A
majority of my fibro and CFS patient's complain of low thyroid symptoms. They
relate that they, and sometimes even their doctors, suspected a thyroid problem
only to have their blood work come back "normal". Most physician's
won't recommend thyroid replacement therapy if the blood tests come back
"normal". Most don't know or choose not to accept the well-documented
studies that show a low body temperature is indicative of low thyroid function
and perhaps true hypothyroidism.
And most
doctors don’t realize that blood tests for low or hypothyroidism is notoriously
inaccurate.
Do you
have a number of these symptoms, associated with hypothyroidism- fatigue,
headaches, dry skin, swelling, weight gain, cold hands and feet, poor memory, brain
fog, hair loss, hoarseness, nervousness, low sex drive, brittle nails,
constipation, poor immune function, chronic sinus infections, high cholesterol,
high or low blood pressure, anxiety, depression, joint and or muscle pain, and
burning or tingling sensations in the hands or feet? Reads like the symptoms of
fibromyalgia and or CFS doesn’t it?
Ok, how
many symptoms did you have? Several I imagine. So if you have most of the
symptoms associated with hypothyroidism, why doesn’t your blood test show that
you in fact do have hypothyroidism? Good question.
One major
reason is that most doctors don’t do the complete tests to uncover
hypothyroidism, especially when it comes to those with fibromyalgia and or CFS.
You
may have a common autoimmune disease known as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. It may be the most common thyroid
disease, especially with women with fibromyalgia.
What
is Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis - Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis is an autoimmune thyroid disease
where the immune system immune system aggressively attacks your thyroid gland-attempting
to destroy your gland as if it’s some dangerous enemy. It can cause nodules or
lumps in the thyroid. However most of the time there is no physical change in
the appearance of your thyroid.
It
typically starts out silently, slowly, but soon enough inflammation, low
thyroid function and gradual destruction of your thyroid gland begins-symptoms
like fatigue, weight gain, or other symptoms associated with low thyroid
function, become common. Unfortunately typical blood tests (TSH, T4 blood levels)
won’t uncover this disease! Symptoms from thyroiditis can go on for years and
years. Doctors may continue to suspect from all your symptoms you have
hypothyroidism but since your blood work always comes back “normal,” you must
just be depressed or lazy or….here take an antidepressant.
Year
after year your doctor treats the symptoms of the uncovered Hashimoto’s disease
with drug after drug-antidepressants for your depression, cholesterol medicine,
high blood pressure medicine, stimulant drugs for your fatigue…it goes on and
on. Why not treat the CAUSE of this symptoms-the Hashimoto’s?
What
are the symptoms of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis? Again for most, the symptoms are silent–at least
in the early stages. But eventually, you start to notice the same symptoms of
hypothyroid, including poor stamina, easy fatigue, feeling cold, gaining
weight, dry hair and skin, constipation, etc.
There
are special blood tests to uncover Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, which I routinely
perform on ALL my patients-why would you want to miss such a valuable piece of
information? If your fortunate enough to get a doctor who isn’t
blindly following the herd, and does actually have some “smarts” and runs special
thyroid tests to uncover Hashimoto’s, they’ll typically take a wait and see
approach to a positive test.
This ridiculous! “Miss Jones you have the beginnings
of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis but since we can’t treat it affectively with
prescription drugs, or at least not until your thyroid has been destroyed from
the Hashimoto’s disease.”
“Doctor, how will you know when my thyroid has been
destroyed.”
“Your thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) level will
finally be elevated and we will then be able to prescribe a synthetic thyroid
hormone like Synthroid or Levothyroxine, which you’ll need to stay on for the
rest of your life.
Allowing
the attack to continue on your thyroid until your TSH is elevated is crazy-not
only last for years, but cause all sorts of problems along the way of its
destruction, including years and years of poor health. Instead, why not just
stop the attack and all the consequences?
Why
because traditional medicine doesn’t have a drug to stop the attack.
Fortunately there natural over the counter remedies and protocols that will in
fact stop the destruction and correct the altered thyroid function.
Listen if
you have symptoms similar to the ones discussed above do yourself a favor find
a doctor who’ll do more than order the typical run of the mill tests. You know
what I’m talking about, the same tests your doctors runs every year and then
reports your labs look great it is just your fibromyalgia that is the problem.
The real
problem is you’ve got a doctor or doctors who are content to do the same tests,
ask the same questions, and prescribe the same recommendations, and you get
worse every year. WHAT YOU NEED is a detective, a health professional who based
on his or her experience knows that the only way to reverse a complicated
illness like fibromyalgia is to order the uncommon tests (no one with
fibromyalgia is common), ask the questions not asked, and pursue every health
clue until you are know the TRUE cause of the symptoms-then start treating the
CAUSE not the symptoms.
If you
suspect you have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis or a low thyroid function and can’t
get your doctor to help you then please consider taking the time to find a
doctor who will listen to you and order the right tests.
I’ve been
fortunate enough to have uncovered hundreds of missed Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
cases and have helped spare these patients of years of misery. There are ways
to correct Hashimoto’s thyroiditis short of letting your thyroid burn out and
health become shattered.
I’ve
helped thousands reverse their fibromyalgia and get their life back. Are you
next?
Phone and
in clinic new patient consults available 205-879-2383
