Changes since Thyroid removal

[real_mission]

Well, after a long time of messing about, bowel problems and the like, I now finging Im wheat intolerant. This is after finding Im lactose intolerant post op. My bowel problems have disappeared since cutting both out, this as after a life of basically living on crusty bread, cereals daily and milk drinks. Loved them both dearly, now cannot touch them. Is it something to do with gut absorption of thyroxine? I've noticed a big change when changing from T3 to NDT too.

Anyone had the same changes as me? Is this 'normal' ? Op was way back in 2011, still finding my feet 4 years on

[maggykriti]

Hi, I don't know if these are 'normal' changes. After my thyroid removal in 2002 I have had a rocky road getting well. I take NDT with T3 and I am lactose intolerant and intolerant of gliadin. I hope your diet will help you.

[real_mission in reply to maggykriti]

Thanks maggykriti,

Its amazing how all this happened since removal.

It has eased for me somewhat since getting off T3, the lactose intolerance isn't quiet as severe on NDT. I wish they told me all this before removal. They only said it would be one little pill per day and that's it, not a life changing shift in energy,bowel function and brain fog.

[maggykriti in reply to real_mission]

It is so true that doctors don't see the significance to our bodies of having no thyroid. Even Mary Shomon on ThyroidAbout claims that it is easier to balance thyroid hormones after thyroidectomy. I think that these attitudes ignore the impact of thyroidectomy and the loss of a vital gland which cannot be replaced with a daily pill.

My experience was of losing my career after being severely ill with M.E. for ten years, I was then told that one of my thyroid nodules was possibly cancerous and very shrunken and diseased and that removal of the whole thyroid would end my health problems. Well it didn't and without the support of the late Dr Skinner I would not be where I am now. I take NDT, four grains daily and T3 30mg daily. The GPs think it is too large a dose and complain about my non- existent TSH but without it at that level all my thyroid symptoms return. The lactose intolerance continues with the weight gained, tinnitus, low energy etc. However, I am better than before the thyroid removal.

I do hope your struggle to get well is successful.

best wishes,

Maggy

[real_mission in reply to maggykriti]

Thanks Maggy,

Wow! Thats a big dose. Im split between having a large dose (which suits me) or listening to the Endo who would have me walking around like a dribbling zombie

I take four grain daily, not tried the T3 too. Can you point me in the direction of the info you're using? I came in after the Dr had passed, so much of what I read is old info

[maggykriti in reply to real_mission]

Hi, To be honest I base my amounts on how I feel not what my test results say. I am only 5 ft 6 in and overweight at nearly 13 stone having weighed 8 and a half all my previous life. Dr Skinner wrote to my GP saying that 'as she is an intelligent soul she will tell us if she is over medicated.' What a great doctor he was! If I drop my dose by even 10 mg of T3 I get tendonitis in my ankles and more weight gain. The last time my GP complained about my TSH and dropped the dose I gained a stone in four weeks which I haven't lost.

You must need your TSH at zero having had papilliary cancer and your need for thyroid hormone is relative to your size and age and, I believe, entirely individual to your needs.

Dr Skinner's book talks about differing needs but even Anthony Toft agrees that many people don't feel well until T3 is added and their T3 is at the top of the range. Dr Skinner didn't object to it going out of range if you didn't show clinical signs of hyperthyroidism. Not many doctors would know how to examine for clinical signs!