No I don't have anything against you personally, it seems to me that you
are a nice person, you've certain evidenced a desire to help others
here.
I don't agree with the information that you're giving. I think I have a
right to say so. As a lawyer, I've been trained to object when I have
an objection so that's what I've done. You said to concentrate on T3
and T4 and forget TSH - not look at the big picture. Look at what you
wrote,
--
-------------
"What were your numbers throughout this whole fiasco? As long as your
numbers were never hyper (I'm talking t3 and t4 here, not the TSH) than
you were fine on the meds. Why did you stop them...? Did they start
making you feel sick? "
--------------
To say that a TSH reflecting hyperthyrodism is not relevant is not
responsible, it is part of the picture. There have been plenty of
studies showing that suppressing TSH can have deleterious effects. I
have had my TSH suppressed and it is absolutely not fun for everyone. I
think the cases where there are conversion problems are RARE. If you've
been spending time at about.com's thyroid forum you might not realize
that it is rare because there you have a subset of individuals who
haven't responded well to standard treatments, and it is more common
amongst this subset. The fact is, most thyroid patients have no
problems once they are medicated. Others of us have difficult
situations or more than one endocrine problem.
The orginal poster, Jessica, gained 24 pounds on thyroid medication
because it apparently made her hyper. Symptoms of hyper and hypo cross
over, you can have weight gain as a result of being hyper - happened to
me more than once, I also had depression and plantar fascitis(sp?) when
hyper and hypo.
----------
>Most doctors only go by TSH, which is a load of #%%#. Talk to the
>EXPERTS on the matter who've been battling hypothyroidism and thyroid
>disease for decades (http://forums.about.com/ab-thyroid/ is a good place
>to start),
>
I have been to the thyroid forum. I found (this was my experience),
that there was not much toleration for opposing view points. When
people questioned (merely questioned) alternative approaches they were
usually flamed out of there. Like many others, I don't go there anymore
because I've found that the bulk of the information is not reliable/ I
got tired of sifting through the bad info for the good info. I found
there was both good and bad info. But I also relied on some info there
and regretted it.
--But, yes TSH only is just as bad as T3 or T4 only.
>a) TSH is only a number; there are other degrees of hypothyroidism that
>do not show up in TSH;
>b) A regular TSH for a HEALTHY adult is between .50 - 1.5; anything
>above 2 is suspect for developing hypothyroidism;
actually the American College of Clinical Endocrinologist says 3 not 2.
>d) Symptoms are important to treat, not just numbers.
>
Agreed. But there are symptoms that can becaused by other things and
treating with thyroid supplementation would be ineffective, and
potentially dangerous.
>>Moreover, it sounds like she got into trouble but not looking at any of
>>these numbers and gained weight from being made chemically hyper either
>>because she didn't need the medication or because she didn't need the
>>amount she was "prescribed".
>
>I believe in the idiocy of some doctors; however, it is more likely for
>a doctor to idiot by laughing you out of his office if you suggest
>thyroid disease, rather than hand over meds when no signs/symptoms are
>present.
>
Are you saying its better to give out the medication than not? Isn't
testing always appropriate? Not treating an existing disease is just as
bad as treating a non-existant disease, isn't it?
I'm sure we both agree that a patient, especially a female patient,
should never rely on their doctors, they are all potential idiots as to
one issue or another. We must be responsible for our own health, do our
own research and make our own decisions along with our doctors.
The woman who posted originally was going to an NP - nurse practioner. I
worry about these practioners, one caused my son a great deal of
problems for failure to diagnose. It seems to me they should work under
closer supervision.
>Someone with Hashimoto's, for example, WILL exhibit signs/symptoms of
>hyper AND hypo, and can swing back and forth at any time. Does this
>mean they don't need meds? No...
But the test for the thyroid antibodies should be done/ and or an
ultrasound, I've had both done to confirm my hashi's and check for
cancer/nodules.
I know about swinging back and forth, I do. I am. I am presently hyper
and not enjoying it at all.
Peace. Best wishes. Etc.
Anne
(I really don't want to argue with you, I just happen to disagree with
some of your information and I want to express my disagreement with your
information -- it's not personal at all, okay?)
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