hypothyroidism - obstacle or excuse?

13

Replies

  • Vermilla
    Vermilla Posts: 348
    Actually, I've been misdiagnosed more than I can recall. When I was a baby, so much fluid built in my lungs that I nearly died and they had to remove it. Doc said the whole time that it was a cold. I fractured my toe once and doc was convinced it was only dislocated and so he ended up breaking my foot. I was five months and very obviously pregnant before the stupid tests would prove it. Recently, I had to get a blood transfusion and my obgyn still thinks I'm BSing her. I had an earache for half a year before I went deaf for a day because they incorrectly diagnosed. I know you're trying to be helpful but no, there's an actual REASON why I don't know what's going on. I usually don't until I'm strapped to a hospital bed. So if you think doctors are all-knowing gods, then I'm sorry to disappoint you but I do want an alternative if the doc messes up. I'm not going to ignore all my continued symptoms as being nothing because somebody else said so
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
    Actually, I've been misdiagnosed more than I can recall. When I was a baby, so much fluid built in my lungs that I nearly died and they had to remove it. Doc said the whole time that it was a cold. I fractured my toe once and doc was convinced it was only dislocated and so he ended up breaking my foot. I was five months and very obviously pregnant before the stupid tests would prove it. Recently, I had to get a blood transfusion and my obgyn still thinks I'm BSing her. I had an earache for half a year before I went deaf for a day because they incorrectly diagnosed. I know you're trying to be helpful but no, there's an actual REASON why I don't know what's going on. I usually don't until I'm strapped to a hospital bed. So if you think doctors are all-knowing gods, then I'm sorry to disappoint you but I do want an alternative if the doc messes up. I'm not going to ignore all my continued symptoms as being nothing because somebody else said so

    I'm sorry but exactly what tests would not prove that you were 5 months pregnant?
  • Vermilla
    Vermilla Posts: 348

    Weight loss is a responsibility. And unless your ready to deal with that constructively. Then yes, it's an excuse.

    Sorry if this is harsh. But I don't want to bull**** you. Hypo is no reason to be overweight if you don't want it to be.

    *ps Any food in abundance, will negatively impact your health. This isn't limited to Hypo. Soy, corn both are abundant int he american diet. So unless your monitoring your processed foods then you could easily be in abundance.

    First of all, I'm not overweight. I used to be and got past it. Secondly, I find that everybody who feels the need to fling around assumptions, accusations, and pure hatred like they're better than everybody else like you just did always say they do it to "help" well, it doesn't help. It's just you making an excuse for sounding like s b****. learn a better way to "help"

    @servilia - I don't know. They did two urine tests and they came up negative. They did a blood one and it turned up positive
  • abyssfully
    abyssfully Posts: 410 Member
    straight up, if you're not eating enough your metabolism will be CRAP. Especially if you are hypothyroid, you need to make sure you are getting at least 1200 calories (net) and spread them out throughout the day. Eat 5 - 6 (or even 4) smaller, balanced meals throughout the day. Your body needs all the nutrients it can get. Exercise is great but don't be afraid to eat some, or all, of your calories back. Your body needs to fuel itself - without proper fuel (aka nutritious food) you are going to feel like *kitten* whether you are hypo or not. For those of us who ARE hypo, we need to be more careful. It's up to you to take care of your body. Definitely get your levels rechecked because hypothyroidism is a serious issue that does require medication.

    Edited to add: see ticker. all accomplished while being hypo.
  • Vermilla
    Vermilla Posts: 348
    Sorry , iPod is acting up
  • Vermilla
    Vermilla Posts: 348
    Sorry, my iPod lost connection and then triple posted and I don't know how to erase posts. Help?
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member

    Weight loss is a responsibility. And unless your ready to deal with that constructively. Then yes, it's an excuse.

    Sorry if this is harsh. But I don't want to bull**** you. Hypo is no reason to be overweight if you don't want it to be.

    *ps Any food in abundance, will negatively impact your health. This isn't limited to Hypo. Soy, corn both are abundant int he american diet. So unless your monitoring your processed foods then you could easily be in abundance.

    First of all, I'm not overweight. I used to be and got past it. Secondly, I find that everybody who feels the need to fling around assumptions, accusations, and pure hatred like they're better than everybody else like you just did always say they do it to "help" well, it doesn't help. It's just you making an excuse for sounding like s b****. learn a better way to "help"

    @servilia - I don't know. They did two urine tests and they came up negative. They did a blood one and it turned up positive

    Hmm the pregnancy hormone HCG actually decreases after the 8-10th week but not to the extent that it would turn up negative. Either they did it wrong (though they'd have to be really stupid to get a preg urine test wrong) or the tests were faulty.
    Do you live in a small or big town? I hope you have some choice in doctors.
  • Vermilla
    Vermilla Posts: 348

    Hmm the pregnancy hormone HCG actually decreases after the 8-10th week but not to the extent that it would turn up negative. Either they did it wrong (though they'd have to be really stupid to get a preg urine test wrong) or the tests were faulty.
    Do you live in a small or big town? I hope you have some choice in doctors.

    At the time I lived in a tiny town of about 100 people and 1 hospital with only one who delt with such things
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
    oh I see.. that really sucks to not have choice. Well hopefully now you can shop around for competent doctors!
  • Vermilla
    Vermilla Posts: 348
    oh I see.. that really sucks to not have choice. Well hopefully now you can shop around for competent doctors!

    I can now, and I"m trying. It's hard to find a doctor who will listen to you and understand that not everybody in the entire world is built/functions the -exact- same. So on one hand, I need to find somebody who knows their medical stuff but also knows how to relate to a person. On the other hand, I also don't want to be ignorant going in. I want to learn from the experiences and knowledge that all of you (most of you) have shared with me, and for that I'm really grateful. You guys (and girls) have given me things to think about and to research, questions to ask to points to make so that when I go in, I don't come out confused and empty-handed. Thanks everybody!
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
    You're welcome. Keep in mind that most general practitioners don't have enough specialized knowledge to help you. I hope you can get a referral to an endocronologist who can look at both your thyroid and estrogen issues. I mean there might be some who know their stuff but the specialists always know more about their areas :) Good luck!
  • Ktbug613
    Ktbug613 Posts: 33 Member
    Its actually not impossible for a pregnant woman to not produce enough HCG to show positive on urine tests. A friend of mine got negative urine tests her entire pregnancy and negative blood tests at first. Of course she did eventually get a positive blood test but she continued taking urine tests just to see how long it would take before she would show positive and she never did. And she was not doing it wrong because her docs (who didn't believe her) made her take several right in front of them.
  • Mitchlou84
    Mitchlou84 Posts: 135
    Do you feel your making excuses? Or do you know cause you wrote it down, did the fitness, monitored everything, figured you actual energy expenditure by going to a local university health and having the test done. They are less than 50.00 BTW.

    With those tools in check, then there is no possible way you could not know what's up. Because you would have taken responsibility for it as best as possible. Hypo is not a reason why your overweight. It's a reason why you "feel" unable to handle the task of managing your weight. And only when you get your levels right (by going to a Dr and having them monitor you with meds) will you be able to tackle how you feel on a day to day basis.

    Weight loss is a responsibility. And unless your ready to deal with that constructively. Then yes, it's an excuse.

    Sorry if this is harsh. But I don't want to bull**** you. Hypo is no reason to be overweight if you don't want it to be.

    *ps Any food in abundance, will negatively impact your health. This isn't limited to Hypo. Soy, corn both are abundant int he american diet. So unless your monitoring your processed foods then you could easily be in abundance.

    Umm an untreated underactive thyroid can make you obese! I went from steadily maintaining a healthy weight to putting on 5 stone before I got my meds! Now on my meds I have lost nearly half of it so far!

    I really don't think you should spout this stuff that you obviously know nothing about.

    I lost control of my weight entirely! I now have it back, and am steadily losing!
  • Vermilla
    Vermilla Posts: 348
    It's interesting to see the difference in opinions here. Some people believe that hypothyroidism has nothing to do with weight and it's just an excuse people use. Others see that it's an obstacle that makes it virtually impossible to lose weight and/or gain it ceaselessly. And then some people are just angry. Angry people spouting angry things as though as though they've been personally offended by somebody else in this world having weight issues.

    All-in-all, I've come to this conclusion (and it may not be the one anybody else has). I believe that hypothyoidism makes it very difficult to lose weight and extremely easy to gain it, especially if it's not taken under strict control. I do believe, however, that it doesn't make it IMPOSSIBLE to lose weight, but those with it have to try a whole lot harder. What I don't believe is that it's an excuse or an obstacle anymore. One can't just say "I'm fat because I've got hypothyroidism" but they also have to realize that it can be worked out. And hopefully those angry people out there realize this and get off their backs.

    So in conclusion to that, I actually am getting tested tomorrow. I'm not sure how long it takes to get the results back, but hopefully I learn something! Because I can't really believe that NOTHING is wrong with me if I eat healthy and exercise every day for over a year now and only lost weight (and kept it off) in the first three months. So...here's hoping for some kind of news! :happy:
  • KemaVA
    KemaVA Posts: 81 Member
    All-in-all, I've come to this conclusion (and it may not be the one anybody else has). I believe that hypothyoidism makes it very difficult to lose weight and extremely easy to gain it, especially if it's not taken under strict control. I do believe, however, that it doesn't make it IMPOSSIBLE to lose weight, but those with it have to try a whole lot harder.

    I agree with your conclusion! I believe I may be hypo also. However my TSH test came back normal with a 3.3 (my doctor's lab uses .3 to 4 as normal). I have the common symptoms... hard to lose weight, fatigue, very dry skin, always cold (especially hands and feet) and depression. My doctor pretty much ignored most of my symptoms except depression. Very quick to prescribe an anti-depressant. He started me on Cymbalta which I took for a while before asking to be switched to Effexor. It has helped with the depression but what about the other problems.

    I still believe I may be hypo. I've been doing research on natural supplements and I just purchased Desiccated Porcine Thyroid Health Capsules from Nutri Meds. I was looking into purchasing Raw Thyroid from Amazon but many of comments said that it could actually do harm if you suffer from Hashimoto's thyroiditis which I have read is one of the most common forms of hypothyroidism. It contains Iodine which can (alledgedly) attack the thyroid if you suffer from this form of hypothyroidism.
  • chellk71
    chellk71 Posts: 69
    obstacle. I am insulin resistance and I crave carbs that turn directly into fat. I don't process them right. With meds it's controllable and with weight loss can disappear. It makes eating harder and weight loss slower but not impossible. Do not let it define you and your goals. When I was seeing a nuitricialist I lost 20 pounds in 6 weeks. Told to drink 100 ounces of water and had a strict diet and had to exercise everyday but I lost weight.
  • Vermilla
    Vermilla Posts: 348
    My doctor (general practice, not a specialist) says my THS is 2.8 and my free T4 is .5. He said the normal ranges were .3 - 5 for the THS and .5 - 8 for the free T4 but my mom's specialist says the normal ranges are .5 - 3 for the THS and .7 - 5 for the free T4. My doctor says mine is just barely in the range but my mom's specialist says the T4 is too low and the THS is a bit high, almost to the borderline and that it may be subclinical. The specialist asked for my T3 but my doctor didn't do a T3. Now I'm utterly confused on what's right because my doctor literally LAUGHED at me when I asked for an explination and said to come back in 3 months. I'm confused and not sure what to do
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
    My doc doesn't like my TSH being above 2.5 ish. 2.8 isn't terribly high but a lot of doctors would classify that as subclinical. I'm surprised they didn't do a free T3.
  • TLCEsq
    TLCEsq Posts: 413 Member
    I feel like crap if my TSH is above 1
  • Vermilla
    Vermilla Posts: 348
    My doc doesn't like my TSH being above 2.5 ish. 2.8 isn't terribly high but a lot of doctors would classify that as subclinical. I'm surprised they didn't do a free T3.

    Same here. I even very specifically requested that it be done, and they utterly ignored me. So I'm getting a copy of my papers and going to a specialist who maybe, just maybe ,might actually listen to a word I say. Because I frankly feel like crap :frown:
  • cpldjski
    cpldjski Posts: 64 Member
    I have family history of Thyroid disorders, both hyper and hypo, on both sides. My mother had Grave's disease and had her Thyroid removed. Two years ago I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's. I have been focused on losing weight now for almost a year, and have lost 72 pounds. In the past two months I have changed from hypo to hyper. No idea why, but my doctor and I are working on my meds to get it back under control. Anyways, long story short, I used to use it as an excuse. Anytime weight was brought up I would say, but I have thyroid issues. No I see that it is an excuse. I have lost weight. A lot of weight. Even with thyroid problems. I have seen many people on the site doing the same thing. It can be done. I know in addition to my pure Synthroid, I also take B12 supplements with is supposed to help with metabolism and calcium supplements as well.

    Good luck to you.
  • grannygethealthy1111
    grannygethealthy1111 Posts: 422
    Your doctor is simply incorrect. He obviously is not using the new guidelines. For some people, even if the TSH level is normal, or even in some bases, low normal, there may still be a situation where one is functionally hypothyroid, due to the body's inability to move convert circulating T4 thyroid hormone into the active T3 hormone at the cellular level, inadequate T3 hormone levels in general, or other factors. You absolutely must have the T3 tested to determine if you have hypothyroidism. A TSH alone is not enough.

    See a specialist.
  • meggoos
    meggoos Posts: 2 Member
    I would suggest seeing an endocrinologist. Uncontrolled hypothyroid can lead to health complications down the road. Just had my first blood tests in about 8 months and my TSH came back at over 6! This is despite being on 75mcg of sythroid. Shocking too was my cholesterol was high. I have always had very low cholesterol and was in low-normal range a year and a half ago when I last got tested. The doctor explained that under active thyroid can raise your cholesterol and cause early heart disease as well. I hadn't known that.
  • gammybarb
    gammybarb Posts: 34 Member
    Only the medication will help you. I am the only one in my peer family who has it but one of my children has Hashimoto's. and just went on meds a week ago after she was diagnosed. Radiation for throat cancer messed up my thyroid. My general P put me on Synthroid 5 years ago. Without it I am wet toast
    Glad to hear you are going to another doctor. I hope it turns out well for you.
    :heart:
  • Vermilla
    Vermilla Posts: 348
    Your doctor is simply incorrect. He obviously is not using the new guidelines. For some people, even if the TSH level is normal, or even in some bases, low normal, there may still be a situation where one is functionally hypothyroid, due to the body's inability to move convert circulating T4 thyroid hormone into the active T3 hormone at the cellular level, inadequate T3 hormone levels in general, or other factors. You absolutely must have the T3 tested to determine if you have hypothyroidism. A TSH alone is not enough.

    See a specialist.

    I absolutely agree. I HAD liked my doctor until this point. I can't believe - with how kind and understanding he's always been - that he'd literally laughed when I asked for an explaination. I was so shocked that I forgot what I was saying and hung up. He didn't listen to a word I said about how I physically felt nor did he order the T3 like I very specifically asked. I just can't believe it. Now I have to wait a really long time to see a specialist because nobody has any appointments open and available so it'll take a while. By the time I get an appointment, I'll be out of state.
  • km47
    km47 Posts: 34
    All three of my kids are hypothyroid and all five of my sisters are hypothyroid, if you are hypothyroid, you get meds. Not only is it related to your metabolism, it is related to regulating your heart rate, your response to stress, your nervous system. It must mean that he is watching your thyroid levels but you are NOT hypthyroid right now. There is a healthy range that once you fall out of, they treat. Your resistance to weight loss is not related to your hypthyroid at the moment, it might be insulin resistance or cortisol levels. If you have sleep apnea, or snore a lot at night, it causes chronic sleep deprivation which then can lead to elevated coritisol levels which then can promote weight gain.
  • Vermilla
    Vermilla Posts: 348
    All three of my kids are hypothyroid and all five of my sisters are hypothyroid, if you are hypothyroid, you get meds. Not only is it related to your metabolism, it is related to regulating your heart rate, your response to stress, your nervous system. It must mean that he is watching your thyroid levels but you are NOT hypthyroid right now. There is a healthy range that once you fall out of, they treat. Your resistance to weight loss is not related to your hypthyroid at the moment, it might be insulin resistance or cortisol levels. If you have sleep apnea, or snore a lot at night, it causes chronic sleep deprivation which then can lead to elevated coritisol levels which then can promote weight gain.

    Sleep? I don't sleep. I nap for 2 hours at the most. I haven't slept more than that in over a decade. I often go days without sleep. I've had to be put out before at a hospital because I couldn't sleep. :laugh:

    This doesn't actually bother me, just so it's known. I keep forgetting that it's not "normal" but it is for me.
  • healthorhighwater
    healthorhighwater Posts: 39 Member
    if your thyroid is bad enough to *affect ur weight*, you would be put on meds for it! if you're not on medication for it, it's obviously not slow enough to affect ur weight. I have hypothyroidism and when from 145lbs to 110lbs and I'm a busy junior in college. Hate to break it to you, but it's an excuse
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
    if your thyroid is bad enough to *affect ur weight*, you would be put on meds for it! if you're not on medication for it, it's obviously not slow enough to affect ur weight.

    This is simply untrue and faulty logic.
  • livinginwoods
    livinginwoods Posts: 562 Member
    I have it and my Dr. monitors it every 3 months. Last time I was normal and my pills stayed the same and I do feel better. I know when I need an up on my meds because my hair will start falling out and I will feel extremely tired. The new dosage seems to do the trick for me for now. But it is not an excuse not to eat right.
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