Really shouldn’t need a full panel except in a few very rare cases (and then only once). The TSH signals whether the pituitary perceives enough active thyroid hormone. The bottom line, so to speak. That being said, you want your TSH midrange; the upper limits of “normal” are way too high. If you have evidence to the contrary, please share. 😁
Really shouldn’t need a full panel except in a few very rare cases (and then only once). The TSH signals whether the pituitary perceives enough active thyroid hormone. The bottom line, so to speak. That being said, you want your TSH midrange; the upper limits of “normal” are way too high. If you have evidence to the contrary, please share. 😁
I actually function better when my numbers are more toward the hyperthyroid range. Less symptomatic in that range. Took a while to help my pcp to understand “normal range” means jack of you are symptomatic. At the same time I have started using organic and natural thyroid/adrenal topical drops which is slowly bringing me closer to reducing the thyroid pill crap. Hoping to get off it all together and this is helping so far. It’s my last big pHARMA pill and then I will be free from their jaws of death! 🙌
I also understand overall TSH isn’t indicative of how your thyroid is functioning and what it needs. Getting more in depth blood work including T3/T4 and other markers is much more definitive. But try getting a normal “doc” to be willing to even look at it?? They don’t understand it. I found a lot of endocrinologists don’t even pay attention!!! It’s horrible. So much about the thyroid is misunderstood/a scam for more pills.
IDK what you mean by “quite high,” but being chronically hypothyroid is more dangerous (heart and brain, among others) than any pharmaceutical IMHO. I like to remind folks to analyze for themselves and not to ‘throw the baby out with the bath water.’ Although it now pains me to say this, there still is a place for conventional medicine.
According to my doctor, my other thyroid hormone levels are within “normal” range, but TSH was 11. I guess meaning the pituitary has to work really hard to stimulate your thyroid to produce enough.
The pituitary is actually beating (a dying horse) your thyroid to produce. IMHO, I would seriously
consider supplementation. I take the brand name but the rest of my fam does fine on the generic. Used to be a theory that an overworked thyroid made it prone to cancer, but have not heard that recently, nor did I find any studies on a very cursory search. Anyone?
I use many of their products and was sold when I tried their menopause relief drops. Took away 95% of my hot flashes/nightsweats. From there I’m now using their shampoo & conditioner bars and soaps. If you go to their website you can browse their products and see reviews from actual users. They will list all the ingredients as well. Their customer service is top notch too!
Thanks for sharing this - will look into those drops. I have been hypothyroid for 20 years (no specific underlying disease) and take one of the naturally derived replacements (desiccated porcine thyroid). Does anyone know if there’s any way to heal hypothyroidism permanently or is supplementation the only route? I too would like to be free of any daily medications. And I agree 100% that most MD’s and endocrinologists have only a rudimentary understanding of how to adequately assess / treat this condition.
Idk personally if it can be done but I’ve heard from others (online but not knowing the person) they have gotten off medication. I think just like most things there are ways to heal parts of our body that do not function in a healthy manner. The thyroid is an animal that’s not fully understood and yet responsible for so much of what our body does. I wish I could give you a better answer, but I’m still trying to learn about it myself.
What I do know is that there are so many people who take medication for hypothyroidism and yet experiencing a number of symptoms that are not going away. They are suffering in horrible ways. So why keep taking the pills? Not sure. Mine seems to be functioning in a good spot with very minimal symptoms right now so I’m riding that. Always on the look out for natural ways to heal though.
Parathyroid is not related to thyroid. The parathyroids are just located on the thyroid. Vitamin D can affect parathyroid as far as I know as D has an effect on calcium which the parathyroid regulates. But I don’t know the details, just that they say surgery is the only option for hyperparathyroidism.
Well feeling like crap on a “full replacement dose” of NDT seems like a good reason. And it turns out my rT3 is high and my FT3 and FT4 are barely in range. I have defects of deiodinase enzymes so I don’t convert T4 into T3 very well so when drs only check TSH or TSH and FT4 things look fine. I can assure they are not.
I prefer my TSH to be close to 1, at the lower end of the range.
Fred— you are completely right to say that not treating thyroid issues can cause bodily damage, especially for autoimmune. It stresses the body because the thyroid is working overtime to keep the hormone levels ‘normal’ and can damage your organs. Many doctors will do thyroid panels, but never test for antibodies which is the only way to diagnose for autoimmune thyroid. 20+ years ago it was estimated that 13 million have a thyroid condition, 8 million don’t know they have one.
Thank you! Just watch your bone density, and if you ever start feeling sluggish regardless of whatever you do, might be worth letting your TSH drift up to 2-3 and see. Patients who over-medicate with their thyroid report feeling better (and I believe them) when they back off (possibly akin to the stimulant abusers who start feelng worse and worse instead of better with increasing doses). Just something to keep in mind. :)
This is incorrect. The TSH is not a thyroid hormone and a poor indicator of thyroid health. It’s only a small piece of the puzzle and the full thyroid panel as stated above is what’s important
WADR, it is the best indicator of thyroid function because of the pituitary feedback loop. It’s produced by the pituitary (‘master gland) and is the ‘bottom line’ that can detect a deficiency even when the actual thyroid tests are normal.
Really shouldn’t need a full panel except in a few very rare cases (and then only once). The TSH signals whether the pituitary perceives enough active thyroid hormone. The bottom line, so to speak. That being said, you want your TSH midrange; the upper limits of “normal” are way too high. If you have evidence to the contrary, please share. 😁
I actually function better when my numbers are more toward the hyperthyroid range. Less symptomatic in that range. Took a while to help my pcp to understand “normal range” means jack of you are symptomatic. At the same time I have started using organic and natural thyroid/adrenal topical drops which is slowly bringing me closer to reducing the thyroid pill crap. Hoping to get off it all together and this is helping so far. It’s my last big pHARMA pill and then I will be free from their jaws of death! 🙌
I also understand overall TSH isn’t indicative of how your thyroid is functioning and what it needs. Getting more in depth blood work including T3/T4 and other markers is much more definitive. But try getting a normal “doc” to be willing to even look at it?? They don’t understand it. I found a lot of endocrinologists don’t even pay attention!!! It’s horrible. So much about the thyroid is misunderstood/a scam for more pills.
"So much about the thyroid is misunderstood/a scam for more pills."
More wisdom that bears repeating.
Would you mind sharing the organic thyroid drops you take? My last TSH was quite high, but I refuse to take prescription meds.
IDK what you mean by “quite high,” but being chronically hypothyroid is more dangerous (heart and brain, among others) than any pharmaceutical IMHO. I like to remind folks to analyze for themselves and not to ‘throw the baby out with the bath water.’ Although it now pains me to say this, there still is a place for conventional medicine.
According to my doctor, my other thyroid hormone levels are within “normal” range, but TSH was 11. I guess meaning the pituitary has to work really hard to stimulate your thyroid to produce enough.
The pituitary is actually beating (a dying horse) your thyroid to produce. IMHO, I would seriously
consider supplementation. I take the brand name but the rest of my fam does fine on the generic. Used to be a theory that an overworked thyroid made it prone to cancer, but have not heard that recently, nor did I find any studies on a very cursory search. Anyone?
It’s a sister owned company out of Texas called rowecasaorganics.com
I use many of their products and was sold when I tried their menopause relief drops. Took away 95% of my hot flashes/nightsweats. From there I’m now using their shampoo & conditioner bars and soaps. If you go to their website you can browse their products and see reviews from actual users. They will list all the ingredients as well. Their customer service is top notch too!
Thanks for sharing this - will look into those drops. I have been hypothyroid for 20 years (no specific underlying disease) and take one of the naturally derived replacements (desiccated porcine thyroid). Does anyone know if there’s any way to heal hypothyroidism permanently or is supplementation the only route? I too would like to be free of any daily medications. And I agree 100% that most MD’s and endocrinologists have only a rudimentary understanding of how to adequately assess / treat this condition.
Idk personally if it can be done but I’ve heard from others (online but not knowing the person) they have gotten off medication. I think just like most things there are ways to heal parts of our body that do not function in a healthy manner. The thyroid is an animal that’s not fully understood and yet responsible for so much of what our body does. I wish I could give you a better answer, but I’m still trying to learn about it myself.
What I do know is that there are so many people who take medication for hypothyroidism and yet experiencing a number of symptoms that are not going away. They are suffering in horrible ways. So why keep taking the pills? Not sure. Mine seems to be functioning in a good spot with very minimal symptoms right now so I’m riding that. Always on the look out for natural ways to heal though.
Thanks for the info!
This person has greatly helped a couple of friends with hashimotos....
https://amandawikan.com
Can you suggest any good sources to read up? Especially about hyper parathyroid?
Parathyroidism is one condition where you want to watch your Vit D levels, esp if you take extra. :)
I can’t. Sorry. Not familiar with that.
Parathyroid is not related to thyroid. The parathyroids are just located on the thyroid. Vitamin D can affect parathyroid as far as I know as D has an effect on calcium which the parathyroid regulates. But I don’t know the details, just that they say surgery is the only option for hyperparathyroidism.
Well feeling like crap on a “full replacement dose” of NDT seems like a good reason. And it turns out my rT3 is high and my FT3 and FT4 are barely in range. I have defects of deiodinase enzymes so I don’t convert T4 into T3 very well so when drs only check TSH or TSH and FT4 things look fine. I can assure they are not.
Exactly; that conversion defect is one of the fairly rare conditions.
I prefer my TSH to be close to 1, at the lower end of the range.
Fred— you are completely right to say that not treating thyroid issues can cause bodily damage, especially for autoimmune. It stresses the body because the thyroid is working overtime to keep the hormone levels ‘normal’ and can damage your organs. Many doctors will do thyroid panels, but never test for antibodies which is the only way to diagnose for autoimmune thyroid. 20+ years ago it was estimated that 13 million have a thyroid condition, 8 million don’t know they have one.
Thank you! Just watch your bone density, and if you ever start feeling sluggish regardless of whatever you do, might be worth letting your TSH drift up to 2-3 and see. Patients who over-medicate with their thyroid report feeling better (and I believe them) when they back off (possibly akin to the stimulant abusers who start feelng worse and worse instead of better with increasing doses). Just something to keep in mind. :)
This is incorrect. The TSH is not a thyroid hormone and a poor indicator of thyroid health. It’s only a small piece of the puzzle and the full thyroid panel as stated above is what’s important
WADR, it is the best indicator of thyroid function because of the pituitary feedback loop. It’s produced by the pituitary (‘master gland) and is the ‘bottom line’ that can detect a deficiency even when the actual thyroid tests are normal.