Hi, my daughter in law has Hashimotos following the birth of her first child 10 years ago. It wasn’t diagnosed until after the birth of her second child 5 years ago, when she was swollen and had gained a lot of weight and her hair was falling out. She’s now lost the weight and is reasonably well, although recently she’s said her hair is coming out again and she’s very tired.
She takes T4 and separate T3 which has made her a lot better but because of not being treated for so many years she has carpal tunnel in both hands which hasn’t responded to splinting or steroid injections. She’s having the first hand operated on next Tuesday and has chosen general anaesthetic . The NHS first said they wouldn’t do this operation until her thyroid was better controlled so she went to see the Consultant who prescribes her T3 and he’s said it can go ahead. The nurse doing her pre operative tests has told her she’s not happy about this, but it’s going ahead.
I’m really worried about the possible effects of general anaesthetic and the nurses comments. I don’t want to interfere too much at this late stage as she really needs her hands put right, but can anyone whose had this operation with Hashimotos please put my mind at rest - as usual, any help is much appreciated.
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Is it possible you could get copies of her blood results? Very difficult for people to comment without them.
She should also get key vitamin levels checked - ferritin, folate, B12 and D3. Hypo people dont absorb vitamins well due to low stomach acid and this affects her thyroid hormone working.
Low ferritin is often responsible for hair falling out and is very common if you're hypo.
As far as the operation goes, I'm guessing if she is taking T3 that her TSH might be suppressed which some medics find a bit scary. It's really nothing to be concerned about so long as FT4 & FT3 are within normal range. I'm not aware that being treated for hypothyroisidm is a contraindication for having any operation.
thank you Jaydee for your reassurance about the operation. I’ll ask her if she has her blood test results. I’ve told her about all of the vitamins as I went on Dr Isabella Wentz link from Thyroid UK, but she says it’s too late as operation only days away.
For many of us the best B12 supplement is methylcobalamin.
For the body to make use of B12 it needs adequate levels of folate. If folate is required it should be started a few days after the B12.
This may all be totally irrelevant if nitrous oxide isn't going to be used in her anaesthetic. But why take the risk? B12 is harmless even when taken at high levels. Folate should be in the upper half of the range.
I have read that LOW B12 is linked to CTS. B12 helps to maintain the Myelin sheath that protects all nerves in the body. Think of the plastic coating that protects electrical wiring. When the myelin sheath is compromised, nerves can be exposed and be the cause of pain.
My wrists are sometimes painful when my weekly B12 jab is due....
The op' can be successful - my Hypo friend was fine.
hi, she said she’s scared and wants to be out of it, but I’m going to try to talk her into local anaesthetic - I can tell her what you’ve said - thankyou
hi SlowDragon - she was undiagnosed for about 5 years and it started during that time. It’s apparently quite bad and specialist says it’ll get worse as steroid injections not helping. I don’t think her thyroids properly controlled as symptoms are creeping back but she seems to think she’ll have T3 reduced if they increase T4 and she says it’s T3 made her much better. I’ll ask her about the vitamin side but from your information regarding my Hashimotos in the past and reading Dr Isabella Wentz I’ve told her all about the low vitamin side but she seems to have given up and just wants this operation.
she’s not on a gluten free diet but her obsession with her weight even before Hashimotos had made her food intake pretty poor in general. I also think she may be over exercising - bounce classes 3 times a week plus walking, working and looking after a family.
The younger generation are more keen for a quick fix I find - not all of course ! As a Grumpy Grandma I prefer the slower route - which often gets me there in the end - well nearly !
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