My Thyroid Hell

Iodine, Adrenals, & Stress

>> 8/20/09

I've been busy doing a lot of research on adrenal support and the use of Iodine in helping with goiter and nodules. Of course, it's nothing my doctor (any of them) have told me about because they are all about synthetic medications and nothing else. It's something I am seriously researching.

In addition to that, I worry about the effect of constant stress on my thyroid and adrenals (cortisol) in years past when we lived a very stressful life. Stress is a hard monster to tame. You can say relax, light some WoodWick Candles, and let your stress go but it's really not that easy for me because my brain doesn't shut down. It goes over and over what is bothering me. After many years of that, does stress affect your health? I think so.

Doc still wants to stick needles in my neck!

>> 8/12/09

I contacted my endocrinologist back about some of the lab results they'd sent me. My T3 was at the low end of normal and so was my cortisol. I asked that he prescribe me something with T3 in it (either Naturethroid or Cytomel) to bring my T3 level up (to still be within the "norm" range though) and for some adrenal support for my cortisol (again, still keeping the levels within "normal" but to raise it a little).

I got the response I expected...don't want to do that because it might have long-term consequences (why would it if I kept them within "normal" range?) and he wants me to schedule a biopsy (because the one in June wasn't bad enough). I'm so tired of this stuff. Like I want to have people in medical scrubs sticking needles in my neck again? Why do something so invasive AGAIN when there are other things that can be tried first (like Iodine) to shrink the nodules? Why choose to biopsy and remove the thyroid (which the endo is talking about doing) when there are other avenues less invasive that could be tried first? It might not work. I know that, but I want to try!

Thyroid Supplements

>> 8/5/09

I was at a health food store today looking at what they offered in the way of thyroid support and came across these:

Of course, I paid a lot more than the price shown here since I bought it at a health food store, but I was wondering if anybody else has heard or tried these?

Here's what the site says:

Indications
Naturally Supports Healthy Thyroid and Glandular Activity.

Ingredients
Vitamin B6: 2 mg (pyridoxine HCI), Folate: 400 mcg (folic acid), Vitamin B12: 60 mcg (methylcobalamin), Iodine: 225 mcg (Irish Moss and kelp), Zinc: 25 mg (L-Optizinc® - Zinc L-Methionine Complex), Selenium: 50 mcg (l-selenomethionine and Yeast Free), Copper: 1 mg (copper amino acid chelate), L-Tyrosine: 1 g (free- form), Irish Moss: 200 mg (Chondius Crispus) (Thallus), Guggul: 75 mg Standardized Extract (Commiphora mukul) (Resinous Sap) - min. 10% Guggulsterones, Kelp: 60 mg Whole Plant

Directions
As a dietary supplement, take two vegetarian capsules two times daily, on an empty stomach or just before meals.

I haven't tried them yet. I'm wondering if I should run it by my endocrinologist first (who basically doesn't believe in any other thyroid treatment but synthetic and was talking about taking out my thyroid before he'd even examined me for the first time). Doesn't sound like I want to run it by him, huh? Maybe take a half or a quarter of a dose to start and see how I feel.

7/14/09 Lab Results (Most of Them)

>> 7/22/09

I mentioned I had a bunch of labs done. The doctor's note said that I may need less Synthroid and the rest of the labs look good. His notes also say that I may need another biopsy because they didn't biopsy one on the left side (they only biopsied on the left side).

There are so many lab results and I'm not sure what is relevant or not. I wasn't sure I should post all of them. I am going to post screenshots instead:

This last test result came in later than the others:

DHEA, LC/MS/MS: 279 (reference range is listed as 102-1185)