Hypothyroidism

When I heard the statistics about how many cases of Hypothyroidism go undiagnosed, I was shocked. I'm so grateful for Dr. Rollins and his belief that treatment should not be based on tests results alone, because test results can vary and what may be "normal" for one person might not be "normal" for another. Based on my symptoms, Dr. Rollins began treatment immediately with Armour Thyroid, and I had significant improvement within a week or two. When I lived in Seattle, I was tested and misdiagnosed for 5 years. At the time, I didn't know much about hypothyroidism, I just knew that after going to the the doctor repeatedly with the same symptoms, my doctor continued to run only a TSH test and I was in the "normal" range. Thank goodness for progressive thinking. I would recommend Dr. Rollins' video to anyone with hypothyroid, and especially those who believe they have been misdiagnosed and continue to have symptoms such as weight gain and chronic fatigue.

Please watch this video to check your signs and symptoms.

WOW.

THIS IS AMAZING...AM GOING TO CALL MY DOCTOR TOMORROW....HAVE MY THYROID CHECKED AGAIN.

THANKS FOR THE INFO!

Glad the video helped ... but be sure to have the doctor check based on what you learn in Dr. Rollins' seminar.  We actually had forseen that his seminar is high-level enough to be something doctors can learn from, so please suggest it to your doctors if you would like them to know what page YOU are now coming from.  Sometimes taking something to the office such as a page from the handout that has our logo on it can help improve the chances it gets acted upon.  (And seen by others)

Mardy

Hello,

I have been on thyroid medication for 20 years now. At the time the dramatic difference when I started taking thyroid med was a miracle as far as I was concerned. I was drop dead tired all the time and my brain actually started working normally! I had no idea that I would have this benefit from the medication. I do still have the brain fog and not too alert mentally at times, but oh how much better. I have had some depression at times also. Definately a tendancy towards constipation (YES fiber helps!). And I'm sure other symptoms if I looked at the list.

My dilemma now is that I am supposed to be on what is comparable to 1.375 mg of levoxyl. Well, a few years back I heard about Armour and wanted to change strictly to that. What I ended up on was 60 MG of Armour and 37.5 mcg of levoxyl. ALTHOUGH for a very long time I have been feeling like I was having a heart attack or something. My thyroid tested in the normal range. This has been going on for over 2 years and is very uncomfortable.

After getting my latest thyroid test I saw it was at the very low end of a reading... which I understand it means that your medication is on the high side. SO I took it into my own hands after feeling like I had something very serious going on and .... lowered my medication only .0625 measly mcg. I feel almost normal. What I did was cut my .125 in half to make it .06. I had to do something after all this time.

I would love to go to a endocrinologist! Are they holistic and what do they offer? And also what do you all know about going off thyroid medication? I would love to find someone who would gradually help me go off it!

thanks for the opportunity to share and look forward to learning some new things here.

here is to our health and good things to come!

ps... my last thyroid test was considered in the normal range but that goes to show you that what might be considered normal might be a serious problem for someone else... But time will tell as to whether I did the right thing to lower my med on my own for the tiny amount...

Thank you so much for your concise and specific post!  That should be helpful to other readers. 

You might be interested in watching Dr. Rollins' seminar on hypothyroidism, as he does cover some nutritional issues in hypothyroidism.  He is pretty holistic in his thinking for an MD!  Dr. Lepisto, the naturopathic doctor, does treat people by supporting the thyroid with 'nature's medicine' (more herbs and diet) and it sounds like you would be right up the alley of a GOOD naturopath.  If you download his free seminar Chronic Illness: Full Barrel Syndrome, you'll see in his introduction what college he graduated from and I know it is considered one of the best.  There are a lot of programs in naturopathy which are not as rigorous as his: his was pretty much like medical school in terms of number of years and coursework. 

You asked about an endocrinologist and if that would be someone holistic.  They are actually a specialist within the allopathic medical model, and so you might be lucky enough to find one who thinks holistially but you might really want to download Chris Young's free video on Health Management: Paradigms ....  It is an exellent overview and history of our traditional medical system and helps us understand where our MD and DOs are coming from, and then sets us up to think about how to get more for your money in health care if providers would just talk to each other! 

Thank you so much for using Lumigrate and giving us and others your time in writing, Potential!

FYEase, here's the link to the Seminars tab on Lumigrate where you'll see all the videos I am referring to, above.  www.lumigrate.com/catalog/seminars

This an area where I can't seem to get through to doctors or find one that understands.  I have had Thyroid problems my whole life, but my levels are always in the *normal* range. Yet, I have nodules, cysts, inflammation and even a goiter.  I've even had half of my thyroid removed due to these problems, yet doctors always look at my levels and say, "Normal".  It's very frustrating.  I had one endocrinologist who actually looked at symptoms and the overal picture and put me on medication, but then I moved and could no longer go to his office. Future doctors have said my lab tests were "normal".  I don't know what to do with this. Maybe I can get my new doctor to listen.  Considering my mother and two sisters have thyroid disease and all my previous issues, I would think someone would get a clue, but they don't!

Any suggestions for how to get them to listen? Or how to find an endocrinologist in the area that would understand that the labs aren't always the whole picture???

Thanks,

April

I understand how you feel. I had the same issue until I moved to Grand Junction and started seeing Dr. Rollins. We've heard from a lot of people who said the same thing too. I think the best thing we can do as patients is get educated. We have also heard that some doctors are just too busy to learn a lot about everything. Lumigrate's philosophy is that every person has more interest in their health than anyone else, so if they can have a tool to use to learn and teach their providers (gracefully) then a whole LOT of people get better health care just from that one patient who brought a solution to their doctor.

I would really recommend Dr. Rollins' video "Hypothyroidism: Misunderstood, Misdiagnosed, Missed!" and now that they are FREE to download, you can simply print something out or email it to your providers in order to share with them something you found valuable and believe would help you have a provider who is thinking along the same lines you are.  

Another thing I would recommend is taking the labs from your previous physician that shows your "normal" labs prior to treatment and your "normal" labs after being on the medication. Many doctors will continue with a previous doctor's treatment as long as it's working for you.

Thanks for posting on our Forum page. I hope the above info helps!

Linda

 Thank you so much for this page.  I recently, a couple of months ago, got diagnosed w/Hypothyroidism.  My numbers were way off, 54......then a month later I got checked, and the numbers were down to 27, then a month later I got check and the numbers were down to 21.  I go back in the next couple of days, to see where my numbers are.  This past week though, it seemed like the bottom fell out.  I was still on medication, but was severely depressed and just feeling really tired. 

I am planning on looking around here, but is there a place I should just go and dive in and see what is being said? 

Thank you.

Rosie.

We believe a thorough education about thyroid is invaluable, which is why we have made a one hour video by Dr. Rollins available.  They all come with the powerpoint that you see running in the video so you can print it out if you want.  And then we'd love to have people who are watching come to the website and say what they have learned from it!  Hope that helps... He is a really good presenter -- enjoyable but thorough. Worth the time and paper IF you chose to print out the presentation slideshow! (And we made the price $0.00 in order to make it available to all who are taking the time and interest in learning.)

Mardy

Dear Potential 5/17/9....

You did the right thing to adjust based on your symptoms.  You should get free T4 and free T3 levels to correlate with your low TSH - at least then you can weigh the right labs with your symptoms. 

As to your reaction when changing to Armour, you may have gotten too much T3 too fast or had reaction to dessicated form of thyroid.  Try splitting the daily dose of Armour to spread it out.  Or, try different brand such as Westhroid or compounded Thyroid USP.

Most of my patients love dessicated thyroid such as Armour, but, as long as you convert T4 to T3, and feel good, then T4-only products such as levothyroid are perfect!

Good luck,

Scott

Dear Parque 6/24/9

Look for doc in a few places - here are two to start:

Armour thyroid website, "find a doctor"

ACAM website, "find a doctor"

You need a free T3 and free T4 in addition to your TSH.  Where are you located - maybe I can help you find a thyroid doc...

Best,

Scott

Hello Rosie 8/11/9,

Indeed you should just download the seminar on Lumigrate.com about hypothyroidism and I think it will answer many questions... It is a full education on thyroid and intended for patients to also ask their physicians to utilize as a learning tool as well. 

Here is a great starting point for learning more...  thyroid.about.com/

Sounds like you need more thyroid - the TSH test takes about 6 weeks to fully settle out after a thyroid dosage change - get the free T3 and free T4 levels also.

Best,

Scott

Hi,

My youngest daughter was gaining weight but not really eating a whole lot of food,she slept all the time. So, I did take her to her doctor and he is great. He tested her and found out she has an underactive thyroid. She is on medication for it since March of this year. My question is, I have been tested and so has my oldest daughter,neither of us show a problem with thyroid.My oldest sister and my one niece have thyroid problems.So is it that this is hereditary in family?but not necessarily in our immediate family?just curious...

Many things are familial and since you have one family member diagnosed and you're curious about it, the intention of Lumigrate.com is to provide inexpensive and thorough, valid, informative seminars you just download and watch for an hour of time and $0!  

And then if you think your medical providers can benefit, suggest it to them as well.  At the time we filmed these seminars, Dr. Rollins was my doctor for hypothyroidism and I learned a TON more than what can be covered in an appointment when I watched the seminar. (And hence wanted to record it to share with others.)  I really encourage anyone reading this to think about your health and your time and put it on the list 'To Do For ME', as the days are gone when we can expect our medical providers to be able to keep up with what all is best for all their patients -- there's just too much!  So each person can best benefit their health and well being and 'livelihood' by spending the time studying, essentially, about what is going on with their health and what to do about it.  I hope Lumigrate is a multi-media tool for that -- written/readable, listenable/Podcasts (which you can also listen to on computer -- find them in Forums, the podcast forum is at the top of the list), and naturally the videos we're talking about on this information stream. 

Glad you've found us and thanks for writing and contributing.  

~~  Mardy

Hi there, my name is Morgan and i'm a 22-year old university student. I am highly-driven, a perfectionist and have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). I am also highly susceptible to stress. I enjoy a variety of sports including badminton, squash and athletics. During the summer of 2008 I joined a short-distance athletics club so I could do sprinting. The coach overloaded me with training and I was expected to do circuit training twice a week, stretches every day and track training twice a week. At that time I was also undertaking an internship (placement year) so I had to work 9-5. During October I was hit by what I first thought to be a viral infection. I later discovered that I actually had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). I was forced to take sick leave from work and only manged to complete 9 months of the internship. I believe that it was brought about by the excessive amounts of mental and physical stress I put myself under prior to illness. I have now had this condition for over 1 year and have been forced to temporarily withdraw from university. I am spending this year trying to make myself better.

I have had all the blood tests and the results came out normal. Apparently though the normal range is such a broad range that it can hide deficiencies . It's like a one size fits all philosophy which doesn't work (according to Dr Jacob Teitelbaum). I contacted my health centre and managed to obtain a copy of my blood test results. I am aware that the majority of people with CFS have low thyroid (hypothyroidism). I also know that this condition is commonly missed by blood tests. I was wondering if you could check my thyroid for me. The appropriate test results and ranges are as follows:

- 21/11/2008 Serum free T4 level = 16.7 pmol/l (normal range - 11 - 26).

- 21/11/2008 Serum TSH level = 0.861 mu/L (normal range - 0.4 - 4.5).

If you could kindly look at these results and provide me with some sort of analysis that would be great.

Regards,

Morgan

Hello Morgan,

Your condition sounds more like 'adrenal fatigue'.  Get Dr J Wilson's book, "Adrenal Fatigue".  You should check a salivary cortisol 4x in the day, e.g. see www.genovadiagnostics.com for test summary. 

The thyroid tests look good, albeit not included is free T3 which is the active form of thyroid.  That said, at your age, it is unlikely you are NOT converting T4 to T3 and your T4 level is actually high normal.   Which, by the way, is further suspicion of low adrenal, as your thyroid is trying to 'make up' for lost energy when the adrenal is not up to par.  I think of thyroid and adrenal as opposite sides of a teeter-totter...

I would guess you might be prone to low blood sugar, have salt or sugar cravings, prone to low blood pressure, or 'crash' after any significant stressor...

You are welcome to set up formal appt as we don't diagnose or treat in this format - more educational advice...  You'd be my first international consult!  see www.imcwc.com for details.

Best,

Dr Rollins

I'm really pleased to see the question and response from Dr. Rollins (to Morgan, above).  As well as reminding people that they can order books from Lumigrate's website (via our Products tab, which links you to Amazon.com), or there are other options in links, below. 

I wanted to put a link to the blog that I wrote about the book -- which has a FUN history.  I discovered it at the health food store (Natural Grocers) and bought one copy -- started reading it about this time last year and thought I'd buy a copy for EACH of the providers doing information for Lumigrate for 2009 -- which means I had to buy copies at every bookstore I could find here AND when visiting my family over the holidays, I hit the Natural Grocers (a Colorado and very good supplement, book, natural/organic 'health food' store.)(I'll provide a link below as well).  I gave Dr. Rollins his copy for the IMC and some of his staff have teased me about how I ruined their year as he's asked them to read it as well, in order to help better understand the patients of the IMC.  So here he is suggesting someone half way around the world purchase and read the book!  It's just amazing how 'integrative medicine' works -- we all learn from each other.  In the mean time, I've contacted the publisher of the book and they want to collaboratively market and have a link from our site to theirs once it's capable of doing book sales (they have a new website coming).  It really is a Grate feeling knowing this website is serving the intended and designed purpose ... allowing MORE people to get the GRATE information I was seeing 2 years ago right now in Grand Junction when these doctors were coming to the live educational forum I co-created with Dr. Young for people with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue/illness.  

Here are those links:

Mardy's blog post about the book Dr. Rollins suggested in the above Comments with Morgan (which has a link to the publisher's website)

www.lumigrate.com/blog/tired-all-time-ever-heard-adrenal-fatigue

Blog post from when Mardy saw Dr. Rollins' NEW presentation about fibromyalgia in July 2009:

www.lumigrate.com/blog/fibromyalgia-and-chronic-fatigue-scott-rollins-mds-solving-mystery

Link for Natural Grocers (formerly Vitamin Cottage), a woman-founded progressive health food company from Denver about 5 years older than Mardy is!) -- www.naturalgrocers.com/

hypothyroidism!  like a lot of "the more mature adult", i was diagnosed about a year  ago w/this disease!  my doctor seems to be on her toes because instead of just accepting the fact that i was so fatigued and depressed just because of fibro, she went ahead and did a battery of tests and found that i, indeed, had hypo.  it took a couple months or so but i finally started feeling different and i knew she was giving me the right med.  i actually felt the fatigue difference from hypo and fibro!  really!  cause i am fatigued but not at all like i was.  my doctor built up the amount of the med. until i finally leveled out on levothyroxine 88 mcg tablets.  now, not only did i think hypo was a name to contend w/but levo was something else!  i couldn't pronounce or remember it for a while!

my brother was diagnosed about 10 yrs ago and went through quite a time getting adjusted w/some side effects.  if i have any, i can't tell bcause of ALL the health issues i have. i only know i got to feeling better and am stable right now at the above-mentioned prescribe amount.

if your so totally tired out all the time, can hardly get up to do anything for hours, depressed, crying, losing hair, seems like it looks grey all the time, very dry skin, and even more symptoms, just ask your doctor if he/she thilnks you could have hypo and could you be tested.

i hate taking meds cause i take so many but thank god for scientists and doctors who create and prescribe them bcause they are essential to our well-being; and, then, as we get the right meds and right amounts, we do start feeling and having a better quality of life.  and, that better quality of life is what keeps us having hope that one day there will be a cure for hypo, fibro and all the other diseases that are so cumbersome.

hope to me is the will to live and the chance to look ahead and enjoy our lives.

Sandy, thank you so much for what you wrote, that offers a lot to people.  Hope, to me is the will to put time into learning and keeping after making changes that will allow a person to have what they want in life. Lumigrate naturally attracts and retains those who are wanting to invest in themselves.  

I wanted to underscore once again that it's critical that people don't let their physicians only do a TSH, and the reasons for that are outlined in the video on Lumigrate as well as this discussion stream to a lesser extent.  You'll see in this Forum at Lumigrate starting in 2011 there is another option for information and education about thyroid, which is ITC Pharmacy.  Gary King's quite an expert on it; as a RPh he has extensively trained and focused on this aspect and ITC is the or 'a' recommended pharmacy for those who get their 'doctoring' from the Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Centers.  Since anyone with FMS has hormone issues, as that's what it's all about, essentially, Gary (and his partner Allan) and ITC are an excellent resource and I'm very pleased they are taking the time to help Lumigrate have more information.  

They have information in this forum on hypothyroidism as well as the supplementation forum.  They even hopped into the discussion stream started by Yenta which had one of her followers write a question about supplements!  (Yenta's typically in her forum in the fibromyalgia, chronic pain, fatigue section, with a forum title "It Can't Hurt!").