Just found this forum and hoping someone might be able to help answer my questions.
In August I had my thyroid levels checked as I was feeling exhausted, my free T4 was 37, T3 was 12 pmol and TSH 0.01. I had a baby in April and was referred to an endocrinologist who said I had post natal hyperthyroidism and to monitor it over the following 3 months to determine if it was going to develop into graves or not.
It's just been retested earlier this week and TSH is the same level at 0.01 but Serum T4 has now fallen to 16.8. My GP prescribed me propranolol, beta blockers, to take... but as I'm no longer feeling jittery and my resting heart rate is around 65 bpm and normal blood pressure (I have a fitbit and blood pressure monitor at home!) I've stopped taking them.
Can anyone offer any advice, is that fall in T4 a good, or bad thing? What is the difference between free T4 and serum t4, are they the same things?! Should I still be taking the propranolol just in case? Am I doing my heart harm by not taking it somehow?!
Any advice appreciated, so far only managed to see the endocrinologist once so want to try and track my progress myself just in case I'm heading into a bad situation without even realising it!!
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Red1981
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Hi Red, I hope the lowered T4 is a sign your body is trying to normalize. Yes, too much T4 or serum T4 is the thyroid gland's output but it also contains T3, T2, T1 and calcitonin. Your TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) is near zero because your pituitary is not trying to stimulate your thyroid. If you feel well enough without the meds, I think it's good to be off them. You could start taking Selenium which is helpful to your thyroid. Try to get as many good nutrients as possible and steer clear of junk food. You might avoid full blown Hashimoto's by doing that now.
Hi Heloise, thanks so much for your reply! I had a thyroid uptake scan which showed minimal uptake and ive been diagnosed with thyroiditis with the view that i'll be monitored monthly with blood tests and if the TSH goes up loads then given thyroxine. I had a baby in April so i'm presuming (and hoping!) this is all related to that somehow! We are hoping to start trying again next spring/summer and would like to have the thyroid sorted if possible by then!
Hi again, Red, how are you doing now? I recall taking hormones to slow down my thyroid after my first baby. That was propylthiouracil but similar to carbimazole I think. I tapered off of that and had my second child with no alteration in thyroid results. So I think this could be temporary.
We are learning so much more about autoimmune diseases and the way our food reacts on our own chemistry. We are up against a world of toxins and besides pesticides and GMO's in our food supply, we are mislead about what to eat. High fat, low sugar and good carbs are essential. Our brains are mostly fat and cholesterol. Omega 3 and DHA are important and staying away from rancid fats and transfats. Hopefully you won't have any problem with conceiving and having a healthy baby.
Hi Heloise, sorry for my slow reply. How are you doing? I wanted to wait till i'd got my latest blood test results before getting back to you so I had some actual news to tell!
My T4 level has now dropped to 10.8 (reference is 12-22) and TSH has risen to 2.96 and is within normal. I feel like I'm on the brink of going underactive now. The GP has recommended I do two more months of blood tests and then medication be prescribed in January if required.
Is there any natural solutions you would recommend? Therapies, supplements, vitamins etc? I'm hoping if I try my best to tackle it now I might have a chance to catch it before it develops into Hashimoto?!
Isn't it funny! I never even knew what my thyroid was, let alone where it was located before any of this happened! I'm learning ALOT!!
Hi Red, your TSH has risen considerably and really too high but what caused that? How much of the blocker did you take coming into the test and did you taper off? I'm not that knowledgeable so I don't know the half life of it. If it is still in your system, the high TSH may not be indicative but it does show that your pituitary is working! TSH of around 1 is normal and the wide ranges used for FT4 and FT3 are not helpful.
Perhaps using your temperature would tell you more.
Hi Heloise, thanks for your reply! Barely any blocker, I stopped using it after 4 days about 6 weeks sgo now as I was feeling better, not jittery anymore so didn't see the point. I have however been supplementing with Vitamin D (3000) and Immunace Extra vitabiotics.com/immunace/extra acd 200ml of coq10 maybe thats caused something! urgh!
hmmm, well, it looks like you had a real attack on your thyroid and sometimes that causes a temporary increase of hormones but now that the attack is over (for now) you have less thyroid working for you and now your TSH is trying to get your thyroid to produce MORE hormone.
The supplements looks very good to me with all the right stuff in my opinion.
The attack on your thyroid needs to be determined. I've listened to hours and hours of naturopaths and it almost always has to do with gluten. The series call Betrayal was such an eye opener. Gluten is not digestible, it clumps in the gut and actually tears openings that should not be there. This allows undigested food particles to escape and then the immune system goes after it. The unfortunate part is that your thyroid tissue from one view is very similar to gluten and then is attacked. The immune system then has to clean up antibodies which can create another attack. I think I got that right.
I don't know if the hormone changes during pregnancy also has something to do with this but for most people they laid out all the processes your immune system is up against which includes toxins like glyphosate, bisphenol plastics, mercury, etc. This all compromises our immune system and then the gut has to be in perfect order to combat it all. (That is where the immune system resides.) Most people don't have that either from eating too many processed foods, high sugar, and low healthy fats.
Really the diet changes for many people made a huge difference but functional doctors can do even more if you can find one. Autoimmune conditions are really rampant and you can see why but some have gone into remission so there is hope out there.
Hi Heloise, thanks for the reply again. I'm going to try and go gluten free for the next month and see if that makes a difference. How do you manage your thyroid?
I've been through a lot with my thyroid...ups and downs mainly because I was so ignorant in the 90's and so are many doctors. My endo was utterly useless and I was just put on Synthroid.
Remember that taking hormone to support your body's metabolism does NOT stop the attack on your thyroid. You are still sick. I didn't ever understand that until a few years ago and now I see that not only is the thyroid attacked, parts of the brain are also attacked. When the members talk about brain fog due to being hypo, it actually could be further brain inflammation from autoimmune attacks. So while it's good to get the right combination of FT3 and FT4, it's better to try to get the autoimmune attack stopped.
Since you are at a crossroads, I would love for you to attempt healing this. It takes a massive effort. It's almost too late for me but I take one grain of Naturethroid an NDT which contains natural thyroid and a synthetic T3. When you take T4 or levo your body has to convert it to FT3 so again you have to have healthy function of your gut, liver and your adrenal glands. But one thing that happens if you have low thyroid is that all other organs are not in perfect order either.
T3 is the active hormone which goes to receptors is all cells of your body but some people take lots of levo and get very little T3 from it because they don't convert well. This is the big argument we have right now about prescribing hormones. The lies published on the dangers of T3 are ridiculous. I used to take only T3 for two years and it was great. Dr. Lowe also only took T3. I was able to purchase it myself so I did that until I couldn't buy it any longer.
I'd like to hear what you think about all this and I understand you are pretty overwhelmed. As you try to comprehend it all, this man is wonderful for explaining almost every body function including the thyroid and adrenal glands.
Since I became aware, I try to avoid plastic or things that come in plastic. I get my own spring water with NO fluoride where I live, I put a chlorine filter in my shower and try to use safe cleaning products. Floride and Chlorine are terrible for your thyroid because they replace the iodine in your body which your thyroid needs. I also use a progesterone cream (not sure about that for you) because your adrenal glands use more when it needs to work harder. I take all the b vitamins and use a digestive enzyme or HCL because your stomach acid may be too low to get the nutrients broken down from food. Lots of people are walking around malnourished. Especially minerals need enough acid to metabolize. As you can see it's rather formidable to give the body all it needs.
Thanks for your last two posts, sorry for my slow reply I've been running about with the baby all day, goodness knows what I did with my time before my son came along! I seem to be constantly busy!! Really interesting information, I'm going to watch the video now. I'm definetly more on healing naturally rather than drugs, so far my GP has said to monitor it with blood tests every month until December and then January they'll give me medication I guess to balance out what's missing?! I've certainly noticed the last two weeks I've felt very sluggish and low energy and keep forgetting things, also the final 7lbs of baby weight WILL.NOT.GO! I've tried eating a restrictive diet but still won't budge! I'm going to try the dukan nxt week. I'm already pretty good with natural products, I've got/had endometrosis which they say is immune related I had an operation to remove it and that's how i finally fell pregnant after 2.5 years of trying previously! The more I learnt about endometriosis the more i tried to cut out unatural things, plastics, and using natural products. Ive started to use a Britta water filter which I *think* filters out the flouride. What B vitamin and digestive enzyme brand do you recommend?
No problem with your replies. I always have to go back and remind myself of who is posting anyway.
That endometriosis development shows you were already having problems. I might suggest you get a progesterone cream after all. It seems much of what we eat contains estrogen, while they are plant estrogens for the most part, it is still estrogen you don't need. On top of too much estrogen your progesterone may be too low as well. Progesterone also protects you from cancer while estrogen may cause cancer.
Usually I go to Amazon or iherb.com and look at the reviews and sometimes there are hundreds of them. The comments may help you decide which may work best for you. Other than that I do like the companies like Thorne and Doctor's Best or NOW. I use Now Serrapeptase which tends to eradicate extra tissue and fibrin that doesn't belong. I wonder if endometriosis would qualify, hmmm.
Please do watch the video. I would watch only fifteen minutes at a time and take some notes. he goes very quickly but he definitely understands what other doctors do not and I totally agree he is in tune with all the research that I also hear from these summits and discussions on the latest information about autoimmune disease.
Avoid the gluten and be careful of sugar. Use xylitol or stevia but none of the ones in the market. I hope you notice a difference in a couple of weeks. Your body wants to heal.
Red, I've listened to a podcast by this woman and she thoroughly explained hypothyroidism and pregnancy. She was a thyroid patient as well and is a naturopath. I think you will identify with what she says. This is her website if you can't get to the podcast in time. It's over today. drbrighten.com/
Hi Heloise, I missed her video it was yesterday, darnit! I just went to her website and watched a video that literally described my situation!! I really want to watch her presentation but can't find it, I'll see what I can track down via google search.
Ohhh, it was so good. I still have it. What was the problem. Could you go to day two. I think it was then but here is my link. healinghashimotossummit.com...
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