Got thyroid symptoms despite “normal” thyroid lab work, but your doctor says you’re fine? Think again.
There are too many women (and men) falling through the cracks of our healthcare system when it comes to thyroid dysfunction. Symptoms are blown off and testing tends to be inadequate. And even those who do get diagnosed with hypothyroidism or even Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis report that they simply don’t feel better.
You don’t have to be lost in the woods and lose years of your life to hypothyroidism. There are ways to naturally improve your levels as well as key information you need to know (that you’re probably not hearing from your doctor) that could truly mean the difference between feeling like your own self or total crap.
I sat down with my friend, Dana Trentini, founder of Hypothyroid Mom, to discuss the troubling path to hypothyroid diagnosis and what you can do to take back your health.
What Your Thyroid Symptoms Really Mean & How to Get Straight Answers with Dana Trentini
The following points were discussed in during the podcast:
1:30 Dana shares her story about why she started HypothyroidMom.com and how she finally got diagnosed with hypothyroidism.
3:30 The sobering reality of the statistics on hypothyroidism in the US and worldwide
4:50 The reasons why so many people with thyroid symptoms are left undiagnosed or completely misdiagnosed
6:15 Postpartum depression may actually be hypothyroidism, yet so many women end up with prescriptions for anti-depressants
8:20 List of the many different symptoms of hypothyroidism with further explanations
10:10 What getting misdiagnosed could lead to taking so many unnecessary medications that only treat what are actually thyroid symptoms
12:25 What tests should you (the patient) ask for to get meaningful data on your thyroid’s function
14:21 Why the normal lab reference ranges may be totally wrong when it comes to thyroid testing
15:45 The refusal in mainstream medication to consider other thyroid medication options and how that could be keeping you feeling awful
19:00 Using the TSH to predict autoimmune thyroid disease years before it can be diagnosed with thyroid symptoms
20:40 What Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis is and why it’s so important to find out if that’s actually what you have
22:38 Why treatment differs if you have confirmed thyroid antibodies in your system
24:30 How to locate a good thyroid specialist
29:00 Suggestions from Dana on how to stay positive through your thyroid journey despite all the bumps in the road
COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT
Jennifer: Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the Gluten Free School Podcast. I’m your host, Jennifer Fugo. Today, we are going to talk about how to become your own best advocate especially when you’re dealing with issues around hypothyroidism.
Now, I have an incredible guest. I hope that you guys will love her because I think she’s brilliant and she’s done an amazing job at bringing the best information to the masses for thyroid advocacy. Her name is Dana Trentini and she is the mastermind behind Hypothyroid Mom.
She’s the winner of two 2014 Wego Health Activist Award, Best In Show, Twitter and Health Activist Hero.
Dana was also diagnosed with hypothyroidism following the birth of her first son in 2006 and I want her to tell you her story because I do think the reason why she started HypothyroidMom.com is very inspiring. She is truly a health heroine and pioneer in this area and I’m so glad that I can count her as one of my advocates and friends in this community.
Dana, welcome to the podcast!
Dana: Thank you so much, Jennifer. It’s a pleasure to be here. Thank you!
Jennifer: Dana, why don’t you tell us how did you get started. Where did this interest in hypothyroidism come from that then spawned HypothyroidMom.com?
Dana: Absolutely, Jennifer. I’m the last person on earth you would ever imagine would start a blog. I have never blogged, used Facebook, Twitter. I’m not a technology person. I felt that this was what I was supposed to do.
I launched Hypothyroid Mom on October 1st 2012 in memory of the baby I miscarried unnecessarily to hypothyroidism.
As you’ve mentioned, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism following the birth of my first son and that was in 2006. I trusted my doctors. I’m one of those people, I was one of those people who believed doctor knows best. My doctors were in New York City. They were Ivy League medical school trained and had awards up on their walls. I never once doubted that they would know what to do with my hypothyroidism especially when I became pregnant again in late 2008. It was just not something that I questioned.
I’d later learned they had no clue what to do for me with my hypothyroidism and pregnancy. My thyroid-stimulation hormone (TSH), which is normally used in mainstream medicine to measure thyroid function reached levels far – I mean, we soared above the recommended reference range for pregnancy, endangering my child and so I miscarried.
That day, as I laid on the medical exam table (I can remember the day so vividly)… As they were about to start my DNC for my miscarried baby, I said, “I vow I am going to learn everything about this hypothyroidism and I am going to warn women everywhere.” I fulfilled my vow by launching Hypothyroid Mom.
Jennifer: And you’ve got an amazing site!
Dana: Thank you, Jennifer. Thank you. As do you. I love Gluten Free School.
Jennifer: Well, thank you! Dana, tell us a little bit about the statistics because my father is a physician and so many women that come in his office have thyroid problems. I mean, this is a big deal. So what is the prevalence of thyroid disease in the U.S. and worldwide?
Dana: It is shocking to me, Jennifer. The statistics blow my mind literally. Let’s look at the Thyroid Federation International. They estimate that up to 300 million people worldwide have thyroid dysfunction. But the crazier part about it is that over half are unaware of their condition. That makes over 150 million unaware of their condition right now across the world and the majority of them have hypothyroidism.
Now, let’s look at the U.S. specifically. If we look at really conservative estimates, they say there are 27 million Americans with thyroid disease. But according to some experts and thyroid advocates that I follow, the actual number of thyroid patients in the U.S. is actually closer to 60 million and thyroid disease affects women eight to ten times more often than men.
But for me, again, the crazy part is that more than half of them are undiagnosed and that’s crazy!
Jennifer: How is that even possible? How do you not get diagnosed? This can be a very serious condition. I mean, you had a miscarriage. This is a big deal. How is that possible?
Dana: Sadly, I think there are many reasons for why this is happening. I think there’s just a lack of awareness about thyroid conditions. There’s this belief that the thyroid is something very easy to fix. You take one pill a day and it’s fixed. No one really looks at how low thyroid affects the whole body and therefore, it results in symptoms that can affect every organ of the body. I think the seriousness of thyroid conditions is totally overlooked and it enrages me, these statistics.
But when I look at these statistics, it really doesn’t surprise me. I was diagnosed at age 36 after the birth of my first son (that was eight years ago), but I’ve really had symptoms all my life since I was a child. I’ve had symptoms through puberty. Not one doctor ever considered testing my thyroid, my parents had no idea about hypothyroidism to ask for testing and I have never thought about the thyroid to even ask for those kinds of tests.
So if you think about that, I went probably over 30 years of my life undiagnosed. So the statistics are really not that shocking. I hear from so many people that went decades without a diagnosis.
Jennifer: Dr. Kelly Brogan who’s doing some really brilliant work with women and women’s health, she shared with me on several occasions when I’ve spoken with her that a lot of post-partum issues are really thyroid issues, another hormonal imbalances that are just totally overlooked and it’s like, “Oh, here, take an antidepressant.”
Dana: It’s interesting you should say that, Jennifer because I’ve read the great work of Dr. Kelly Brogan and I loved the podcast that you had on thyroid and mental health issues with her. Fantastic podcast!
I am like the poster child for post-partum and thyroid issues. After my first son was born, you had a post-natal visit with your doctor. I had weight gain, the extreme fatigue that I couldn’t wake up. My hair was falling out and the skin on my heels were cracked to bleeding. I had severe constipation. My menstrual cycles were heavy and clotty. I felt unwell.
I could see her writing in her prescription pad and she passed it over and she said, “A lot of women in post-partum have post-partum depression. Here’s some antidepressants” and I looked at her and I said, “I don’t think I’m depressed. I’m sick. I think I’m sick.”
Jennifer: Right!
Dana: “You can choose not to take these, but here you go.”
And guess what? A few months later, I landed in the emergency room with really painful kidney stones and I was so lucky that the emergency room doctor decided how is this young, healthy woman have kidney stone and he decided to do a full blood work that included thyroid and there I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism.
Otherwise, I would be on the antidepressants probably to this day, eight years later, still not knowing that I have hypothyroidism. So thank goodness for great doctors like my ER doctor who even considered testing my thyroid because of my symptoms.
Jennifer: I think we should cover this in case someone’s listening and saying, “I think I have some of these symptoms, but I’m not entirely certain what the most common symptoms of hypothyroidism are,” so could you share a few of those with us?
Dana: Absolutely! Every cell of the body requires thyroid hormone for proper functioning. So that means every single part of the body can be affected.
One of the most popular articles on my blog, Hypothyroid Mom is called 300+ Hypothyroidism Symptoms… Yes, Really. The reason that it’s so popular, the reason I think it’s so popular is because so many hypothyroid people are struggling with symptoms and they have no idea it’s connected to their thyroid. And sadly, oftentimes, their doctors don’t realize it.
And so what happens is they get multiple misdiagnoses, they’re on multiple medications, they’re on multiple remedies all because the underlying thyroid condition was not caught or is not being treated properly.
The number one symptom has to be fatigue. This is a fatigue I can’t even explain to you. I don’t even think there are proper words to explain it. It’s the kind of fatigue that you sleep, but even when you sleep extra, you don’t feel better. It’s a fatigue that takes over your body and wears you down that you struggle to make it through each day with your eyes open.
Low thyroid can affect your body, your weight, your body temperature, mouth and throat, ears, eyes, hair – oh, the hair loss for women is so upsetting – nails, skin, brain, kidney, bladder, gallbladder, liver, lungs, heart. Low thyroid an increase your vulnerability to infection.
I was a poster child for walking and I was a target for every cold and flu around.
Vulnerability to develop autoimmune condition, swelling of the body, chronic pain. You can’t imagine how many fibromyalgia patients land on my site and ask if there’s a connection and they are shocked to find out that there is.
Constipation, menstrual disorders, reproductive disorders, pregnancy complications and mental health symptoms.
Jennifer: It’s amazing when you list all that out. I’m thinking to myself, “Well, yeah, no wonder doctors are misdiagnosing it or missing it because it sounds like so many other things.”
Dana: Exactly! And so that’s why you’ll find so many people on my Facebook page or on my blog that are literally on a series of different medications for many different things. So many of them are on statin drugs for high cholesterol, so many of them are on blood sugar medication. Both of those things were things I was about to be put on until I was lucky to find a great doctor who realized that my thyroid wasn’t being optimally treated. Otherwise, I’d be on statin drugs and diabetes medication.
So, you see, there are so many illnesses that the root cause is thyroid, but the thyroid is often not the one that’s looked at. It’s so overlooked. The biggest message is if you have many of these different symptoms and no one can put a finger on what is going on and you’re taking these other medications, but you’re still not feeling well, why not be sure you get your thyroid fully tested.
Jennifer: So this is where your site has helped me tremendously because I was diagnosed with these nodules on my thyroid and I didn’t really know what to do aside from being told to go get an ultrasound. I felt at that moment that I really should look into what else could potentially be going on if there is an issue, if there’s not an issue, but I should probably do my homework.
And when I inquired about what testing was to be done, “Well, we just test the TSH.”
Because of my father (he has done a lot of research on the thyroid), he said, “No, you need more.” I happened to do some searching and found your website and lo, and behold! You’ve got a really great blog up about the testing that you should request.
So if someone is listening to this and saying, “You know, I’ve had my thyroid testing and everything comes back normal, but I don’t feel good and I still think there’s a problem” or, “I’d like to get tested,” what do you suggest that they go and ask for.
Dana: First of all, Jennifer, I’m so happy my blog has been helpful to you. That’s so great. I always love hearing that.
I think there are many reasons why hypothyroid people are struggling to be well, whether they’re undiagnosed. I also have many that are treated and still no doing well, and I think there are four primary reasons.
The first one, as you’ve mentioned, is this reliance on thyroid-stimulating hormone known as TSH. This TSH rules the mainstream medicine world when it comes to thyroid. A doctor will look at your TSH and if you are in that broad normal reference range, you are normal.
Well, I’m here to tell you that that TSH reference range is not always normal. If I had a doctor that focused on TSH, I would be a very ill woman today.
So the first thing is this reliance on TSH, the idea that one test alone can give a full picture of a thyroid condition is really crazy to me, how one test can be the be-all and end-all of a diagnosis.
Two is there’s failure to do full thyroid blood testing. There’s more to it than TSH and the testing should include free T4, free T3, reverse T3 and thyroid antibodies. This is so important, but so many doctors are not doing this.
While you have to be an advocate for yourself, you need to know one, that these tests are important and number two, you need to insist on the test. And if the doctors won’t give them to you, you find a doctor who will so that you can get a full picture of what’s going on with your thyroid.
The third major is that the normal lab reference ranges are too broad. They are so broad that what is considered ‘normal’ is not necessarily optimal for every person.
So I’ll give you a very simple example for this. Free T3 is a critical piece of the thyroid blood testing, but free T3 is often not done. The thyroid hormone T4 needs to be converted into the active T3 that is utilized by the cells. The free T3 is a critical piece of the puzzle.
Now, even if you take the free T3, the range is very broad. I feel awful if my free T3 is low or middle of the range. I feel awful! I feel my best when my free T3 is in the top quarter of the normal range.
So what I’m saying is these ranges are very broad and each of us has an optimal range where we feel our best. So just because someone tells you it’s normal doesn’t make it optimal for you. And while it’s so important, you find a doctor that’s looking at that range and listening to you and your symptoms.
And finally, the last thing that I can’t emphasize enough is there is a refusal in mainstream medicine to consider thyroid medication options besides Levothyroxine drugs like Synthroid. I cannot tell you more why this is so critical.
I have a Facebook following of over 100,000 people. The reason they follow me is because the majority of them are on a T4 only levothyroxine drug like Synthroid or Levoxyl or the other levothyroxine brands.
The problem with this, some people do well on T4 only and I’m happy for them, it’s fabulous! Our bodies are supposed to convert the T4 hormone in that drug to the active T3 hormone that our cells need.
For some reason or another, many of us (including me), our bodies just do not do that conversion of T4 to T3.
So you put me on a T4 only levothyroxine drug and I can’t get out of bed. You put me on a combination of T4 and T3, whether that be synthetics or natural desiccated thyroid –
I personally am on a brand of natural desiccated thyroid called Nature-throid and it literally changed my life. It changed my life. I couldn’t open my eyes on levothyroxine.
And this is the same with many people on my page. I was very lucky to find an open-minded doctor who was willing to explore the T4 and T3 options because our bodies, they’re all different in terms of which treatment are right for us. She was willing to explore those option and found what was right for me.
And that’s what I encourage everyone and why advocating for yourself is so important because if you have a doctor that’s strictly relying on these drugs that are not working for you, then you need to step away and find a doctor that’s open to the options. That really means advocating for yourself.
Jennifer: And I have to share too that my grandmother who had a thyroid issue, she actually had a lot of mental health problems in taking these standard fair that she was prescribed by her doctor. We had to get her to a different physician that would prescribe the Armour version of the drug, so that she felt calmer and more herself.
And when she was admitted to the hospital, they just changed it back to what it was and we had to get a note from the physician to say, “No, she has a sensitivity or an allergy to this medication. She cannot take it. It has to be Armour.” It’s just like they were insistent that you take that particular medication. I really want to talk to you on this because I think it’s so critically important.
The antibody test for thyroid is so key. This is so important because as I’ve been told by so many experts I’ve interviewed on this podcast including Tracy Konoske, RD about testing that can predict Hashimoto’s up to seven years before it even surfaces to a point where your doctor could then say, “Hey, you have Hashimoto’s,” which is an autoimmune disease. You have time and no one is running this test.
Dana: But isn’t that crazy that they’re not? Do you know how many people – I mean, think about it. My blog is a place for hypothyroid people. They say that 90% of people with hypothyroidism have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, the autoimmune thyroid condition – 90%.
I want to tell you that the majority of people that come to my blog or my Facebook page, they have never heard of Hashimoto’s, they have never heard of thyroid antibodies.
Can you imagine I have people that went 20 years of diagnosis of hypothyroidism that the only reason they got their thyroid antibodies tested is because I keep emphasizing it on my blog and on my Facebook page. Guess what? Twenty years after they were diagnosed because of my blog, they were diagnosed with Hashimoto’s and they finally figured out the root cause of their hypothyroidism.
There are two antibodies that everybody with symptoms of hypothyroidism should have tested, thyroid peroxidase antibodies and thyroglobulin antibodies. I can’t stress enough how important both of those thyroid antibodies are.
When you have Hashimoto’s, it is more than a thyroid condition. It’s more than taking thyroid hormone replacement. This is an autoimmune condition where your body has mistaken your body part (in this case, your thyroid), it’s mistaken it as this foreign object and begins attacking it.
You can actually go years with a normal TSH, you can go years with Hashimoto’s antibodies, but no one ever tests them, right? They’re testing your TSH. You can go years with a normal TSH and have Hashimoto’s antibodies and yet that person had been struggling for years and they’re told, “But your TSH is normal” and then thankfully, they discover the importance of Hashimoto’s antibodies, they get tested and they figure out they have an autoimmune condition.
With an autoimmune condition, there are so many things we can do such as follow your blog, Gluten Free School. It’s so important because gluten-free is one of the key things I hear about from my readers with Hashimoto’s that has helped them with their symptoms. So there’s more to Hashimoto’s than just a thyroid condition.
Jennifer: And there is also an increased risk, three to four times elevated, if you have Celiac Disease to then develop Hashimoto’s.
And to be honest with you, if you’re diagnosed with one autoimmune disease, your risk of being diagnosed with a second, a third, a fourth increases exponentially.
So you want to know if you have an autoimmune disease not because you’re thinking, “Oh, gosh! This horrible situation is barreling down at me. Woe is me,” no! You want to know so that you can make lifestyle and dietary choices that will help your body thrive and hopefully halt or maybe even reverse what is happening.
Dana: But you know what’s scary, Jennifer? Do you know how many people will go to their doctor. They’ll discover, they’ll listen to a podcast like this, right? They’ll go to their doctor and say, “I want these two thyroid antibodies tested.” Do you know many doctors will say to them, “Those tests are not necessary. It will not change my treatment of your hypothyroidism.”
What are they talking about?
And so if you don’t get your antibodies tested, you don’t know you have an autoimmune condition. And like I said, if you do not address the underlying triggers of that autoimmune condition, you are then vulnerable for the body to attack other body parts and then you end up with multiple autoimmune conditions.
That’s why so many people on my page struggle with multiple autoimmune conditions including Celiac, psoriasis, lupus, MS. Many of them have multiple autoimmune conditions all simultaneously and that’s because many doctors believe why test thyroid antibodies when there’s nothing we can do besides give you thyroid medication.
But that is the problem with the mainstream medical model. They don’t have a way to address the underlying autoimmune condition.
So many people have no clue that gluten sensitivity is a major factor in Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism in general.
Food is not discussed when you walk in with hypothyroidism. All that’s discussed is this TSH and leothyroxine drug, but the other factors like nutrient deficiencies, adrenal fatigue, those things, they’re not address – gluten sensitivities, food sensitivities, food allergies. Nobody is discussing these factors when it comes to hypothyroidism and that’s what is so shocking to me.
We need a shift in the mainstream medical model in terms of how they diagnose and treat hypothyroidism. They include all these factors.
Jennifer: If someone wants to find a good thyroid doctor, what do you suggest for them to locate this person because I know some of us live in areas where we might not have access to a full panel of – I know you had Ivy League doctors. Depending on where you live – I live near Philadelphia and we’ve got Penn and we’ve got great hospitals, but what if you’re just living out in – I don’t want to say the ‘middle of nowhere’, but it’s not a big city and you don’t have this really great university hospitals, what do you do to find somebody that’s going to listen to you?
Dana: Well, that’s key to our wellness, right, finding a great thyroid doctor, so let’s talk about that.
Now, I am right here near the greatest city of the world, New York City and I have not had success finding great care. So when I was first figuring it out, when I miscarried and I realized how unwell I was and that my Ivy League and award-winning doctors were not getting me well, I decided to do a search online.
I happened to find thyroid advocate Mary Shomon’s list of thyroid doctors (which is an international list). I started looking through and reading the reviews and I found what I thought to be a great doctor in Virginia.
Now, imagine, I drive five hours to see my doctor. Well, you might say, “Well, that’s crazy! What are you doing driving five hours?” This woman changed my life.
Now, initially, I did have to go quite often to get my levels in check and to be in optimal treatment, but since then, I’ve only had to go in twice a year to maintain my levels. I’ve gone in either by train, by bus, by driving and it’s worth it for me.
So before I answer your question, I don’t want people to feel restricted by their location. There are doctors that you can drive to. So look at locations that are a drivable distance for you. Some will do many of their appointments by phone, so that you don’t have to visit in person all the time. There are so many variations.
I compiled a list of 30 online resources to help readers locate a good thyroid doctor. The article is called, just that, 30 Online Resources to Find a Good Thyroid Doctor. I posted it because everyone is always asking, “How did you find a great thyroid doctor?” Well, guess what, the first few on the list, maybe the first six are list that have been compiled by thyroid advocates who have listened to their readers who have recommended great doctors.
And these lists have doctors in every single U.S. state and many of them are international lists. The list continues with directories to help you find more open-minded type health practitioners.
For example, I have been fascinated – I do a lot of guest blog posts on my site and I have been fascinated by the functional medicine doctors that come on my site. I’ve had Dr. Mark Hyman and other fascinating functional medicine experts who have talked about the functional medicine approach to thyroid. So I’ve included directories to help you locate functional medicine doctors or alternative type doctors like naturopaths. I’ve compiled a list of 30.
When you’re talking about thyroid, it’s not always an endocrinologist that you need. They often will look at only TSH and levothyroxine. I’m sure there are many great endocrinologist, but not all of them.
So it’s not the specialty as much as the way they will look at the thyroid. Are they open-minded? Will they do free T4 and free T3, reverse T3 and the thyroid antibodies? Are they open to T3 drugs including natural desiccated thyroid.
You’re looking for an open-minded doctor. And so this 30 online resources will hopefully help people locate a good doctor in their area. And the lists are also international, so in case you have an international audience.
Jennifer: This is my last question to you and I think it’s important. I know that you’ve talked about how some of this stuff really upsets you and there’s plenty of things in my community that really upset me. We’re dealing with educating and empowering women to make a choice that puts them at the center of their own wellness, their own life, their own priorities. How do you stay positive in all of these? How do you not lose hope and faith that you’ll find an answer that will make you feel better? What has been helpful for you?
Dana: The number one thing for me has been finding fellow hypothyroidism patients. My Hypothyroid Mom Facebook page has been my greatest blessing. I don’t know how long I will continue the Facebook page, but for the rest of my life, I will be thankful for it.
I can’t tell you how great it feels when you see success stories on my page. People on my page are so sharing of their experiences and so many will come on and tell me, “Gluten free changed my life! I feel fantastic!” or, “Guess what? They tested my nutrients and vitamin D was low and now I feel fabulous” or, “I found a great doctor who put me on Armour or Nature-throid and I feel like my whole life has changed.”
Meeting fellow people to know you are not alone is one of the most positive, beautiful blessings of my whole life. I hope that the people on my page feel that way too, but for me, I feel blessed to have met them all.
The other thing is that I have lived it. I was down in a deep, dark hole after my miscarriage. I could not get out of my bed to take care of my young son who at that time was a toddler. I couldn’t keep my eyes open and I thought I would never get better.
But guess what? By finding a resource that had recommended thyroid doctors, I found a fabulous doctor who literally changed my life. I didn’t think there was hope, but there was hope.
I hope that by sharing my story and that by others sharing their stories of success, you will know that there is hope. There is hope to be well despite hypothyroidism. I know it because I’m living it. I hope that everyone who has hypothyroidism will know that there is hope for them as well.
Jennifer: I love everything that you’re saying because I, too, I find the community that grew out of my idea to connect people all over the world now has become this incredible source of inspiration not just for them, but especially for me.
And I have days when I’m down in the dumps, it is so great to go and read people’s stories and to be reminded that I’m a part of something larger than myself.
Dana: Exactly.
Jennifer: It’s just so wonderful. So thank you so much, Dana for joining us. I hope that we can have you back because I feel like there’s so much more we can talk about with thyroid issues.
Dana: Yes, absolutely!
Jennifer: Thank you so much. And everybody, if you want go join Dana, her website is phenomenal – like I said, HypothyroidMom.com. She also has a newsletter. Go sign up for her newsletter. I will put the links below.
She’s always got giveaways going on, incredible guest posts and she’s always putting up really well-thought out, well-researched articles. She has done an excellent job. I would encourage you, if you have any interest in this or you know someone that’s struggling, please forward and share this interview to them because Dana has been a resource to me. I hope that you’ll find it to be equally as valuable of a resource for yourself and your own journey.
So thank you, Dana for joining us.
Dana: A pleasure to be here, Jennifer. Thank you.
Jennifer: Alright, everybody. Remember, stay in touch with Dana. And then go subscribe, rate and review this podcast. Know that we appreciate your presence here. I am so grateful for the amount of women that have listened in and continue to share this podcast and all the information that we’re putting out there with their friends and their family.
So let us know if you have had a great experience from listening to one of these or just generally speaking, please go let the world know. It’s very much appreciated. We are on iTunes and that’s a great place to give us a nice review.
And if you have any questions about this whole thyroid topic, leave your questions and your comments below. We’d love to hear them and we look forward to hearing more from you about what you’d like to know in the future about thyroid issues.
As I’ve said, I’m hoping we can get Dana back on and we’ll talk more soon. In the meantime, I hope you have a very fabulous day. I’ll see you the next time. Bye bye!
IMPORTANT LINKS
Hypothyroid Mom website — http://www.hypothyroidmom.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HypothyroidMom
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HypothyroidMom
I am scheduling an appointment today with my Dr due to issues I have been having for months, the main one being tightness in my throat. I am having trouble swallowing, and always feel like someone has a grip on my throat. I noticed yesterday that it looks odd.
I have also been extremely fatigued and even though I am eating less, due to painful difficulty swallowing, and exercise, I am gaining weight.
My son has Celiac, and I had wondered if I might have undiagnosed Celiac, but yesterday my thoughts turned to my thyroid.
Thank you for a great place to start!
Dana, I had a total thyroidectomy July 2014 due to papillary and follicular cancer, followed by 100 millicuries RAI 6 weeks later. Should I insist my endocrinologist test for my thyroid antibodies even though I don’t have a thyroid? I am overwhelmed with all I have learned through your blog and facebook page, but it is very helpful too. Thanks for all the great information.
Diana
I have had hypothyroid issues most of my life I believe. Everytime I have tried any kind of thyroid medications I have Hyperthyroid symptoms 🙁 I have tried Armor to levoxel to synthroid. All of them gave me sweats, pounding heart, palpitations, Major Anxiety, insomnia, panic attacks and some. My TSH are screaming but T3 and T4 are off but not like my TSH says they are.
I have been taking Amrit for symptoms of tiredness and depressio. I cut Gluten out (as far as I know , I’m sure I may consume on accident sometimes) I cut out eggs, most sugar, all caffeine.
Doctors have diagnosed me with Kidney stones, IBS, fibromalisia(not sure about spelling ), panicked attack disorder. The list goes on.
Any suggestions?
Thank you,
Jonnie
Hello,
Ten years ago I had ‘tests’ for an underactive thyroid : results were always borderline and GPs put it down to lifestyle ( i was then owner/ manager of an award winning gastro pub? So yes, tonnes of stress!
I no longer own this business my illness and recession factors here.
Last September I was admitted to hospital with severe jaundice: scans, tests etc now show liver abnormal and I havebeen told I need a liver biopsy as viral infection is not the cause but raised alt show autoimmune disease.
I keep asking the doctors are; adrenal, thyroid: Stress and gluten causes to my illness , but they do not seem to listen.
How can I explain to them in ‘ medical jargon’ ,my problems arestill stress related( I hope to move to a rural area have been concerned about my younges daughter and last but most of all my father passed away in 2011) and alternative treatments meditation diet etc would serve me better, rather than invasive medical investigations and possible medication? Alcohol consumption is not a contributory factor.
Thank You ,
Jan
Hi Jan,
This is a really common problem for people who do not feel that they are being heard by their practitioners. Firstly, you may need to seek out practitioners that actually get what you’re talking about. Traditional/conventional medicine doesn’t really follow with these trends and because they don’t know anything about it, it’s easier to dismiss what the patient says.
I’d highly recommend that you check out this podcast on patient advocacy… I think you’ll find many great pointers here on how to handle the situation: https://www.jenniferfugo.com/2015/02/24/how-to-get-your-doctor-to-listen-to-you/
And here’s another on finding doctors who are more likely to believe you: https://www.jenniferfugo.com/2015/02/17/gluten-sensitivity-doctors/
I have to say it was almost to late for me. I still take levolthyroxin or synthroid. Last year I had an episode and ended up in the hospital. I was going to the Dr’s. By the third week with them not knowing what was going on, I ended up in the hospital. And even then they didn’t know and released me after 7 hrs in the er. I have learned a lot since last year. Still more to learn.