Hypothyroidism and Hashimoto's

Inspired by the help Diana's comments have been to me, I thought I would give a little update on my health and what my plans are. For most of my adult life, I have been a little overweight, and I have had a really hard time losing weight. Like, I really keep to a good diet and exercise moderately, and nada. I have also always had super low blood pressure, pulse rate, and body temperatures. After I had a baby, things got worse. I had more trouble than ever keeping weight off, and I experienced really bad post-partum depression. I have also always needed a ridiculous amount of sleep (10-11 hours) to feel good and rested. I have a tendency to constipation and super dry skin. I have a bump just above my collarbone that I can feel from the outside and when I swallow. Until recently, I just thought these things were my "normal."

I first got suspicious when I started to really improve my diet and eat paleo. I didn't lose weight like other people. I felt better and knew that it was good for me, but the weight didn't come off. I was very jealous of all these damn bloggers and OEvolve folks who started losing weight by cutting out crappy carbs and eating lots of fat.

Then, I started to feel awful. Those of you who know me know that I am super energetic - like bouncing off the walls, talking 90 to nothing, and always out of the house doing stuff. That changed about a month ago. I started to feel tired all the time. I stopped wanting to do things, and I started to sleep even more. (How many hours a day can a person sleep, for gods' sakes?) I haven't had the mental energy to read books or to work on languages. I haven't had the physical energy to be the active, out and about life learners that my daughter and I love to be. When I don't even want to go to the zoo or to the planetarium, I know something is wrong with me.

I'd been reading on the OEvolve list about Diana's struggles with hypothyroidism, and when Richard Nikoley made a post about hypothyroidism and paleo, I started to wonder. Could this be my deal? So I had some lab tests done on my own. I pay for medical care from a health savings account, so I can't just run down to the doctor to say I feel tired. Plus, I don't trust most doctors as far as I can throw them, so I wanted to have the info myself to research before I went to see an M.D. My lab results weren't normal. My TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) was out of the normal range by a good bit (5.7). My Free T3 and Free T4 were at the very bottom of the normal range. I also tested above the normal range for TgAB (antibodies that attack the carriers for thyroid horomone.

Basically, what this means is that my pituitary gland is working super overtime spewing out TSH, trying so very hard to make my thyroid make enough hormones. My thyroid is not making enough, as the Free T3 and Free T4 numbers show (these are two of the hormones the thyroid makes, floating free in my blood, ready to be used to regulate metabolism and make me want to go to the zoo). The antibodies present in my blood show that my immune system is busy attacking the little protein trucks that carry the already scanty amount of hormone to my zoo attendance receptors. The antibodies mean that I probably have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, an autoimmune disorder that causes hypothyroidism.

So, armed with these icky lab results, I started reading. My two highest recommendations are two that I got from Diana: Stop the Thyroid Madness by Janie Bowthorpe and Iodine: Why You Need It, Why You Can't Live Without It by David Brownstein. I learned that all those symptoms I had considered "normal" were NOT normal; they are hypothyroid symptoms. I learned a lot about different treatments. Here's what I have decided to do:

First, I started supplementing with iodine and selenium. Turns out that since I use sea salt (not iodized salt) and don't eat much seafood, I am probably very low in iodine. The amount in iodized salt (if I ate it) is enough to prevent goiters (enlarged thyroids, like mine) and mental retardation, but not enough to keep away thyroid problems and possibly breast cancer. I haven't had the iodine loading test yet (need to do that very soon), but I have started taking 12.5 mg of iodine and 400 mg of selenium daily. I am increasing my iodine to 25 mg tomorrow, but I don't know if I feel comfortable going higher than that without the iodine loading test.

Next, I got a doctor's appointment (this Thursday). I know what I want him to do, and unless he can convince me otherwise with his reason and facts and doctorly expertise, I will go to another doctor if he won't do it. I want to go on dessicated thyroid, not sythetic T4. The reason is that healthy thyroids produce lots of different thyroid hormones, not just T4. Seems logical, and it is backed up with lots of patient experiences, that the dessicated thyroid, which has the full range of thyroid hormones, would work better. I want to start with about 1 grain, and I want to move up to a higher dosage reasonably quickly. I want to be figure out the dosage of my medication based on how I am feeling, and not just on lab tests (especially not just TSH alone).

We'll see how the visit goes. The doctor is one recommended by other thyroid patients on www.thyroid.about.com, though that is no guarantee that he will be knowledgable or willing to do dessicated thyroid instead of synthetic T4. I'll let you all know how it goes.