Thyroid: Ignorance, Neglect, Indifference

Dawn shared her thyroid experience that provides a wonderful encapsulation of many of the issues we encounter when we try to get thyroid health re-established: I had a TSH of 3.9 for years, and they ALL said my thyroid was fine, then tried to give me antidepressants and told me to exercise more and sleep better. It made me so mad, because I knew I wasn’t depressed and I was exercising. I finally found a functional doctor who tested all of them. Not only did my free T3 and T4 prove that I was indeed hypothyroid, but my antibodies showed I also had Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Hmmm, imagine that: I wasn’t depressed, I didn’t need to exercise more, and trust me I was sleeping way more than I should have been. Now my numbers are optimal and I’m feeling so much better. We just go along with whatever our doctors tell us, even though we know something is terribly, terribly wrong. At one point, I honestly thought I was going to die (felt so bad I sometimes wished I would). It was actually you and the wonderful people here that pushed me to get answers. What is considered “normal” TSH is not optimal. Besides that, the TSH test doesn’t really tell you the whole picture of your thyroid. Your thyroid doesn’t make TSH. The only way to know if your thyroid is optimal is by testing free t3, free t4, reverse t3 and ideally your thyroid antibodies. You still need your Free T’s checked, even if your TSH comes back in normal range. By the...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Wheat Belly Lifestyle autoimmunity endocrine disruption grains Hashimoto's thyroiditis hypothyroiditism iodine Source Type: blogs