[Ellen_B]

in reply to: Soy and your Thyroid #1178862

Certain foods contain goitrogens. Foods with goitrogens are “supposed” to slow the thyroid down and “possibly” cause a goiter. Soy is one of the foods that contain goitrogens. The potentially goitrogenic substances in soy are flavanoids.

It is my understanding that one must be at the same time iodine deficient for the soy to affect thyroid function. One would also have to eat impossibly large volumes of goitrogenic containing foods (it would be a mainstay of a diet) for such a food to have an effect.

The problem of soy was first discovered with babies who drank soy milk and because they had no source of iodine their thyroid function was affected. The problem was solved by putting iodine into their formula.

A doctor brought to my attention some time ago that there were certain studies which were done with individuals taking daily for two weeks two soy bean drinks. When the serum flavanoids were tested the concentrations were 4 to 30-fold lower than the levels required to inhibit the thyroid by 50%.

I would like to know about more studies on this subject. Maybe they will come up with results that prove what I said to the contrary. Check with your doctor to see what he has to say too.

In the meantime I would say a small amount of food with soy along with a normal amount of iodine in your diet you should be ok.

Ellen

[Ellen_B]

in reply to: Another “Is this a symptom?” question #1178856

I wished I had some straight answers to your questions. First of all I hope you are able to talk to your doctor (primary or endocrinologist) to explain what your symptoms are. Ask for an office visit and find out what he thinks could be going on. I am sure there are tests which help figure out what your problem is. To begin with certain tests could eliminate some possible causes and enable you and the doctor to focus on possible causes.

Have you seen the recent posting of Harpy (all the way from Australia) on Thyroid Disease and Diabetes Links on April 24,20 13? She has found an article which gives a very detailed discussion of how thyroid hormones affect glucose metabolism?

Maybe speaking to someone at the American Diabetes Association http://www.diabetes.org/ [diabetes.org] site might help–toll free number is 1-800-DIABETES (800-342-2383) hours 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET. They even have a Chat Window where you can speak to someone on site.

Having these spells come on unexpectedly and suddenly and then go away—is strange and frustrating.

Let us know what you are able to find out from your doctors.

Ellen

[Ellen_B]

in reply to: First blood work since diagnoses #1178800

It is hard to second guess what the doctor will do. You are right I am not a doctor. How much methimazole are you on now? It can take time for the thyroid hormones to go down. It is my understanding that our thyroid has stored thyroid hormones. It takes 4- 6 weeks to get rid of these stored hormones. After that one can find out what the methimazole can do without any interference. I guess you will have to get the answer from your doctor as to whether more Tapazole is needed.
Remember also it takes time for your pituitary to get going again because it has been suppressed so long with the high thyroid levels. Your doctor will know if it is time to look at the TSH test or whether he should look at the FT4 and T3 tests instead.
Whatever the case your doctor should test you at the right intervals to make sure you are not too long on too high a dose. He should make sure you do not remain hypo for any length of time. Be sure to let your doctor when you develop any of the symptoms of hypothyroidism. If you do become hypo I have heard other patients say that the hypothyroid side affects went way in about a week after stopping the tapazole.
Let us know things go.
Ellen

[Ellen_B]

in reply to: Anti inflammatory diet #1178776

I would be interested to know what the diet is and why it is supposed to work. I know certain herbs are “supposed” to boost the immune system which I would expect might make an autoimmune disease worse–more antibodies and more destruction. It sounds like the diet is supposed to do the reverse. Let’s find out if any studies have been done to prove the effectiveness. Let us know also the title and author of the book.
Before trying something you should check the ingredients and check them out with your doctor. Diet is not a substitute for traditional treatment.
Ellen

[Ellen_B]

in reply to: This may be a bit off topic about hashimoto’s #1178774

What an ordeal for you and your Mom to have to go through. Either too much thyroid hormone or two little thyroid hormone can affect and cause high blood pressure. Thank goodness your mother went to the ER where she would be able to get the needed treatment.
I am going to try to answer your question of whether it takes the same amount of time for the levels of thyroid hormone to adjust in someone who has a non functioning thyroid as some who has an over active thyroid. Thyroid hormone (T4) has a half life of one week. I know it takes 4 to 6 weeks for thyroid hormone (T4) to build up in the body and 4 to 6 weeks to get rid of it. How much thyroid hormone is your mother’s thyroid putting out? If it is totally dormant than it is probably not putting out much or any. You could get some idea by the amount of T4 medicine she was on initially. If that is the case then the thyroid is not putting out any additional thyroid hormone and she just has to wait for the thyroid hormone in the armour (T4 and T3) to go away. Armour as you know has both T4 (less active) and T3 more active hormone. The T3 has a much shorter half life– it starts to work quickly and lasts for only a matter of hours when it is all used up. So I would imagine that the T3 would disappear rapidly. The T4 would take longer but with a half life for T4 of one week it disappears but more slowly–half of it should be gone in a week–half of that in another week etc.
I hope this helps you to understand a little more what is going on.
Your question is not at all off the topic but right on.You wanted to know how soon your mother’s hormone would return to normal.
Let us know how your mother progress.
Take Care
Ellen

[Ellen_B]

in reply to: At what FT4 do you feel best? #1178757

Hello,
I do know that the FT4 is the hormone that is available for the body (cells) to use.
Your T4 (less active) goes into a kind of reservoir in a bound form in the blood. It actually sits in little protein (thyroid binding globulin or TBG) boats to keep it from sinking. One percent is drawn off and brought to the cell where it is going to do its work. In order for T4 to be able to go through the cell wall it must jump out of its boat and leave its boat behind. In the cell one iodine atom is knocked off converting T4 to T3. At first T3 is also bound. The T3 becomes free and is 10 times more active than any of the T4.

Has your T3 been tested? The two T3 tests are free T3 and total T3 (free T3 and bound T3 combined). Ask your doctor which tests of all the test he can do and which provides the most valuable information.

You probably did not want to know all this. I mention it because I hope it will help you to persuade your doctor to look at your tests more closely. You want to know what tests will give the best and accurate information of the amounts and activity of your thyroid hormones. In your case it probably starts out as the pill you put in your mouth. Is it a T4?

I hope he will answer your question too–at what FT4 value do you feel best?
I wonder if different people have differrent optimal levels? Lets see what you find out in your survey. Maybe your doctor will tell you about T3 too.

I hope you start to feel better soon.
Ellen

[Ellen_B]

in reply to: GD and Diabetes? #1178755

Hello!
I do not know much about the A1c test except that the test gives an overall picture of your average blood glucose for the past two to three months.
You could go to the American Diabetes Association http://www.diabetes.org/ site. For information they have a toll free number is 1-800-DIABETES (800-342-2383) hours 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET. They even have a Chat Window where you can speak to someone on site.
Your endocrinologist will probably be able to tell you more. He could interpret the A1C test—say how hyperthyroidism affects your blood sugar levels and test. We will be interested in what you find out from your doctor or other reliable organization.
We will be sure to let you know if we find out more information too.

Ellen

[Ellen_B]

in reply to: How long until the RAI treatment starts to work? #1178749

Hello
In arriving at the best treatment for you your doctor will have to look at your particular case. His telling you what he thinks is best for you is important but also equally import is his making clear to you the reason for his choice of treatment. He should tell you why the other choices are not as good. If you do not understand be sure to let him know.

Don’t hesitate to let you doctor how you feel now.

Let us know how your next visit with your doctor goes.
Ellen

[Ellen_B]

in reply to: A troubling study for our docs and ourselves to know about #1178744

Hello Shirley,
I had no problems with your link finding Dr. Selmer’s findings on subclinical hyperthyrodism. My question is when Dr. Selmer speaks of 20% increased mortality in all levels of hyperthyroidism is he lumping all types of hyperthyroidism? I think he is. Would the risk be much lower if he looked at just subclinical hyperthyroidism alone?

You might be interested (if you have not already done so) in looking at the American Thyroid Association guidelines for management of hyperthyroidism and other causes of thyrotoxicosis. The link to those guidelines is: http://thyroidguidelines.net/sites/thyroidguidelines.net/files/file/THY_2010_0417.pdf
The guidelines were drawn up a while ago (in 2011) and are not as recent as your article.
What is interesting to me is the chart dealing with the subject of when to treat subclinical hyperthyroidism. In the chart patients are lumped into two different groups—one group with a TSH below 0.1 and another group with a TSH between 0.1 and 0.5.
(By the way the lower limit of the normal range for this chart is 0.5mU/L)
The chart indicates patients are more likely to be treated when the TSH is below 0.1 than when it is between 0.1 and 0.5. (Your TSH of 0.09 is very close to the 0.1).
When figuring out whether to treat or not to treat, other factors such as age and underlying conditions must be considered as well.
In the less than 0.1 TSH group the over 65 people are more likely to be treated. In the same group (less than 0.1) those who are under 65 with certain conditions such as hyperthyroid symptoms, heart conditions and osteoporosis are also likely to be treated. In the less than 0.1 group if one is under 65 and has no symptoms treatment is only considered. However if you are in the group with TSH between 0.1 and 0.5 and you are under 65 and asymptomatic no treatment is indicated.

How worried you should be about your TSH numbers your doctor should be able to tell you. He will know all the factors that should be considered—including underlying conditions. It would be nice if questions on the subject were simple and had simple answers. Life always has to be complicated!

I just want to thank you for bringing your article to our attention. It has provided food for thought. Along the way I hope my words have brought a little bit of clarity.

I wish you the very best in finding the treatment that is right for you.
Ellen

[Ellen_B]

in reply to: Thyroid disease and diabetes links. #1178674

Carrie,
Thank you for taking the time to find the article on selenium. I have saved it in a folder. It is very current too. Interesting that it decreases the percentage of postpartum thyroiditis and definitive hypothyroidism. Interesting to see IN PRINT the risk of diabetes after long term use.
The article definitely provides food for thought!
Thank you again!
Ellen

[Ellen_B]

in reply to: Thyroid disease and diabetes links. #1178670

Momof5 and all,
I would like to have more information on selenium too.
Another statement I would like more information on is– anyone who has one autoimmune disease also has an increased risk of developing another autoimmune disease. I have heard some say it is a small risk. I would like to know how big or small is that risk. Of course you would have to look at one autoimmune disease at time to find out any meaningful information.
Ellen

[Ellen_B]

in reply to: After RAI, am I supposed to feel like this? #1178657

Hello mwhitney,
A patient should be seen after RAI treatment. How soon varies from doctor to doctor. One doctor says three to six weeks at which time FT4 and T3 levels should be done. After several months when the thyroid function tests are decreased to normal the TSH test is also done. I believe the TSH is not done right away because it takes time for the pituitary which has been to sleep to reawaken. Also only when the Free T4 drops significantly will the TSH start to rise indicating hypothyroidism.
Is feeling sleepy normal and so soon –normal? I am sure there are general rules for how one is expected to feel. The problem is the rules do not always apply to an individual because there are always exceptions to the rules.
It is good that you are able to see your doctor to have thyroid hormone levels checked and whatever else he thinks should be done. Also you might speak to your primary doctor and let him or her know what is going on.
I hope you start to feel better very soon.
Ellen

[Ellen_B]

in reply to: Thyroid disease and diabetes links. #1178665

Thank you, Harpy, for sharing this article. I have always wanted to know more details on the subject. The article confirms what I have heard that patients that are both diabetic and either hyperthyroid or hypothyroid have a much greater difficulty controlling their diabetes. Many diabetics mentioned that once their thyroid hormone levels were properly regulated the treatment of their diabetes improved.

Ellen

[Ellen_B]

in reply to: Questions anout Graves disease #1178552

I agree with Nancy. It is hard to find any kind of statistics on Graves’ disease.

For example,the range of numbers for prevalence that I have heard of can be quite broad. Just last week I went to a lecture by a thyroid specialist (a reliable resource) and heard 0.5% for Graves’ disease. That number I thought was quite low. Did that number include untreated as well as recognized and treated?
I will have to find out.

But you are looking for something else–the Morbidity (Incidence) and Mortality. I would be glad to receive any information you find on that.

Ellen

[Ellen_B]

in reply to: Thyroid Supplement: Bioidentical hormones #1178531

Hello Rosa,
First of all what do you mean by bioidentical hormones? Do you mean a hormone that is not manufactured or synthesized but obtained from some other source that is natural—plant or animal? Therapy using that kind of medication is called alternative. Did you mean by supplemental –medicines along with and not instead of the standard hormone replacement medication?
Alternative treatments have not been tested for their efficacy and safety. Actually I understand the National Center for Complementary and Alternatives (a division of the National Institute of health) is looking into and investigating these therapies so that perhaps some time in the future they can be recommended by doctors.

There are many different companies that make both brand name and generic synthetic thyroxin. Your doctor can give you a list. I am told that the body cannot tell the difference between the synthetic thyroxin and the thyroxin that the thyroid puts out because they are molecularly identical.

And then there is the question of how natural is natural since the hormone replacement medication from animal has been processed and changed.

It must be very frustrating for both you and your daughter to have to wait so long to get properly regulated. It is not uncommon for it to take that long. I have known many who have taken that long but eventually –and not much longer– with the help of their doctor were successful.

What kind of treatment have you tried so far?

Here is to some immediate long overdue success.

Ellen

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