[leyli]

in reply to: Any connection #1071315

I am ABSOLUTELY SURE there is a connection. I have Graves disease and it has not been diagnosed because I will not go to a doctor who won’t acknowledge a hormonal connection and wants to zap my thyroid and put me on drugs forever. (I mean, seriously?? There MUST be a better solution than that!) My thyroid problem was triggered by extreme prolonged stress and the symptoms only appear in the last week of my cycle – and magically disappear if I take birth control pills (levonorgestrel/ethinyl estradiol) – even if I take just ONE or TWO pills!! I have had blood tests done when I feel OK and when I don’t – surprise! They match up exactly (as in, they show hyperthyroid and antibodies when I don’t feel OK and show PERFECTLY NORMAL when I do). I can also make myself go hyperthyroid by drinking way too much coffee (remember, this is backed up by my blood tests!) Every doctor (or anyone else for that matter) who I have told this just looks at me like I’m crazy… and they have NO IDEA about the blood tests either. Everybody just shrugs and looks stumped. There IS a genetic basis for this (it runs in my family), and I wonder whether there weren’t some similar issues that were ignored with them as well. I wish doctors (and everyone else, but especially doctors) would put some real effort into researching this and actually THINKING about it… common sense goes a long way when so many patients are seeing, feeling and suspecting connections. Why should I be more educated about this than my doctors (I mean, I’m all about patient empowerment and being well informed and making your own health decisions, but… aren’t they the ones who studied and are supposed to be able to help with this kind of stuff)? Unfortunately almost all the studies that have been done focus on HYPOthyroid and menopause, so for young healthy women having hormonal imbalances that are probably treatable by non-invasive means, the only medical option continues to be a complete destruction of a very important organ, only to create the opposite kind of torture. Which seems especially ridiculous considering how much stress most women are under these days and the known effects of stress on hormones, etc… If anyone reading this DOES happen to know of some studies that have been done or any real, solid information on these connections, please do post.

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