Hypothyroidism: Is It Possible or Probable? Part 3

Time to finish up this segment, but first a quick recap.

It all starts with your doctor's ability to pull out useful information from research and textbooks to know what to look for to make a confident diagnosis of hypothyroidism. They can add to their level of confidence by performing a good history, a full exam and necessary testing. This will give you and your doctors clues to what might be causing it, what to do about it and how to see if things are getting better.

OK, example time.

While there are many different presentations that a person with hypothyroidism can show, we are going to keep it simple here. 3 women all come in with fatigue, stubborn weight loss, painful joints, signs of thinning hair, normal TSH levels and were told that their thyroid was not the problem (as indicated by their lab work). They were given pain meds and told to eat less and exercise more.

All 3 women go for a second opinion, which they get after a good history and full exam were performed.

Woman #1. Her problems started after she gave birth to her first child. She is a long time soy milk drinker, eats microwaved dinners for lunch at work, long time birth control user, irregular menstrual cycles, and states that her breast are tender to the touch.

She might need some hormonal testing. It is "probable" that her issues are stemming from an estrogen imbalance, so steps in reducing any excess exogenous estrogen intake and making sure that her elimination system is working as needed would be a great place to start.

Woman #2. She says that her problems have been a gradual progression. She is a type A personality, gets stressed at work and home and only has time for a coffee for breakfast. She took her last doctor's advice and eats 1200 calorie diet and jogs for 1 hour 5 times per week. She did loose weight according to the scale, but she feels that her belly fat has actually increased.

She might need some testing for stress hormones. These can really limit the ability of the thyroid to produce hormone, as well as for that hormone to be utilized. She would need to make some major life changes (including the diet and exercise program) to better manage levels of stress.

Woman #3. She claims to drink tap water, use fluoride toothpaste, only really eats salads and salmon to try to loose the weight and has dental fillings.

She might need to get testing for heavy metals. These also can disrupt the thyroid and thyroid hormone. Getting rid of the fillings, eliminating outside sources of toxins and ramping her body's detoxification system would be a good start here.

All 3 woman have very different stories, but the same symptoms. While non of them are textbook hypothyroidism, all are suffering from direct and indirect influences causing what should fall under the blanket diagnosis of hypothyroidism (but you can call it whatever you want). Wouldn't it make sense to address those problem areas that are affecting the thyroid? Most treatment programs are geared towards just the thyroid. If you ask me if I think that would work, I would say it is possible, not probable.

To treat every person with the diagnosis of hypothyroidism the same would be a mistake. To rule out thyroid problems because of normal TSH lab test would be a mistake as well. By truly understanding what is going on with the individual, you are truly working from probability instead of possibility.

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Hypothyroidism: Is It Possible or Probable? Part 1

So, you think you have hypothyroidism? You feel sluggish, you can't drop that body fat, your joints ache, your hair is thinning and you're depressed and anxious. You almost hope that you have a thyroid problem so you can get a quick fix.

You cruise by your trusted doctor to see what s/he thinks...could it "possibly" be hypothyroidism? A better question would be is it "probable" that you have hypothyroidism.

Before hearing the verdict, it is best to know how your doctor thinks so you know how to interpret their interpretation of their physical, history and lab testing.

Doctors think in terms of possibilities and probabilities and they get their numbers to make certain calls from research articles (and their own experience). If an article claims that 80% of the subjects demonstrated X if Y happened, that gives doctors a pretty good sign to tell someone that it is probable that X is there because Y happened (as long it was a well performed study, with a significant amount of participants, variables controlled, replicated several times in other research studies and the authors had no financial gain to have an outcome one way or the other...so see if a drug company is paying for the study or not).

If the study had less than 50% of the participants demonstrating X if Y happened, then the doctor will say that there is a possibility that you have X because Y happened.

So how good are doctors at statistics? The studies done on how good a doctor is at understanding the statistics of a research paper shows that they score very, very poor. But aren't research papers the very place where doctors learn when to make a correct diagnosis?

Oops.

While the general public might not know this, drug companies certainly do. They have been known to stop research that does not have favorable outcomes for them, as well as play games with the numbers to make it look better than it really is. Do you think the doctor would read the 20 pages of statistical data or the 2 paragraph conclusion at the end that has whatever the author wants to pull out of the numbers as s/he wants? This is called trolling, since the author goes trolling through the numbers to pick out what they want.

So how can you and your doctor do better than just guessing? By collecting and comparing all the pertinent information and making a good clinical judgment. This means not just running labs and relying on them as the end all be all. Doctors should get a full history, perform a full exam, and then order test to help fill in the blanks. You should be documenting changes that you noticed before, during and after treatment to relay back to the doctor.

This way any judgments that are going to be made on possibilities and/or probabilities will be compared to other pertinent findings, making them more accurate.

In Part 2 of Hypothyroidism: Is It Possible or Probable, I will clear this up a little better.

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Hypothyroidism: I Blame It On My Glandular Disorder

Remember what your 4th grade teacher told you about assuming things? You make an.... well, you remember.

Many people with hypothyroidism are treated by assuming that their thyroid gland is not working good enough, that is why the are overweight, losing hair, losing their memory, in pain and/or depressed. The solution is to give a little exrta hormone to help out that lazy gland.

Many people with hypothyroidism have that exact problem. Many more do not. Almost all are treated the same.

There are those that have a perfectly good thyroid gland, it's just not being stimulated to release enough hormone.

There are those that are releasing enough thyroid hormone, but the hormone isn't getting used very efficiently.

There are those that don't have enough nutritional substrate to make enough thyroid hormone.

There are those that have some sort of thyroid autoimmune disorder that can be triggered from something in the environment causing problems to the gland.

And then there are those that have a mixture of the above.

The people that are getting the best results aren't assuming, they are getting to the bottom of their problem and taking action.

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Hypothyroidism: Cause or Effect?

The way health care is set up today, a doctor is of the mindset to find what disease is causing the person to be sick and treat the illness. You target in on the area that explains the problems and treat that. You are no longer Mr. and Mrs. Smith, you are a diabetic, a cancer patient, or a patient with a thyroid disorder.

Alternative practitioners have a slightly different viewpoint. They address the whole person as opposed to parts of the whole. This doctor feels that you can't have a problem in a single area without affecting other areas. They try to treat the person to bring them up to the optimal level of health so that their body can adjust to take care of the problem.

In a person with hypothyroidism, the most popular way to treat the problem is by giving more thyroid hormone. Many people feel better, while some may even get worse.

The flaw in this way of treatment is that it assumes that the problem lies in the thyroid's ability to produce its own thyroid hormone. It ignores the tons of literature that has demonstrated many other causes that has made a person have hypothyroidism. Missing the cause can lead to less than desirable results.

One other point to consider is the hypothryoidism a cause or effect. Most people know that people that have hypothyroidism often times struggle with weight loss. This is usually a sign that helps make the diagnosis. It should also be known that a person that is not active and gains a larger portion of body fat will often times decrease their thyroid production through multiple causes.

What about the cause and effect of taking thyroid hormone medication when your thyroid is functioning as it should? Might this have a negative effect on your thyroid? Might this have a negative effect on other body parts?

There are many that find great relief with medications, and I am not saying to get off them. My point would be to make changes in your life that will help your body help itself. Who knows, you might get to the point that you no longer need medication.

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Did Santa Bring Me Hypothyroidism This Year?

Have you ever heard the holiday story of low thyroid hormone? The story is slightly different depending on who is telling it, but it goes something like this:

You intentionally did not stuff yourself this holiday season, yet you still gained weight.

You can afford to buy all your holiday gifts because of a great bonus, yet you still feel depressed.

You rub Ben Gay all over your hands and knees, but your joint still hurt.

As you scratch your head and wonder why, your body is screaming out to you for some much needed attention. If your body language could speak, it would be saying "I have low thyroid hormone...HELP!"

But why is low thyroid hormone commonly a holiday treat?

Unless you are living somewhere near the equator, it gets cold during the holiday seasons. Your body responds by doing what it needs to stay warm.

One way your body accomplishes this is by cranking up your metabolism. Thyroid hormone is what revs up your body's engine.

If you are one of millions that is gradually developing hypothyroidism, symptoms of low thyroid hormone may not pop up till a time when it is really needed, like winter.

Your body sees 2 options, either freeze to death or use more thyroid hormone to increase your body temperature. If you are already at low levels of thyroid hormone, other areas that use thyroid hormone may begin to suffer.

You may have had low thyroid problems for quite some time, but it is only now being fully recognized. You too can then tell of your story about why you feel fat, fatigued, depressed with achy joints all winter long, or tell them how you used to feel like that till you addressed your hypothyroidism.

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Retaining Water? Learn Why So Many Can't Drop The Water Weight.

Have you noticed that some people just look puffy? They have puffy eyes, their ankles look swollen, their skin looks stretched...these people are just retaining water, known as water weight.

How does water weight cause problems in those with hypothyroidism?

Cells need to maintain a certain amount of water in order to function. As a matter of fact, cells need enough water inside in order to survive.

Retaining water means that the water is not in the cells where it should be. Something has caused the water to be sucked out of the cell and it's now outside the cell (in the extracellular matrix).

Retaining water weight is a very common occurrence in hypothyroidism. Here are a couple of things you may have noticed due to it:

1. You retain more water, looking puffy or swollen all over


2. You may have some numbness and tingling in your hands and feet as the swollen tissue puts pressure on nerves


3. You have lowered blood pressure, since the water is sucked out from your blood and causes low blood volume


4. You are always cold, since you have a low blood volume


5. You are anemic despite supplementing with iron. This can happen because retaining water creates a lower blood volume, as well as the fact that hypothyroidism causes a lower production of red blood cells due to lower body temperature.


6. You are more prone to Alzheimer's disease and stroke, since you have poor blood supply to the brain.
   

Just like thinning hair, cold hands and stubborn weight loss, water weight is a sign of hypothyroidism.

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How Having Hypothyroidism Actually Skews Thyroid Lab Testing: Part I

If you ask the majority of people who were diagnosed with hypothyroidism how they got their diagnosis, I bet their answer will be "because I had a high TSH."

Many more people are being misdiagnosed as not having hypothyroidism because of a "normal" TSH. They are being missed and aren't getting the help they need.

Using TSH testing by itself is a very flawed way of thinking. I've posted before on some of the problems with TSH testing...here's one more.

Hypothyroidism causes a person to make more mucin, which in turn holds onto water. It gets this water from sucking it out of areas that normally need it (like inside of every cell in the body). This is why people with hypothyroidism have a "swollen" look to them. They are retaining water.

So what does this have to do with TSH testing?

Well, one of the structures that swells is the pituitary gland. This is the gland that actually produces TSH to stimulate the thyroid to make thyroid hormones.

When the pituitary swells, it actually blunts the production of TSH.

So when a doctor goes to look at the results of the blood work, the blunted TSH production now falls lower and into the "normal" range. It is the symptoms of hypothyroidism (water retention) that is causing the labs to tell your doctor that according to this test, you do not have hypothyroidism.

Ironic, isn't it?

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Problems With Your Thyroid and Fast Thinning Hair

Have you seen those commercials where there is a married couple, who happen to be turtles? These turtles like their dial-up and hate fast connecting Internet access...they like it slow.

People with problems with hypothyroidism have bodies that like it slow, although one of the signs is a problematic thyroid and fast thinning hair.

What causes thinning hair in someone with thyroid problems?

A thyroid that is not producing enough thyroid hormone (or more commonly if there is a problem with the conversion and utilization of the hormone itself) will cause almost every cell in the body to slow down. Tissues that have a high turnover rate (hair, skin, lining of your gut) will suffer the most.

This sets up a couple of problems.

First, your hair is in one of three phases: growth (anagen), rest (catagen) or shedding (telogen). Different hairs are in different stages at all time. As long as everything is normal, you will not notice any signs of hair loss (which is a normal, daily occurrence, just check your pillow). When there is a problem with the thyroid and fast thinning hair, it is due to the slow reproduction of new hairs. Now you can start seeing some gaps, but not in one specific location as seen in other forms of hair loss.

Second, other problems associated with hypothyroidism (low volume of blood, dehydration, constipation, toxic overload and malabsorption) can lead to poor physical makeup of the hair itself and lower levels of oils to keep the hair healthy. The hair may seem brittle and unmanageable.

While this is not the only cause for thinning hair, it should always be pursued as a possible cause when the pattern is not a local bald spot. Many men and women are chalking it up to bad genes when they are actually seeing a problem with the thyroid and fast thinning hair.

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10 Activities That Will Slow Down Weight Loss In Someone With Hypothroidism

In another post I wrote in my squidoo.com account, I wrote about a patient with a missed case of hypothyroidism that was doing what she thought was right to lose weight. Check out her work out regiment to lose weight (which is all too common) despite having hypothyroidism to see if it something you are doing too.

Here is the lessons she (and maybe you) needed to learn to turn it around and being to lose weight permanently:

1. Skipping breakfast: Look at the word breakfast. It is "break" the "fast" by eating food 30 minutes after waking. If you don't, your body goes into starvation mode and stores extra fat in order to survive.


2. Cut calories: If you cut them too low, back into starvation mode.


3. Exercise just after waking: Your cortisol levels are too high in the morning (or they should be), because you first need to "break the fast." It is better to wait till after noon-2:00 to work out. Utilize your hormones, don't do things to disrupt their normal levels.


4. 1 hour of intense exercise: This is too much for intense exercise. You deplete your growth hormone, which is needed to build muscle, which is needed to make your metabolism an efficient burning machine. The extra stress of the exercise increase stress hormone, which also place fat around your abdominal area as a survival mechanism.


5. Purified water: Water is essential to life. Purification gets rid of most of the toxin...which is a good thing, since those things can disrupt thyroid hormone utilization. Unfortunately, it does not filter out fluoride. Fluoride binds to the thyroid hormone where iodine should be bound (in order to convert T4 to T3).


6. Soy: This increases thyroid hormone binding with certain proteins, making the hormone useless. They have also been shown to stimulate goiter formation and antibodies against the thyroid gland (autoimmune disease).


7. High protein diet: Animals are fed chemicals in their food to keep it fresher (blocks thyroid receptors), given soy as food because it is cheap (see #6) and pumped with estrogens in order to beef up (estrogen blocks conversion of T4 to T3)...which is all given to you when you eat those meats.


8. Bottled water: plastics have chemicals that mimic estrogens and can block the conversion of T4 to T3. These are given off from the bottle into the water, especially if it is heated.


9. Salmon: What should be a super food, high levels of mercury and other toxins are bound to the fat in these fish. These toxins block conversion of T4 to T3 and disrupts the thyroid receptors.


10. Broccoli: another super food, but is often times sprayed with pesticides. It also has goitrogens if it is eaten raw, which are known to block the conversion of T4 to T3.
    

There you go. 10 common mistakes that may actually be hindering your goal of weight loss (and all other symptoms of hypothyroidism), even though many professionals may be telling you that is how to lose weight.

Lifestyle changes, when done correctly, can be some of the most powerful solutions to your problems.

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