Thank you for all wonderful messages that I have received from you so far.
I am still wondering what could cause my hypothyroidism?
I never had any history of thyroid issues in my family. No autoimmune disorders apart from diabetes type 2 ( my mum when she was in her 70 - ties, and it is very common among older people to suffer from diabetes type 2 ).
My TSH was measured between 2009 and 2012 but only in 2012 I had TSH together with T4 and TPO done.
Between 2009 and July 2012 my TSH was between 1.5- 2.5, then in December 2012 - TSH went up to 13 with T4 level of 12 and TPO below 20.
Prior to escalation of TSH I had very bad food poisoning which gave me very bad complications such as IbS. I have stopped eating and I wasn't supplementing for quite a while, I do now.
My diet must have been out of iodine for months ( I was so preoccupied with GI symptoms that I did not think about supplementing iodine)
Maybe long period of Iodine depletion caused my TSH to raise so high?
So maybe it can be treated with high doses of iodine only ?
I am scared to supplement myself with very high doses of iodine because if by any chances this is the beginning of Hashimoto's I might make myself worse.
Am sorry you are having a difficult time at the moment. Take a look at the tags on the right side of this page - click onto - see more tags. Then click onto I for Iodine and lots of posts about Iodine will come up for you to read when you are feeling strong enough
Take good care....and keep posting. One day lots of answers will seem the right ones for you....and so the puzzle will start to take shape.
I knew that Dr S ( a virologist) connects viral infection with hypothyroidism, I wasn't sure if he thinks the same about bacterial infection ( such as food poisoning)
I suspected that the food poisoning was the trigger in my case( also prior to that I suffered bereavement - my mum passed away in 2011, then I lost my job and had lot of other traumatic events which could contribute too)
It is so lovely of you to point my attention to this blog
I would recommend a book to read 'Tears behind closed doors' and I think Thyroiduk.org may have one you could lend for the cost of postage. Well worth a read.
I will try to contact them, thank you. I bought Dr P book a while ago. I wanted to by book by Dr S but its too expensive, I have found it on Amazon for £80!! I cannot afford that
Even if you don't have hashimoto's you should increase iodine slowly. If you increase it too quickly your body will switch to producing more reverse T3 which you don't really want. If you start slowly you can avoid this happening and, if you do have an iodine deficiency, hopefully start feeling better. Definitely do your research though!
If you have had all these digestive problems, you are probably lacking in other things too, such as iron, B12, folate, zinc, magnesium, selenium etc. It might be worth getting iron and B12 checked and supplementing if necessary. You could also get a decent mulitivitamin/mineral supplement which will likely contain iodine.
It is very frustrating when you are fighting to get well. Keep fighting and posting and we will all do our best to help and support you.
Take care and let us know how you get on
Carolyn x
Thank You Carolyn. I have started from 150 mcg of iodine in sea kelp. Now I am taking 300 mcg for the last few days ( that's because I bought centrum performance multivitamin to get mix of decent dose of manganese, chromium, iron, selenium, copper etc.
I take B complex plus additional zinc 25 mcg and B12 500mcg, also D3 4-6000 iu, B6 around 60 mg, evening primrose oil - that's for my pain in lower abdomen-seems to help, magnesium. I take a lot of stuff uff... and cod liver oil....
E xx
Hi Edysia,
So many causes, so many symptoms and so many different treatments. If only it were easy to pinpoint when and how it started and what exactly to do about it. The endos think the answers are simple, but we all know different!
I think you are going to see Dr. P. soon aren't you? I think you should tell him everything you've told us in your posts. Make sure you write it all down so that you forget nothing. He will listen to you carefully and intently and suggest further testing - maybe even an iodine test, adrenal tests and possibly some IgA and IgG tests to check for intestinal problems.
How this all started for you is not the most important thing right now. How you are feeling now is what matters, and how your problems can be identified and dealt with is what you need to focus on.
I think we all know someone who has had lung cancer and yet never smoked, or people who have abused their bodies horribly and have got away with it. I look upon thyroid disorders the same way. Somehow this condition has taken hold, and we may never know how, but I truly believe there can be a positive outcome for everyone.
My hypothyroidism doesn't seem to be autoimmune as antibodies were negative. Dr P told me that it could be due to flouride, or even heavy metal toxicity, but as Janeb says really the cause is not that important, as the treatment is the same. Personally I would be very wary of iodine supplementation. I had a skin abscess in the summer which was packed and dressed with iodine every day for a week whilst I was in France on holiday. My symptoms worsened considerably during this time, although it may have been just a co-incidence.
Probably not coincidence. If you have low iodine but plenty of T4, the T4 conversion is skewed more towards T3 than reverse T3. If you have a sudden increase in iodine in the system this then skews conversion back towards reverse T3. It also reduces the conversion rate, apparently, keeping more T4 in your system and less T3 (as T4 requires 4 iodine atoms and T3 only 3). As you are taking NDT which contains T4, this could account for why you were feeling worse, despite the fact that your hypothyroidism isn't autoimmune.
Even people who are deficient in iodine should increase their intake slowly so that they don't end up with reverse T3 problems.
Hi Carolyn - thanks very much for your explanation I didn't twig re the iodine until a friend at book group who is a practice nurse suggested it, but I had no idea of the mechanism.
I am feeling pretty good at the moment thx on my 2.25 grains of Armour but still think I will need another small increase as some of my symptoms creep back very mildly in the evening. How are you getting on now? Xx
I am not sure if I am going to see dr P. I have heard different stories. I am confused and only little amount of money to spend so I must try to choose right doctor. It does seem to be a bit impossible now( to choose the right specialist )
Edysia, there are pros and cons. Iodine has many benefits and is found in all your cells. There is controversy when used while on thyroid medicines but if you aren't, I would think it might be very beneficial. There are different forms and doses to consider. Some, by prescription and some, no prescription needed. In modern times, bromines and fluorides have displaced iodine in receptors and caused health problems and possibly causing the increase in thyroid and breast disease.
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