Question:

Cool!

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Poor Tabitha! She’s always been a pudgy little thing (some of her nicknames are piglet and gobble-guts), but she started losing weight at the beginning of this year.  A trip to the vet and tests showed that she had an hyper-active thyroid.  So she was put on medication to control the condition.  She gets plopped onto her back and a pill shoved down her throat every day for the rest of her life. That was bad enough, but now she’s gained back all the weight she’d lost and added an extra pound or two.  Her vet had me put her on a diet last week.  I’m mixing Science Diet Senior with Science Diet Lite.  She and Bosley love the senior stuff, but don’t like the lite at all.  And they’ve let me know by picking out the lite pellets and playing hockey with them in the kitchen. I suppose it could be worse…they could start leaving me nasty presents on my pillow or something.   —– Bev Tell me, and I may forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand.      – Chinese Proverb

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Poor Tabitha! She’s always been a pudgy little thing (some of her nicknames are piglet and gobble-guts), but she started losing weight at the beginning of this year.  A trip to the vet and tests showed that she had an hyper-active thyroid.  So she was put on medication to control the condition.  She gets plopped onto her back and a pill shoved down her throat every day for the rest of her life. That was bad enough, but now she’s gained back all the weight she’d lost and added an extra pound or two.  Her vet had me put her on a diet last week.  I’m mixing Science Diet Senior with Science Diet Lite.  She and Bosley love the senior stuff, but don’t like the lite at all.  And they’ve let me know by picking out the lite pellets and playing hockey with them in the kitchen. I suppose it could be worse…they could start leaving me nasty presents on my pillow or something.   —– Bev Tell me, and I may forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand.      – Chinese Proverb

Before she got a corrective operation, Cat-rina had the same problem.  Pilling her was like cooking popcorn in an open pan.  Since the pill is tiny, we ended up crushing the pill to powder and mixing it with tuna juice (from a regular tuna can).  This worked like a charm because there is nothing else on earth that Cat-rina would rather eat. When she began to gain too much weight, the vet told us to reduce her medication. The root cause turned out to be a thyroid tumor.  Once the tumor and half of her thryroid was removed, she returned to normal.  It is also possible to get a radioactive iodine treatment, but the AEC requires that the cat be quarantined for two weeks until its waste is no longer radioactive.  We chose the operation because Cat-rina would not have tolerated the quarantine very well. —                 Fletcher Glenn

Response:

I’ve also considered the radio-active treatment, but it costs about $1000 which I just can’t afford.  Her thyroid function is stable right now on a very low dose of medication.  And amazingly enough, she does tolerate being pilled.  She’s not happy about it, but she never fights me. Having to eat the lite food is another story, however… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Before she got a corrective operation, Cat-rina had the same problem.  Pilling her was like cooking popcorn in an open pan.  Since the pill is tiny, we ended up crushing the pill to powder and mixing it with tuna juice (from a regular tuna can).  This worked like a charm because there is nothing else on earth that Cat-rina would rather eat. When she began to gain too much weight, the vet told us to reduce her medication. The root cause turned out to be a thyroid tumor.  Once the tumor and half of her thryroid was removed, she returned to normal.  It is also possible to get a radioactive iodine treatment, but the AEC requires that the cat be quarantined for two weeks until its waste is no longer radioactive.  We chose the operation because Cat-rina would not have tolerated the quarantine very well.

—– Bev Tell me, and I may forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand.      – Chinese Proverb

Response:

Poor Tabitha! She’s always been a pudgy little thing (some of her nicknames are piglet and gobble-guts), but she started losing weight at the beginning of this year.  A trip to the vet and tests showed that she had an hyper-active thyroid.  So she was put on medication to control the condition.  She gets plopped onto her back and a pill shoved down her throat every day for the rest of her life. That was bad enough, but now she’s gained back all the weight she’d lost and added an extra pound or two.  Her vet had me put her on a diet last week.  I’m mixing Science Diet Senior with Science Diet Lite.  She and Bosley love the senior stuff, but don’t like the lite at all.  And they’ve let me know by picking out the lite pellets and playing hockey with them in the kitchen. I suppose it could be worse…they could start leaving me nasty presents on my pillow or something.   —– Bev Tell me, and I may forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand.      – Chinese Proverb

Response:

Question:

No, this not a recommendation to take more iodine.  There is a chance that a diet high in veggie juices can reduce the amount of thyroid extract (or the synthetic, Synthroid) that a person with hypothyroidism has previously required.

And there are also companies that make whole food supplements for thyroid. That is what I take. Jan

Response:

As we know that you are not be a spammer, could you post the ingredients list of those products, please? — Over 125 articles (indexed by topic, or keyword with an on-site search engine) plus nearly 1,200 scientific references on nutritional therapeutics are posted at http://doctoryourself.com  Links to other clinical nutrition and alternative medicine sites are provided. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – No, this not a recommendation to take more iodine.  There is a chance that a diet high in veggie juices can reduce the amount of thyroid extract (or the synthetic, Synthroid) that a person with hypothyroidism has previously required. And there are also companies that make whole food supplements for thyroid. That is what I take. Jan

– Over 125 articles (indexed by topic, or keyword with an on-site search engine) plus nearly 1,200 scientific references on nutritional therapeutics are posted at http://doctoryourself.com  Links to other clinical nutrition and alternative medicine sites are provided. Before you buy.

Response:

As we know that you are not be a spammer, could you post the ingredients list of those products, please?

Sure. Let me get out the ole magnifing glass. The product name is Thytrophin PMG. Company is Standard Process Inc. Serveing size 1 tablet calcium 30 mg Propietary 109 mg   Magesium citrate and bovine thyroid PMG extract (processed to remove its thyroxine) Other ingredients Calcium lactate, cellulose and calicum stearate. This product features our Protomorphogen ™ extract. These products are only sold to health care professionals. Jan – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Over 125 articles (indexed by topic, or keyword with an on-site search engine) plus nearly 1,200 scientific references on nutritional therapeutics are posted at http://doctoryourself.com  Links to other clinical nutrition and alternative medicine sites are provided. No, this not a recommendation to take more iodine.  There is a chance that a diet high in veggie juices can reduce the amount of thyroid extract (or the synthetic, Synthroid) that a person with hypothyroidism has previously required. And there are also companies that make whole food supplements for thyroid. That is what I take. Jan — Over 125 articles (indexed by topic, or keyword with an on-site search engine) plus nearly 1,200 scientific references on nutritional therapeutics are posted at http://doctoryourself.com  Links to other clinical nutrition and alternative medicine sites are provided. Before you buy.

Response:

Ah, Standard Process.  Wonderful company, selling food-concentrate and animal extract supplements since the 1940’s. — Over 125 articles (indexed by topic, or keyword with an on-site search engine) plus nearly 1,200 scientific references on nutritional therapeutics are posted at http://doctoryourself.com  Links to other clinical nutrition and alternative medicine sites are provided. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – As we know that you are not be a spammer, could you post the ingredients list of those products, please? Sure. Let me get out the ole magnifing glass. The product name is Thytrophin PMG. Company is Standard Process Inc. Serveing size 1 tablet calcium 30 mg Propietary 109 mg   Magesium citrate and bovine thyroid PMG extract (processed to remove its thyroxine) Other ingredients Calcium lactate, cellulose and calicum stearate. This product features our Protomorphogen ™ extract. These products are only sold to health care professionals. Jan Over 125 articles (indexed by topic, or keyword with an on-site search engine) plus nearly 1,200 scientific references on nutritional therapeutics are posted at http://doctoryourself.com  Links to other clinical nutrition and alternative medicine sites are provided. No, this not a recommendation to take more iodine.  There is a chance that a diet high in veggie juices can reduce the amount of thyroid extract (or the synthetic, Synthroid) that a person with hypothyroidism has previously required. And there are also companies that make whole food supplements for thyroid. That is what I take. Jan — Over 125 articles (indexed by topic, or keyword with an on-site search engine) plus nearly 1,200 scientific references on nutritional therapeutics are posted at http://doctoryourself.com  Links to other clinical nutrition and alternative medicine sites are provided. Before you buy.

– Over 125 articles (indexed by topic, or keyword with an on-site search engine) plus nearly 1,200 scientific references on nutritional therapeutics are posted at http://doctoryourself.com  Links to other clinical nutrition and alternative medicine sites are provided. Before you buy.

Response:

No, this not a recommendation to take more iodine.  There is a chance that a diet high in veggie juices can reduce the amount of thyroid extract (or the synthetic, Synthroid) that a person with hypothyroidism has previously required. What follows is an anecdote, so stop reading now if you dislike them. A friend of the family of over twenty years was on a low dose of Synthroid, duly prescribed by consensus of his doctors.  I call your attention to my use the plural in this case, for several members of his family are medical doctors, and he (being wealthy) has a squad of hired ones at the ready as well. But after gravitating to the alternative health scene (where he did humorous palm readings at our health education center fundraisers), he started on a natural diet (no meat, no junk; a few glasses daily fresh vegetable juice) and within a few months was having entirely new symptoms of a *hyper*active thyroid.  I noticed it; he noticed it; the doctors noticed it.  They cut out the thyroid; he continued with the vegetarian diet and never needed it again.  He’s now 83, and still runs rings around most people half his age. Let’s follow this up, but not until we first develop a placebo for fresh raw vegetable juice. — Over 125 articles (indexed by topic, or keyword with an on-site search engine) plus nearly 1,000 scientific references on nutritional therapeutics are posted at http://doctoryourself.com  Links to other clinical nutrition and alternative medicine sites are provided. Before you buy.

Response:

Question:

We have a cat that will be 20 years of age in August, and it is losing weight at an alarming rate.  We have doubled its meals in the last 2 weeks and it still lost a 1/2 pound and is down to 7.25 pounds.  Our cat take Tapazole for a hyper-active Thyroid.  The vet has ruled out the Thyroid as a cause of the problem.  Tiger, our cat, has a healthy appetite, and seems to have no pain or other problems that a cat that age would have.  It is just losing weight, any ideas or similar problems like this?

Response:

What else has your vet checked for? — ** Diane with Kenda, Thai Foon, Two Tone & Jackie Chan ** "We are the Cats. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated."

We have a cat that will be 20 years of age in August, and it is losing weight at an alarming rate.  We have doubled its meals in the last 2 weeks and it still lost a 1/2 pound and is down to 7.25 pounds.  Our cat take Tapazole for a hyper-active Thyroid.  The vet has ruled out the Thyroid as a cause of the problem.  Tiger, our cat, has a healthy appetite, and seems to have no pain or other problems that a cat that age would have.  It is just losing weight, any ideas or similar problems like this?

Response:

There is something wrong. Please seek a second opinion. Wt. loss i symptomatic of many diseases (ie. chronic renal failure, etc.) Gail – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – We have a cat that will be 20 years of age in August, and it is losing weight at an alarming rate.  We have doubled its meals in the last 2 weeks and it still lost a 1/2 pound and is down to 7.25 pounds.  Our cat take Tapazole for a hyper-active Thyroid.  The vet has ruled out the Thyroid as a cause of the problem.  Tiger, our cat, has a healthy appetite, and seems to have no pain or other problems that a cat that age would have.  It is just losing weight, any ideas or similar problems like this?

Response:

Is your cat drinking/peeing more than usual?  Check for diabetes.  This is treatable.  My Bogie gets insulin two times a day and is very happy and healthy as a result. Jim – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – There is something wrong. Please seek a second opinion. Wt. loss i symptomatic of many diseases (ie. chronic renal failure, etc.) Gail We have a cat that will be 20 years of age in August, and it is losing weight at an alarming rate.  We have doubled its meals in the last 2 weeks and it still lost a 1/2 pound and is down to 7.25 pounds.  Our cat take Tapazole for a hyper-active Thyroid.  The vet has ruled out the Thyroid as a cause of the problem.  Tiger, our cat, has a healthy appetite, and seems to have no pain or other problems that a cat that age would have.  It is just losing weight, any ideas or similar problems like this?

Response:

We have a cat that will be 20 years of age in August, and it is losing weight at an alarming rate.  We have doubled its meals in the last 2 weeks and it still lost a 1/2 pound and is down to 7.25 pounds.  Our cat take Tapazole for a hyper-active Thyroid.  The vet has ruled out the Thyroid as a cause of the problem.  Tiger, our cat, has a healthy appetite, and seems to have no pain or other problems that a cat that age would have.  It is just losing weight, any ideas or similar problems like this?

Response:

What else has your vet checked for? — ** Diane with Kenda, Thai Foon, Two Tone & Jackie Chan ** "We are the Cats. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated."

We have a cat that will be 20 years of age in August, and it is losing weight at an alarming rate.  We have doubled its meals in the last 2 weeks and it still lost a 1/2 pound and is down to 7.25 pounds.  Our cat take Tapazole for a hyper-active Thyroid.  The vet has ruled out the Thyroid as a cause of the problem.  Tiger, our cat, has a healthy appetite, and seems to have no pain or other problems that a cat that age would have.  It is just losing weight, any ideas or similar problems like this?

Response:

There is something wrong. Please seek a second opinion. Wt. loss i symptomatic of many diseases (ie. chronic renal failure, etc.) Gail – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – We have a cat that will be 20 years of age in August, and it is losing weight at an alarming rate.  We have doubled its meals in the last 2 weeks and it still lost a 1/2 pound and is down to 7.25 pounds.  Our cat take Tapazole for a hyper-active Thyroid.  The vet has ruled out the Thyroid as a cause of the problem.  Tiger, our cat, has a healthy appetite, and seems to have no pain or other problems that a cat that age would have.  It is just losing weight, any ideas or similar problems like this?

Response:

Is your cat drinking/peeing more than usual?  Check for diabetes.  This is treatable.  My Bogie gets insulin two times a day and is very happy and healthy as a result. Jim – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – There is something wrong. Please seek a second opinion. Wt. loss i symptomatic of many diseases (ie. chronic renal failure, etc.) Gail We have a cat that will be 20 years of age in August, and it is losing weight at an alarming rate.  We have doubled its meals in the last 2 weeks and it still lost a 1/2 pound and is down to 7.25 pounds.  Our cat take Tapazole for a hyper-active Thyroid.  The vet has ruled out the Thyroid as a cause of the problem.  Tiger, our cat, has a healthy appetite, and seems to have no pain or other problems that a cat that age would have.  It is just losing weight, any ideas or similar problems like this?

Response:

We have a cat that will be 20 years of age in August, and it is losing weight at an alarming rate.  We have doubled its meals in the last 2 weeks and it still lost a 1/2 pound and is down to 7.25 pounds.  Our cat take Tapazole for a hyper-active Thyroid.  The vet has ruled out the Thyroid as a cause of the problem.  Tiger, our cat, has a healthy appetite, and seems to have no pain or other problems that a cat that age would have.  It is just losing weight, any ideas or similar problems like this?

Response:

What else has your vet checked for? — ** Diane with Kenda, Thai Foon, Two Tone & Jackie Chan ** "We are the Cats. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated."

We have a cat that will be 20 years of age in August, and it is losing weight at an alarming rate.  We have doubled its meals in the last 2 weeks and it still lost a 1/2 pound and is down to 7.25 pounds.  Our cat take Tapazole for a hyper-active Thyroid.  The vet has ruled out the Thyroid as a cause of the problem.  Tiger, our cat, has a healthy appetite, and seems to have no pain or other problems that a cat that age would have.  It is just losing weight, any ideas or similar problems like this?

Response:

There is something wrong. Please seek a second opinion. Wt. loss i symptomatic of many diseases (ie. chronic renal failure, etc.) Gail – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – We have a cat that will be 20 years of age in August, and it is losing weight at an alarming rate.  We have doubled its meals in the last 2 weeks and it still lost a 1/2 pound and is down to 7.25 pounds.  Our cat take Tapazole for a hyper-active Thyroid.  The vet has ruled out the Thyroid as a cause of the problem.  Tiger, our cat, has a healthy appetite, and seems to have no pain or other problems that a cat that age would have.  It is just losing weight, any ideas or similar problems like this?

Response:

Is your cat drinking/peeing more than usual?  Check for diabetes.  This is treatable.  My Bogie gets insulin two times a day and is very happy and healthy as a result. Jim – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – There is something wrong. Please seek a second opinion. Wt. loss i symptomatic of many diseases (ie. chronic renal failure, etc.) Gail We have a cat that will be 20 years of age in August, and it is losing weight at an alarming rate.  We have doubled its meals in the last 2 weeks and it still lost a 1/2 pound and is down to 7.25 pounds.  Our cat take Tapazole for a hyper-active Thyroid.  The vet has ruled out the Thyroid as a cause of the problem.  Tiger, our cat, has a healthy appetite, and seems to have no pain or other problems that a cat that age would have.  It is just losing weight, any ideas or similar problems like this?

Response:

Question:

Perhaps I can help.  I had a hyper-active thyroid but after I had the thyroid removed I had all the symptoms of hypothyroidism.  Here’s a list: Fatigued and sleepy. Unable to become excited by anything. Constantly cold. Slow pulse-rate. Loss of hair,  including outer 1/3 of eyebrows. Very deep, hoarse voice. Heavy menstruation. Weight gain. Lack of appetite. Mental confusion. (I was real spacey with s-l-o-w reflexes). I know there’s more but those are the ones I noticed the most. You should probably go to an endocrinologist and ask to have your thyroid tested using blood tests.  They tested me for T3 and TSH (I think it’s a hormone). Having said that, you say you eat just like your SO and he doesn’t gain weight (I paraphrase, hopefully correctly).  People have extreme differences in their metabolism.  I’ve known lots of people that could eat many, many things I can’t eat (and remain slim).   I think your doctors are wrong to dismiss your thyroid concern out of hand.  Could it be they are looking for some of the symptoms I mentioned and you don’t have them so they don’t bother testing? Well, if you want to know for sure, insist they test you.  But if the test comes back okay, what are you going to do? You mentioned that you lost weight before.  That’s very difficult to do, even with dieting and exercising, when you have a slow thyroid. I was eating 1000-1200 calories per day and walking 4 miles and couldn’t lose an ounce while I was hypo thyroid.  Of course, mine became fairly extreme. Here’s what I suggest.  Get your thyroid hormone levels tested.  Insist on it.  If you’re significantly low, your doctor will probably prescribe additional thyroid hormone, if you aren’t you’ll have to learn with the metabolism you have.  You can’t necessarily eat everything everyone else eats.  You might want to consider altering your diet and becoming more active.  Don’t "go on a diet".  You already know what happens when you come off a diet.  You gain back what you lost and then some. Even if your thyroid levels are low, and your doctor brings them back to normal, you’ll still have to lose the weight you’ve gained.  Even when my thyroid was hyperactive, I was quite overweight.  I’m sorry I can’t give you better news than that. —                                                               or

Response:

I can lose 30 lbs with a bout of the flu.    

Even if your weight is very high, this is not normal.        I’m also very tired all the time and subject to waves of weakness at odd moments.  I feel like no matter what I eat I gain 30 pounds.  My husband is normal weight and eat the same amounts I do – so I know Im not overeating.  I’m almost to the point of starving myself – because I feel like I can’t eat at ALL!

Comparing your intake with your husband’s will surely screw you up–just because he is normal weight doesnt tell you anything about whether what he eats is normal, because metabolisms differ. For almost any woman, it’s depressing to see what a man can eat and not get heavy.        My husband and my mother-in-law both think it’s a thyroid thing.  My Mom said that when I was younger a doctor told her that I would probably develop thyroid problems (my Mom has had thryoid disease all her life)

Find a doctor who will take you seriously.  Find an endocrinologist, perhaps, but in any event look around until you find a physician who treats you like a human being.  You should get a full battery of tests, especially since there’s a history of thyroid problems in your family.   And it might be worthwhile for you to interview doctors til you find someone decent.  Docs are like everybody else, and have their prejudices, sometimes they are racist or sexist, sometimes they have a problem with large people.  It’s not *your* problem–it’s theirs Hope this helps Lise

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Perhaps I can help.  I had a hyper-active thyroid but after I had the thyroid removed I had all the symptoms of hypothyroidism.  Here’s a list: Fatigued and sleepy. Unable to become excited by anything. Constantly cold. Slow pulse-rate. Loss of hair,  including outer 1/3 of eyebrows. Very deep, hoarse voice. Heavy menstruation. Weight gain. Lack of appetite. Mental confusion. (I was real spacey with s-l-o-w reflexes). I know there’s more but those are the ones I noticed the most.

Also- "dry" body fluids (I had trouble with my contact lenses) high cholesterol – this is what tipped us off for me.  I donated blood, and they did a free cholesterol test which came back as *332* (my normal is 170-180).  I immediately went to my MD who immediately tested me for a variety of things, including thyroid. Bingo.  And I thought I was so tired just because I had had a baby (along with weight gain, etc.).  My cholesterol returned to normal as my thyroid did. Laura Dolson

Response:

| My Mom said that when I was younger a doctor told her that I |would probably develop thyroid problems (my Mom has had thryoid |disease all her life) but the trouble is every time I go to a doctor |the doctor pats me on the head and makes out like every time he sees |an overweight woman she’s pleading thyroid disease.  I can’t make |anyone take me seriously and I feel like a fool every time I bring it |up.  BUT NO ONE HAS EVER TESTED ME FOR THYROID PROBLEMS – even after I |told them my history and problems.  They said I should try another |diet and stop blaming my weight on things.  One doctor even patted my |back and said "I used to have a heroin addiction and I blamed that on |things too, you have to choose to stop putting the twinkies in your |face." | | |thanks in advance, | |leisa         | I can’t believe your doctor is treating you this way! Condescending advice doesn’t sound like what you need. (Even if you turn out NOT to have a thyroid disorder.) If there is a history of the problem in your immediate family and you experiencing symptoms, maybe you should insist on having a thyroid test done. I’ve had one done, & it doesn’t seem to be a BIG DEAL (like a cat scan would be!). For your peace of mind & to be safe for your health. Get it done. Charlene PS – mine came out negative, but at least now I KNOW that that’s not my problem

Response:

| Perhaps I can help.  I had a hyper-active thyroid but after I had the | thyroid removed I had all the symptoms of hypothyroidism.  Here’s a | list: | | Fatigued and sleepy. | Unable to become excited by anything. | Constantly cold. | Slow pulse-rate. | Loss of hair,  including outer 1/3 of eyebrows. | Very deep, hoarse voice. | Heavy menstruation. | Weight gain. | Lack of appetite. | Mental confusion. (I was real spacey with s-l-o-w reflexes). | | I know there’s more but those are the ones I noticed the most. I am soooo glad to finally see a discussion of thyroid on this newsgroup because I’m wondering also.  I had a toxic goiter from a wildly overactive thyroid 17 years ago.  I ate like a starved animal and got really skinny (112 lbs on my 5′5" frame).  If I hadn’t been so sick, I would have enjoyed being skinny, but when everything you eat "evaporates", you not only don’t get the calories, you don’t get the nutrients, so I was iron-deficient, calcium-deficient, etc, lost all my muscles (I couldn’t get out of my car without holding on to the door and couldn’t climb stairs without pulling myself up with the rail).  My head trembled, and my hands shook so much I couldn’t hold a cup of coffee.  My pulse and blood pressure were through the roof, and my heart banged so loudly in my chest I could hear it and feel it, and I went through an entire winter without wearing so much as a sweater because I was hot all the time. Then…they took the offending organ out (95% of it, they told me).  They didn’t measure my thyroid levels for 3 months (they needed to know what my remaining 5% was going to do on its own, I guess), and during that period I gained 40 lbs, and it’s been an uphill battle with my weight ever since. In the last year and a half, my thyroid dosage has been changed 5 times (it actually had been quite stable for the preceding 10 years).  I went in for my yearly bloodtest, it showed up too high, the dosage was cut, I came back in in 2 months, still too high, cut again, come back in 2 months, still too high but ‘close’, so they cut it one more time and let me go 6 months.  I came back in: too low, increase the dosage, come back in 2 months, still too low, increase the dosage, and that’s where I am now, and experiencing many of the symptoms described above by Nancy.  I’ve been high-energy all my life, but not now.  I’m so tired by nightfall I could cry, my weight is higher than it’s ever been before, I’m cold all the time, and although I’m not all that hungry, I find myself eating just because I feel so weak, and I’m not likely to reach for carrot sticks when I’m feeling so drained – it’s more likely to be potato chips or a candy bar. I’m in an HMO and my "primary care physician" is an internist, but I’m con- sidering trying to get referred to an endocrinologist.  It just seems that most doctors don’t know or care much about thyroid problems, and are generally content to just check my T3/T4 levels and pay little attention to TSH (which, by the way, stands for Thyroid Stimulating Hormone; it’s produced by the pituitary gland when it notices that the thyroid gland isn’t producing enough). As you might expect, my T3/T4 are too low, and my TSH is too high.   I’m probably approaching menopause too in the next few years and that may be affecting my thyroid, but my physician hasn’t mentioned a connection. In fact, everytime they call me with the results of my last test and tell me whether they’re changing my thyroid dosage up or down, I get the feeling they haven’t taken the time to look back over my last reports to see what a whiplash sort of situation I’m in.   Anyway, thanks for letting me sound off, and I’d like to hear from anyone who has actually BEEN to one and can tell me what an endocrinologist does that’s different from a family practitioner. Jan

Response:

  Hi all!  Well as the subject says I suspect I’m having them and I would like some advice.  Here’s what’s been going on…         In 1991 I weighed 330lbs.  I put the weight on very quickly but was so depressed about this that I never thought anything about HOW quickly, but in 1991 I met my husband and (wanting to make him my husband) started to try to lose weight.  Before meeting him I’d lost about 50 lbs.  Anyway, I met Christopher in March and 12 months later I was down to 165.  I lost 165 lbs in 12 months with minimal excercise and reduced eating.  The weight just FLOWED off.   OK  well now it’s June a year later and I am up to 220 again and I haven’t been doing anything different from when I was at 165!!!!  It comes on in great big weight blocks of 50 to 75 lbs.  I can lose 30 lbs with a bout of the flu.             I’m also very tired all the time and subject to waves of weakness at odd moments.  I feel like no matter what I eat I gain 30 pounds.  My husband is normal weight and eat the same amounts I do – so I know Im not overeating.  I’m almost to the point of starving myself – because I feel like I can’t eat at ALL!         My husband and my mother-in-law both think it’s a thyroid thing.  My Mom said that when I was younger a doctor told her that I would probably develop thyroid problems (my Mom has had thryoid disease all her life) but the trouble is every time I go to a doctor the doctor pats me on the head and makes out like every time he sees an overweight woman she’s pleading thyroid disease.  I can’t make anyone take me seriously and I feel like a fool every time I bring it up.  BUT NO ONE HAS EVER TESTED ME FOR THYROID PROBLEMS – even after I told them my history and problems.  They said I should try another diet and stop blaming my weight on things.  One doctor even patted my back and said "I used to have a heroin addiction and I blamed that on things too, you have to choose to stop putting the twinkies in your face." NOW I’m asking you all, because I’m desperate and ashamed and tired of not being taken seriously – what should I do next? Is there anyone out there who’s had thyroid problems and knows what the symptoms are and where I can go to get taken seriously. thanks in advance, leisa        

Response:

Well, my endocrinologist was a neat person.  He knew all the how weird hyperthryoid people are and he went to great pains to be kindly and patient.  (I was *real* impatient and angered easily when my thyroid was over producing).  He was really active in thyroid research too and had published lots of papers.  He also had organized a sort of support network of hyper-people.   He did all the usual blood work, plus he did things like listen to my heart, apparently when you’re hyper certain phases of heart beat are different.  He checked my reflexes, my pulse, blood-pressure,  my liver.   All that. Since I’ve been on thyroid replacement therapy I’ve just been going to my regular MD and he does up my blood once every 6 months.  But I don’t feel I’ve changed much.  Apparently losing/gaining weight and/or muscle mass can change your thyroid needs.  I know that elderly people have to have their doses changed. The other thing that is different between you and I is that I had my entire thyroid removed with radioactive iodine.  That way we don’t have to try and figure out how much my thryoid is producing. Plus, if you leave some thyroid in there’s a chance it’ll start overproducing again. I suggest you see an endocrinologist if you possibly can.  Maybe he would recommend a thyroid uptake scan, I don’t know if they do those for hypo-thryoid folks.  Good luck and keep in touch. —                                                               or

Response:

Lise replied to Leisa (I think) about finding a new doctor to check out suspected thyroid problems: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –        My husband and my mother-in-law both think it’s a thyroid thing.  My Mom said that when I was younger a doctor told her that I would probably develop thyroid problems (my Mom has had thryoid disease all her life) Find a doctor who will take you seriously.  Find an endocrinologist, perhaps, but in any event look around until you find a physician who treats you like a human being.  You should get a full battery of tests, especially since there’s a history of thyroid problems in your family.   And it might be worthwhile for you to interview doctors til you find someone decent.  Docs are like everybody else, and have their prejudices, sometimes they are racist or sexist, sometimes they have a problem with large people.  It’s not *your* problem–it’s theirs Hope this helps Lise

If you’re caught up short when someone pats your hand and says, "Don’t worry, dear" (essentially what your doctor did to you), plan ahead for the next time.  He dismissed your concerns with a bunch of medical mythology which equates all weight problems with a lack of self- discipline, that is, morals – essentially for these folks you’re fat because you’re weak.  Meadow muffins, particularly from a medical professional who is admittedly a recovered addict themself. If his bigotry and prejudice doesn’t let him hear what your concerns the first time, find a way to rephrase what you’re saying so he’ll listen.  A good reference for this is the final few chapters of Suzette Hadyn Elgin’s STAYING WELL WITH THE GENTLE ART OF VERBAL SELF-DEFENSE, which describes how to listen and talk with doctors without buying into the idea of ‘if I hadn’t done something wrong, I wouldn’t have to see a doctor.’ You have a couple of choices here:  talk with your current doctor’s nurse, and explain what you’re looking for: answers, not condescending dismissals.  Ask if you think he’d consider talking with you again and maybe doing some diagnostic tests about this.  (You might also make discrete inquireies about his expertise in such areas.)  You could also find a different doctor.  If you like this doctor for other reasons and are willing to do what it takes, you might get another family member (spouse?) to talk with him (have a little man-to-man, and work on male sympathies) – but I wouldn’t do this unless this guy is an uncle or a wiz with the kids – but I’d still consider changing if he’s this clueless is such a case.    I any case,   You’re concerned about a problem with these sypmtoms, which seem to indicate an inheritable  medical problem that your parent(s) had – then make a list (practice going over it with a sympathetic friend who’ll play ‘impatient doctor’ so you can practice handling interruptions – some teenagers are *real* good at this) of your symptoms, and what you’d like to do about it.  Take the list with you when you talk with the doctor, so you won’t forget anything.   If you have the time and patience, you might also go look up a Merck manual at a library to see what it says about hypothyroidism (or ask for net wisdom in sci.med, to give you more ammunition). Some things aren’t worth fighting for, but (IMnshO) health is one of them. If you’re convinced you’re eating a relatively healthy diet and getting sufficient exercise, and your body changes – then find a doctor who’ll listen!  And *make* them listen.

Response: