Need Help with Thyroid Info

[NJCher]

I need help with thyroid info before a medical apptmt on Monday, Sept.17. I know this is the best place to get the info I need, based on various threads I've seen over the past few years. I want to ask my new doc about things I read here at ASAH.

At my annual physical checkup this last Thursday, I was shocked to learn my blood pressure was 160/88.

I am up for my annual thyroid test in the next month or so. My doc told me that thyroid medication being off could be a cause for high blood pressure.

I take Levoxyl for thyroid. I thought about taking that Armour stuff I hear you guys talk about, but I don't have any symptoms for thyroid if I take my Levoxyl. Therefore, I thought maybe I didn't need it. This is the part I am most curious about and on which I would like comments or info.

How do you know if you need the Armour stuff? What tests should I request to tell me that?

Also, on the chance that it might not be my thyroid, what have people here done to lower high blood pressure without going on high blood pressure meds?



Cher

[elleng]

1. Will p.m. you, to avoid giving medical advice here, OK?

[murielm99]

2. I take that Armour stuff because my thyroid had to be

destroyed with radioactivity. That had to be done, because it was dangerously hyperactive. I have Grave's disease.

An endocrinologist should do tests to determine if you need armour. If you have low or no thyroid function, they can figure that out.

Go see an endocrinologist.

I took synthroid and hated it. It made me gain weight. Now I am losing the weight, eating healthy food and exercising.

I can't tell you what to do. I only know what works for me. Good luck to you.

[laylah]

3. I have no personal experience

with thyroid issues; however, I do take 3000 mgs. garlic oil daily for the bp. If you are "out in the world" a lot, which I am not, you might consider garlic oil w/parsley as the parsely helps eliminate the odor.

Good luck!

[NJCher]

4. Thanks everybody!

I am reading all you wrote in preparation for my doctor's appointment on Monday. As I've read on some of our older threads, a lot of doctors aren't even aware of one of the tests. That's why I wanted to get more info. I don't know if she will refer me to an endocrinologist, but I will ask her about it. I hadn't even thought of that, so very helpful.

I welcome more comments/info if others have any.


Cher

[elleng]

8. Hi. I recall learning tests for thyroid are quite complex;

don't know how this affects b.p. You may want to ask her about how one affects the other, especially if you're otherwise satisfied w your thyroid med. I take the same stuff as you, have for years, am quite satisfied, and have fine b.p. numbers.

Best of luck.

[Celebration]

5. my daughters are both on combo T4/T3 medication

I could probably write an epistle about how they got to that point. Rather than writing a book here, I would guide you to Mary Shomon's about.com website

http://thyroid.about.com/od/thyroidbasicsthyroid101/u/symptomsdiagnosis.htm

I will say that doctors are all over the place about thyroid medicine, with some of them, particularly endocrinologists, that are generally biased against T3 containing medication. I would rather choose a LICENSED ND (meaning one who attended something like Bastyr). Unfortunately in my community there are no NDs, but I would probably visit one of my daughters who lives in Washington State.

Readers of Mary Shomon put together a good doc's list--

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/doctors/a/topdocs.htm

Complicating all the thyroid issues is something few doctors even know--thyroid hormones can bind to flouride as well as iodine, and the blood tests are not sensitive enough to tell the difference. Thyroid hormones bound to flouride are useless. So thyroid testing may not mirror the true thyroid state. But 99.9% of MDs would have no idea what you were talking about if you mentioned that.

[MorningGlow]

6. Sure thing

Sometimes the synthetic drug doesn't work for everybody. It may get your TSH into an "acceptable" level, but that doesn't mean everything's hunky dory in ThyroidLand. Levoxyl is one of the better ones; I've read about people who not only don't respond to Synthroid, but even have bad reactions to it! Synthroid is teh evil, IMO.

Okay, other stuff: First of all, some doctors still follow the old acceptable range for the test result, which is 0.5 to 5.0. WAY too broad. The newer acceptable range is 0.1 to 1.0. Check that. Also, your doc should also check your free T3, free T4, and total T3 and total T4. That would show any additional problems that the basic TSH test won't. Your doctor may balk at total T3 and total T4 testing (I never understood why, if it'll give you answers--I think it's an HMO thing, like they'll question the doctor's blood order), but at LEAST s/he should do free T3 and free T4.

Remember that Levoxyl and other synthetics ONLY provide additional T4. You might also need T3. Natural thyroid drugs like Armour provide all the thyroid hormones--T4, T3, and T1 and T2. Some doctors think that T1 and T2 (and sometimes T3) aren't necessary and even call T1 and T2 "junk", but our bodies just might need those as well. We just don't know yet. (Look what they used to call "junk DNA"--turned out to be pretty important once we figured it out, no?)

I'm on Armour--always have been. They have doinked with the formula lately (in the past couple of years) but it's still better than synthetic IMO.

Any more questions, fire away! I have no problem discussing this publicly because it's information (not medical advice, just information) that lots of people should have access to.

Further reading ;) : http://thyroid.about.com. Mary Shomon is a goddess among women.

On edit: I see Celebration already mentioned Mary at the same time I was writing this. :D

[GardeningGal]

7. In my experience, it's difficult to find a good doctor for thyroid issues.

I would suggest Free T4, Free T3, reverse T3 as well as a full iron panel and ferritin. Since it is your blood pressure that looks like it recently changed, I would be suspicious of adrenals so I would also suggest a 24 hour saliva cortisol test as well as a CMP.

Here's another site I would suggest on educating yourself on thyroid issues.

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

[kimmerspixelated]

9. I've read that bananas and celery everyday

are what you need to combat blood pressure. I would think it would depend on how severe and weight issues as well. Stress reduction is key.

Taking synthetic thyroid hormones sends a message to the body that it doesn't need to produce them anymore, so I personally wouldn't take a prescription. But the body, most bodies, are deficient of iodine, the kind found in kelp and so forth, which is why Japanese folks, etc., have little to no problems with their thyroid as there diets are rich in seaweeds and the like. I have found that supplementing with Nascent Iodine is superior to everything else. You might need as much as several drops a day or only one drop. I had trouble with hair loss and other hormonal fluctuations, and NI helped reverse my problems. Also, it detoxifies drinking water. You have to monitor your own personal dosage to know what's best. Here is an info page.

http://www.magneticclay.com/store/nascent-iodine-supplement-1.aspx

I have seen it cheaper on Amazon, as well as Natural News.

Best of luck to you!