Is it different for men ?: Does thyroid problems... - Thyroid UK

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Is it different for men ?

Gcart profile image
9 Replies

Does thyroid problems cause more problems in females ?

Just wondered my husbands thyroid test shows T4 lowish but T3 very good, my son has the same results. Second marriage they are not blood related.

Women seem to get the raw end of the deal when it comes to hormones?

Just feeling misunderstood and up against it all😒

One of my friends has a bad problem with thyroid and pituitary and w e sometimes have a gripe together but none of the others I know have a clue about how it can affect anyone.

Not much support, had a cold last week , I know it pulls you down but it does get better. Not like b***dy thyroid , or lack of one. 😢😢😢

This is my only sense of support here , just had to post for a bit of sympathy xx

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9 Replies
shaws profile image
shawsAdministrator

Far more women are hypothyroid. I expect more people in the future will be affected, especially with flouride being added to some water reservoirs and in toothpaste etc etc. I am amazed they also put it in children's toothpaste - to protect their teeth? at the ages of 3+ when teeth come out a few years later.

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/treatm...

The producers of poisons have to have some way to not spend too much money in disposing of it.

catrich profile image
catrich

It's a funny thing -as in odd not amusing - that women certainly do seem to be more numerous on this forum and indeed the literature suggests strongly that women sufferers of thyroid disorders are more prevalent. Though I do wonder how we can be sure of this when we we consider how some medical systems diagnose ( the use of TSH for ex.) the rates of misdiagnosis and level of ignorance and the fact that men are far less likely to see a doctor for any ailment ( and use a forum).

We know that men worldwide are suffering alarming drops in fertility.... Endocrine disrupters are everywhere. Perhaps menopause worsens/kickstarts thyroid issues in women? Vicious circle with poor diet thrown in for good measure.

pussycatwillow profile image
pussycatwillow

My husband and son both have far better T3 results than me!

Marz profile image
Marz

I agree with catrich that diagnosis could be the problem. I added the TSH test to hubby's PSA test and it came back in range - but too high for comfort for those of us in the know ! On having the full profile done his FT4 & FT3 were on the floor and anti-bodies were over the range. He was 73 with very few symptoms .... now 5 years on all is well.

A telephone conversation with my Endo that evening ended with him saying - he has the same as you, give him one of your tablets .... 😊

There are advantages to living in cash strapped Greece !

I personally think many men suffer with low thyroid - we just need better testing and understanding of the results. Look around you - how many are on statins - metformin - pointing to low thyroid in my non medical opinion 😊

T3sortedme profile image
T3sortedme

I'm a guy and I have similar problems. Got a cold in January from my grandchildren which took me out for 4 weeks. The cold had gone but I get a 'post viral' effect. Very frustrating. I function at about 30% if I get a virus.

I had 5 years of low mood, no energy, 500m maximum walk at times, brain fog, couldn't communicate with my wife or kids as couldn't follow conversations, sleeping in the day lots, no strength and couldn't work. It's really not easy. Tried to do something small but positive each day that was within my ability in order to keep on top emotionally or I would have collapsed. Organised my music collection, sorted old videos, put photos into albums. Just simple stuff but helped keep me positive. Eventually got better on T3 as found I had conversion problem. Now I function between 70-100% but in patches. Occasionally I lapse, most often from a virus.

Hope that helps describe it for a guy! My wife in wonderful and patient. I am no fun when I am down and it's tough for her.

Best wishes.

Achilles_Pain profile image
Achilles_Pain

I'm a bloke and can confirm that when it's bad it's really bad. At my worst it would take me half an hour to get downstairs in the morning as I needed to rest after each step to get over the pain and exertion, I had double vision, the skin on my forehead and in my ears was flaking off and itched 24 hours, a good week amounted to 5 or 6 hours sleep, my digestion was appalling, I'd start to stand up to do something but by the time I was up I'd forgotten what! And that's just the main symptoms, there are plenty more. The fact my GP insisted there was nothing wrong with me, I had sciatica, and took me off the levo initially prescribed by his locum didn't help, either. Changed GP who put me back on levo and I'm slowly returning to normal now, but it takes time to fully recover (15 months so far with a way to go yet).

leoopard profile image
leoopard

Hi again,

I was badly hypothyroid complete with Goitre and severe disability yet my T3 was mid normal. Men do have naturally higher levels of Thyroid hormones to feel normal. My guess would be biological adaptation for hunter gathering. Medicine completely fails to understand this, hence we don't get diagnosed.

In the same vain Testosterone is only considered important if we are trying to conceive yet we feel very ill without good levels. We just get fobbed off with 'Man Flu', or mid life crisis.

Gcart profile image
Gcart

Thats interesting and explains levels my men have , how awful if its so missed becausr of no understanding x

Gcart profile image
Gcart

I found an article about the indians in america. In the past they hunted bison? i forget lots of info !! But they hunted them when the animals thyroid gland was hugely swollen for their mating time.

They then ate them for the same outcome for the health of coming births .

Like anything we continue to reinvent the wheel and never learn. They obviously knew the benefits if it then , so wise .

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