The THYROID Thread

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Originally Posted by Christine

I know it's not proven yet but they are finding that chronic low Vitamin D is the cause for chronic pain and even suspect that it might be *the* factor in fibromyalgia in some patients.

Have you seriously looked into getting those levels up?

I also wanted to add, have you visited the Thyroid Issues board on www.healthboards.com? They have some very knowledgeable folks over there who have pretty much seen it all. You might want to go over there and read and post your story/lab values, etc. if you haven't already. I don't hang out there much at all because there are very few thyroid cancer postings, but they definitely have some interesting things going on.

Thanks for the site, I will check it out. The Dr' put me on a 4 week high dose Vitamin D. I only take one pill per week. Then at the end of the month they will recheck my levels. I will be put back on the high dose and or a daily dose. IF it does not work, they will start testing, from top to bottom.

[teacups]

Does anyone know if Armour Thyroid is still safe to take considering this swine flu situation? I cant find any info online. Has anyone heard anything about this? Thanks for any information.

[SeansMom]

Originally Posted by teacups

Does anyone know if Armour Thyroid is still safe to take considering this swine flu situation? I cant find any info online. Has anyone heard anything about this? Thanks for any information.

Yes, it's safe. As is pork and, thank god, bacon.

My question:

My N.D. just moved me from Synthroid to Armour like Westhroid. I'm having a NOT good time with it. I think it made me hyper (fast pulse, breathlessness, and sleep issues) but when I decreased it I feel tired again and other low thyroid symptoms. Anybody else have a hard time adjusting to Armour? And is it really worth it???

[angelat]

So, just an update. I got a second opinion from a reputable ophthalmologist and found out I DON:T have dry eyes. My eyes were simply inflamed. I say simply, but it wasn’t at all simple. Six weeks I went before I could wear my contacts again! This past weekend I had a flare up of swelling again. I was still able to wear my contacts, but above and below my eyes were quite swollen. It looked like I was in a fight. I had a follow up with my Endo on Tuesday. She did the tests for Chvostek's and Trousseau's Signs which were both positive. She feels that I have Calcium deficiency as well as Vitamin D deficiency. She is assuming that the eye problem is simply a result of my thyroid. My TSH crept back up to 3.93 so she upped my dosage. It’s not “high” but I feel like crap. I’ve been taking 50,000 IUs of Vitamin D every two weeks for 6 weeks now. She asked me to start Calcium in addition to my multivitamin and I’ll have blood work to check everything in July.
I spoke with my pharmacist and she said that Vitamin D deficiency isn’t something they see/hear much of when dispensing medications. Usually Vitamin D is prescribed when bone loss is found in post-menopausal women. So, I wonder what the instance of Vit D deficiency is in younger women??? I just want to know why I’m having all of these issues. I know it comes with getting older, but I’m only 33. Is this really normal???

[jennz]

angelat - omg about your eyes! I am having the same problem...it's horrible! I'm working right now but had to post quickly, I'm going to go back and read your posts and answer later today...

[jennz]

Originally Posted by angelat

She did the tests for Chvostek's and Trousseau's Signs which were both positive. She feels that I have Calcium deficiency as well as Vitamin D deficiency.

I am also hypocalcemic, due to my parathyroids being damaged and not recovering during my thyroid surgeries. My body doesn't make calcium any more so I have to take a lot of supplements. I also have to take a prescription of a synthetic vitamin D to absorb the calcium. If you do have a D deficiency maybe you're not absorbing the calcium you need...just a thought...

[jennz]

update: my levels came back today and my vitamin D is very low...they called in a prescription, the 1 pill/week for 8 weeks. Also my "sed" levels are high...off to google that one!

[frdeb1999]

My DH had his thyroid removed 18 months ago. He started having jaw tremor problems shortly after....and they are slowly happening more. It does'nt hurt him...just embarassing for him as he never knows when it will happen. Had a MRI and it showed absolutely nothing. His surgeon said he has never had any nerve issue's like this in patients....although I don't know if I believe this. He is doing very well otherwise. Just wondering if anyone else has had issue's like this?

[lizbaby007]

My story-

For years after a severe upper respriratory infection when I was 23 (that nearly killed me!) I suffered from an increased pulse rate - 130 at rest - heart palpitations and shortness of breath. Of course the first thing checked was my thyroid. Blood work came back borderline hypo to normal. Upscan was normal. Was told I needed to work out....m'kay.

4 years later, still suffering the palpitations (although heart rate now only 112 at rest, yeah!) I developed a new symptom. A huge goiter. I didnt have insurance at first but after a couple of months with the thing getting larger and larger I went to the local charity(?) hospital. $2500 later and 18hrs of sitting in a hard plastic chair. I was told my bloodwork showed I was borderline hypo (duh I told you that dr, remember?) and that I just had a severe case of tonsilitis. Given antibiotics and told to come back in a week if it didn't clear up. Well it didn't and I went back and was told it was now a muscle tear. Ummmm, okay. Strange that my neck muscles would spontaneously tear but whatever your the doc.

6months later I had learnt to deal with this new symptom and had just gone on with life. I then got insurance and decided to see a new Dr. He immediately told me that it was my Thyroid. That I was most certainly HYPER-thyroid and that they would kill it with radiation and the likes and I would be good as new and feeling better than ever. He started me on a low dose of levothyroxine to alleviate the goiter. 1 week later I got a call from his office saying I WAS NOT hyper but hypo...I must have flip flopped. I told them that I had always been borderline hypo (since the very beginning) and doubted I was ever hyper. In any case my thyroid pill was upped and I was told in 6months to a year I would be good as new.

It has been a year and a half and I feel worse now then I ever did. About a month and a half ago my endo upped me to 88mcg as he was concerned that my goiter was coming back even though my thyroid levels tested normal. I told him that every time he upped it, I felt like I was comatose. He told me to take the pill at night instead of morning. Since that time I have slept 10-12 hrs a night and apon waking find myself falling asleep throughout the day. I have no energy. I get numbness and tingling feeling in my arms and legs. I have a throbbing pain in my neck where my thyroid is located. The worst part is over the past year, I have developed a sever abdominal pain. It starts about 2hrs after taking my medicine and gets worse throughout the day to the point I have diffuculty breathing. And forget eating. How can you with a brick like feeling just under your ribs with stabbing pain?? Prilosec and then aciphex use to work for the pain, but no longer. This last time it was so intense I honestly thought I was going to die.

So I went to a new Dr who ran a host of tests...all normal. Says thyroid is normal. I explained it always has showed normal. Even before starting medicine. In any case, I stopped taking my Thyroid pill altogether. Yes thats right I went from 88mcg to nothing. On the second day it was like an awakening. I felt better than I felt in 6 years!! I was mentally alert, went to bed normally and awoke refreshed 7hrs later. Worked in the yard, ate normally with no stomach pain. By the third day though, I was having heart palpitations and swelling in my neck again. So I took a 1/2 of my 88mcg pill. Stomach started hurting a little but nowhere near the pain it has been. I called the Dr and told him and he said for now he would like me to take a 25mcg dosage. See how the stomach pain goes and see if my thyroid levels stay normal (although I am really not trusting that at all!)

So I am on another 3month wait/journey to see if this will finally be the answer for me. At times I have wondered if it was ever really my thyroid and not something else that was causing the fast heartrate and shortness of breath (since that was signs of hyper not hypo like I always tested for). In any case I certainly feel everyones pain and can only hope that answers come to us all

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Hi! I've not posted here before, but I was hoping you all could answer some questions for me:

My mom has had thyroid issues for a very long time. She had surgery to remove a goiter in 1986. Since then she has been on thyroid meds, but if it's enough of a dose to stop it from growing she is absolutely miserable. If they put it where she feels better, it doesn't stop it from growing. Her doc has discovered more goiters and tests for atypical cells are inconclusive so she has to have it removed on July 8.

Has anybody ever had a test come up inconclusive? What was the result?

The other question I have is about family risk? It seems like every time I sneeze I get tested for thyroid function "because of family history". So far they have always been normal. Does anybody know what the risk is if you have an immediate family member with thyroid problems?

[KAMLEM]

I had a nodule on my thryroid so they did 2 needle biopsies that were both inconclusive. I had surgery to remove the nodule, so at that point they took out half of my thyroid and while I was under anesthesia they had it tested and it came out benign. A week later they told me that after doing some further tests it was cancerous so I had to go back in to have the other half taken out.

My great grandmother and my mother both had thyroid disease so it definitely runs in my family. My endocrinologist said it's very hereditary, especially with women, so you should stay on top it it if you believe you may have any issues.

Good luck with your Mom. My surgeries were both very easy. The surgery was at 7:30 a.m. and I was back home by noon both times. I had almost no pain at all.

[DisMomme]

Hi All,
back in December I had 1/2 my thyroid removed due to a benign nodule (the fine needle biopsy had come back inconclusive). I had blood work done 6 weeks later and it came back normal. Last month I went in to the ENT for a follow-up. Everything looked good. Come back in 1 year for another ultrasound. (I have another nodule on the left side - too small to biopsy)

I happened to mention how tired I have been lately and that I have gained 10 pounds in about a month. He ordered another blood lab. I called the office back Friday and they had called in a prescription for a small amount of synthriod (.5 mcg). The nurse said the doctor wanted me to start taking it before the weekend and I will go for another lab in 6 more weeks.

She said my TSH levels were low but that everything else looked fine. I have no idea what that means. I have requested lab results to be sent to me as well as the Dr but never got them. I don't know what the levels are so I cannot even google it to see what is protocol.

[Christine]

Originally Posted by DisMomme

Hi All,
back in December I had 1/2 my thyroid removed due to a benign nodule (the fine needle biopsy had come back inconclusive). I had blood work done 6 weeks later and it came back normal. Last month I went in to the ENT for a follow-up. Everything looked good. Come back in 1 year for another ultrasound. (I have another nodule on the left side - too small to biopsy)

I happened to mention how tired I have been lately and that I have gained 10 pounds in about a month. He ordered another blood lab. I called the office back Friday and they had called in a prescription for a small amount of synthriod (.5 mcg). The nurse said the doctor wanted me to start taking it before the weekend and I will go for another lab in 6 more weeks.

She said my TSH levels were low but that everything else looked fine. I have no idea what that means. I have requested lab results to be sent to me as well as the Dr but never got them. I don't know what the levels are so I cannot even google it to see what is protocol.

When TSH levels are "low" it actually means that you are taking too much thyroid hormone (I know that sounds backwards). TSH is not a thyroid hormone itself--it is Thyroid Stimulating Hormone. If you don't have enough thyroid hormone in your body, your TSH will rise (go higher) in an attempt to drive your thyroid gland to produce more. If you take thyroid hormone, the TSH (which comes from the pituitary gland) relaxes and it drops down and goes "low." So, low TSH equals that you have more than enough thyroid hormone.

[luckymom4]

I'm hypo. Had a growth last lear which turned out to me liquid, not fibroid. I had it aspirated last June 9th. Now I have another one in almost the same spot. These things have grown really fast, from nothing there at all to very large growths within a few weeks. The last one was so big I didn't even have that "hollow" spot at the bottom of my neck. When I get these I find that I get tired even more easily than usual. I have to clear my throat a lot and if I talk for more than a few minutes at a time I get a sore throat. The good thing is that after the last one was aspirated my hypo is pretty easy to control with just healthy lifestyle changes. So I'm hoping this one goes as well. The only bad thing is I have no health insurance, but luckily it's not too expensive.

[DisMomme]

Originally Posted by Christine

When TSH levels are "low" it actually means that you are taking too much thyroid hormone (I know that sounds backwards). TSH is not a thyroid hormone itself--it is Thyroid Stimulating Hormone. If you don't have enough thyroid hormone in your body, your TSH will rise (go higher) in an attempt to drive your thyroid gland to produce more. If you take thyroid hormone, the TSH (which comes from the pituitary gland) relaxes and it drops down and goes "low." So, low TSH equals that you have more than enough thyroid hormone.

Thank you for the clarification. I actually went to my GP for an checkup and mentioned this to her as well. She was able to look up the lab results. My TSH was high, although only slightly. I think she said it was in the 6s?

I mentioned to her about the weight gain and tiredness. She doesn't think it is thyroid related. Any insight on that would be helpful. Thanks.