Ongoing symptoms of extreme heat regardless of the temperature. Fans on constant day and night, previously freezing cold even in summer, extreme fatigue and exhaustion made worse by physical exertion, very overactive bladder, joint and muscle pains, very dry and brittle hair that breaks easily and just generally feeling run down and unwell. Any advice appreciate 😊
Hi yes. I have been taking selenium and eating iron rich foods. I have been on a gluten, dairy, caffeine and sugar free diet for a month now with no improvements.
I eat liver pate, leafy vegetables (spinach and kale) and lots of red meat. I appreciate your advice but 3-4 months seems a long time away. I am really struggling now.
From what greygoose has mentioned in reply to another post, spinach doesn't help because although it has a high iron content the gut doesn't absorb it. I would concentrate on liver pate and try and "hide" some liver into meat meals as previously suggested, particularly strong tasting meals like curry and chilli.
Not sure the oranges count as far as absorbing iron goes, because would wouldn't eat them with your roast beef, would you?
When people take iron pills, they take a vit C pill at the same time, so that the iron and vit C meet up in the stomach. Which is what we're aiming for.
OK. Thank you. I may have asked you before but i'm still suffering terribly from constantly overheating. Fans on day and night. Even in winter. Is that the hashis?
I had thought I was more hypo than hyper as i was always frozen until the end of last year. When it changed to the heat. Never had weight gain. Always weight loss. And my BP is never high. More on thr low side. So very confusing
Only confusing if you have fixed ideas to begin with.
I think I've been hypo since I was a small child: always had weight problems, always suffered from over-heating, always had high blood pressure.
Diagnosed in 2000 and put on levo, etc. etc. etc.. In 2013, things changed. Started suffering from the cold, blood pressure went very low, lost a lot of weight. Now, I'm sort of between the two. This is not a static disease, Hashi's, things change. But, my blood tests have always said hypo.
It's just what i read about hyper/hypo symptoms. I know different now though. Would you say i have hashis now, even though other results are in range? Those results were from the beginning of may. Having private ones done on Monday. To monitor any changes. Earliest appointment was 9.15
Then did you mean 'am I still hypo'? Rather than 'do I still have Hashi's'? Not the same thing. But I think you're better placed to answer that question that I, because being hypo is more about how you feel, rather than lab results.
OK, so Hashi's is an autoimmune disease, where the immune system attacks and slowly destroys the thyroid.
After every attack, the dying cells release their stock of thyroid hormone into the blood stream, causing the levels of the Frees to shoot up - FT4 to around 30 something, FT3 around 11/12 - and the TSH therefore drops to suppressed.
There is no knowing how long these high levels will persist, but eventually, they will drop by themselves as the excess hormone is used up or excreted, and not only will you become hypo again, but slightly more hypo than before, because there is now less thyroid to make hormone.
Therefore, it's very important that your doctor does not reduce your prescription, because you’re going to need it again! If you start to feel over-medicated at that point - some do, some don't - the best thing is to stop levo for a few days, then, when you feel hypo again, start taking it again. It's very important to know one's body, and how it reacts.
There is no cure for Hashi's - which is probably one of the reasons that doctors ignore it - apart from the fact that they know nothing about it, of course!
However, between the 'hyper' swing, and the descent back into hypothyroidism, there can be a phase - quite a long one, sometimes - of normality, where the person is neither hypo nor 'hyper'. This is where people sometimes start talking of having 'cured' their Hashi's, by whatever means. But, it doesn't last. Eventually, you will go hypo again.
But, there are things the patient can do for him/herself to help them feel a bit better.
a) adopt a 100% gluten-free diet. Hashi's people are often sensitive to gluten, even if they don't have Coeliac disease, so stopping it can make them feel much better. Worth a try. Some say that going gluten-free will reduce antibodies – I’ve never seen conclusive proof of that, but, you should be aware that even if you get rid of the antibodies, you will still have Hashi's, because the antibodies are not the disease.
b) take selenium. This is not only reputed to reduce antibodies, but can also help with conversion of T4 to T3 - something that Hashi's people often find difficult.
c) the best way to even out the swings from hypo to 'hyper' (often called Hashi's Flares, but that doesn't really sum up the way it works) is to keep the TSH suppressed. This is difficult because doctors are terrified by a suppressed TSH, for various false reasons, and because they don't understand the workings of Hashi's. But, TSH - Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (a pituitary hormone) - tries to stimulate the thyroid to make more hormone, but it also stimulates the immune system to attack. So, the less gland activity there is, the less immune system activity there will be, meaning less attacks, gland destruction slowed down and less swinging from hypo to hyper and back.
Hi thanks greygoose but i am not on any thyroid hormone just now as my levels are within range. I just don't know how long i can cope like this for. The heat is driving me round the bend. It's constant now. Fans on day and night. Nothing to do with the weather. Just my body.
This is really helpful thank you. May I ask if it’s possible to have Hashimoto but not to have raised level of antibodies? I ask because when I had half my thyroid removed because of a v suspicious growth ( which turned out to be benign ) the pathology report said that the tissue showed signs of lymphocytic thyroiditis. Also I have become gluten sensitive about six months ago - terrible cramps and bloating - which a gluten free diet seems more or less to have resolved ( though still left with constipation). The hashi antibody tests are normal but it is odd. As you will see above my TSH is raised and my FT4 gradually dropping through still technically within range so I am now on 50mcg of levytjyroxine. But if I do have Hashi maybe I should be doing more like taking selenium??
Yes, you don't want too much selenium. If you are taking selenium for poor conversion, it's better to take a break from it, from time to time. You can test for it, yes, but I don't know where.
rT3 is a waste of time and money. It will not add any useful information. It will tell you if you have high rT3, but it won't tell you why, and there are many, many reasons - most of them non-thyroidal. If your FT4 is right up the top of the range, and your FT3 below mid-range, you will know your conversion is poor and that your rT3 is going to be high. That is the only thyroid-related reason for high rT3 and you don't need a test to tell you that. And the solution is to reduce your levo and add in some T3.
I concur with GG. I have hypo and Graves so have experienced both. I have poor temp regulation when hypo so can feel too cold and way too hot. When Graves was active I didn’t feel too hot all the time, just had hot flushes which would last for say 10 mins and then go. Literally had to stick myself in the fridge. V different from the too hot when hypo which is more general and long lasting and not as hot. I gain weight when hypo but also gained weight when hyper (typical!). I was starving all the time when hyper and eating huge amounts which probably didn’t help!
Hi i'm not sure if i have graves as never had those antibodies tested. The heat isn't a hot flush as it's constant. I used to switch between feeling cold and heat on a daily basis but now it's just the heat. Fatigue is awful now too. I just know somethings not right and need help now
Sorry I wasn’t suggesting you had Graves, just commenting on the fact that the symptoms of hypo and hyper can be similar and that it’s possible to feel hot when hypo and gain weight when hyper.
Sorry. Misread your post. It's all so confusing with symptoms relating to hyper and hypo. I thought I waa mire hypo last year. Freezing all summer with hot water bottles and heated blankets. Now it's the heat. Would much prefer being too.cold.though.
You probably were more hypo last summer, that's what I was trying to explain, how it fluctuates with Hashi's. And you do have Hashi's because your Hashi's antibodies are high. At the moment, you're neither hypo nor hyper, you're pretty much euthyroid, but that could change at any time.
Unfortunately, doctors are not interested in antibodies - as I explained. They want a high TSH to diagnose hypo and a low TSH to diagnose hyper. They do not understand the in-betweens.
You know, there's really no point in retesting the antibodies. Once you've had a high result, that shows you have Hashi's, and Hashi's doesn't go away. Antibodies fluctuate, but that doesn't have any bearing on the fact that you have Hashi's.
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