I don't seem to regulate body temperature well so I'm also the first to get heat stroke, sweat mad amounts, and go bright red and get nauseous quickly when exercising. I eat completely remarkable amounts for my weight (everyone comments on it), which is a little more than I would like (maybe 10 lbs) but not overweight by any stretch. Constantly starving. I usually start to shake about 1-2 hours after eating, depending what I ate, and that's my sign that I have to eat.

I've been hesitant about asking the doctor because I have a feeling it's very commonly self-"diagnosed". Lots of people are "cold, tired and depressed" when you're looking at such subjective things :). I might fight the embarrassment and ask about the neck, though.
 

Fidelia

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A lot of what you are mentioning sounds like classic symptoms, Randomnity!

Interesting you mentioned toe numbness. The tips of mine go numb fairly regularly.

Nameless Hero - bodybuilders take thyroid medication all the time?? Halla did tell me you can order up some and try it out. I feel a little twitchy about doing that, but if this goes on much longer, I may have to. I'm getting 8 hours of sleep a day for the first time in my life and I am still tired a lot of the time.
 

Randomnity

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Yeah, I'm not sure if the numbness is just from being cold/poor circulation or something to worry about. They go numb even when I'm wearing socks - mostly just the big toes. My dad and his father are diabetic so that's often on my mind, too.

I wish there was a more objective measurement for things like "fatigue". I'm guessing everyone is tired most of the time, if you define it loosely enough.
 

Fidelia

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I hear you on the toes thing. I wonder if in my case it's just poor circulation, as I have been checked for diabetes or pre-diabetes every time I get blood work done.
 

fecaleagle

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If you have the symptoms of hypothyroidism but have an in range TSH, you need to pursue it further. I hate the TSH test and think that it can be very unreliable and it is treated like a godsend by PCPs. Look into a variety of other thyroid tests, like T3, T4, free T3, free T4, uptake tests etc etc.

If confirmed you should also have your doctor consider combining Cytomel (T3) along with Synthroid (T4). T4 is inactive and has to be converted to T3, which doesn't get to the source of the problem. It's the T3 that controls your metabolism! Not to mention that T4 ignores the balance between T4<--->T3 conversion, which is controlled by an enzyme which is inhibited by things that are hard to pinpoint and control like stress, diet, cortisol, etc (which again brings in psychiatric health, blood sugar and insulin, as well as your adrenal gland). The fact that most family doctors prescribe T4 only and not with T3 is a joke. I assume because T3 is dangerous if misused while T4 is safe. I believe most endocrinologists combine the two.
 
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