Guest guest Posted February 24, 2006 Report Share Posted February 24, 2006 Hi my name is and I joined your group about a week ago, I sent an email but didnt get a response. I have been reading your emails and learning some about labs that I should ask for. I first had an adrenalectomty rt side about four years ago it was calcified, then because of having all the symptoms and a palpable mass on my neck they found or diagnosed me with Hoshimotos. I wonder which came first the hashimotos or the calcified adrenal gland. As far as I know only my tsh and t3 t4 have been checked. I began on synthroid 200 and then they lowered it to 125 and then 112. I recently went back and they increased the dose to 137, my labs were rechecked and tsh was 5 and they increased dosage to 175. I go back in a couple of days 28th and I suppose I should of had new labs before next appt. but wasnt given an order. I plan on asking for the labs I have been reading about, thanks for the info, I also read about one women who had a gastric bypass surgery, and I wondered if she had the thyroid problem prior to the surgery...ly the emails are depressing to me however informative. I have had this for over two years and am amental wreck, my friends think Ive abandoned them and my family doesnt understand, my depression, withdrawal, Im so tired of being this way, in pain Im hoping the wt loss surgery will give me back some energy or increased quality of life but Im just exploring that. If someone has ideas or comments I would appreciate them. Thanks s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 25, 2006 Report Share Posted February 25, 2006 Thanks I apreciate your response when I get my test results I will post them Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 25, 2006 Report Share Posted February 25, 2006 Hi .. I think one of the parts about the whole thyroid mess is how so many of us get the added 'joy' of having to deal with family members and friends that don't get it... doesn't make it any easier to know that others are facing the same grief... but wanted to let you know that it's not just you. Whether adrenal came first or Hashi's, for you... is pretty much a 'chicken or the egg' question.. Poor adrenal function stresses the thyroid gland, leaving it more susceptible... though no one really knows yet what triggers the Hashi's antibodies in the first place.... and low thyroid function increases stress to the adrenals, over loading them and leaving many of us with adrenal fatigue. Which ever came first doesn't matter much now... it's more important to find out what you need to do to help your body function with what it has to work with now. The weight issue... Before you consider surgery, and this is my PERSONAL opinion here..... work on the hormone thing first, see if you can get that where it needs to be so that your body can regulate it's weight normally... getting the surgery done to manage the weight won't do anything for the hormone issue that is still gonna be there and you'll have to work on it later anyway.... If getting your hormones correct (thyroid and adrenal) gets things working right... then you've saved all the surgery and it's miseries.... This is gonna be long... so grab a glass of water..... Knowing why your thyroid levels are off in the first place are pretty key.. you have Hashi's.... have they been monitoring your antibody level or just checking TSH and the thyroid hormones? I'm asking to get an idea of what your docs know and what direction they intend to go with your treatment AND if they understand Hashi's You've had your dosage dropped several times and then raised when your TSH reached 5.. any chance that you could post your labs so that we can see what they are using as indicators for lowering the meds earlier? I suspect that they are using the old labs and don't understand that Hashi's victims seem to better with a block and replace approach of treatment and are keeping your TSH higher than it should be and quite likely your thyroid hormones lower than what they should be.... I'm wondering a lot about your adrenal situation. I'm not sure how well one gland can keep up with things when the body is also dealing with Hashi's. Have they discussed adrenal support with you at all? I'm wondering if support for that would help your body make better use of the thyroid hormone that you have available. If you could give us labs with dates, and dates and amounts of med changes... we could start painting a picture of what your body is doing... If your last dosage adjustment was six weeks or more... I think I'd push to get new labs done this next week, push hard to get the Free Ts (Free T4 and Free T3) tested as well as the antibodies..... I think it would be wise to check ferritin and B-12 as well... both levels would be further stressed if your adrenal function is low. I don't know how deep you've gotten into the is stuff yet.... I'm wondering about some things... How are you taking your meds (empty tummy, keeping away from doses of iron and calcium)? Are you avoiding goitrogens (soy, high fructose corn syrup, cruciferous vegies)? Are you avoiding things that would stimulate your existing adrenal (caffeine would be the most common)? Many of us have lived horror stories, and we do talk about that a lot.... but I'd also like to stress that if you can get a handle on this sooner, rather than later, it's not gonna be as bad as what some of us have been through. That means keeping on top of your labs, making sure that the doc is treating you toward wellness and not just treating you so that he can say he did.... The most common problem with docs and how they treat thyroid is that so many of them have such a poor understanding of what it is, what it does, and how to dose to allow the body to function. Once that all gets figured out... yeah, it's more work for you... taking pills and watching nutrition and stuff... but that's a small price to pay for feeling well again... to normal again. We have dozens of folks that have improved their situations to the point where they don't need to be here anymore... many still write to me off list now and then... just to keep in touch and let me know how things are going.... I got a few emails in the last month from folks that are going back into the work force after being home bound with symptoms for months and years.... I guess what I'm getting at is to keep at it.... learn, ask questions, share... be aggressive in fighting to get your health back.. that includes the weight stuff....it's a challenge for many of us... and as much as I now it has helped a few folks to get the surgery... I still think it's a wise idea to address the hormone stuff first and see if your healthier body can do it without the surgery... I mean in dropping the pounds. Oh... while I think about it... have you checked your heart rate waking body temp yet? It would be a great way to determine how your metabolism is doing.. if those two numbers are down, it's not only an indication that your thyroid levels are still too low but also that your metabolism is below where it should be... and then that would be another indicator as to why the excess weight is such a challenge for you.... Don't be discourage with us for missing your post last week... we're here to help and the more info that you can share with us the more insight we'll have as to what is going on with you and what you can do to work with your doc to get things moving in a more positive direction.. or if it's time to find another doc that has a better understanding of proper thyroid care.... .... I'll shush for now.... Topper ()www.thyrophoenix.com/donations.htm On Fri, 24 Feb 2006 17:24:53 EST karenjohns3@... writes: Hi my name is and I joined your group about a week ago, I sent an email but didnt get a response. I have been reading your emails and learning some about labs that I should ask for. I first had an adrenalectomty rt side about four years ago it was calcified, then because of having all the symptoms and a palpable mass on my neck they found or diagnosed me with Hoshimotos. I wonder which came first the hashimotos or the calcified adrenal gland. As far as I know only my tsh and t3 t4 have been checked. I began on synthroid 200 and then they lowered it to 125 and then 112. I recently went back and they increased the dose to 137, my labs were rechecked and tsh was 5 and they increased dosage to 175. I go back in a couple of days 28th and I suppose I should of had new labs before next appt. but wasnt given an order. I plan on asking for the labs I have been reading about, thanks for the info, I also read about one women who had a gastric bypass surgery, and I wondered if she had the thyroid problem prior to the surgery...ly the emails are depressing to me however informative. I have had this for over two years and am amental wreck, my friends think Ive abandoned them and my family doesnt understand, my depression, withdrawal, Im so tired of being this way, in pain Im hoping the wt loss surgery will give me back some energy or increased quality of life but Im just exploring that. If someone has ideas or comments I would appreciate them. Thanks s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.