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I believe it. I know my doctor goes by TSH. We'll see what she has to say when I ask to have my T levels checked. To my knowledge, I've never had the Hashimoto's test but I might have as they ran a bunch of tests when I was first diagnosed. I do know that my complaints of fatigue and weight gain fell on deaf ears for almost 4 years. It was too easy to say new mom is tired = normal. Even though pregnancy over the age of 35 is a know trigger for hypothyroidism.
If your TSH is high, or "high normal", and your T4 and/or T3 are low or low/normal, that's a pattern that points to Hashimoto's, and you should get the test for thyroid antibodies.
I thought the thyroid issues were an excuse - until it happened to me.
I started gaining weight, feeling sluggish and tired, and I had joint pain. I went to the doctor and asked him to check my thyroid. His response?
"All overweight people think it's their thyroid."
So, after I changed docs (and reported that blowhole), I convinced him to run a full hormone panel.
My Vitamin D levels were critically low. Mine was .12 (.50 is the minimum for optimum health). My thyroid levels were low. After supplementing with Vit D, I'm recovering and my weight stabalized.
Upon further research, I discovered that Vitamin D controls the hormone leptin. Leptin tells your body to stop eating. My body literally thought it was starving. My thyroid was working hard to keep up with the increased food intake.
Had this not been corrected, my thyroid would have given out and had to be removed.
Long story short: Sometimes, it really is your thyroid.
I thought the thyroid issues were an excuse - until it happened to me.
I started gaining weight, feeling sluggish and tired, and I had joint pain. I went to the doctor and asked him to check my thyroid. His response?
"All overweight people think it's their thyroid."
So, after I changed docs (and reported that blowhole), I convinced him to run a full hormone panel.
My Vitamin D levels were critically low. Mine was .12 (.50 is the minimum for optimum health). My thyroid levels were low. After supplementing with Vit D, I'm recovering and my weight stabalized.
Upon further research, I discovered that Vitamin D controls the hormone leptin. Leptin tells your body to stop eating. My body literally thought it was starving. My thyroid was working hard to keep up with the increased food intake.
Had this not been corrected, my thyroid would have given out and had to be removed.
Long story short: Sometimes, it really is your thyroid.
Doctors throw meds at a patient. Insurance doesn't want to pay for blood tests, so it's a vicious cycle. Then doctors only do the basic tests after a few office visits because of insurance and especially with Obamacare/Medicade. If doctors offices just recommended full blood work at first, it would actually save a lot on insurance companies. I think the standard is just blowing it off in your mind, or say "I went to the doctor and she/he said *this* so it has to be correct.
I've gone through the thyroid issue for 2-3 years and the sleeping meds. I work and as I said, the result of that was adding another `15-20 lbs. I have actually lost a few lbs since I posted last. I am not a big eater at all, anyway. Although my genetics are huge. I have cousins that weigh 300-350 and they are female. My own dad was 6'4" and weighed between 325 and 375 most of his life. Me-- I am actually kind of scrawny, or- tall and thin with no boobs. I didn't even get any "boobs" out of the mess.
Thyroid problems can usually be managed with medication. I have Hashimoto's and take synthyroid and I have no problem with my weight. If my pills are not taken I will gain, so obviously I always take my pills. People with thyroid issues should see an endocrinologist to get the right dosage. Saying your over weight because of a thyroid issue is a cop out.
I have a friend on synthyroid and he's also in great shape.
Another common excuse is that dieting puts them in "starvation mode" and their body simply won't let go of the weight. I saw an episode of BBC's Secret Eaters where a nearly 300 lb woman was adamant she was in starvation mode. Yet when her eating habits were scrutinized her claimed 1300 cal/ day intake was closer to 4000 (which is typical of most americans).
That being said it IS very difficult to control food intake in the world of food excess and indulgence we live in. I don't see obesity or overweight stats going down until 1) there's a famine or 2) technology to let people eat as much as they want without consequence.
Education, income, and lifestyle have to be taken into account. Also, more "unhealthy" foods have been genetically modified, altered, and hybridized. Lower income people usually buy more "unhealthy" foods due to budget. Read the book Wheat Belly or Grain Brain. Modern wheat actually can trigger and cause inflammatory and negative autoimmune reactions like thyroid problems and a whole host of other issues.
There's two real issues with genetically modified (GM), altered and hybrid foods.
One is how readily available they are. Think about it, to find organic food, you have to typically find an organic food store like Sprout's, Whole Foods, World Market or Trader Joe's (granted there are more in traditional supermarkets now) and then pay the premium for it. Say for organic milk, you pay almost double the price for half gallon for organic milk compared to mass produced milk. Most people would look at the price (notice I didn't say cost) and think that regular milk is a value. They have to worry about the family budget week-to-week or in extreme cases day-to-day rather than decade-to-decade (just look at how many people actually live paycheck-to-paycheck.) Seeing the $2 upcharge (gallons are typically 1.99 by me for regular) every time you food shop, compiles. In a year, it's $104 in organic milk alone (now add in organic veggies and it will be hundreds.) Compare that to the eventual costs later on, it might even out but the payback period is a LONG ONE.
The other issue is why. They were modified for profits because of the loss IF it is not modified. People complain about the use of pesticides but forget about the benefits of it. A perfect case in point, the beef shortage. Cattle currently have a virus killing off the population before they can grow into adult which we can turn into beef products. They have used medicine to try to help but it hasn't and still you have the GM people complain about antibiotics used on livestock. This is causing a shortage. Compare that to say tomatoes, tomatoes have pesticides to protect them from being devastated by disease killing them off.
I am not being down on organics, just showing the economic side to why there is a blow back. I'm not siding with the producers but it isn't a clear image.
The other issue is why. They were modified for profits because of the loss IF it is not modified. People complain about the use of pesticides but forget about the benefits of it.
No one forgets the benefits of it, but it pursuit of the mighty dollar, companies like to do things like splice in bacteria into the plant so it can absorb more RoundUp, thus the consumer is eating more of this poison, all the while lobbying millions for the FDA to approve such things while staffing the FDA with former big agri executives.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mkpunk
A perfect case in point, the beef shortage. Cattle currently have a virus killing off the population before they can grow into adult which we can turn into beef products. They have used medicine to try to help but it hasn't and still you have the GM people complain about antibiotics used on livestock.
Antibiotics have nothing to do with viruses. The risk and impact of over doing the antibiotics is well discussed on the Internet, basically the same issues with humans, too many antibiotics and everyone ends up with more drug resistant strains of bacteria. They started pumping antibiotics into livestock because of the pursuit of the dollar, in which cramming cows into little confined, dirty areas was causing a bio-toxin mess. So instead of providing more room and cleaner facilities, injecting with antibiotics was cheaper.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mkpunk
I am not being down on organics, just showing the economic side to why there is a blow back. I'm not siding with the producers but it isn't a clear image.
The only economic side is that big food has convinced people that any and every little thing they do is "all for you", when in fact it is "all for them at your expense".
I really do not care what either side does, but what I do care about is when big food engages in deceitful tactics to compete with the organic sector, with food labeling being the front line of this.
Lots of people do, like lots of people like about celiac.
But even with a thyroid issue it only adds very little weight and can be easily medicated.
Anything is easily medicated. Go to the doctor, get an Rx, pick up Rx at pharmacy and start popping your pills.
Just because they make medication for thyroid disease doesn't mean it's easy to control. I'm 3 years since diagnosis, on my 3rd different med, more changes in dose than I can recall and on my 2nd doctor. It would be WONDERFUL if it was easy to control. It would save me time and money if I only had to go in once every 6 months or year for labs and appts.
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But even with a thyroid issue it only adds very little weight and can be easily medicated.
Thyroid isn't easily medicated for some patients. Every case is different. Some have great success from the start, others have to go through a long, drawn-out process of trying different formulations at varying dosages, testing every few months, changing dosage, testing, changing med, testing. And in the meantime, they're still struggling with sometimes miserable symptoms. Thyroid is a very tricky ailment to treat. There are women in my town who have been through that whole painstaking process and finally gave up, going to Europe to see a renowned doc there, and get the formulation he offers. Some people have to go to extreme lengths to resolve their thyroid problem.
I think it's odd that fat people come to the conclusion that anyone who isn't fat shoves their fingers down their throats but apparently every fat person has a medical issue that causes their obesity
It could never be the obesity causing the illnesses
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I saw an episode of BBC's Secret Eaters where a nearly 300 lb woman was adamant she was in starvation mode. Yet when her eating habits were scrutinized her claimed 1300 cal/ day intake was closer to 4000 (which is typical of most americans).
