Marc, have you every tried using nurotransmitter precursors; Tyrosine and 5HTP? Being hypoT depletes these, and even being at the optimal dose of thyroid hormones, enough to bring your FTs up to where they should be, you can feel less than optimal if your serotonin or dopamine are low.

I recently had a full battery of tests and was given both amino acids, increased Vit D (another hormone that gets depeleted when you're hypoT) and B12 and I can honestly say that in my entire adult life I have never felt this good.

I ask because low serotonin is a sign of afternoon cravings; the afternoon is typically when serotonin drops. Low serotonin would cause cravings for sugar, low dopamine can cause depression, lethargy and hunger in general. Tyrosine is also the amino your body uses to make thyroxine.

Nat

Marc,

Yes doctors are very negative and dubious about yeast, leaky gut, etc. I got all of my info from books and I ended up calling a practitioner who gave me free advise over the phone...it was the same as what I had already read.
I did not have cravings only in the afternoon though. I had immediate reactions when eating certain things or drinking any alchohol. It seemed like I was allergic to everthing..I also had chemical sensitivities. I started treatment for yeast about the same time that I increased my T4 so I'm not sure which one actually helped me out but now I don't have such bad reactions...and I'm pretty much eating whatever I want now. I think that low thyroid is first to blame and yeast problems are secondary.

Nat


Yes, I know that thyroxine, noradrenaline (nor epinephrine), dopamine, etc are made from tyrosine. So too is the hair pigment melanin, and I went prematurely gray. I have ADHD, which supposedly involves a dopamine deficiency. And I have bouts of profound fatigue, which involves adrenaline (epinephrine) and noradrenaline. The plot thickens!

I tried tyrosine supplements in case I don't make enough tyrosine (from phenylalanine) but the results were inconclusive. I think its an issue, but as a consequence of a bigger issue which needs to be tackled first.

As for serotonin: superficially I appear to have too much. I suffer from hot weather stress, in which serotonin tends to be too high. Serotonin boosting antidepressants give me symptoms consistent with excess serotonin.

It's great to find people covering the same ground as I have, and more besides, turning up all sorts of relevant issues. I have quite a bit more to say on these issues but I'm new to forums and must proceed bit by bit. More shortly. Thanks for the support.

Rachel

Your immediate reactions to some foods and alchohol, chemical sensitivies, a sense of allergy so so many things sounds very familiar. I definitely seem to have a lot of sensitivities too. Only some are cravings which haunt my afternoons and evenings, and are of very long standing.

These problems seem to get a lot worse when I was put on a proton pump inhibitor for my gastric reflux. It worked wonderfully, but I suspect that it reduced my stomach acidity so much that nasty things started happening in there. I have since given them up, and yet have much less trouble with acidity, probably because of diet changes or improved thyroid levels, or reduced exposure to sources which raise histamine levels excessively - histamine stimulates gastric acid.

I am very taken with the idea that we became grain, dairy and alcohol consumers (not to mention food processed with yeast) only in the last 10000 years, and many people have genetic sensitivity to grains and/or dairy. We also eat foods from all over the world, but our not too distant ancestors would have had a diet confined to local foods for many thousands of years. The standard nutritional belief that grains should form the greatest source of our calories is rather dubious.

As I said in reply to Nat, I think I have some sort of explanation for my problems: mastocytosis, or too many mast cells. Not that I think it's at the root of everybody's problems. I suspect that many things can disrupt our metabolic processes and lead to an overall metabolic instability having many commonly experienced symptoms whatever the original disruptive force or forces. Knowing that other people have similar overlapping problems - food sensitivities, thyroid problems, potential tyrosine lacks etc gives me more confidence I am on the right track.

I shall try to put together a description of my mastocytosis theory which is not too long winded, and post it in the near future. I've discovered that we can attach files to our posts, which might help me communicate on issues without flooding the thread.

Back soon

Marc.

I take 12.5 mcg 4 times daily to go along with my 246 mcg of Levoxyl and I'm not sure I don't need to boost my T4 up to 248.



I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in '95 after aguing with doctors for 20+ years there was something wrong with me. 3 years earlier I had finally found an endo that agreed I had Hashimoto's and sarted treating me clinically as all my tests came back normal.

You have my deepest sympathies. Rachel. I had symptoms of malabsorption (Celiac Sprue) until my T4 levels were brought up to a decent level. I also had symptoms of adrenal insufficiency, candida, carpal tunnel, reactive hypoglycemia, migraines, lupus, ad naseum.

Some of the best advice given here has been Find Another Doctor. I went through 16 doctors in 3 different cities over a 20 year period. If I had known then what I know now it wouldn't have taken as long....

I kept a chart for months on all my symptoms, but the greatest piece of ammunition I ever found was my basal temperature. That was one thing the doctors couldn't argue against. (It helped weed out the last 3 doctors) I would encourage you to find out what yours is* and use it to help you find a doctor who will treat you as you deserve.

Marc and Sunshne, I can really relate to you both. So many commonalities re: allergies, candida, leaky gut and chemical sensitivities. I found that a candida diet helped me, but didn't really get rid of my common complaints.

The MCS is the most frustrating for me. Being in contact with chemicals is a modern fact of life, never mind that people love to douse themselves in perfume.

I believe the chemical sensitivities is a sure sign of adrenal fatigue. Have you guys had your adrenal function tested? It's very common to have adrenal fatigue along with hypoT.

Wanda

Everybody

I love it! So many people with the same symptom patterns. I had 30 or so symptoms consistent with hypothyroidism, based on a formal list I compiled from very reputable sources. Not that this impressed the doctors - never mind the symptoms, the test results were everything. Seems I was a sick person who must be healthy because the tests said so.

But I had so many other "non-thyroidal" symptoms as well - gastric reflux, other chronic gut problems, asthma, mild insulin resistance, blood sugar slumps, food cravings, abnormal fatigue, insomnia, anxiety, ..... I thought I was the only one in the world who apparently had about ten different diseases all at once.

It seems to me that any disturbance of a metabolic nature must be viewed holistically, because the Central Nervous System's control of metabolic functions will get out of whack in a way which generates symptoms far beyond the basic or more obvious cause. That's one of the theories about Chronic Fatigue (which they tried to pin on me, but its just a label for the symptoms, not a disease).

I think that some people might be more at risk for gut absorption problems, or anxiety, concentration problems etc, or heat intolerance, or chemical sensitivites, or whatever, but they will be OK so long as the basic metabolic symptoms are working well, they treat themselves well (diet, exercise, environment), and manage to avoid more severe environmental insults. But let a major system such as the thyroid (or the pancreas, or gut or whatever) drift out of whack and many other conditions could be precipitated, confusing the diagnostic picture and making life damn miserable.

Tomorrow (Monday) I see an allergist/immunologist about my heat intolerance/purported mastocytosis. l don't expect much, but I shall report the outcome in a couple of days.

Thanks all

Marc

Can anyone recommend a good doctor that can diagnose and treat hypothyrodism in San Francisco and/or or Bay Area. I have many sympthoms described as hypothyrodism and also I am pre-menopausal. So far, all the docs I've been to tell I'm fine based on my TSH. But I feel something is off.
Thanks,
Dina.

Look up Dr. Ebnother. I do not know his first name, or his exact location, but fromthe patient testimonials I've read, he's worth it. I beleive if you go to Armour's website and put in your zipcode, you will find him in the list somewhere. (armourthyroid.com)

Carl Ebnother, MD
Nutrition 621 E CAMPBELL AVE
CAMPBELL, CA 95008

Thanks, I will.

I second Dr. Ebnother, Dina. He's not practicing at present, but he has trained a few doctors who use his methods and they all come highly recommended.

Nat

Nat:
I've looked up his website, and he started his practice in 1956, so he's probaly retired by now. I live in SF, it's about an hour drive to Santa Clara. It's not a problem, but I guess, I should have a complete thyroid panel blood test done before I make an appointment? My current insurance is Kaiser, and I can change it in June only, and I will. I never had a complete Thyroid test done except for TSH, which has been in 0.8-0.9 range for the last 5 years. But my GP included free T4 in my last blood test, which came out as 0.9 (at the lowest end). Consider my age (48), and all classical sympthoms like constipation, muscles and joints pain, increased head aches, feeling cold while others feel normal, brittle nails and hair, etc. I also have few small benign thyroid nodules, found out about a year ago. So, all in all, it makes me think that my thyroid system is not working properly, even if my thyroid produces enough hormones. I never thought about it before. I also been on a very low carb for about 1.5 years, and I concern that it is actually made the matter worse. I can ask my GP now for a complete thyroid test, but I want to know what exactly to ask for, LOL. Should I just get free T4 and T3, or any others needs to be done?
Thanks,
Dina

www.healthcheckusa.com will do TSH, Free T3 and Free T4 for $75. Those are the ones you need.

You will probably be able to find a doctor closer, but you will have to weight doing the legwork yourself, the hassle of possibly having a non-productive meeting and then having to start over vs a one time, 1 hr drive or BART trip. Ebnother's office gives appt's quickly, too.

With a Free T4 that is onthe lowest end of 'normal' Ebnother's office would most likely treat you. Tip: You can call, give your number and ask.

Fridayeyes:
Thank you for the tips. I definetely will get the test done first, and then will make an appointment with Ebnother's office. There are few other MDs in SF, which are referenced as good thyroid specialists, but I will go with Ebnother first.
D.

Healthcheck will add it in for an extra fee, but you may also want a TPO (thyroid peroxidase antibidies) test to rule Hashimoto's in or out. YOur GP may also order this forr you. If you go thru your GP, make sure to get a specific test for Free T3 and Free T4. There's something calle da 'Thyroid Cascade panel" which looks like it runs FT3 and FT4, but only does so if TSH is out of range, so usually what you get is just TSH.