I have been dagnosed through blood tests although not on any medication. This is because my GP says my thyroid is "on its reserves" and he doesnt believe in prescribing too early as this may cause osteoporosis.
I do not know if this is the correct approach.
My biggest problem is my knees.
I have torn cartilage in both knees. I had an operation date but this has been cancelled due to the yet untreatable Hashimotos.
Having been told that the only remedy is physio and a healing time of 4 months (my first tear happened in Sept) I am slowly losing faith in any medical advice.
Can my knee problem be attributed to Hashimotos?
Miserable person here would appreciate your comments.
Written by
bertiesmum
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Even if that is not the case for you, in my view, they could be related to hypothyroidism and/or Hashimoto's.
You doctor is clearly not capable of managing your problems. Osteoporosis is NOT a consequence of appropriate treatment with thyroid hormone. (I suggest that if having the "right" level of thyroid hormone made you suffer form osteoporosis, then everyone who does NOT have a thyroid issue would suffer from osteoporosis.)
Has you doctor got any good evidence to back up his ridiculous beliefs?
Rod
There is extensive knowledge now that osteoporosis is more likely to be caused by under-treatment than over-treatment of low thyroid.
This information may be of interest to you -
"Some women are told to be wary of taking thyroid medication because it can leach the calcium from bones. This assumption is now outdated. The research on people taking extremely high doses of thyroid hormone is mixed, but it is now known that thyroid pills in appropriate doses are good for your bones. Moreover, it has recently become apparent that the fairly common situation of undetected and untreated low thyroid is the cause of bone calcium depletion. Dr. Richard and Sharilee Shames
In the 1970’s and 1980’s, many faulty studies were published that led to the erroneous conclusion that TSH-suppressive dosages of thyroid hormone decrease bone mineral density in most patients. Some conventional endocrinologists wrongly extrapolated from these studies that TSH-suppressive dosages lead to osteoporosis and increased risk of bone fracture. Among our patients who have used TSH-suppressive dosages of T3-containing preparations from 1-10 years, bone densitometry has shown that their density is HIGHER than other men and women for the same age.
The finding of higher bone density among patients taking higher-end dosages of thyroid hormone suggests that under-treatment with thyroid hormone can contribute to lower bone density. The lower bone density is likely to result from patients being unable to engage in weight bearing exercise due to low motor drive and decreased metabolic capacity. Hypothyroid patients using T4 replacement dosages commonly lack the drive to engage in weight bearing exercise, indicating that replacement dosages are often tantamount to gross under-treatment. Dr. John Lowe, Boulder Colorado (119)
Optimising the serum dialysis free T4 and T3 levels in all my patients has not contributed to osteoporosis at all (on the contrary, serial DECCA scans have usually shown dramatic increases in bone density despite my never prescribing any drugs for osteoporosis but using nutritional and metabolic corrective approaches instead); and cardiac arrhythmias are taken care of by making sure there is no functional deficiency of the pertinent minerals in the appropriate fluid spaces (RBC/packed cell levels in the case of magnesium and potassium). Not doing these things, and assuming that a “normal” TSH always means normal – even optimal – thyroid hormone function, is causing vast under-diagnosis and under-treatment in millions of patients in the US and around the world. Surveys of patient satisfaction with treatment, and websites devoted to this topic, invariably show deep distrust of the adequacy of their treatment, Dr John Dommisse, Tucson, Arizona
Your question suggests that your doctor is waiting until you are very ill before he treats you. That seems unreasonable to me. My daughter was treated before her blood tests indicated that she was hypothyroid and her joint and muscle problems improved immensely on T3 treatment. When you consider that ever cell in the body needs T3 in order to function that improvement was not surprising.
Would you be able to see a private doctor who could perhaps start you on thyroid replacement straight away if he deems necessary which I suspect he would? You can find a list of doctors here. thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/diagno...
Dr Toft, ex president of the British Thyroid Association says that if you have antibodies. Please note "nip things in the bud":-
In the absence of symptoms some would simply recommend annual thyroid function tests until serum TSH is over 10mU/l or symptoms such as tiredness and weight gain develop. But a more pragmatic approach is to recognise that the thyroid failure is likely to become worse and try to nip things in the bud rather than risk loss to follow-up.
Treatment should be started with levothyroxine in a dose sufficient to restore serum TSH to the lower part of its reference range. Levothyroxine in a dose of 75-100µg daily will usually be enough.
If you need a copy of the Pulse Article above, please email Louise.Warvill@Thyroiduk.org.
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