Thyroid blues

[Jholb87]

I am an American recently separated from the US Army. I got a thyroid disorder from military service and have been dealing with a lot of issues. I was first diagnosed with Graves Disease. I started feeling overly anxious (more than normal even for a soldier) and my heart rate which used to be 60 bpm soon rose to 100 bpm at rest. The doctors at the Veterans Affairs clinic recommended I receive Radioactive Iodine treatment which they disclosed that I would then be hypothyroid and require medicine for the rest of my life. I asked all the questions necessary, but I was only focused on one: how soon will I recover? They told me I'd notice immediately that I would feel fantastic, but I ended with a heart rate of 40 bpm, feeling cold all the time, mental sluggishness, inability to move my muscles, and confusion. Not to mention extreme anxiety- especially to loud noises and bright lights. My doc had me reporting every 4 weeks for blood tests to check my thyroid condition. Every month my number would fall I started eventually at TSH 5 and eventually six months later I was at a TSH of 62. I was in the hospital every other day for a new symptom. People treated me line I was some kind of attention seeker, but I was just looking for answers. I wanted to feel normal again and not like I was withering away. Needless to say, the doc changed my meds from levothyroxine/synthroid to armour thyroid and soon after my TSH dropped from 62 to 57 and small increments until now 3 months later my TSH is a 37 and my free t4 is .62. Back in august my free t4 was a .3. I got tired of going to the hospital. So, I decided to find religion. While in the Army I followed the Army values and the many creeds they provided and it made up for my lack of spirituality. However, after becoming a civilian again and having multiple health issues I had an awakening- something needed to change, but my health wasn't changing fast enough- so I realized that as a complete person I should have some sort of spirituality to help me through these tough times, to help me combat the depression and anxiety without the use of narcotics/opiods which the VA so lovingly pushes. Finding spirituality has helped me cope better than any advice the docs gave me. I am not depressed and I can work through severe anxiety because of it. I wish I would have found the group sooner. May you all have a wonderful holiday season!

[Clutter]

Jholb87,

What dose Armour are you taking? TSH 37 means you are very undermedicated. You've not included the lab ref ranges for FT4 and FT3 so it isn't possible to say how low they are but I'm certain they must be very low with TSH so high.

Your doctors could have given you the opportunity of treating hyperthyroidism with anti-thyroid drugs. Many people are able to wean off after 12-18 months and enjoy remission. Since your thyroid was ablated you need thyroid replacement. TSH was, and is, high because you are undermedicated.

The goal of Levothyroxine/Synthroid/Armour is to restore the patient to euthyroid status. For most patients that will be when TSH is 0.3 - 1.0 with FT4 in the upper range. FT4 needs to be in the upper range in order that sufficient T3 is converted. Read Treatment Options in thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

There is no need for it to take months for thyroid levels to become euthyroid. I have no thyroid and have been off meds on several occasions and last time it took 6-8 weeks for TSH to drop from 107.5 to 0.16.

Thyroid patients are often low/deficient in ferritin, vitamin D, B12 and folate. Symptoms can mimic some hypothyroid symptoms. Ask your doctor to do blood tests. If you write a new post with the results and ranges (ranges are the figures in brackets after results) members will advise whether you will benefit from supplementing and, if so, how much.

[Jholb87 in reply to Clutter]

FT4 [.89-1.9]

Never been told T3 levels- again American VA doesn't help much, and I was never informed of normal TSH levels. My doc says that the VA only cares what the FT4 is. Thank you for responding.

[Clutter in reply to Jholb87]

Johlb87,

What dose Armour are you prescribed?

You should insist on being told what the lab ref ranges are when you get your results, any blood results.

FT4 0.62 is considerably below range but FT4 may sometimes be low when taking Armour. You can't possibly be optimally dosed when TSH is 37 though. It really is important to have FT3 tested when taking Armour. Most people will be optimally medicated when FT3 is in the upper third of range and TSH will often be suppressed <0.1.

[Jholb87 in reply to Clutter]

I go in January 5th for another lab I will request T3 and TSH ranges and ask what is normal as well. 60mg of armour once daily, but the doc issued 90mg a week ago I started it and had a severe anxiety attack so he wants to take lorazepam to offset anxiety until I reach normal levels. However, I watch my 3 mo. Old daughter while wife works and lorazepam knocks me out entirely.

[Jholb87 in reply to Clutter]

Also, about 4 months ago I got diagnosed with mesenteric adenitis and all of my lymph nodes not just the ones in the stomach were inflamed. Doc said it was normal, but didn't give me tips on how to drain them so I looked up ayuverdic remedies which helped. I still feel it in my stomach but everywhere else my lymph nodes seem to be normal and not a hard ball.

[nightingale-56]

Hi Jholb87 Welcome to this group. I well recognise the symptoms you had after your RAI. I had Graves and had to have a quick Sub-Total Thyroidectomy when I was 14 pregnant with my daughter. I was then untreated for 19 years, so do know what you have gone through, For someone more knowledgeable than me to be able to help you, it would be helpful if you could put your TSH, FT4 and FT3 blood levels and the ranges in this post or a new one. American ranges are different to UK ones and the ranges are needed.

It would also be good for you to have your vitamins and minerals tested, especially:-

Ferritin

Folate

Vitamin B12

Vitamin D3

These vitamins and minerals can be depleted once we are Hypothyroid.

Wish you well and hope you enjoy the Christmas season

PS: I see that Clutter has answered you much better than I could.

[Jholb87 in reply to nightingale-56]

Yes, Ma'am this thyroid issue knocked through a loop. I've never had issues not once in my entire life have I been hospitalized or injured badly enough to need medical treatment. Two weeks after RAI I was in the gym killin' it so to speak and then bam not even a week later my levels dropped so fast I felt like I was hit and drug by a truck. Thank you for responding, Ma'am.

[shaws Administrator in reply to Jholb87]

Thyroid hormones give us the 'energy' in our body to run our whole metabolism from head to toe. Look upon T3 as the 'battery' needed in our millions of T3 receptor cells. When we exercise or do too much before being on an optimum dose our body reacts badly and we don't know what is going on. Once we reach an optimum dose with a TSH of 1 or lower we can feel 'normal' again with energy.

[Jholb87]

I am taking armour at 60mg

[Clutter in reply to Jholb87]

Jholb87,

No wonder your TSH is high! I was prescribed the equivalent of 180mg Armour after thyroidectomy. Healthy thyroid produces something in the range of 100mcg T4 and 10mcg T3 daily. There is 38mcg T4 and 9mcg T3 in 60mg Armour.

If you are assigned to a specific VA doctor I suggest you get yourself switched to someone who has a clue ASAP. You need dose increases. 60mg now and 30mg at two week intervals until you are on 180mg. Hold at 180mg 6-8 weeks and have a thyroid function test including FT3 to check FT3 remains within range.

[shaws Administrator]

I am very sorry you have hypothyroidism and it seems, worldwide, that doctors have lost the knack they used to have,i.e. go by clinical symptoms and give a trial of NDT. No blood tests then to bother about.

I am sorry you had to leave the army and have been a bit lost for a while and am glad you found strength through your religion.

Many who have had RAI are surprised they can feel so bad after having this procedure but it is necessary at times to follow the medical recommendation.

As you are taking Armour it is easier, I think, than levothyroxine only as it contains all of the hormones a healthy gland would have produced and it is made from pigs thyroid glands and many find NDT better than T4 alone.

You can add 1/4 tablet every two weeks of NDT and your TSH is far too high yet, but go gradually and don't rush as our body has to get used to thyroid hormone replacements.

Take pulse/temp before increasing so you have a starting point. The aim is a TSH of 1 and Free T4 and Free T3 towards the upper part of the range and relief of clinical symptoms. If you find pulse/temp too high drop to previous dose.

I shall give you a link which may be helpful and it contains three Chapters from a book which was written before the author's untimely death.

Blood tests always have to be at the very earliest, fasting and allow a gap of 24 hours between last dose of NDT (Armour) and the test and take afterwards. This helps keep TSH at its highest and stops doctors adjusting dose unnecessarily. Also ask for B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate to be tested as all have to be optimal.

Always get a print-out of your results with the ranges and members will comment upon them. There is a wide range of clinical symptoms which doctors used to know but not nowadays as they rely only upon the TSH and T4.

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

I think you will be able to tick off more than a few.

[humanbean]

Can I suggest that you get off the lorazepam as soon as possible. It is hugely addictive and very, very difficult to come off of once your body gets used to it. I've read that US doctors love prescribing addictive drugs, but treating you with benzos instead of properly treating your thyroid is negligence (and sadistic) in my opinion, and doesn't actually fix the underlying problem.

Lorazepam is a benzodiazepine. If you want to know how bad they can be, browse the posts on the benzobuddies forum, and read the parent website :

benzobuddies.org/forum/inde...

benzobuddies.org/

-----------------------------

There is something you may not be aware of. You can pay for private blood tests without getting permission or a prescription from a doctor and without needing insurance. It does depend on the state you are in though.

For details take a look about half way down this page, read all the advice about the different companies and what they are good at or not good at, follow the links and investigate the prices :

stopthethyroidmadness.com/r...

(Read the rest of the page too.)

If you decide to do this, once you have the results you should post them and the reference ranges in a new post on this forum and ask for feedback.

We usually recommend people get the following tests done :

TSH

Free T4

Free T3

(Reverse T3 might be interesting too, but few of us bother with this in the early stages)

Thyroid antibodies - two types - TPO and Tg

Since you were diagnosed with Graves Disease you might want to get TSI antibodies too.

Iron tests - 4 of them - Ferritin, serum iron, TIBC and % transferrin saturation

Vitamin B12

Folate

Vitamin D3

Good luck. You haven't been well treated or adequately treated since the start. Unfortunately this is common and we all have to learn how to support our own health and advocate for ourselves.

[Jholb87 in reply to humanbean]

Thank you for responding. I have not taken a single dose of lorazepam since August. I was actually at an appointment at the Veteran Affairs clinic and right next to where I was seated was an informational poster about benzodiazepines and this huge list of long term side effects like loss of balance, confusion, dementia, and many more. I was horrified that the doc didn't recommend counseling just prescribed me meds to top it off he prescribed me 1mg twice daily of the lorazepam, and told me it was a low dose, but then another provider at the ER said it was actually a high dose.

[marigold22]

Hi, I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism in 1981 and discovered it’s in fact Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis in January this year via a private blood test. I’m only telling you these facts about myself as I’ve had an endocrine disorder since 1981 and have read copious amounts of facts, research and medical papers.

Along the way, I ‘bumped’ into a UK war veteran called Shaun Rusling, who had been in two different war zones with the British Army. He had PTSD, was suicidal, and this was about 5 years after being retired out of the Army due to bad health. He was totally confused about what was wrong with him and said he would be better off dead as he was dragging his wife and children down with him. To cut a long story short, he found a Professor of Endocrinology (Prof Atkins, who has now moved away from the UK) who fortunately worked in Shaun’s local hospital. This professor was obviously ‘on the ball’ as he discovered that Shaun was suffering from a whole range of endocrine illnesses. Testosterone & thyroid were implicated, and Prof Atkins stated that the pituitary should also be looked at.

Shaun and his wife set up a charity for UK veterans although I think it’s mainly to support veterans with pensions etc. ngvfa.org.uk/about/staff_of...

I have avidly followed this particular veteran and what came out was that the veterans who were suffering PTSD and all the other symptoms that they suffer, are mainly endocrine based. The British government / army refused to acknowledge this fact. The veterans had obviously witnessed horrific things, and had been given multiple inoculations (jabs, vaccines) before going into the war zones. It all caused immense trauma to their bodies; everyone’s body reacts in different ways, and it was the unfortunate veterans who were struck down with the endocrine illnesses.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-h...

Good luck

[Jholb87 in reply to marigold22]

I have an appointment on the 21st of this month for an MRI to look and see if there's a tumor by the pituitary gland. I went to see a chiropractor and during my consultation he asked about my thyroid issues and then recommended me to ask my doctor for the MRI. I get severe cranial pressure and I have loss of sensation in my forehead. Also, sometimes the pain is right behind my nose as well. Thank you for responding.