• You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community, you will have access to additional post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), view blogs, respond to polls, upload content, and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please join our community today! Just click here to register. You should turn your Ad Blocker off for this site or certain features may not work properly. If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us by clicking here.

Underactive thyroid

Fidelia

Iron Maiden
Staff member
Joined
May 31, 2009
Messages
14,497
MBTI Type
INFJ
I think I may have underactive thyroid even though I've been tested once or twice in the past and the tests have come back okay. Do any of you have that and if so, what can you tell me about it?
 

sculpting

New member
Joined
Jan 28, 2009
Messages
4,148
hypothyroidism.

The symptoms include cold hands and feet, a feeling of mental sluggishness, and general lethargy with slow weight gain.

It happens slowly overtime but I recall upwards of 20% of women develop it. Almost 20% of women after childbirth develop HT for several months-likely contributing to the lethargy after birth. Of them about 5% become permenant.

other symptoms-oddly your eyebrows become more sparse. Most notable is retention of "nonpitting edema". Folks note weight gain-but in reality most of it is water. Thyroxine stimulates clearance of a gel polymer in the interstitial space. As throxine levels decline, the gel fluid will accumulate. In normal water gain when you poke your finger in it-it pits and then the poked spot will fill in. In HT edema this is not true-it will not fit thus seem more like fat.

It also will give your face a slight puffy look-especially around the eyes, but again looks like weight gain.

test-TSH is cheap and common. Be very aware that ranges were changed recently to TSH normal being 1-3. However most clinical labs still use a range from 1-5, thus many folks will be quite hypo before being considered "hypo". Drs dont know this. The higher the TSH level, the worse off your thryroid level. A pretty typical HT patient will have a TSH level of 5-20.

T4/T3 tests are also sorta useful. Also a more expensive test for anti-TPO antibodies to detect the actual autoimmune disease against the thyroid.

Treatment is synthetic or natural T3/T4 hormone everyday, very straightforward.

A few things to keep in mind:
Synthetic T4 is the norm via a brand called synthroid. However this is one of the only cases where a generic and the name brand are NOT the same and should not be switched. You can stay on a generic but have to be wary the pharmacy does not swap them to another generic.

Some people do much better at resolution of symptoms if supplemented with cytomel-T4. Many docs are very much against this.

Many people rave about a biological formulation called Armour derived from pig thyroids as being much better than the synthetic versions as it is a mix of T4/T3/rT4 and rT3. Again many docs are adverse to prescribing but this is actually a scientifically legit issue given the combination of hormones in the natural formulation.

If you cant get a response from your normal doc go see a natreopath and ask to be placed on a natural supplement-typically animal thyroid extracts. They are often okay with this approach.

Every woman should have a TSH test run every year given the frequency of the disorder and how easy it is to treat.
 

Synapse

New member
Joined
Dec 29, 2007
Messages
3,359
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4
Reading these links may be helpful too.

Stop The Thyroid Madness
- The Non-Diagnosis Club: This huge global group consists of those who have genuine or unrecognized hypothyroid symptoms, yet no accurate diagnosis. Why? Because of well-meaning but clueless doctors who fail to look at the entire cluster of your hypothyroid symptoms, or have a rigid reliance on two lousy labs: the TSH and the T4. You are then proclaimed “normal”.
- The T4-Only Club: This also-gigantic global club consists of those who have been diagnosed with a thyroid problem, but treated with Synthroid, Levoxyl, Oroxine, Levothyroxine, Eltroxin, et al, T4-only thyroxine pills. But hypothyroidism and the body is not meant to live on a storage hormone alone and leaves most patients with their own brand or intensity of lingering hypothyroid symptoms.

Iodine for Thyroid health.
If you understand the following two points, then you know as much about hormones as any endocrinologist:

1. Hormone production peaks around the age 25 and then declines by 1-3% annually thereafter.
2. All hormones are related and interact with another.

Restated, the older you are, the fewer hormones you have and this is why your body tanks as you get older. There are some cliffs you can fall off along the way – like menopause for women and “andropause” for men.

Because hormones are inter-related with each other, when one hormone is deficient, then this can affect the proportion of the other hormones. Many hormones have feedback mechanisms on each other so that if one is up, the other is down. Similar classes of hormones can share protein carriers in the bloodstream. Relative amounts of one hormone can affect the protein binding of another hormone.

And

Metabolic Symptoms Matrix
 

Fidelia

Iron Maiden
Staff member
Joined
May 31, 2009
Messages
14,497
MBTI Type
INFJ
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?
 

OrangeAppled

Sugar Hiccup
Joined
Mar 20, 2009
Messages
7,626
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4w5
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
My sister has Hashimoto's disease (hypothyroidism). Get tested specifically for your thyroid, because a lot of doctors misdiagnose it. The doctor my sister had was very thorough, and if not for one test (don't know the name), it would not have been caught and she probably would have been written off as just being chronically depressed (which she is also). It tends to run in families, so check your family medical history.

For my sister, big signs were:

-swollen neck area (thyroid was enlarged)
-always thirsty & a larger appetite
-major weight gain (40 lbs in one year, followed by a gradual 10 lb increase everyear thereafter), when she was previously very skinny
-new allergy to nuts, especially peanuts
-moody, depressed, snappy, sluggish

Besides taking the thyroid meds regularly, following a diet similar to a diabetic, regular exercise, and yoga specifically, are consistently "prescribed" by every endocrinologist my sister has had.
 

miss fortune

not to be trusted
Joined
Oct 4, 2007
Messages
20,589
Enneagram
827
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
my mother has no thyroid, but when her meds are off on the low side she complains that she's always tired, sleeps a lot and gains weight... pretty typical :(
 

cascadeco

New member
Joined
Oct 7, 2007
Messages
9,083
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
9w1
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
test-TSH is cheap and common. Be very aware that ranges were changed recently to TSH normal being 1-3. However most clinical labs still use a range from 1-5, thus many folks will be quite hypo before being considered "hypo". Drs dont know this. The higher the TSH level, the worse off your thryroid level. A pretty typical HT patient will have a TSH level of 5-20.

Sounds like you know a lot about it!

I just had a physical last week and my doctor wants me to come back in to get the thyroid re-done..I was on the 'high' end, although the number she gave me over the phone was super low, like 0.08. I was kind of confused because the person then said 'normal' range was from 0.04 - 5?? Something like that? It was a pretty large range, whatever it was. Well anyway, I think for me if I have an issue it'll be 'hyper', not 'hypo'. I have other things going on that would support the hyperthyroidism thing, and have had them for a handful of yrs, but whenever I've been tested they've told me I've been in the 'normal' range. We shall see.
 

sculpting

New member
Joined
Jan 28, 2009
Messages
4,148
Sounds like you know a lot about it!

I just had a physical last week and my doctor wants me to come back in to get the thyroid re-done..I was on the 'high' end, although the number she gave me over the phone was super low, like 0.08. I was kind of confused because the person then said 'normal' range was from 0.04 - 5?? Something like that? It was a pretty large range, whatever it was. Well anyway, I think for me if I have an issue it'll be 'hyper', not 'hypo'. I have other things going on that would support the hyperthyroidism thing, and have had them for a handful of yrs, but whenever I've been tested they've told me I've been in the 'normal' range. We shall see.

I got pretty sick a few years back due to hypo/hashimotos of long duration. (I had a TSH of 200)

Each lab will have slight diffs in the "normal" range depending upon who manufactures the assay they use and the standards they run to validate it thus the variations in the numbers

The low number is a sign your thyroid maybe a bit too active.

They will monitor your levels for a bit and likely do a quick ultrasound just to check out the shape, but hyper is really easy to treat as well. Let us know how it turns out!
 

FDG

pathwise dependent
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Messages
5,903
MBTI Type
ENTJ
Enneagram
7w8
Sounds like you know a lot about it!

I just had a physical last week and my doctor wants me to come back in to get the thyroid re-done..I was on the 'high' end, although the number she gave me over the phone was super low, like 0.08. I was kind of confused because the person then said 'normal' range was from 0.04 - 5?? Something like that? It was a pretty large range, whatever it was. Well anyway, I think for me if I have an issue it'll be 'hyper', not 'hypo'. I have other things going on that would support the hyperthyroidism thing, and have had them for a handful of yrs, but whenever I've been tested they've told me I've been in the 'normal' range. We shall see.

What kind of pyhsical symptoms do you have?
 

cascadeco

New member
Joined
Oct 7, 2007
Messages
9,083
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
9w1
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
^^ Called the doctor yesterday to clarify my results...as I said above, my result was 0.084, with the 'normal' range being 0.4- approx 4-ish.

So, yeah, at least on that day I was overproducing and pretty hyper-. I'll be going in in another couple of weeks to get it looked at again.

Like I said, this is the first time I've actually tested out of the range, even though I've requested that it be checked on prior occasions, maybe 3 yrs ago and again 1.5 yrs ago. (Prompter was thinning hair, which was upsetting me. Genetically, it's a fact I'm disposed to thinning hair - runs in the family - but I always thought mine seemed to be even moreso than it "should" be, even given the fact it runs in the family)

Other 'symptoms'...well, my entire life I've had an irregular period. And, the past 4-6 months I've had many more nights when I've had problems falling asleep .... the feeling of anxiety/ a lot of difficulty relaxing, without really an external cause for that. Also, in recent months I've been waking up more often in the night when I used to sleep straight through. More restless and I'd say 'jittery'.
 

Salomé

meh
Joined
Sep 25, 2008
Messages
10,527
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
5w4
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
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?
You're right it could be many different things. Are you anemic?

My mother was recently diagnosed with this but it wasn't deemed serious enough at this stage for hormone supplements. She is taking a kelp supplement (iodine) and has started regular reflexology which some report has good results (said to stimulate endocrine system).
 

Fidelia

Iron Maiden
Staff member
Joined
May 31, 2009
Messages
14,497
MBTI Type
INFJ
I've had several blood tests throughout the years and they always come back as being fine for iron. I've also had them check for B vitamin deficiencies.
 

JoSunshine

That's my name biotch!
Joined
Dec 17, 2009
Messages
659
MBTI Type
eNfj
Enneagram
2
My understanding is that you may want to have your adreanal glads checks as well. It is harder to check adreanal levels because you have to go back several times (I think they check the levels in urine...I think). As I recall, an unbalanced adreanal levels can cause many symptoms similar to thyroid problems and this issue often goes undetected.

Double check me on that info...I am recalling something a read a while back.

Hope you figure it out!
 

Synapse

New member
Joined
Dec 29, 2007
Messages
3,359
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4
You're right it could be many different things. Are you anemic?

My mother was recently diagnosed with this but it wasn't deemed serious enough at this stage for hormone supplements. She is taking a kelp supplement (iodine) and has started regular reflexology which some report has good results (said to stimulate endocrine system).

I linked to iodine as for stimulating the thyroid, normal kelp does little unless its in high dose. There are yoga exercise that help too.

There are two types of iodine necessary for optimal nutrition and thyroid function: Iodine and iodide. The iodine supplements you normally find are made from kelp – a seaweed – lacking in iodide. Plus, the iodine supplements you'll see on the retail shelves are about 100 times too weak to be effective in stimulating your thyroid!
 

Synapse

New member
Joined
Dec 29, 2007
Messages
3,359
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4
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?

Try a basal body temperature test. The normal basal body temperature range is between 97.7 and 98.2. Low basal temperatures, below 97.7, may reflect hypothyroidism; high basal temperatures, above 98.2, may be evidence of hyperthyroidism.
The function of the thyroid gland can be determined by measuring your basal temperature and that can be done with something as simple as a thermometer.
- Use an oral glass thermometer.
- Shake the thermometer down before going to bed, and leave it on the bedside table within easy reach.
- Immediately upon awakening, and with as little movement as possible, place the thermometer firmly in the armpit next to the skin, and leave it in place for 10 minutes.
- Record the readings for three consecutive days.

Then see if you can get more than TSH
FT4 – Free thyroxine
FT3 – Free liothyronine
TT4 – Total thyroxine
TT3 – Total liothyronine
rT3 – reverse T3
TPOAb – Thyroperoxidase antibodies
TgAb – Antithyroglobulin antibodies

Or something like that. And yeah it could be something else entirely. Your welcome to browse my informative information gathering at my xanga blog about the the subject and why thyroid and adrenal problems may be tricky to properly diagnose even with a lowered reference range...
 

Fidelia

Iron Maiden
Staff member
Joined
May 31, 2009
Messages
14,497
MBTI Type
INFJ
Thanks Synapse! Did you write all that? How did you become interestd in the subject. There's some good information there that I will investigate further!
 

Zoom

Self sustaining supernova
Joined
Feb 12, 2009
Messages
1,045
Enneagram
9w8
I am not experienced in the scientific measurements that others are stating, but I am mildly hypoglycemic - not completely devoid of thyroid activity, just a lower level of it.

Lifelong:
  • Cold hands, feet, primarily in extremities. Edit: I always feel cold to others, skin-wise, but I almost never get cold meself. Accidentally worded that wrong.
  • Low energy regularly, which I compensate for with caffeine and knowing how to manipulate my blood sugar through food.
  • A consistently quite low blood sugar level, around 48 when I was measured and hadn't eaten yet.
  • Dry skin - aye. :dry: Yay lotion.
  • Highs and lows in energy when it came to highly processed foods - the switch to whole grains and fiber-rich foods over a decade ago made a big difference.
  • No medication - it wasn't deemed necessary by the doctors when I was a teen. :eek:uch: When they put me on a test prescription it worked really well, though.
  • Blood pressure: squirrelly, I have passed out before because of quick, extreme temperature changes and blood flow.

Ye didn't quite specify your query, though a lot of people have given good information... do you wish for personal accounts, like the above, advice/suggestions as to how to manage it without a doctor involved (lifestyle choices, I mean), or...?
 

Fidelia

Iron Maiden
Staff member
Joined
May 31, 2009
Messages
14,497
MBTI Type
INFJ
Any or all is great! I personally am more inclined towards non-medicinal solutions, as I think often they come with side effects that are not healthy. I hate to go around self-diagnosing, but this has been close to 20 years of feeling tired, cold and low on energy. I find myself craving sugar a lot, which may just be a human condition, or could indicate something. I am trying to lose weight, but have exercise asthma and was surprised to see respiratory issues associated with thyroid. I have a very very strong family history of peope having thyroid issues, so figured maybe I should investigate further.
 

Synapse

New member
Joined
Dec 29, 2007
Messages
3,359
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4
Thanks Synapse! Did you write all that? How did you become interested in the subject. There's some good information there that I will investigate further!

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.
 

ajblaise

Minister of Propagandhi
Joined
Aug 3, 2008
Messages
7,914
MBTI Type
INTP
The cure to underactive thyroid.

thyroid.jpg
 
Top