Need Advice With Thyroid Problems

[mygfworld]

I have celiac and now hashimotos. The dr is still doing testing to see bow much it is growing and cancer etc. I've been on Synthroid for over a year now. I still have significant pressure and discomfort on my neck. Is this normal? One possibility is to have the thyroid removed or "killedoff". Has anyone had either done? Any long term problems with having the thyroid removed? Voice problems?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[georgie]

Have you thought of using another type of Thyroid medication like Erfa Thyroid ( from Canada) or adding Cytomel to the Synthroid ?

Synthroid is T4 only.

Cytomel is T3 only

Erfa and other Natural Dessicated Thyroid medications ( Armour, Naturethyroid) are T4,T3,T2,T1

When our thyroid work they make T4,T3,T2,T1

Most old fashioned Drs and Endos say that a T4 is still OK as it 'converts' once you take it.

Modern progressive Drs and Endos say we need both T4 and T3 etc

My Goitre and thyroid nodules completely disppeared on Armour Thyroid. No surgery was necessary. How are your blood tests lately ? What are the levels of your Free T4, Free T3 and Thyroid Antibodies?

Check our Dr T Friedman - Endo - website. Lots of info there. Sounds like the Synthroid you are taking is not doing it all - a very common problem . Easily fixable once you find the right Dr.

[oliv]

I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's in 2005 (prior to a diagnosis of celiac sprue in 2009) and was prescribed synthroid alone until 2007, followed by synthroid plus cytomel until last year, when I started natural thyroid. While on synthroid, with or without cytomel, I regularly had goiter pain and swelling that would not resolve. The Dr. could only tell me that my thyroid would become inflamed "because it wants to". Hmmm.

Out of frustration with my continuing symptoms (and ill-informed Dr.), and after reading the very useful information at Stop The Thyroid Madness (Open Original Shared Link), I switched to Nature-throid, with no regrets.

Another complicating factor is that synthroid is no longer guaranteed to be gluten free (www.glutenfreedrugs.com), though the generics, cytomel, and most natural dessicated thyroid preparations are safe.

[twe0708]

My daughter is 16 and takes 10 mg once a day of methimazole for hyperthyroidism. She's been the on meds for 7 years and now the doctor wants to kill her thyroid off. I am concerned about this because I have read about some horrible side effects, but I also know she can't stay on the medicine for the rest of her life. Anyone else have their thyroid killed off and have any side effects?

[kimann79]

  On 6/25/2010 at 3:13 PM, twe0708 said:

My daughter is 16 and takes 10 mg once a day of methimazole for hyperthyroidism. She's been the on meds for 7 years and now the doctor wants to kill her thyroid off. I am concerned about this because I have read about some horrible side effects, but I also know she can't stay on the medicine for the rest of her life. Anyone else have their thyroid killed off and have any side effects?

I was diagnosed with Graves disease at fifteen and my thyroid was irradiated. It's been AWFUL. I can't even tell you how many years I spent dealing with the fallout from that and, at thirty, am just beginning to get a handle on it. I'm not sure what the other options are but I would look into them.

In answer to the OP question...I had great luck turning from Synthroid to Cynomel (I am getting ready to switch to desiccated but I needed to deal with a reverse T3 problem.) I second checking out stopthethyroidmadness.com. It's chock full of awesome relevant, up to the minute information. I'll personally never go back on Synthroid.

[Skylark]

I read something in another thread about timed release T3. Does anyone have any info on it?

[twe0708]

  On 6/24/2010 at 4:07 AM, mygfworld said:

I have celiac and now hashimotos. The dr is still doing testing to see bow much it is growing and cancer etc. I've been on Synthroid for over a year now. I still have significant pressure and discomfort on my neck. Is this normal? One possibility is to have the thyroid removed or "killedoff". Has anyone had either done? Any long term problems with having the thyroid removed? Voice problems?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Did you ever have your thyroid killed off? My daughter's doctor still wants to kill hers off. I guess as a female you can't be on the medicine for over active thyroids while having kids, so he said she needs to have it taken care of soon. Are all of these other medicine options that are being recommended safe to take while having kids?

[georgie]

I found it didn't work as well for me due to malabsorption. If there was a gut flare ( for whatever reason) you ran low on thyroid as well....

  On 7/2/2010 at 6:32 AM, Skylark said:

I read something in another thread about timed release T3. Does anyone have any info on it?

[georgie]

Just be really really careful that it is Graves Disease and not Hashimotos Disease. Hashimotos can cycle up and down/ resemble Graves and does not need to be 'killed off'. It just needs a good thyroid medication and treatment plan.

  On 1/11/2011 at 5:44 PM, twe0708 said:

Did you ever have your thyroid killed off? My daughter's doctor still wants to kill hers off. I guess as a female you can't be on the medicine for over active thyroids while having kids, so he said she needs to have it taken care of soon. Are all of these other medicine options that are being recommended safe to take while having kids?

[beefree11]

My daughter had her right lobe removed in 2005 after nodules were found. There was no cancer. Her blood tests revealed Hashimoto's and thyroiditis, so she was placed on T4 only-Synthroid.

Her doses were changed constantly with each new blood test. Until 2009, when her new doctor placed her on Cytomel too. She has been doing very well. He also found that she is gluten intolerant, allergic to wheat, casein/cow milk, soy, corn/maize and eggs. She still has her left lobe. She is also on a very small amount of Iodoral iodine, and feels pretty good in comparison to when she was on the T4 only regimen.