11 replies to this topic

[Luminosity]

For years, I seemed to have symptoms, health history and other disorders associated with low thyroid. I got some Thyroxin free thyroid freeze dried glandular supplements from Swansons. Since then my stomach has gotten fatter. I sometimes look older like I do when I don't sleep or eat. I am sometimes slightly manic like I get from skipping meals, drinking caffeinated tea or going without sleep. On the positive side, I am exercising more regularly because I'm not as sensitive to the cold water I swim in, and I have not had any muscle rips or cramps from weight lifting and swimming in cold water. I had not had chills from swimming in cold water at night.

I can't take my stomach getting fatter. Not sure what to do. Any advice.

Edited by Luminosity, 12 May 2013 - 04:57 AM.

[Guardian4981]

Get your TSH levels tested or better a full thyroid panel.

My guess your stomach getting fatter is unrelated to the thyroid glandular.

If you get manic from skipping meals that could indicate that you are cortisol deprived and thus the meal skipping triggers the much needed cortisol and shocks your system.

I am still on the fence with whether "adrenal fatigue" is real but that could be a possibility for you.

[nameless]

Agree with above poster, get a full thyroid panel. That includes TSH, Free T3/T4, thyroid antibodies (TPO and TGAB, if I recall correctly), and if your doctor is willing, even reverse T3. You could get a full endocrine workup while you are at it.

Do you have numbers from any past tests? Any ultrasounds done? The way my endo handles it is, if your TSH > 3 and if you have high thyroid antibodies, then an ultrasound is done. If the ultrasound shows signs of hashimoto's, then a low dose T4 is warranted. Since you have symptoms and if your TSH is high-ish at all, I'd think an ultrasound would be worthwhile regardless of antibody status.

[Luminosity]

Thanks for responding. The fatter stomach came on exactly when I was taking the thyroid glandular. I was eating well and fewer treats than normal. It wasn't even bloating, it was fat.

I've had no testing.

I could well have adrenal fatigue but that doesn't rule out a thyroid issue. I understand your points about having a workup. Basically by the time you do all of that, you are thousands of dollars into it and I don't have that money. Western medicine doesn't usually agree with me, and they are making more and more grade school level errors. I'm trying to do what I can on my own. If anyone knows where I can get a low dose of T4 to try it, let me know.

These are my symptoms:

fatigue, overweight even though I eat well and exercise. When I step up the exercise, still overweight. History of dieting, fasting, cleanses and skipping meals which I believe puts your body into power save mode, which is basically low thyroid, I think. Still involuntarily skipping meals due to situational problems, but trying to do better. History of eating cold food and drinking cold drinks as is common is Western countries. Think this contributes to thyroid problems. 51 years old. Fatigued and overweight for years. Deal with chemical sensitivities, and sometimes fibromyalgia-like problems; both sometimes co-occur with thyroid issues. Used to have osteo-arthritis. Now dealing with other joint issues.

Hair is luxuriant, eyes not popping, Noticed that people I know with low thyroid had very watery sweat that smelled like sea water and stale vegetable oil. Had that a few times myself but not constantly. Mostly not.

Problems processing mineral supplements and have a few bone spurs. According to Chinese medicine, the parathyroid gland may not be functioning optimally. Don't know what the parathyroid gland is actually.

Thinking that according to Chinese medicine, you might want to do acupuncture and herbs to make the thyroid and or parathyroid function better, rather than taking the T's that it is supposed to produce. Just thought I found something easy, since I am pretty maxed out on health expenses and routines. I thought if I could get more done, it would make my life easier and not being fat looked appealing. Maybe that's not the way? Sigh.

Edited by Luminosity, 15 May 2013 - 01:13 AM.

[nameless]

I would strongly suggest not to take T4 without getting at least TSH/t3/t4 tested. If you have insurance, it'll cover it. If not, I can't see how it'd cost thousands of dollars. A basic thyroid panel (without antibodies) through LEF is $100, or $56.25 if a member. If you take T4 without keeping track of your levels, not only will you not know how much to take, but if you need to take it at all ... or if you are in fact harming yourself.

[Ch!ggy]

Have you ruled out food intolerances?. I had a similar issue for the last few years, tired, bloated even with my active life style and healthy eating, I found I had celiac’s and since modifying the diet, my health has improved dramatically, no bloating and lots of energy. I had the bad bloating for 3 years until it was diagnosed properly. I had very strange reactions when I did not eat, very wound up and irritable, now I am fine.

Edited by Ch!ggy, 15 May 2013 - 07:08 PM.

[lourdaud]

If you haven't already I'd suggest you check out Ray Peat's advice on boosting metabolism.

[Luminosity]

I know what you're saying, nameless. What is LEF? Can a patient order their own test anywhere?

I also think I remember reading that people with challenged parathyroid glands can have a hard time converting T4 to T3.

Now that I've had time to think about it, a cortisol issue from stress, sleep deprivation, and chemical exposures might be the problem. I often feel if I could just sleep more and be under less stress, the excess weight would release.

Yes, Chiggy, I've ruled out food intolerances, but I know what you're talking about. Thanks for thinking of me.

lourdaud, I'll look into Ray Peat's ideas.

Thanks everyone.

[Guardian4981]

"Noticed that people I know with low thyroid had very watery sweat that smelled like sea water and stale vegetable oil"

I believe I have read this elsewhere on this forum and I do not understand it. With low thyroid one sweats much less if at all.

I currently am dealing with issues that I am not entirely sure the origin of.

I had labs done, my TSH was 3.5 which is a bit higher then it should be but not awful. My red blood cell count was slightly above range and my creatinine levels were elevated.

My cholesterol was fine and triglycerides only 50.

Yet I do suffer from some hypo symptoms. The biggest symptom being low body temperature. However I do not struggle with weight, in fact people say I look ripped. My eyebrows are full, no constipation.

I have tried alot of different supplements without alot of success/help.

I now believe my issue my be cortisol related, I have tried supplements like Forskolin and it actually caused me to feel worse instead of better.

There is some speculation that T3 lowers blood glucose levels at which point cortisol is needed to balance glucose back. I think my cortisol is on the low side because my midsection has gotten leaner and I am rarely genuinely hungry.

So I have recently started pentethine.

I also am going to try goldenseal which some claim benefit both thyroid and adrenals if used for short term and cycles.

[renfr]

"Noticed that people I know with low thyroid had very watery sweat that smelled like sea water and stale vegetable oil"

I believe I have read this elsewhere on this forum and I do not understand it. With low thyroid one sweats much less if at all.

I currently am dealing with issues that I am not entirely sure the origin of.

I had labs done, my TSH was 3.5 which is a bit higher then it should be but not awful. My red blood cell count was slightly above range and my creatinine levels were elevated.

My cholesterol was fine and triglycerides only 50.

Yet I do suffer from some hypo symptoms. The biggest symptom being low body temperature. However I do not struggle with weight, in fact people say I look ripped. My eyebrows are full, no constipation.

I have tried alot of different supplements without alot of success/help.

I now believe my issue my be cortisol related, I have tried supplements like Forskolin and it actually caused me to feel worse instead of better.

There is some speculation that T3 lowers blood glucose levels at which point cortisol is needed to balance glucose back. I think my cortisol is on the low side because my midsection has gotten leaner and I am rarely genuinely hungry.

So I have recently started pentethine.

I also am going to try goldenseal which some claim benefit both thyroid and adrenals if used for short term and cycles.

I also have a low body temperature and feeling always cold, apart from that I have no other symptom of hypothyroidism.
As a note, I am currently doing exercise and I have a calorie restricted diet, from my findings I came to the following conclusions by reading several studies :
- intensive exercise lowers body temperature (this is an homeostasis mechanism by which the heat generated during exercise is compensated by a decrease in body temperature)
- low calorie/low carb/low satured fat decreases body temperature, fromthe studies this is because T3 is converted to rT3 and hence is inactivated
This effect is also called the euthyroid syndrome (thyroid profile looks normal yet there are symptoms) :
http://en.wikipedia....d_sick_syndrome
This article is quite worrying because the causes are that of critical conditions, yet with my high insaturated fat, low carb diet I don't feel like I'm starving at all, I'm in fact better than ever.
if your only symptom is low body temp don't be that worried, apparently low body temperature is linked to increased longevity in healthy people so that's rather a good thing.

c) Inhibitors of TSH secretion

Dopamine.25
L-Dopa.22
Somatostatin.22

This is interesting because I have high dopamine levels, the TSH is probably too low to stimulate the thyroid to produce more T4, T3.

When I eat a lot of saturated fats such as coconut oil (coconut oil has the goods saturated fats not the bad ones, medium chain triglycerides MCT), I become suddenly very hot with a nice warm feeling.

At least you don't risk having goiter if your TSH is low.

Edited by renfr, 16 May 2013 - 06:35 PM.

[nameless]

I know what you're saying, nameless. What is LEF? Can a patient order their own test anywhere?


Thanks everyone.

LEF = Life Extension Foundation. I am not fond of most of their supplements (they go with the more is better philosophy), but they do offer some blood tests. I think whether or not you can order your own test depends on the law of the state you live in, assuming you are in the US. You can check with them about this. I never used them for blood tests personally, so can't vouch for how good (or bad) they may be. I think they use labcorp for the blood draw.

http://www.lef.org/V...&key=thyroid t3

The antibody tests are strangely expensive though, more than the basic panel.

Edited by nameless, 16 May 2013 - 11:10 PM.

[Luminosity]

Guardian4981,

I wrote that elsewhere on this site too. I have known at least two people who had sweat like that and low thyroid. This was noticed in very hot weather or while hiking. When I had the problem, it was usually quite hot too. This doesn't mean all low thyroid people have it.

Thanks nameless.