Thyroid Problems...need Advice

[mygfworld]

Hi, I'm havign some thyroid problems. I'm not sure yet if I'll be put on medication for Hypo or Hyper thyroid issues. Can anyone recommend what medications work best for them AND are gluten free?

Any other advice on what I need to know about thyroid problems?

[GFinDC]

Hi,

I am not an expert on thyroid problems, although I have some myself. I have a couple nodules and a cyst. I really think I am hypothyroid due to some symptoms I have had. Like sore shoulder joints, which added in sore knee joint on the right side, and then sore wrist on the right side. Also have had difficulty with memory and keeping focused on tasks, and sleeping/insomnia. Recently I found that my sore joints and other symptoms improved quite a lot when I ate some dairy. I think it kicked my thyroid into gear somehow. My doc (endo) says my TSH level is fine. But he can't explain why my symptoms improved. He refused to give me any medication for it. I found some dessicated bovine thyroid at the Vitamin Shoppe and am going to take one of those every few days to see if it helps.

I have seen other people post about using Levothyroxin and Synthroid and Armour. There seems to be a variety of opinions about which is best.

[Roda]

Are you having hypo or hyper symptoms? Treatment for the two are very different. I don't know much about hyper treatments except sometimes antithyroid meds, thyroid ablation, or surgery can be used to treat symptoms.

I have hypothyroidism caused by hashimotos disease an autoimmune disorder. I take levothyroxine (generic synthroid) and liothyronine (generic cytomel). The first is a T4 and the other is T3. I started out in 2000 to 2006 only supplementing with the levothyroxine but then my new endocrinologist put me on the liothyronine also. It has made a big difference. T3 is faster acting (within a few days) vs the T4 that can take 4-6 weeks to stabilize. The thyroid converts the T4 to T3. There is also armour that is a combination pill of T3 and T4. My doctor put me on the additional T3 because of my free T3 levels still being low despite the T4 therapy. I had marginal alright TSH but was still having symptoms. If she thinks someone will benefit from both she perfers the two pills vs. the other that is a combo. She feels that it is easier to regulate if there are symptoms of over medication.

Here are a few links for you about both.

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

[GFinDC]

Thanks for the links Roda! I found a small mention of calcium possibly interfering with thyroid medication absorption on the Mayo clinic site. Found this article on WebMD about the issue.

From WebMD article:

"Patients and their physicians need to be made aware that calcium can prevent the absorption of thyroxine" and this can be prevented by taking the two six to 12 hours apart, study author Jerome M. Hershman, MD, of the University of California Los Angeles School of Medicine, tells WebMD. Harshman and colleagues reported their findings in the June 7 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Open Original Shared Link

That was news to me. I hadn't heard there were interactions with calcium to be aware of. I think I will try taking my thyroid pill in the morning and my calcium at night. Or take the thyroid one day and the calcium the next day.