Do you know about - Hypothyroidism: Underdiagnosed By Doctors, Overdiagnosed On The Internet
Holistic Nutrition Degree! Again, for I know. Ready to share new things that are useful. You and your friends.* Fatigue and Lethargy
* Infertility
* Hair Loss
* High Cholesterol
* Menstrual duration Problems
* Depression
* Recurrent infections, particularly in winter
* lasting Headaches
* Feeling Cold frequently; cold hands and feet; intolerance to cold
* blurring and Memory Loss
How is Hypothyroidism: Underdiagnosed By Doctors, Overdiagnosed On The Internet
These are symptoms that could be caused by hypothyroidism, or a low-functioning thyroid gland.
Because the thyroid gland is the expert controller of your metabolism, many different systems can be effected, and many symptoms can occur, when it isn't working properly. Unfortunately, the vague nature of these symptoms is the source of a lot of confusion, because not every man with the problems listed above has hypothyroidism - there are many different conditions that can cause them. (It's leading to rule out other possible causes of symptoms before assuming that undiagnosed hypothyroidism is the problem. For instance, anemia can cause fatigue, uterine cancer can cause uterine bleeding, and there are many causes [including stress!] for infertility. And, of course, if you are tired and dragging from lack of sleep, treating your thyroid is a bad idea - what you categorically need is more sleep!)
Unravelling The strangeness Of Hypothyroidism
As I pointed out, there are two main problems with trying to frame out if you are hypothyroid. The first is that most doctors and condition professionals mistakenly believe that the condition is uncommon. It is categorically quite common. And, it is even more coarse among people who go to doctors (since the symptoms listed above are coarse reasons that people go to doctors.) And - it is categorically coarse among people who end up jumping from doctor to doctor or expert to specialist, wondering why every person tells them they are fine when they know that they don'tfeel fine. So this results in a lot of people with hypothyroidism walking around not knowing what their qoute is, and sometimes having been told that their thyroid without fail is not the cause of their symptoms.
The second qoute is practically the exact opposite. Because the symptoms of hypothyroidism are common, and ordinarily caused by things that aren't even curative problems (for instance, stress and posture problems can cause headaches; not getting enough sleep can make it hard to remember and make it easy to get infections), it's easy to look at a list of symptoms caused by hypothyroidism and think "I must have that!" There are a lot of health-related websites that add to this blurring by suggesting that if you have any of those symptoms, you must have a thyroid problem. This, obviously, isn't true.
What makes this dilemma even worse is that one of the symptoms of hypothyroidism in some people is weight gain. However, hypothyroidism is not the main cause of weight gain, even in people with "sluggish metabolism." And, the main rehabilitation for hypothyroidism - taking prescription thyroid hormone - only rarely helps people lose weight. Of course, since so many people are interested in losing weight, hypothryoidism is oftentimes mentioned, even though enhancing thyroid function rarely helps with weight loss.
Tsh - The Best, But Still Flawed, Thyroid Test
You may be trying to frame out if you have a hypothyroid problem. And so far, we haven't made much headway into figuring that out. So stick with me, and we'll try to unravel this further.
The most leading particular thing to know about thyroid lab tests is that the normal range of the most leading test for thyroid (Tsh - thyroid stimulating hormone) is between .5 - 5.5 microunits per millileter (don't worry, there won't be a test later!) The only qoute with this is that this normal range was taken from ordinary people, many of whom may have had undiagnosed hypothyroidism - so some people with a sluggish thyroid qoute have been included in the "normal" range of this test!
A more correct range of normal for Tsh is between 1 - 2.5: 90% of the people has a Tsh level in this range. So, if your Tsh follow is between 1 - 2.5 mIu/mL, you are probably not hypothyroid. Even if your Tsh goes as high as 2.7 or 3.3 on a particular test you may not be hypothyroid, if a second, later test shows it has gone back between 1 and 2.5. This can happen with lab results - it's normal for them to move around.
However, if you have more than two consecutive Tsh tests above 4.0, and you have some or many of the symptoms listed above, or those mentioned in the armour thyroid link below, you probably don't have enough thyroid hormone in your body. Unfortunately, it may be quite difficult to convince your doctor that this is your problem, because even if you have two tests that come out at 5.3, and you are a walking talking hypothyroid indication of illness textbook, many doctors will just say "the test is normal." (Some doctors don't even do the Tsh test, preferring other tests that are even less helpful than Tsh!)
Navigating The curative Doubters Of Hypothyroidism
So, how do you find a doctor who understands this problem? You can look for a Naturopathic doctor or holistic doctor in your area. If your condition is mild, you may be able to treat the qoute without thyroid hormone, using instead nutritional supplements and herbs. The main thing is to find a practitioner who will listen to you and try to understand your unique situation, and who is well-known with natural therapies. In many areas, the most likely practitioner to fit this bill may be a chiropractor.
However, if your condition is such that you need a thyroid hormone prescription (and this is something that only can be considered by a licensed healthcare practitioner who is legally allowed to prescription thyroid hormone) you may find that even a doctor who agrees that you may have a thyroid qoute wants to prescription synthetic rather than natural thyroid hormone for you. While synthetic thyroid hormone works for many people - possibly most - there are some people who only write back to natural thyroid hormone (armour thyroid, U.S.P. Thyroid) and many doctors are unwilling to prescription it because they've been trained to believe it's ineffective (it's not: it's extremely sufficient and completely safe.)
Oh, by the way, there is a term I probably should have introduced way at the beginning of the this article. The subject we are discussing is correctly described "subclinical hypothyroidism." The term "hypothyroidism" is categorically definite to people whose Tsh is over 5.5, and practically every doctor will prescription thyroid hormone for this (or refer you to an endocrinologist.) However, in either case, you're very likely to be given a prescription for synthetic thyroid (levothyroxine), not for natural thyroid hormone. It probably wouldn't hurt, if you're going to try to discuss this with your doctor, to know the unlikeness between subclinical hypothyroid and quarterly hypothyroid.
An Even Deeper Layer Of Hypothyroid Mystery
Remember that I said that hypothyroidism, either subclinical or not, is very common, and that this is probably what has skewed the normal range for Tsh to consist of people with low thyroid in the supposed "normal range." The esteemed doctor and researcher Alan Gaby, Md, has pointed out that there should be someone else category of hypothyroid: "Sublaboratory Hypothyroidism." Dr. Gaby's message was that there are fullness of people whose Tsh is normal but who would advantage from taking thyroid hormone. They have some composition of the symptoms mentioned above or in the armour thyroid webpage, but their Tsh is between 1 and 2.5. In some cases the only way to conclude who those people are is to give them thyroid hormone and see either they benefit. Obviously, this can only be done by a excellent doctor or practitioner, and under careful supervision. Of course, it would be very difficult to convince a doctor who didn't believe in this to prescription thyroid. I have included a link to Dr Gaby's narrative on sublaboratory hypothyroidism below, though keep in mind it was written for a curative audience so it may be hard to understand if you don't have curative training. If you have a very openminded doctor, they may be interested in it.
Many people who theorize they have sublaboratory or subclinical hypothyroidism exertion to test for it by measuring their body climatic characteristic immediately after waking with a fertility thermometer (one that measures normal body temperatures more accurately but that is not beneficial for measuring fevers.) Some people consider a waking body climatic characteristic well under 98.6 degrees F (37 degrees C) to be a sign of hypothyroidism. This "test" runs the same risk as reading about hypothyroidism on the internet - it can seem as if every person is hypothyroid, because a waking climatic characteristic of 98.6, or close to that, appears to be quite rare.
Determining if you are hypothyroid or not can be confusing and frustrating. It helps to be armed with as much (good) data as possible. Here is a link to the Armour Thyroid page that details the symptoms of hypothyroidism: Hypothyroidism Signs and Symptoms
Here is a link to alt.support.hypothyroid's page on the curative literature that shows the limits of using Tsh alone to conclude thyroid function.
Tsh curative References
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