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Subclinically low thyroid levels might cause mental health problems

Bob

Senior Member
Messages
16,455
Location
England (south coast)
Subclinical thyroid levels might cause mental health problems

An article about subclinical thyroid levels, and how they might cause long-term depression and anxiety in some people...

For Some, Psychiatric Trouble May Start in Thyroid:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/h...tric-troubles-may-begin-with-the-thyroid.html


The article describes how some people with long-term depression and/or anxiety can be helped when prescribed thyroxine because they have subclinically low thyroid levels.

This is very interesting for me personally because after I became ill with ME my thyroid levels became clinically low. And since being treated with thyroxine, my life-long depression has improved remarkably. It might just be a coincidence, or it might be because of my fluctuating endocrine levels, or a long-term auto-immune disorder with symptoms that have shifted, but whatever the reason - it's interesting.
 

Enid

Senior Member
Messages
3,309
Location
UK
Interesting to me too Bob - it was late diagnosis of hypothyroidism that I'm certain lead to the full ME chain of events. I was originally put on quite a high dose of thyroxine (now levelled out at a lower dose) but it did not stop the ME chain of events. Any depression I can recall was what one call "clinical" - all systems slowed to the extent of passing out three times. I'm guessing impaired thyroid function (it's a bit of master gland isn't it) leads to dysfunction of the many systems we know affected in ME.
 
Messages
13,774
Autoimmune problems are also related to thyroid and mental health problems. It all gets exponentially more complicated!

I thikn UK and USA do less to intervene with thyroid levels than a lot of other European places. We'll probably look back in 50 years time and realise that everyone was wrong.
 

Battery Muncher

Senior Member
Messages
620
Interesting to me too Bob - it was late diagnosis of hypothyroidism that I'm certain lead to the full ME chain of events. I was originally put on quite a high dose of thyroxine (now levelled out at a lower dose) but it did not stop the ME chain of events. Any depression I can recall was what one call "clinical" - all systems slowed to the extent of passing out three times. I'm guessing impaired thyroid function (it's a bit of master gland isn't it) leads to dysfunction of the many systems we know affected in ME.

Yep, there seems to be quite a few ME/CFS'ers with thyroid issues. I've always suspected mines are low, but every test I've had suggests otherwise....
 

Bob

Senior Member
Messages
16,455
Location
England (south coast)
Interesting to me too Bob - it was late diagnosis of hypothyroidism that I'm certain lead to the full ME chain of events. I was originally put on quite a high dose of thyroxine (now levelled out at a lower dose) but it did not stop the ME chain of events. Any depression I can recall was what one call "clinical" - all systems slowed to the extent of passing out three times. I'm guessing impaired thyroid function (it's a bit of master gland isn't it) leads to dysfunction of the many systems we know affected in ME.

Yes, low thyroid levels can cause severe depression, and the whole body grinds to a halt. It's very hard to distinguish hypothyroidism symptoms from ME symptoms sometimes, because they both affect the entire body, & the brain, and they both cause exhaustion. But there is a definite, if subtle, difference between the two types of exhaustion which I can distinguish as long as my symptoms for both illnesses are fairly stable and not fluctuating all over the place. Strangely, my undiagnosed low thyroid levels (undiagnosed for a year or more) seemed to protect me from the ME, because my body was on such a go-slow. When I went onto thyroxine, I had an ME relapse.

Enid, do you ever think it could be the case that your thyroid problems and ME developed simultaneously for the same reasons (i.e. the same cause)? I think my clinical hypothyroidism developed about a year after getting ME, but the levels might have started going lower as soon as I developed ME.

Autoimmune problems are also related to thyroid and mental health problems. It all gets exponentially more complicated!

Yes, that's another line of thought that i've had... That I might have a life-long autoimmune disorder, or something similar, and that the focus of the symptoms shifted from my brain to body when i developed ME.
 
Messages
13,774
Yes, that's another line of thought that i've had... That I might have a life-long autoimmune disorder, or something similar, and that the focus of the symptoms shifted from my brain to body when i developed ME.

I read somewhere recently about (I think) 'undifferentiated autoimmune' something. It sounded like there was a blood test which could indicate a predilection to autoimmune problems that may not yet results in a condition like Lupus (this was mainstream medicine, rather than alternative type testing). I would assume that those with CFS would have been tested, but who knows. I just had a quick google and couldn't see much about it though. I'll have another look.

edit: maybe it was here: http://www.hss.edu/conditions_undifferentiated-connective-tissue-disease-overview.asp

A bit too tired/lazy to read through now.
 

alex3619

Senior Member
Messages
13,810
Location
Logan, Queensland, Australia
Hi Esther, it used to be the case that soluble interleukin-2 receptor(sIL2r) was a generic test for autoimmune issues - active ones, not potential. The thinking on this appears to have changed but I have not had the time to follow it up. It might be worth looking into. Bye, Alex
 
Messages
13,774
Hi Esther, it used to be the case that soluble interleukin-2 receptor(sIL2r) was a generic test for autoimmune issues - active ones, not potential. The thinking on this appears to have changed but I have not had the time to follow it up. It might be worth looking into. Bye, Alex

Thanks Alex. That rings a bell, I think you got it.
 

heapsreal

iherb 10% discount code OPA989,
Messages
10,089
Location
australia (brisbane)
Has anyone looked into reverse T3 problems, from memory RT3 is an inactive form of T3 that blocks the effects of active T3. Instead of T4 converting to T3 its converts into RT3. Some can have normal TSH, T3 and T4 tests. I think some say high RT3 can be a sign of high stress levels from whatever cause like infections etc. Also read that they can treat this problem with low doses of T3 itself for several months and this corrects the problem and some have felt better. It was also mentioned not to treat with T3 if u have adrenal fatigue (low dhea/cortisol) until its improved. I think low morning body temp of <36c can be a sign too.

http://www.custommedicine.com.au/health-articles/reverse-t3-dominance/
http://thyroid-rt3.com/

cheers!!!
 

rlc

Senior Member
Messages
822
Hi bob, personally I find it very sad that they are still quoting TSH reference ranges of ( 0.4 5) in this article that has been proven wrong for a long time, but for reasons best known to the medical profession they keep using the out of date reference ranges, theres an interesting article about it here http://thyroid.about.com/od/gettestedanddiagnosed/a/tshtestwars.htm they say evidence shows that the reference range should be 0.4-2.5 and estimate that millions of people are having the diagnosis missed, they then get diagnosed with depression or CFS.

Dr Mirza mentions it as one of the reasons why so many people are getting misdiagnosed with CFS in his article pointing out the faults in the CDC guidelines for CFS called The Myth of Chronic Fatigue syndrome found at the bottom of this page http://www.bmj.com/content/334/7605/1221?tab=responses he also points out that the reference ranges for B12, vitamin D and glucose have also been proven to be wrong, such a shame all they have to do is update the reference ranges to the new correct ones and so many people would have their pointless suffering ended.

All the best
 

Enid

Senior Member
Messages
3,309
Location
UK
Bob your query post 5 (just caught up) - what appears to have happened (onset 12 years ago) was a years delay in hypothyroid diagnosis whilst unwittingly carrying on a busy job. Correct level of thyroxine did not improve the situation as I felt to unwell, vertigos, constant sore throat, increasing cognitive problems - all to being bedridden. My brother (a Neurologist) is of the opinion one thing going untreated leads to another - breakdown/dysfunction in other systems especially from the thyroid gland. Whilst ME symptoms did seem to escalate after thyroxine treatment the damage was already done and the immune system thoroughly compromised allowing latent viruses to express themselves. Just thoughts on this complex issue. Still convinced the illness is viral whether or not the thyroid plays a role in origins (and persisting).