Hypothyroidism Support Group
Hypothyroidism is the disease state caused by insufficient production of thyrohormone by the thyroid gland. There are several distinct causes for chronic hypothyroidism, the most common being Hashimoto's thyroiditis and hypothyroidism following radioiodine therapy for hyperthyroidism. Advanced hypothyroidism may cause severe complications, the most serious one of which is...
Hi..I am new to this site...am hopeful for any advice. I had RAI 7 1/2 years ago for graves, now hypo. Have been on synthroid since. The first few years seemed ok...but I have noticed a decline in my well being lately. My skin is brutal. Itchy most of the time, red and dry. Acne, hair falls out periodically, half of my eye brow is gone. Do not handle temp changes well at all. The winter is brutal but summer not so good either. Told I have rosacea, but another doc is not conviced... the redness comes and goes. Nails...forget it. Can't lose the weight I have gained either. Never had allergies or sinus trouble til the past year and a half. Moods are probably the hardest symptom to handle. I go through these spells of overwhelming sadness and tears. Very emotional. Some times shake or tremor, anxiety attacks. I started on .50 mcg 7 years ago now up to .137 mcg. been up and down with doses for the past several years due to miscarriages. Had significant work up by docs, neuros, fertility, osteos, PCP, etc. Praise God.... My endo tells me now, that i am just crazy and that synthroid has nothing to do with it. Things have gotten worse since the increase yet, the increase has helped my muscles aches and pain. I used to be very active, physically fit. My skin, oh my skin..... it is just terrible. I now see on here there are certain foods that can affect things... I asked my endo this and he said there is no issue, take your synthroid and move on. Ask you pcp for antidepressant. That is all any of these guys have been trying to give me. Can anyone give me some sort of guidance of a direction to take? Also my TSH has been 5, then 4.5, then 1.9, then 3.9, then 2.8... T3 was 90 and T4 was at very top of range. I kept running the tests to see, but my doc only does tsh and t4. I made him run the T3, but not sure what any of this means. All other blood work is good, CBC, BMP, Rheumi Factors, ANA, Hormones, Vitamins, etc... all good! I feel so alone, everyone just thinks I am crazy. I am so sorry for the long winded message and greatly appreciate anyones response.
Thank you and God Bless!
Thank you and God Bless!
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My 6mo twin DD's are EBF and just started rice cereal on the first. Everything has been going fine except this morning one of them had a diaper rash (lots of redness around her anus). I read this as one of the signs of an allergy. BUT I did just buy a different brand diaper yesterday (which they have used randomly before w/no issues). Do you think its the cereal or the diaper? Im ready to start...
Your doc needs to test you TF3's, TF4's and TSH, along with measurement of your symptoms. Wishing you the best - diagnosed 5/09...and am still working on the correct cocktail...M
I have been on a T3 adjunct. I am taking a generic of Cytomel. It has been very helpful to my meomory and hair loss.
I am sorry you are still suffering. Getting an RAI does not cure one from the Graves' Disease. The person still has GD for the rest of their life.
You might want to come over to the GD board and read up threads about diet and such. Unfortunately for many people with RAIs, they still have to watch out for the diet triggers in which foods/drinks that sets them off among stress, etc.
Also the TSH is not to be looked at as the thyroid antibodies are high (such as it is from still having Graves' Disease antibodies) and instead pay attention thyroid levels of the Free T3 and the Free T4 will help to adjust the Synthroid to. Synthroid is a T4 med.
Good luck and I have some links from the GD site for you to look at or if you find one of my recent answers to someone else's thread about the very same thing you can read up at.
Thyroid disease is difficult and I've been both hypO and hypER for over 34+ years now.
{{{hugs}}}
P.S. If you need help understanding lab results, please post together with the lab ranges and we'll answer your Qs...
My dose of T4 has been going down but could be a part of the aging process. IDK
http://www.livingwithgravesdisease.com/forums/forum/2-thyroid-101/
There you'll find more ideas about the triggers and such.
Boy I used to be part of the graves_support@yahoo.com. I stopped because it has so many people and I was unable to keep up with everything back then.
{{{hugs}}}
P.S. I did respond to you at the Graves' Disease board here, did you find everything I posted to you to look up?
{{{hugs}}}
I have my results
Free T4 1.88 (high) range 0.82-1.77
TSH -3.6 range 0.450 - 4.5
T4 -10.6 range 4.5-12.0
T3 - 88 range 71 -180
any clue what this means? I know my doc will tell me everything is fine because my tsh is in the "range" > but something just doesn't seem right to me. The T3 is on the low side, T4 on the high side and the TSH...welll
Ask your doctor to order the Free T3 (Triiodothyronine Serum Free) instead of TT3 as it is not affected by our hormones, diet, etc.
If I were to look at your TT3, it looks like it is too low and anxiety/panic attacks can happen for some people when the T3 is either too high or too low. Perhaps you are not converting well. Either talk with doctor about adding Cytomel, a T3 med or look into Armour.
The TSH is not to be dosed. Here's a link explaining why:
http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/recommended-labwork/
The whole site of Stop the Thyroid Madness is very good to read as well.
{{{hugs}}}
It is a great site though to learn about testing and all.