Blood test shows low thyroid levels. Dr wants me to take thyroid supplement. I’d prefer non med solution.?
Letter from Dr re: recent bloodwork says, "thyroid levels were low and you would benefit from taking a thydroid supplement. Please call to start med." I don’t want to take meds. I take nothing now and don’t want to start! I am a 57 yr old female, 6 years into menopause. This is first bloodwork in 4 years. I am a runner. No weight problem. Symptoms, if you want to call them that, are: hot flashes, slower/inconsistant running, some insomnia, little interest in sex, mild fatigue. All of which I attributed to menopause. Of course, I’d be happy to have improvement there, but they’re not a big problem.
Just got the letter so haven’t discussed with Dr. what the levels are and how I might benefit from the meds. Looking for info and homeopathic suggestions before I tell him I don’t want to take the meds.
What was your test result? Hypothyroidism is a common condition and very treatable. You would not be taking meds – you would be taking hormones which regulate your metabolism in every cell of your body. T4 medicine is a synthetic version of the hormone that you do not produce. Dont confuse this hormone with the female hormones and synthetic hormones that you hear in the news causing problems. This one you actually can not live without. There is no substitute to thyroid hormone. Do some research about it. There are some claims out there that say that if you take iodine or other natural plant herbs your hypothyroidism will be cured. Nothing can be further from the truth but your wallet can be ripped off. When I was first diagnosed I was just like you. Then my numbers and my body got much worse and I have been on thyroid hormone supplementation for 2.5 yrs now. I feel great and my numbers are right. Another couple of things why you want to be on thyroid hormone supplementation is because its lacking can lead to serious bodily problems and conditions especially cardiovascular, dermatological and metabolic problems. Eventually if it gets untreated and out of control you can develop myxedema coma that happens when the lack of thyroid hormone does not regulate your body anymore – this can be fatal. Your symptoms show hypothyroidism – and I recommend you consider taking thyroid hormone. The sooner you supplement it – the quicker your body will rebounce. I do recommend you to find a complimentary physician though who will check your other hormones and try to rebalance all your hormones which of course are very closely working or when in inbalance not working together. I wish you good luck!
i don’t know if you are hyo or hyper – cause when the thyroid tests are nigh that means you are hypo – it is confusing.
if you decide on thyroid meds – go natural. if you are hypo – sea kelp supplements help – i don’t understand hyper hyperthyroid tho.
Find a homeopathic doctor and discuss this with Him/Her. There are going to be supplements for a low thyroid at the Health food store as well. How would you come to a dosage, that is needed is a good question to ask there. Your blood test (TSH) was low and your Doctor will prescribe either Synthroid or Levothroxin, (and there are some other medicines as well.) in the proper dosage, in order to bring your thyroid hormone to normal.It might be a good idea to find out just what your TSH numbers are It is your choice where you will treated…….
I’m guessing you are hypothyroid (underactive) by the symptoms. Medication is important because even if you aren’t seeing many symptoms, they are happening in the body. A TSH over 2.0 is making changes in your heart and cholesterol levels.
I understand you not wanting to take medication, but there is a natural med that many feel works better than the synthetic medications. It is called Armour thyroid. It’s been around for over 100 years. I will put links below
http://www.armourthyroid.com/
http://www.healthrecipes.com/armour_thyroid.htm
There are many natural ways to treat thyroid problems. Medicine is easy, it’s marketed very well and fits Americans pop a pill and forget about it mentality (till things get out of control). You do not need to take medication in most cases, though sometimes it is a very advantages part of a treatment program.
You said your "thyroid levels were low." Does this mean your TSH, free T3, and free T4? Different levels mean different things, which will lead you down a different road for finding where the problem is at.
Just as taking Synthroid, or just take Armour is really pretty poor way of treating a thyroid problem, so is saying "just take iodine, or take selenium, B-vits, tyrosine, and Zn". Everyone is different. Grouping everyone under one treatment will give limited results.
Can menopause have something to do with it? Of course. We have become an over estrogen dominant society (because our bodies are making too much, we are taking in to much or we aren’t detoxifying it and eliminating it fast enough). If this were your problem (not saying it is), then you would want to balance these hormones.
This is a very complex topic. I have a blog that better answers these complex topics. The link is below.