Hi all
I recently posted here enquiring about what improvement I could expect when taking an NDT.
I have also recently given up smoking (just over 6 weeks). Will this affect how an NDT such as Armour will work? I have just completed my first week of 1/2 grain
Quitting smoking has often been linked with diagnosis of hypothyroidism in the ensuing months. Difficult to be certain about this sort of thing because most people only go through the cycle of giving up and then being diagnosed once!
I'd not worry too much about any impact now - just go forward as a non-smoking desiccated thyroid taker.
Smoking is very much known to worsen things like thyroid eye disease.
Rod
Hi Rod - linked with the diagnosis of hypothyroidism, how so? do the symptoms show themselves after people give up, is that what you mean? Thyroid eye disease, how does this manifest itself? As stated previously, this is my second week, but my first on 1/2 grain Armour. I have also adopted a Gluten free approach to eating (early days yet) and continue to exercise regularly. I know there is not a textbook response to these things as they differ for everybody but I would like to know that I am doing something right. I asked this in my first week but, if there was anything negative about my taking this, it would have started to show by now, wouldnt it?
It is as if smoking somehow masks hypothyroidism - so when you give up smoking, the symptoms that have been held at bay come out.
Whether smoking is in any way a cause of hypothyroidism is often discussed but is not clear.
One week is nowhere near long enough to know what is happening - though if you were very far out you might well have noticed things going wrong.
Everything fell apart ..health wise when I gave up smoking. .For along time they blamed weight gain and lethargy on my giving up ...took ages before I was diagnosed and it never occurred to me that I had it ..I was so ill going into trance like state for 20 minutes at a time ..I thought I was going mad ..I felt better on 20 a day ...but I shouldn't say that really ...smoking is no good I know that ..now ..!
Sorry Rod - where you say if I was 'very far out' do you mean that if I was really reacting badly to it, I would have seen it by now? Though you say one week is not enough I know some people feel that they see a benefit quicker. I sound like a nervous nelly but just dont want to keep taking this if it ends up affecting me worse. Like many had so many issues, dont want to contribute to them myself
That is perfectly reasonable - but we see everything from people noticing the first fraction of a tablet they take, to not really noticing anything until they are on huge doses. So very difficult to predict or explain.
Probably not based on my own experience. Felt like c..p which is probably why I was smoking. Felt like c...p after quitting for 10 years. Felt like c...p after starting up again. (Yes, punish me.) Will quit again when I feel good. Soon. I'm an optimist. I felt so terrible, dying of lung cancer or heart disease didn't bother me at all. The sooner the better.
Now I'm starting to regain my strength. How can anyone quit an addiction when they are so exhausted? Quitting an addiction is just another stressor. Which, if you've quit for 6 weeks is not an excuse to start up again. Don't do what I did. It's expensive.
Well done Sandra, giving up smoking is the best thing you will ever do, that is a great step to take, focus on getting well whatever it takes, thyroid medication, diet, lifestyle, this can all be achieved, slowly but surely especially with the help you can receive on this website.
As it relates to thyroid eye disease, my understanding is that smoking can exacerbate the autoimmune process. I dont know if smoking will make things better or worse for anyone but in my reading one doctor cites that he has never met a patient who is a smoker who is NOT hypothyroid. I cant say I agree or disagree but his take is that hypo patients use cigarettes to improve their energy levels. In the same way, he says they also tend to use alcohol to unwind and feel normal (something to do with the adrenals I think). Many patients "naturally" do away with smoking and alcohol when they are properly treated....they just dont seem to need or want it anymore.
Suzzanai, the particles in tobacco smoke can irritate and inflame TED. My sister was told by her endo not to be in the same room as a smoker as it can worsen her TED.
From a previous archive: Smoking seems to induce changes in thyroid function tests, like decrease in TSH and increase in thyroid hormones.
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