Complications to hypothyroidism

[Salsa8680]

Are there any complications to hypothyroidism or does the condition lead to other health issues

Thankyou

[helvella]

If you ask many doctors, they will say you just have to take a little pill every day and you will be fine.

If you ask many posters here, they will say that there are many, many consequences of hypothyroidism and, sadly, even when treated some continue.

It is an enormously complicated subject. There is no one "right" answer. I do pretty well. Others I know vary from doing fine to almost never feeling well. I don't wish to disppoint you, or worry you, but equally I don't want to mislead you.

[silverfox7]

That's a. Implicated question in itself! We are all different, we can react differently and we can start with differing problems.

If only life was that simple and the treatment was straight forward but it isn't. We are put on thyroid meds because results have shown that our levels are low and so logic says making it the difference is easy and we take a pill. Pills come in different sizes so it takes time to work out how much extra we need! The tablets themselves come with different fillers so we. An. E allergic to some of the fillers so that can take a bit of trial and error to sort but we also differ in other ways like we enjoy different foods to eat and they can also upset how we absorb the medication. We can, and offer are, low in the. Itamins etc that make the conversion of the Levo (T4) which we take which is just a storage hormone to the active T3 which every cell in the body needs because a shortage can affect every cell then the symptoms. An. E different as well. There are over 300 symptoms but thankfully we don't get many but it shows how differently we can present symptoms. BUT thankfully many take Levo and after a few bits of juggling the dose sail through with little or no symptoms but they don't post on hear so we tend not to realise that many are fine.

I think the main think to take on. Oars is patience. Everything in the Thyroid world moves slowly and you can't speed it up successfully. It takes each dose increase to fully get into your system then retest and you may then need to up the dose and retest again after 6 weeks etc till you find the dose that is right for you.

Again don't want to sound negative butto show how painfully slow it can feel and this is to be expected.

Always ask for a copy of your results and post, with the twanged for comments. Many doctors think if you are in range it's job done but it's where in the range that is important and ranges vary from lab to lab so for. Onnenting on your results we need to know your ranges.

Sorry this is a long post and sounds daunting but it's just a slow progress for some getting it right.

More info one the Thyroid Uk site who are recommended by NHS Choices.

Hope things go well forcyou but shout outvif any problems as we have all. Even there and happy to help.

[HLAB35]

Difficult question..

Hypothyroidism generally slows down the metabolism, so if we were bad at absorbing certain nutrients from food before, hypothyroidism is only going to make it harder still. Poor nutrient status makes hypothyroidism worse - it's a vicious circle, a 'What came first, the chicken or the egg' situation that slowly escalates for some people.

Unfortunately, treating with t4 only can make the situation seem worse for some of us, rather than better, if it's not done very, very gradually (as silverfox7 says) and carefully monitoring symptoms. Too much unconverted t4 gets recycled as rt3 which is extremely problematic and gives us worse hypo symptoms. The health service don't afford us the luxury of checking our blood levels of total t3, free t3 and rt3 while we're loading t4. In order to maximise success, taking the Levo away from supplements and food is essential; also (later in the day) loading up with the extra ingredients to the recipe for conversion.. think of Levo as the eggs in a cake. (Look at Thyroid UK for their recommended list)

I took digestive enzymes with meals, because hypo usually means low stomach acid and they really helped.. working on gut health was pretty much the main focus (going gluten free, for example and cutting out nutrient-poor processed foods) as other things tend to improve if you address the gut first. The gut contains as many neurons as the brain of a cat - according to Michael Mosely. He's definitely onto something there!

Some are unfortunately at their wits' end and still not converting and getting serious complications (e.g. deafness, heart problems, mobility issues), so adding in t3 / using natural thyroid can make the world of difference, but it's not widely available on prescription: Bureaucrats clearly haven't done the maths on preventative medicine being a lot cheaper than providing disability benefits and long-term-care!

[wano in reply to HLAB35]

HLAB35, what kind of digestive enzymes do you use? And do you take them away from thyroid meds? I'm on Armour Thyroid (have recently switched from T4/T3 combo) and want to make sure I'm doing everything optimally to make NDT work for me.

Also, what list are you referring to (re. Look at Thyroid UK for their recommended list)?

W

[HLAB35 in reply to wano]

Reply below - sorry pressed the wrong green button

[HLAB35]

Initially, I just bought a comprehensive digestive enzyme that included pepsin and Betaine HCl from H&B. However, I realised it's really the Betaine HCl that I needed the most and am now using that on its own. I wouldn't think there'd be a problem with it interacting with NDT (although this isn't my area, so someone correct me if I'm horribly wrong) as it won't bind to it - it'll just enhance your stomach acid levels - and you take enzymes at the same time as big meals anyway, so not with thyroid.

The list I'm referring to is this one...thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/treatm...

I think it's quite a useful reference for starters, also Dr Myhill's information about thyroid.

drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/Thyroid...

For more information on vitamins etc. there's a lot out there (look carefully, and check that they match studies) including the ones that talk about adrenal health as low thyroid puts stress on our adrenals.

livestrong.com/article/4978...

[wano in reply to HLAB35]

Thanks for the extra info!

[LtAngua52]

For me, a diagnosis of hypothyroidism/hashimotos, has led to deficiencies, especially in vitamin b12, D, folate, iron and Magnesium. They resulted in illness and symptoms and I take supplements to reduce the symptoms and receive b12 injections from my GP. I read that hypothyroidism, results in slow metabolism which reduces the amount of stomach acid, preventing the proper absorption of nutrients. I don't know if all this is true or not, but I'm definitely better now that I take the vitamins and injections.

After a few months I started on t3 alone which has eliminated the residual hypothyroidism symptoms.