Hypo/Hyperthyroidism

Hi there! I don't have a diagnosed thyroid problem, but suspect I do; they run in my family and i have many symptoms. I have requested doctors to check it out and am having a hard time getting anyone to help me out. Do you think it's possible it's just getting overlooked and I should try to push the subject with a doctor?

Sometimes when you have Hashimoto's the symptoms come and go and aren't necessarily associated with out of range changes in your TSH until it gets worse.
Auto-immune conditions suck! They're just so vague and unhelpful and they don't push the dr's in the right direction.
With Hashimoto's it can be worth getting an ultrasound done, as the changes there can show up while the numbers are still mostly normal despite your symptoms.

treehopper1987 wrote: »

Hi there! I don't have a diagnosed thyroid problem, but suspect I do; they run in my family and i have many symptoms. I have requested doctors to check it out and am having a hard time getting anyone to help me out. Do you think it's possible it's just getting overlooked and I should try to push the subject with a doctor?

I have Hashimotos. No symptoms - but because I've been exhausted for years he had been regularly testing my thyroid. It was low in October, he ran antibody tests, and the rest is history.

Ask your doctor to do the refined testing that includesT3 and rT3. T3 is the (or one of the) happy thyroid enzymes. Your body naturally makes it from T4 (the normal supplement). But when your thyroid is impaired, it sometimes makes rT3 (an anti-happy enzyme) instead.

I started on a low dose of T4 - and now have a bit too much rT3, but not enough to change doses at my last visit. If the trend continues, he will cut back my T4 (since my body is turning it into the wrong thing) and add T3 directly. This makes much more sense to me than continuing to dump T4 (which most doctors do - and it sounds as if yours may have done). The primary result of that is that your overall thyroid numbers look fine (e.g. no more hypothyroid) - but the composition of the overall thyroid enzymes is really crappy - and you feel crappy.

Also make sure to get your vitamin D checked - very low vitamin D can be the trigger that makes Hashimoto's manifest itself, and may help put it back in remission.

Finally, make sure you check for diabetes. That was my triple whammy birthday diagnosis - and it is apparently very common for all three to be present.

Yay! Thyroid support. I was diagnosed with my thyroid disorder a year and a half ago. Since then my dose of levothyroxine has been upped 3 times. I just had baby boy three months ago, and I would love to loose the weight I've gained the past two years and be back to my healthy weight.
Is there anything I can do to help my thyroid out? I really can't do a low calorie diet, because I'm breastfeeding. Loosing weight is proving to be harder this time around. I had my first son 4 years ago and the weight seemed to just melt off.

cnldance wrote: »

Hi guys!

So basically I made this thread for people struggling with hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism. I used MFP in the past when I was in my teens and it was never really hard for me to lose weight with proper diet and exercise...up until now. I'm 24 now, but when I was about 20 my doctor diagnosed me with hypo thyroidism. Basically my thyroid is slow so she prescibed me a low dose of meds for it. I took it religiously but it didnt make me feel better at all. My hair was falling out, I experienced extreme fatigue, etc.

Fast forward....

I started seeing a therapist in the beginning of last year and she advised me to go see an endocrinologist as I described to her my health and family health history. I went to the doctor yesterday and was told my thyroid is in pretty bad shape. So bad that it's three times the size it should be so she immediately upped my meds and advised I go on a strict 1200 calorie diet. It was hopeful, but also frustrating because I have been on a strict diet and workout plan for 5 months now and all I've been doing is gaining....unheard of right? turns out my thyroid is the culprit.

This thread is for people with Hashimotos or thyroid problems. I offer any and all support I can give. Feel free to share your stories and add me as a friend

Keep up with your appointments (with an endocrinologist, do not trust any other dr for this), take your meds as prescribed, and you will be fine. I was diagnosed in my teens, am now in my 40s and the few times I had problems, it was always because my meds needed adjustment.

So, do you all think I should see out an endocrinologist instead of talking to my gp?

Hello all- been dealing with hypothyroidism for 5 years and recently diagnosed with hashimotos . My weight is at the highest it's ever been and the scale won't go down. I could really use all the advice that y'all can give about how you are losing weight and maintaining healthy numbers.

Hi, I've had Hashimoto's for 30 years. My Son was also diagnosed with it 10 years ago. He was 7 at the time. I struggled for years trying to find a Dr. That would treat me as a person not a number. I too only took T4 for years and had chronic symptoms. I am now on a natural thyroid that has a lot of aT3 and my Dr. Just added some additional T4 last week because I was low. I found out that my body wasn't converting T4 to T3. So all that T4 was useless. As thyroid patients we are All different. Doctors really need to look at all the lab tests to get an accurate picture of what's going on. One TSH just doesn't cut it. I feel pretty good most of the time, but still struggle with weight loss. It just doesn't come off quickly!