Stress Center Peer Support

Well, I believe I found the right link for now. I am scheduled for surgery on Thursday for Thyroid cancer. I have never been on any kind of meds but recently ordered the program due to high anxiety caused primarily (I thought) due to the loss of my 4 grandchildren...not to death but rather poor choices on my daughters part. I have had low thyroid for one year and have been treating it homeopathically, not much success. My concern is regulating my meds knowing it will be life long. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

mikki,

first of all, God Bless you and I hope that everything is a great success.

as you have probably heard many times by now, thyroid cancer is the "best" cancer to have as it is easily treated, and the chances of it spreading to other parts of the body are minimal based on the relative isolation that that the thyroid exists in.

as far as the medication goes, it does take some tinkering, but what the general consensus is that once you reach your proper dose, life should be pretty much back to normal.

by tinkering, i mean that if you have too much thyroid hormone, you could feel anxious and suffer from all of the symptoms of HYPERthyroid. if you have too little for you, you can have symptoms of HYPOthyroid, which could include slight depression, moodiness, etc.

Mary Shomon is an author of several books on the thyroid and she also suffers from Hashimoto's Thyroiditis- an autoimmune condition where the body mistakenly attacks the thyroid as it thinks it to be a foreign invader, thus rendering the thyroid useless over time- who is a patient advocate and has "been there and done that" with doctors, endocrinologists, etc.

I suffer from Hashimoto's and was diagnosed 3 years ago now and have been on medication since. though your condition differs from mine, we are on the same journey to finding our ideal medication, dosage, etc.

be patient. trust God. we will get there.

also, when you are able, know that there are several different medications out there, and some may work better for you than others.

i am considering changing from synthetic Synthroid to the natural Armour Thyroid. many doctors may slander Armour, but from patient testimonials it would seem that the patients speak louder than the critics and are in greater numbers.

time will tell.

God Bless you and I pray that all is a success for you.

hey,

has anyone here switched from Synthetic to Armour Thyroid?

I am considering making the switch from Synthroid 25 mcg to Armour Thyroid.

I am wanting to know how it worked, etc.

hey, what happened to all of my "thyroid" people?

Hi i have not previously posted regarding thyroid but i had a toxic throid at age20 and was treated with a radioactive capsule which in time lowered it to hypo.The doctor i have seen for 9 years has me on synthroid it has been increased once and that was one year ago from100mcg. to 112mcg.I remember taking levothroxine and when the dr.found out he said it was not an effective enough drug and never to do that(it was the pharmacy mistake by using generic to fill script)I would like to know more about this Armour you all are talking about i know taking snythroid is not good in general for your body and a healthy alternative is what i would like if you have any suggestions.thanks june28

june28,

i am sorry to hear about your situation based on having a toxic thyroid, and I pray that everything has been ok with you since then.

there is actually alot of information available out there on armour thyroid; which is the name of perhaps the oldest thyroid medication available (it has been out for 100 years).

one person whom I like to read up on mary shomon, and if you have the internet and some time, google her. she manages a site for us "thyroid" people called aboutthyroid.com (?) and it covers topics, news, research, etc in the thyroid and its different diseases and treatments.

Dr. Mercola is also a good source for health and dealing with thyroid issues.

armour, i believe is made by forest pharmaceuticals, and you could also google armour thyroid, and you will get a ton of info.

ultimately, it is you whom must research and make an educated decision for yourself. some medications simply do not work for some people, and others work just fine.

for me, synthroid has been ok, but I am a health nut and want a natural approach.

armour is made from dessicated pig thyroids, and contain a spectrum of thyroid hormones that simple T4 (synthroid, levothyroxine, etc) do not. Armour contains T4, T3 (the active form) of thyroid hormone, and T2 and T1. These hormones, and their ratio closely mimic the ratio found and types of thyroid hormone found in the human body.

alot of the reading that i have been doing from patients who are either on armour or have switched seems to be very positive.

the medical establishment however, may not always want to take this walk with you. Heck, I have read where some doctors outright refuse to prescribe armour to their patients, citing potency and dosing concerns.

some doctors are so vehement about not prescribing it, that it borders on ridiculous. the motivations are suspect. also, you have to look at how drugs are marketed and how doctors get their information on drugs. you would think that it comes from journals, conferences, education, etc but it comes more often from drug sales rep than elsewhere. armour used to be the only drug available, and enjoyed excellent success. then synthroid came around, marketed heavily, and changed the educational system of treatment for thyroid problems and alot of what i have read suggests that they don't even teach about armour anymore in med school.

why not?

as it turns out, synthroid has been under watch of the FDA as apparently a few years back they were ordered to provide potency and testing protocol to the government yet failed to do so.

synthroid was apparently grandfathered in some 50 years ago, and became the coup du jour of the medical establishment. as always, the money trail stinks to high heaven on this one, and synthroid is one of the most prescribed drugs in the USA (top 5?).

So, as you can see, that is ALOT of money.

i do have a minor conspiracy fetish, so i apologize if any of this scares you or comes across as slanted- I have never tried armour before and don't even know if it will work for me- but whenever i read about an establishment that insists that the world is flat- when there are other options out there, it always gets my alarm up.

so it would seem with armour and synthroid.

whew!

that being said, i am considering making the switch because of the desire to be more natural and to see if I can feel my best.

if what you are doing works for you, then don't change.

for me, i was diagnosed with Hashimoto's 3 years ago now am on 25 mcg of synthroid, and feeling decent. it worked in bringing my TSH down from 31 to the 1-2 range.

i had been on 50 mcg for my first 2 years with levothyroxine, and felt fine up until this past march when i first experienced panic attacks.

i switched to synthroid, and then dropped the dosage down to 25 mcg in july and have felt better since, but I am still not entirely sold on it.

i hope this helps, but do the research, talk to your doctor, see how you feel, etc.

then make an educated decision.

just don't be too surprised if your doctor thinks that your nuts for asking about it.

you're not.

Hi all. Whew...well, today I had blood drawn to test for any Thyroid disorders. My doctor thinks I have Hypothyroidism. And to tell you the truth, I'm terrified. I know, it's treatable, but I am afraid of what the results will come back as. I suppose I just need some support right now. Hopefully the results will come back by Wednesday...I hate waiting for test results, it doesn't help my anxiety any, heh.

elizabeth,

trust me, i know what you mean.

i was diagnosed with autoimmune thyroiditis 3 years ago, and have been taking meds for it since.

it struck me as weird (and still does), as no one in my family has ever had problems like this and I have always been a healthy person. there are no autoimmune conditions in our family either. my grandmothers lived into their late 80's and early 90's, and longevity is a hallmark of my family.

so, when i was having anxiety attacks 3 years ago from my toxic job, i went to the doctor thinking it was food poisoning based on how I felt. they did every test imaginable, and it was during the blood test that they found antibodies and my TSH was 31!

so that was why i always felt fatigued!

since then, i have been the good soldier taking my 50 mcg of levothyroxine, until this past spring when i began to get extreme panic attacks which were, once again, brought on by serious life situations and the same toxic job.

since then, i have finally left that hole of a job, am finishing up my Masters in what i hope will be a rewarding new career, and settled alot of my life stuff.

but it was only this year, 3 years later, that the reality of being diagnosed as hypothyroid and being on medication hit me; and hit me for the worst.

you see, i hate medication. i never take aspirin for a headache; and i never get headaches. i eat organic, lots of fruits and vegetables, lean meats, take vitamins, etc, lift weights...so how is it that i got this thing?

sometimes i am convinced that it was extreme chronic stress over 5+ years that did me in. i hope that my new lifestyle can turn the tide; that perhaps it was only adrenal burnout that led to this condition, and lots of rest, adequate nutrition, laughter, prayer, and a new outlook and career will help me to recover completely.

heck, 10% of patients do experience spontaeneous remission, so that's something to hope for, right?

why am i telling you all of this? well, i guess to let you know that you are not alone. waiting for test results does suck.

as far as worrying about the results, are you worried about being found to have hypothyroidism, or is it that it is the waiting for the results that is bothering you?

if you are worried about being diagnosed of having it, i understand completely.

perhaps the best advice i can give, is that you have been feeling a certain way in the first place to warrant the doctor visit and the blood test, no? and if it is found that you have a case of hypothyroidism, and you start taking the medication, you WILL feel better. and then it will be figured out and you will have a course of treatment to help you feel good again.

but if the tests come back and everything is ok, then you can rest easy knowing that it is not hypothyroidism.

if it is the waiting for the results that bugs you, try not to let it do that. the results will either suggest yes or no. the tests can show where you are, and will help gauge what needs to be done to get you back to normal again.

perhaps the most important thing with this type of thing, is to stay positive. you did everything you can (got the test), and it is now out of your hands. let the doctor do his/her thing, and you will cross the bridge of dealing with the results when you get there.

Whew! My thyroid is normal. I was pretty nervous there for a while.

congrats!!