Gave my daughter Hashis
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JessicaLCHF
Posts: 1,265 Member
Just found out I passed my wonderful genes on to my fourth daughter (others always tested fine). Poor kid. I feel guilty even tho I mentally know it's something I can't control. I knew something was up. She started dropping weight like crazy and eating the same way - hubby was worried she was anorexic. I knew it often goes hyper in late teens before going hypo in mid twenties.
I'm just glad she is getting treated early. I didn't find my Hashimoto's until mid 30s after so much damage was already done. My thyroid is the size of a small pizza! After months of planning, finally getting it out next month. It's so big they have to crack my breastbone. Kinda nervous but glad to get rid of it. I have a huge goiter.
C'est la vie. Gonna work extra hard to stay on plan today and not be sad.
I'm just glad she is getting treated early. I didn't find my Hashimoto's until mid 30s after so much damage was already done. My thyroid is the size of a small pizza! After months of planning, finally getting it out next month. It's so big they have to crack my breastbone. Kinda nervous but glad to get rid of it. I have a huge goiter.
C'est la vie. Gonna work extra hard to stay on plan today and not be sad.
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I hope she gets it sorted out with relative ease.
Kudos to you that you recognized the symptoms and got her treatment early. I'm sure that will make a huge difference in her life.
Good luck with your surgery. Try not to worry about a goiter for your daughter. From what I have learned, that seems to happen to an unlucky few. My thyroid is actually atrophying now, partially because I take T3 & T4 so it is being suppressed.0 -
If taking T3 and T4 atrophies the thyroid I wonder why I they didn't try that for me. Are there other side effects? My husband is a Registered Nurse and he is always looking at ways to help my thyroid situation. What form do you take that in? Very interesting.0
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i'm sorry to hear that. i suffer from CVID, which basically is a condition where your immune system doesn't make enough of the stuff to help you fight infections. there's no cure, but every 4 weeks, i am hooked up to an IV of gammaglobulin (thank you all the people of the world who donate plasma -- you keep people like me alive!) to help supplement what my body doesn't make. i have a sibling with it to, so a genetic component. i live in fear that my kids may one day inherit this from me (as opposed to the other autoimmune conditions i have-- people with crap immune systems like me have all sorts of associated autoimmune conditions, from MS to rheumatoid arthritis, etc.) so i can relate. OTOH, what a wonderful support system you will be for her. my sib has this, too, and how helpful it is to have one person who really gets what i go through.
good luck with the surgery. 0 -
I lost a pound today so that was a shot in the arm.
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jessicatroberts wrote: »If taking T3 and T4 atrophies the thyroid I wonder why I they didn't try that for me. Are there other side effects? My husband is a Registered Nurse and he is always looking at ways to help my thyroid situation. What form do you take that in? Very interesting.
I take a natural dessicated thyroid (Erfa's Thyroid). My thyroid is suppressed because my medication includes T3 so my body doesn't stimulate my thyroid to do much of anything. My TSH is a scary looking 0.01but my free T3 and free T4 are just above the middle point of the normal range, so although my TSH makes me look hyper, my hormones are right in the middle of normal. It works for me.
I don't think a suppressed thyroid always shrinks but mine did. My doctor said it isn't unusual so that's good enough for me.
To be honest, I don't really care if it shrinks, it wasn't doing too much to begin with. LOL It took over a year before it started to shrink. I (luckily) never had to deal with a goiter so I'm not sure how much shrinking would do for you. 0 -
nvsmomketo wrote: »jessicatroberts wrote: »If taking T3 and T4 atrophies the thyroid I wonder why I they didn't try that for me. Are there other side effects? My husband is a Registered Nurse and he is always looking at ways to help my thyroid situation. What form do you take that in? Very interesting.
I take a natural dessicated thyroid (Erfa's Thyroid). My thyroid is suppressed because my medication includes T3 so my body doesn't stimulate my thyroid to do much of anything. My TSH is a scary looking 0.01but my free T3 and free T4 are just above the middle point of the normal range, so although my TSH makes me look hyper, my hormones are right in the middle of normal. It works for me.
I don't think a suppressed thyroid always shrinks but mine did. My doctor said it isn't unusual so that's good enough for me.
To be honest, I don't really care if it shrinks, it wasn't doing too much to begin with. LOL It took over a year before it started to shrink. I (luckily) never had to deal with a goiter so I'm not sure how much shrinking would do for you.
Yeah. And it's wrapped around my windpipe completely so, maybe shrinking isn't a good thing.
but that's still good to know. I got my synthroid up to 200 and was finally feeling decent and my doc just told me she's lowering it to 175 cause I'm hyper - but I sure don't feel it! I wonder if the numbers are lying. 0 -
Also, my husband is asking what does your doc say about your pituitary gland (that releases TSH) and how that affects that? If it's not too personal do you feel better? More energy? You can msg me if you want. I'm very interested not only for myself but for my daughter. That is terrific it's shrinking! I went up from 120 to 200 for four months to try to shrink mine but no luck.0
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I really do find that I manage my thyroid best when my free T4 and free T3 (especially) are in the 50-75% range of a lab's normal range. I went above the free's normal range when I first started NDT, we overshot it. My TSH was 0.22, which was considered normal but my free T3 was above range - that didn't feel very good. It was just...wrong. LOL We cut my NDT back a bit and when my free T's were in that 50-75% range, I felt good. Yeah!
I take 150 mcg (is that the unit?) of NDT. It's basically a full replacement dose.
I was on 180 of synthroid for a year and I never got to the point of feeling good. At 180, my TSH was 2.5 and my old doctor declared me fine and that my symptoms were now a coincidence. I went in search of a doctor who would let me try T3 with T4, and found my current doctor who switched me to 180 NDT (which was too much). I've been at 150 NDT for a few years now, and I think it is a good dose for me.
I really do feel better. It's not a huge amount of energy but just small things like being able to stay awake until 10pm. I just don't feel wrong anymore. My skin is better - less scaly, and my hair has slowed in the thinning, but it still seems to accelerate that sometimes. My nose, hands, feet, and bum aren't always cold anymore, and my bathroom trips are, ahem, easier.
My pituitary seems fine. It gave me a high blip of insulin like growth factor (IGF-1) a couple of years ago but everything seems reliable now. My guess is that because my FT3 levels are adequate (from the NDT), my hypothalamus knows this so it does not send much thyroid releasing hormone (TRH) to the pituitary so the pituitary does not release much TSH, so my thyroid just sits there doing nothing.
Thyroid is a tough one to balance. You'd think doctors would have it all figured out and mastered by now since it is such a common problem.0 -
I know. Every "expert" we talk to just leaves us with more questions or conflicting info on consecutive visits! I don't think they know a lot yet!0
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My TSH is low on 200, and my T3 and T4 are high. That's why she just cut me back to 175mcg (I haven't started new dose yet). Course I'm getting the thyroid out next month so who knows what that will mean.
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I would ask about NDT. It also provides the other lesser thyroid hormones (T1, T0, etc.) that you'll be lacking. Synthroid may work well, but I don't know many who prefer it to NDT once they've tried it. No everyone, but usually that is the case.0
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I defiantly will. I'm in the middle of finding a new endo anyway.0
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I'm seeing a DO who is much more responsive and knowledgeable than the several endos I saw. I am in the early stages of working with her. I see her for a follow-up next month after starting T3 in late June. I am just wondering if the little bit I am taking each morning of T3 (5 mcg) was enough to get things moving metabolically. I lost a lot of weight this month, 13 lbs. I had been taking 25 mg of T4 for a few months and continue to do so. I tried Armour in 2012 and gained weight and did not feel any symptom relief but I was only on it a couple of months when a new endo said I should not take it.0
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What is a DO?0
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A DO is a Doctor of Osteopathy. They differ in their education and training from MDs to consider the whole person rather than individual symptoms or diseases. They are licensed like MDs and can prescribe medicine if deemed necessary. They take a more holistic approach. For example, some use hands-on manipulation therapy rather than pills or injections for pain management and edema. There are also NDs, Naturopathic Doctors that often treat Hashis and other thyroid issues but they are not necessarily licensed in every state and thus cannot always prescribe medication. Many rely on herbs and homeopathic remedies. I've tried them all. There is good and bad in all fields.0
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A DO is a Doctor of Osteopathy. They differ in their education and training from MDs to consider the whole person rather than individual symptoms or diseases. They are licensed like MDs and can prescribe medicine if deemed necessary. They take a more holistic approach. For example, some use hands-on manipulation therapy rather than pills or injections for pain management and edema. There are also NDs, Naturopathic Doctors that often treat Hashis and other thyroid issues but they are not necessarily licensed in every state and thus cannot always prescribe medication. Many rely on herbs and homeopathic remedies. I've tried them all. There is good and bad in all fields.
Wow, great info, thanks! My hubby just said they have several of those who do surgery at the hospital he works at. That sounds exactly like what I need. Hubby is always saying I need someone who will look at the "whole person" if me. We are getting ready to move from OK back home to VT, so all my docs will change. I am going to try to find one of these, prolly in Albany, NY. Appreciate the info!0 -
The doc I see is an orthomolecular doctor - he treats mostly by nutrition and ensuring you don't have any deficiencies.0
