Well-Women AdviceAdvice RE: Radiation: The current concern regarding the nuclear radiation leak in Japan has probably caused quite a panic regarding thyroid cancer. What could happen and should we be buying Potassium Iodide to protect our thyroid? NO. Well, those with Hashimoto's disease should think twice about this as iodine is not something that should necessarily be used in this respect simply because we dont have a functioning thyroid because it is under attack from antibodies. Please click on the link to read more about Potassium Iodide from Mary Shomon: 10 Things You should know about protecting your thyroid from Radiation.
If you suspect that you may have a thyroid condition, Autoimmune Disease, Adrenal problems, etc or any condition mentioned on this website your first port of call should be your G.P. You should never try to self treat without a firm diagnosis. Many conditions have similar symptoms. Adrenal insufficiency can also sound like an underactive thyroid, fibromyalgia could be a thyroid condition and chronic fatigue syndrome does not mean you have a thyroid or autoimmune condition. Likewise, I.B.S does not mean you have a thyroid condition even though thyroid sufferers can suffer from it. Thyroid Disease is a great pretender as Doctor Peatfield says. It presents many symptoms and it is all too easy for it to be missed in favour of something else. This is because doctors are not routinely linking a collection of symptoms to hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism. Candida can and does mimic hypothyroidism. Most patients with hypothyroidism have candida. However, many patients with systemic candida, do NOT necessarily have thyroid disease. Candida wrecks lives. It is not a straightforward case of vaginal thrush, but often systemic and is an immune system problem and can be caused by many things. Often our liver is toxic too. Both candida and liver toxicity can cause the failure of thyroid meds as they won't be sufficiently absorbed while these conditions exist, as I found out myself when using Armour. Either we are on a high dose of Armour and still have continuing hypo symptoms or we are not able to raise our Armour beyond a tiny dose due to hyper symptoms or other alarming symptoms such as chest pain similar to angina, severe muscle cramping sweating or other symptoms indicating toxicity. Do not take L-tyrosine if taking thyroid medication Many doctors do not routinely check for thyroid antibodies when they test for thyroid function. This means that autoimmune thyroid disease can be missed. There should not be any antibodies in your test result. This can progress to limited or zero thyroid function if left untreated If you have any of the symptoms on the thyroid page, it does not necessarily mean you have a thyroid condition, although your first port of call should be to eliminate this. Likewise, if your G.P tells you your thyroid lab results are normal, does not mean you do not have a thyroid condition, particularly if you have had a collection of symptoms for some considerable time. It should not go untreated and you (or your GP) are putting your long term health as risk, so do not ignore long term symptoms. Fibromyalgia, in many cases is untreated hypothyroidism. If you have a lot of the symptoms on the Thyroid Pages, print off the list, tick all your symptoms and if you have more than 5 see your GP, especially if you are feeling excessively tired, cold, are gaining weight with a low appetite, can't lose weight despite repeated diets, sleep a lot or feel very weak and are constipated. Likewise if you have a very fast thudding heart rate, feel hot, anxious and irritable (out of character) muscle cramps, insomnia dizziness and nausea and are losing weight even though your appetite is normal or excessive see your GP to check for an overactive thyroid (Hyperthyroidism) Thyroid Disease can cause mental problems such as depression, schizophrenia, Alzheimers Disease, senility, seizures and some women have even admitted themselves to mental institutions as they can't understand why they feel as though they are going mad and keep being overlooked by their GP or prescribed treatment such as lithium and other antidepressants which make matters much worse. If you are suffering with depression that won't lift on medication or have bi-polar disorder, please get your thyroid checked. Remember, that tests can come back normal, so if you have other symptoms mentioned on this site, try to get one of the urine tests to rule out thyroid disease before embarking on long term treatment by way of anti-depressants. Thyroid Disease can cause heart problems such as heart attacks and heart irregularities. If you have other symptoms suggesting thyroid disease, thyroid medication can help settle cardiac problems, prevent them or erradicate them. Thyroid disease can also cause strokes. Do not suffer in silence. If you are not getting a result from your G.P, contact me for a Private Doctor with a special interest in Thyroid and Adrenal problems. I also have a list of Private doctors specialising in menopausal problems which can also mimic thyroid disease. If you already have an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) or Hashimoto's Disease, are taking thyroid medication and experience unusual symptoms such as fast heart rate, headaches, muscle cramps and weakness, unexplained panic attacks, do not accept your doctor telling you that it can't be the medication. It could (see below - side effects of Levothyroxine). Thyroid hormone requirements can change so don't be told anything different. Too much thyroid hormone in the blood is dangerous and toxic and can make you very ill. Your GP can reduce the dose. Synthetic T4 can make you ill. It does not suit everyone. It could be that you actually need Armour Thyroid which contains all the thyroid hormones we need. It is very difficult to get Armour Thyroid on the NHS. Bear in mind that some people can not convert T4 to T3. Therefore T4 will build up in your system and make you ill. If you are not improving and experience Hyper symptoms, see you GP and ask if he can test to make sure your are converting T4 to T3. Try to ask for your blood test results. It may be important to know the range. This can help a private doctor assess you. You can also order urine tests from Genova diagnostics. Be careful when taking any supplements, including the ones mentioned on this site. Monitor yourself and reduce or even cut out supplements if they do not suit you. We have to learn from experimentation (unfortunately) as we do not get assitance from our doctors. Check that any supplements do not contain any more than a trace of iodine. It should clearly state this Iodine can suppress thyroid function.
If you are on Thyroid medication for an underactive thyroid, Do not take anti depressants as well. They can more often than not, accelerate the effects of thyroid hormone causing hyperactive symptoms which can be alarming. They can also lessen the effects of thyroid hormone. Some antidepressants contain fluoride such as Prozac (Fluoxetine) Fluoride competes with iodine at the receptor sites causing disruption of thyroid function. (as does chlorine) Make sure you are regularly monitored. This should include blood testing especially if you are not feeling well. The whole thyroid function testing thing is hard to get right. TSH tests are seldom accurate. If you are taking synthetic thyroid meds for hypothyroidsism for the first time, make sure you start off on as low a dose as possible to avoid a toxic reaction. Ask your GP to start you at 25mcg and work up gradually. (Every 6 weeks) Make sure you are monitored every time the dose is increased. For Armour Thyroid, you should also be started on the minimum dose and gradually increased. Adrenal Fatigue should be rules out and if it is present, it should be treated prior to the thyroid. This is because thyroid hormone can further weaken already exhausted adrenal glands producing more unwanted effects. In extreme cases of adrenal fatigue, adding thyroid hormone can even be fatal producing an Addisonian Crisis. If you are diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism, ask them to check for antibodies in case it is the start of Hashimoto's. It would not be a good thing to be given anti thyroid drugs in this case and be treated for hyperthyroidism. With Hashimoto's, your thyroid will eventually cease to function because of antibody attack and you will become hypothyroid. About Levothyroxine Most commonly used drug for hypothyroidism, it is a synthetic (man made) form of the thyroid hormone, thyroxine T4. Side effects of Levothyroxine: (Due to toxic levels of thyroid hormone) Chest pain, increased heart or pulse rate, excessive sweating, nervousness, heat intolerance, headaches, insomnia, diarrhoea, vomitting, weight loss, fever, menstrual disturbances. Levothyroxine is available in the following preparations: Tablets: 0.025, 0.05, 0.075, 0.088, 0.1, 0.112, 0.125, 0.137, 0.15, 0.175, 0.2, and 0.3 mg. Powder for intravenous injection: 200 mcg and 500 mcg per vial. Aim: To normalise blood thyroxine levels.
Use: management of hypothyroidism, growth of goitres, and to suppress thyroid hormone release from cancerous thyroid nodules. May increase the effects of blood thinners such as wafarin May also decrease the effect of beta blockers such as propranolol (Inderal) and drugs such as Digoxin (Lanoxin) for management of heart failure and drugs for Atrial Fibrillation. The dose of these drugs may need to be changed. May also affect drugs used to treat Asthma and also some cholesterol lowering drugs may affect absorption of thyroxine leading to further hypothyroidism. Anti-depressants may accelerate effects of thyroxine causing fast heart rate, nausea, dizziness etc. For more on thyroid treatment, please visit the thyroid treatment page Finally, I recommend educating yourself on this condition. Two books I particulalry recommend which can save your life are: and The information in these two books is invaluable in helping you to recognise the problem and deal with it effectively. Remember 1 in 4 have undiagnosed hypothyroidism.
to read books about important thyroid matters please click here
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