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Tag: euthyroid

“Are Endocrinologists just DETERMINED to be stupid?” ask some thyroid patients.

(Though this was originally written in 2011, it has been updated to the present day and time. Enjoy!)

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Will it ever end?

A very troubling article

On March 21st, 2011, from the Endocrine Today website, comes the article Hypothyroidism only partially responsible for decreased quality of life in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. And this article has so many troubling comments and wording that it has made some thyroid patients question whether their Endocrinologist can really help then.

For example, the article notes that there seems to be a “higher symptom load and the lower quality-of-life scores in the group of patients with increased anti-TPO levels”, which can include “Chronic fatigue, dry hair, dysphagia, irritability and nervousness”.

Yet, the article states, these patients have

    • “normal thyroid function”
    • are “euthyroid”
    • have an “ideal biochemical response to thyroid hormone replacement therapy.”.

Are you kidding me, say many thyroid patients???  Euthyroid technically means “the state of having normal thyroid gland function.” Yet, chronic fatigue, dry hair, dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), irritability and nervousness are far from normal, besides being classic hypothyroid or Hashimotos symptoms, as well as having potential adrenal issues from having poorly treated hypothyroidism!

And of course, most informed thyroid patients know that ” euthyroid” and “normal” and “ideal” in the mind of poorly-trained doctors refer to an ink spot on a piece of paper called the TSH lab result and NOT cellular receipt and/or use of thyroid hormones. The TSH is a pituitary hormone, not a thyroid hormone. The TSH lab test has failed patients for decades, just as has T4-only like Synthroid, levothyroxine, Eltroxine, etc!

Also mentioned is a particular Austrian study involving 426 women aged 19 years or older who were undergoing surgery for benign thyroid disease. When patients come on thyroid groups and report Endocrinologists who want to remove their thyroids simply because they have the treatable Hashimotos disease, you have to wonder why 426 women were having surgery for “benign thyroid disease”…

But in spite of all the above, there is hope!

Hashimoto’s patients have become wise and informed. To read all the ways patients have learned to adequately treat Hashimotos, go here.

To find out if you now have an adrenal problem, go here. This is important to know because it can be problematic in raising NDT if you have low cortisol, or high cortisol. Thus, the need to treat it first.

To find a good doctor to work with, and/or teach while you are working with, go here.

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Do you look back and wonder about the fact that your thyroid was taken out?  Let us hear your story by commenting on this post. What has been your experience with an Endocrinologist? Tell us about it.

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** Have you Liked the STTM Facebook page? It provides daily information and inspiration just for thyroid patients!

** Check out recommended patients groups on the internet.

** Stop the Thyroid Madness is available in TWO different books! //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/comparing-the-sttm-books/

26 replies

British Thyroid Association still thinks a TSH up to 10 is borderline NORMAL????

A thyroid patient from the UK, and a member of Thyroid UK, reminded me of the ongoing travesty in the UK concerning the TSH lab test. And I thought it was worth revisiting due to its extreme absurdity. Quoting from www.brf-thyroid under FAQ, then Hypothyroidism, then Treatment:

The most sensitive indicator of developing hypothyroidism is a rise in the TSH result. Generally a TSH result of <5 is regarded as biochemically ‘normal’, a result of 5-10 is borderline and a result of >10 (in a patient who is not acutely ill) is regarded as consistent with hypothyroidism. The biochemical results have to be considered along side clinical symptoms, and together they determine the point at which the physician will introduce Thyroxine therapy.

Yikes. 5-10 is only BORDERLINE hypo?? What planet to they live on?? I have come across MANY thyroid patients on internet groups who have had a TSH below 3 with RAGING hypothyroidism, and for YEARS being told they were normal. Never, ever has the TSH been a “sensitive” indicator until it finally rises enough to reveal it….but that can be YEARS in the making, and the patient is now living with adrenal fatigue to further complicate their ongoing hypothyroid condition. The TSH lab test does NOT work.

Then from http://www.british-thyroid-association.org/Guidelines/, and downloading the 2006 final version of the UK guidelines for the Use of Thyroid Function Tests , and reading 3.2.2, comes this:

The decision on treatment of patients with subclinical hypothyroidism should be guided by repeated TSH measurements. When TSH is elevated but <10 mU/L there is no consistent evidence of an association with symptoms, secondary biochemical abnormalities (hyperlipidaemia), cardiac dysfunction or cardiac events.

No consistent evidence of an association with symptoms?? Then what ARE those symptoms that thyroid patients have experienced over and over and over, even with a TSH as low as the 2’s??? And repeated TSH measurements?? There is a huge body of thyroid patients across the world who have had years of a NORMAL TSH yet raging hypothyroid symptoms.

They also add:
There is evidence of improvement in the lipid profile and symptoms when patients with modestly raised TSH (mean 11.7mU/L) were rendered euthyroid with thyroxine

Calling anyone “euthyroid” (normal thyroid-wise) on a T4 med, with an average TSH of 11, is so laughable that it stands on its humorous own.

The Dark Ages persist in the diagnosis and treatment of hypothyroidism. What a shameful, blind-sighted travesty! Are you from the UK and dealing with the backwardness? Talk to us by replying to this blog (and be patient–comments don’t always show up quickly.).

16 replies