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Hypothyroid

David Jackson

Senior Member
Messages
195
Hey hey,

A few questions about hypothyroidism here:

Most recent bloodwork shows my TSH highish, and my T3 and T4 on the lower side of acceptable:

TSH:7.1 mIU/L ( 0.4-4 )
T3 (Free):3.7 pmol/L ( 2.5-6 )
Free T4:12.3 pmol/L ( 10-24 )

This is the first bloodtest I've had in ages, due to being housebound for a few years, so I don't have anything relevant to compare this with. My doctor says we will just monitor this every six weeks, as much of the time this is just the body's natural rhythms. She said that if my TSH goes over 12, then some meds - Thyroxine, I think it was - may help.

Anyway, I'm about to start learning a bit more about hypothyroidism, but before I get into it, I thought I might just ask on this forum... suppose I am a bit hypothyroid:

What could be the underlying reason, and how to fix it?
Any herbs/supplements/foods/etc that might help?
Any suggested readings?

Thanks in advance, your comments would be much appreciated.
 

CFS_for_19_years

Hoarder of biscuits
Messages
2,396
Location
USA
I think some people will tell you to take iodine, but that is something I think you should avoid.

My endocrinologist warned me against taking supplemental iodine. For me, it caused a transient elevated TSH, with a normal T4, classified as subclinical hypothyroidism when that pattern occurs. I haven't taken any since. It is not a benign supplement, and I wouldn't tinker with it for those reasons.
Consequences of excess iodine
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3976240/

Moving on to how to describe your condition:

Subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) is defined as a serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) level above the upper limit of normal despite normal levels of serum free thyroxine.

When I had SCH, three months later my endocrinologist repeated the TSH and free T4; my TSH came back down to a normal range. I didn't have to be treated.

Subclinical Hypothyroidism: An Update for Primary Care Physicians
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2664572/

Subclinical Hypothyroidism: Deciding When to Treat
http://www.aafp.org/afp/1998/0215/p776.html

I think your doctor has given you good advice.
 

David Jackson

Senior Member
Messages
195
@CFS_for_19_years - thanks for that interesting post.

I had just started taking Iodine again just before this blood test, actually.

A few years ago, Naturopaths were doing these Iodine tests on me, and I was always coming up extremely low. They said I would never recover until I fixed the Iodine problem. However, no matter how much I took, my levels never improved on their tests. Eventually, I got frustrated and stopped going to the expensive Naturopaths after their treatments failed to deliver, and other things were helping me a great deal at a fraction of the price (that would be subtle energy healing stuff). So for quite a while - over a year - I was not taking any Iodine at all. I just picked it up again before that blood test. But maybe I should have left it.

Well, thanks for the info. I am probably more confused than before, though :)
 

CFS_for_19_years

Hoarder of biscuits
Messages
2,396
Location
USA
I think my endocrinologist had a good reason to tell me to NOT take any iodine. My elevated TSH fell back to normal AFTER I STOPPED taking iodine. I won't touch it again. My free T4 and T3 were fine both times.

I can understand your confusion, but I would recommend you stop taking any iodine now. It is not a benign substance. Quoting from this:
Consequences of excess iodine
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3976240/

Iodine-induced hypothyroidism
Vulnerable patients with specific risk factors might have an increased risk of failing to adapt to the acute Wolff–Chaikoff effect.7 Susceptible patients include those with autoimmune thyroid disease; a previous history of surgery, 131I or antithyroid drug therapy for Graves disease; subacute thyroiditis; postpartum thyroiditis; type 2 amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis (AIT); hemithyroidectomy; IFNα therapy; and concomitant use of potential goitrogens, such as lithium. Failure to escape from the acute Wolff–Chaikoff effect might also be more likely during fetal development, a period when the hypothalamic–pituitary–thyroid axis is still immature, and during neonatal life. [....]

Iodine-induced hyperthyroidism
In some susceptible patients, an excess iodine load provides a rich substrate for increased production of thyroid hormones. Iodine-induced hyperthyroidism (the Jod–Basedow phenomenon) was first described in the early 1800s, when thyrotoxicosis was observed to be more common among patients with endemic goiter treated with iodine supplementation than in individuals without goiter.14 Iodine-induced hyperthyroidism might be transient or permanent, and risk factors include nontoxic or diffuse nodular goiter, latent Graves disease and long standing iodine deficiency.7 In addition, iodine-induced hyperthyroidism in euthyroid patients with nodular goiter in iodine-sufficient areas has also been reported when iodine supplementation is excessive.15

Conclusions
[.....] As iodine-induced hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism might be either subclinical or overt, excess iodine exposure should be suspected if the aetiology of thyroid dysfunction is not discernible.
 

mermaid

Senior Member
Messages
714
Location
UK
Hello there @David Jackson
I wish there had been the internet when I became hypothyroid some 20 years ago. I think maybe I was put on thyroxine too quickly and then there was no going back. If I had the info I have now, then I would have tried a few other things first just to test if my TSH went down.

However from what I know, the fact that your FT4 is also low in range as well as the TSH being raised, is an indicator that you may be hypothyroid. Usually Drs do wait a few months though and retest to see which direction things are going in before they prescribe - mine actually did do this, but did not wait for the TSH to reach 12 (that seems very high to me to prescribe especially in the US where I thought they usually prescribed on a lower TSH).

I would agree that taking iodine can be problematic from what I have read regarding the thyroid. I understand that if you take it then selenium needs to be adequate too, which it may not be in your case, and even then you have to be sure not to take too much selenium! It's a minefield.

There are other things you need to consider also regarding vitamins/minerals to ensure that the thyroid is functioning well. This is from a UK thyroid charity site but may be helpful for you
http://www.thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/treatment/vitamins.html
Actually I don't see iron on that list, and I know iron has to be optimal for things to work properly. As a man, (I assume?) your iron levels are more likely to be OK, but best to get them checked out.

Another area that people often discuss is that of gluten, as some people believe it's best to avoid gluten if you have a thyroid issue. That belief is not necessarily mainstream, but worth looking at. I like Chris Kresser's info on the thyroid (there are a lot of articles you can read) - here is a link to his one on the gluten issue https://chriskresser.com/the-gluten-thyroid-connection/
 

David Jackson

Senior Member
Messages
195
@CFS_for_19_years - when you stopped taking the Iodine, did you notice a change in how you felt? Or was it just a change in the test results?

@mermaid - thanks for your reply. Did you notice an energy improvement or symptom improvement when you went on the thyroxine?
 

mermaid

Senior Member
Messages
714
Location
UK
Hello @David Jackson Yes, there was a huge improvement for a few years. At the time I was working full time, and was in good health otherwise (this was 20 years ago).

Unfortunately for me, (assuming you are a man, this won't apply!), it all went downhill after about 5 years, as I went through the menopause, and slowly developed the symptoms of ME/CFS over a number of years. Eventually after 17 years of exploring various things, I moved onto Liothyronine instead, and my energy is better now, but that is after putting other things into place as well.
 

caledonia

Senior Member
Since you recently took iodine, it sounds like you should wait and retest and see if it still shows the same or goes back to normal.

Do you have other symptoms of hypothyroidism like dry hair and skin, hair thinning, hair loss on the outer third of the eyebrows, weight gain, depression, etc.?

A great resource is stopthethyroidmadness.com

If you do have hypothyroidism, consider mercury toxicity as a root cause. I had autoimmune thyroiditis for 12 years and was on Armour Thyroid. A year and a half after getting my last mercury filling out, my thyroid recovered. I'm off the med and my complete thyroid panel is normal.
 

mermaid

Senior Member
Messages
714
Location
UK
@caledonia Wow that is really impressive! I often wondered if anyone could recover from underactive thryoid after many years. I had my mercury fillings out (12 in all) a few years ago but am still stuck on medication unfortunately (20 years now).
 

caledonia

Senior Member
@caledonia Wow that is really impressive! I often wondered if anyone could recover from underactive thryoid after many years. I had my mercury fillings out (12 in all) a few years ago but am still stuck on medication unfortunately (20 years now).

I think I was lucky to have it recover at that point. My candida also cleared at the same time.

Usually people need to do chelation and get out more mercury to have those clear. I'm currently doing the Andrew Cutler Frequent Dose Chelation protocol. Just finished round #9. So far, I can see a clear area growing on my fungus toenails. I've had those for many years too.

If you decided to chelate, my suggestion would be to do only this protocol. The reason is if you don't take chelators within their half life, you can get worse. Learned this from hard experience. I have to dose every two hours.

See my signature link for info on the Cutler protocol.
 

PatJ

Forum Support Assistant
Messages
5,288
Location
Canada
I would agree that taking iodine can be problematic from what I have read regarding the thyroid. I understand that if you take it then selenium needs to be adequate too,

I did a lot of research before I started taking Iodine regularly. Almost everything I read pointed out the need for additional selenium to avoid hypothyroid reactions in susceptible people. Additional cofactors include magnesium, vitamin-c, b vitamins, and sea salt.

This is from Stephanie Buist ND:
Selenium
* high amounts of iodine without selenium induces AIT (Auto Immune Thyroiditis) and goiter.
* selenium + iodine reduces goiter and inflammation of the thyroid gland.
* selenium supplementation reduces TgAb that may be elevated by taking iodine.
* TPOAb antibody levels were inversely associated with selenium levels (if you have high selenium, you have low antibodies and vice versa).
* selenium + iodine increases the regulatory immune cells which prevent the development of autoimmune diseases.
* necessary for the body to produce glutathione peroxidase, which detoxes pesticides, mercury, chlorine and bromide.
 

acer2000

Senior Member
Messages
818
I think I developed ioaterogenic hypothyroidism when I had several scans that had iodine contrast die. Several months later I came down with CFS and when they tested my thyroid my TSH was borderline high at 3.8 and I had a small goiter. My antibodies were negative. I was put on a trial of synthroid which didn't help my CFS symptoms but now I'm dependent on it. If your TSH and T4 don't come back into line soon, you could try some T4 and see how you feel. Esp if you have th cardinal symptoms of hypothyroid. It might be hard to tell though because the symptoms overlap with CFS.
 

David Jackson

Senior Member
Messages
195
Thank you to all the above contributors. You've given me some good places to start.

@caledonia - never have had any mercury fillings. And not really any symptoms of hypothyroidism... just not very much energy, and some kind of weird hypoglycemic thing; basically, needing to eat every three hours, or I'll kill someone (JK).
 

caledonia

Senior Member
Thank you to all the above contributors. You've given me some good places to start.

@caledonia - never have had any mercury fillings. And not really any symptoms of hypothyroidism... just not very much energy, and some kind of weird hypoglycemic thing; basically, needing to eat every three hours, or I'll kill someone (JK).

You don't have to have a history of mercury fillings to have mercury. This must be the #1 myth I see on this site.

The low energy and hypoglycemia sound like adrenal fatigue. Adrenal fatigue can also affect the thyroid. Adrenal fatigue and hypothyroidism can be caused by mercury.

Adrenal fatigue can be also caused by overtraining, long term undue stress, excessive caffeine use, etc.

The Stop the Thyroid Madness website I gave a link to also has a good page on adrenals and how to test for adrenal fatigue. There are some free at home self tests and then you can also do a 24 hour cortisol saliva test.
 

Jan

Senior Member
Messages
458
Location
Devon UK
Oh dear, I think maybe I should stop trying new supplements when I don't have the energy to do the relevant research. I've had underactive thyroid for several years and started taking iodine earlier this year hoping it would help. My last blood results showed TSH 0.03 miu/L so they reduced my thyroxine.

I eventually read somewhere that I should be taking selenium as well which I have since been taking. I've just had another blood test (awaiting results), I do feel that I've become underactive again. I really don't know what to do now, I think I should stop the iodine and then have another test. Any idea how long I should wait to be re-tested?