Round 2 for this Thyroidectomy patient!

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MmmDrop
MmmDrop Posts: 160 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Hi all! So a year ago, my thyroid replacement meds were at a point where I was feeling great and losing weight. But after a few months, my levels went wonky again and knocked me on my butt. I now drive 5 hours away to see an integrative medicine doctor who is putting all my pieces back together again thankfully, I'm starting to feel back to myself again, and am looking for friends on MFP to help encourage me!

About me - in 2008 I gave birth to my third child which in turn scattered my hormones all about. I was diagnosed with Graves Disease later that year. 2 years later, I ended up having a full thyroidectomy and quickly gained 80 pounds. I had gone through 7 doctors locally who were all completely dismissive idiots who sent me through their revolving door and never saw me as a real person - only numbers on a lab sheet. Now that I pay out of pocket for a doctor who specializes in treating the whole person, things are starting to come together again. We have found out that thyroid was only part of my problem, and I also had sex hormone issues that in turn helped decimate my adrenals.

Anyways, I'm back to it. I find that Zumba is extremely addictive, as well as RKC Kettlebells and any form of heavy lifting.

Replies

  • jessilyn76
    jessilyn76 Posts: 532 Member
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    I, too, had a complete thyroidectomy in 2007 due to papillary thyroid cancer. I gained about 40 pounds right after, had MANY doctor issues and almost 6 years later and three kids (twins in October), I am trying to get the weight off for good.

    Add me if you would like!!! :flowerforyou:
  • rotill
    rotill Posts: 244 Member
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    Good for you, finding a good doctor!

    I was lucky, and my original doctor did a very good job making sure she knew as much about me as possible - but that was 27 years ago. The next doctors were decent, but it was all easy - the meds stayed balanced for 24 years! A few years ago things tarted to get weird though, and the doctor didn't really do anything about it - it all looked ok, and so no need to act. When I suddenly lost 20 pounds with "no effort", they panicked though (not me, I was delirious with joy, I had been struggling to maintain and reduce my weight for most of my life), and started going through it all again.

    It's amazing how much research has developed and how much has been learned about thyroid issues over this span of years. I am learning about how problems can connect and aggravate each other, how different diseases can develop, and how sex-hormones and the thyroid interact - not to mention how diet, training and weight influences the metabolism.

    If your doctors were educated 15-20 years ago, and haven't specialised in thyroid issues since, they have most likely been doing the best they knew - specialists really do know better in cases like this.

    Good luck to you!
  • 1223345
    1223345 Posts: 1,386 Member
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    After I became pregnant with my second baby, my hyperthyroidism was discovered. I had cysts in my thyroid and they were causing it to behave in unruly fashion. Fortunately, mine healed. I hope you are able to sort yours out. The thyroid can create sheer misery when it acts the wrong way.
  • Wendyma1
    Wendyma1 Posts: 289 Member
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    i'm so glad you found a good doctor who doesnt only look at your thyroid but the underlying problem! I too have adrenal suppresion which the doctors are now treating along with my thyroid.

    I hope you start feeling better soon!
  • mattashbrock
    mattashbrock Posts: 38
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    All doctors treat the whole pt, this is a common misperception, mostly promulgated by the "alternative" medicine crowd that likes to pray upon desperate people that will do nearly anything (including abandoning common sense) to get help for a condition that they feel has been mismanaged by real science based medicine. With any hyperthyroid condition and especially one as severe as graves, one would expect a patient to gain weight. The entire reason these patients are skinny in the first place is because even with a high calorie count they do not gain weight. Continuing to eat in the same manner post surgery and after thyroid levels go to normal range with medication, will certainly cause weight gain.
  • MmmDrop
    MmmDrop Posts: 160 Member
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    That's absolutely ridiculous mattashbrock. how can you possibly say that all doctors treat the whole pt??? The 7 doctors that I had seen would only spend a total of 5-10 minutes with me, didn't care to even listen to all the symptoms I had been having. The 2nd doctor I had seen even before looking at labs or anything straight away said that I needed to have a thyroidectomy. Conventional doctors who accept multitudes of insurance generally won't spend more than 30 minutes with a person IF that, because they get reimbursed by insurance companies VERY little money - so they have to see more patients to make more money. Not to mention they get completely flustered when you bring up wanting to use a non big pharma med that isn't T4 only.

    I gained ALL of my weight even when I was eating at a deficit + working out 6 days a week, until my hyPOthyroidism nearly caused me to die and I could barely get enough energy to get out of bed.

    if you'd like more information about what thyroid patients such as myself are going through, there are PLENTY organizations out there for people who have been mistreated for their thyroid diseases.

    ThyroidChange.org, ThyroidUK.org.uk, Thyroid Sexy

    Anyways.. thanks for your input. I'll stow it away in the TROLL file. My Integrative Medicine doctor has literally saved my life when no other doctor cared enough to even TRY to help me. I'm not here to read troll posts. I'm here for support, and encouragement as I start my new journey towards rebuilding my life.
  • RobinRayn
    RobinRayn Posts: 53 Member
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    All doctors treat the whole pt, this is a common misperception, mostly promulgated by the "alternative" medicine crowd that likes to pray upon desperate people that will do nearly anything (including abandoning common sense) to get help for a condition that they feel has been mismanaged by real science based medicine. With any hyperthyroid condition and especially one as severe as graves, one would expect a patient to gain weight. The entire reason these patients are skinny in the first place is because even with a high calorie count they do not gain weight. Continuing to eat in the same manner post surgery and after thyroid levels go to normal range with medication, will certainly cause weight gain.

    Doctors look at the whole patient?! What a crock. Drs barely look at what you ask them too let alone them to look for something you are not asking! Alot of Drs have this God complex in which they have no humility and think they know whats going on while disregarding patients complaints and instincts of the feelings of their own bodies. Id pay too for a good Dr too. And next time you tell her someone they are abandoning common sense maybe you should look at yourself and think that perhaps its really you doing it. She was looking for friends not your opinion on her medical treatment.

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