My husband was suggesting that some of my symptoms are seen with Hypothyroid and of course Lyme Disease too. Do you think it would hurt to take some Synthroid, of course my Dr. would say no as they already think I'm nuts, but I've never compiled the numbers as I'm doing here:
I found this site that talks about Wilsons Syndrome. I don't know if it is part of Lyme or not, but I copied the chart of symptoms below. I put a blue line through the ones that don't apply to me, but the ones that do apply to me, I just left as they are.
I have blood work from seeing so many Dr.s and here is my TSH levels and dates: Norm = 0.46-4.98
Just for example, I gained like 30 lbs a few months ago, and I can't lose a pound despite my poor appetite. I have the chills every day and my body temp is 96.2 to 96.8 and my husband is 98.6 using the same thermometer. I never had this problem before.
VeryNew2Lyme, My TSH levels looked alot like yours. And I had a lot of the same symptoms. I am now on 30mg of Armour Thyroid. I found a great doctor who listened and told me that 100% of the population is within the range of normal as you listed above! She says that thyroid problems should be a clinical diagnosis not a labatory diagnosis. So given your symptoms, it sounds like you have a thyroid problem. Also I would suggest doing research on Synthroid and Armour thyroid medications.
Posted by VeryNew2Lyme (Member # 18958) on :
Asummers, are you getting relief from the Armour thyroid. This is similar to what is suggested on the page I read, as it is strictly T3 and T4 comes down and the thyroid gets a break from the T3 taking over.
See, I'm learning :-)
Please share with me what symptoms you had and got relief from by taking the Armour Thyroid. There seems to be so much overlap between Lyme and Thyroid problems.
My Anxiety and nervousness are the worst for me to handle. The chronic fatigue is next in line.
Shannon
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
Very new,
Lyme can affect all organs, including the thyroid. See what Burrascano has to say about it on page 6 of his 2005 guidelines:
"clinical hypothyroidism can result from receptor blockade and thus hypothyroidism can exist despite normal serum hormone levels. These may partly account for the dyslipidemia and weight gain that is noted in 80% of chronic Lyme patients."
Perhaps if you have a good lyme doc he will give you some thyroid meds until you get the lyme under control and will no longer need them.
I have heard of people taking thyroid medication temporarily and no longer needing it once they got rid of their lyme disease.
I was on hormone replacement for menopause (lyme gave me a false menopause) until I got properly treated for lyme disease. Then, I was back to pre-menopause and didn't need the hormones any more.
The lyme treatment also got rid of the nervousness and anxiety which are 2 big lyme symptoms. The disease attacks our nerves and brains big time.
Posted by Tracy9 (Member # 7521) on :
Come and join us on www.lymefriends.com. It is a great social networking site for Lymies, lots of friends from here and very supportive.
We have a great discussion on thyroid issues there with lots of input.
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
yes, thyroid and lyme issues go hand in hand.
tf, here's the MOST CURRENT DR. BURRASCANO'S 9-08 LYME GUIDELINES LINK: please update yours my friend
Dr. Mercola just did a long article and video about thyroid and testing for it.
You can probably access it at his site.
Love,
Cass A
Posted by asummers (Member # 18068) on :
When I went on Armour 4 months before beginning antibiotic treatment I did see a change in my body temperature. I was warmer and didn't need a sweater when it was 100 degrees. My hair wasn't falling out as much, my finger nails were stronger, my skin wasn't as dry, my appetite wasn't ravenous anymore and I felt a little bit more energy. I want to preface this by saying I have felt that I had suffered from Thyroid issues way before I got Lyme. And the symptoms I mentioned above I would not consider my lyme symptoms. And I don't think the Armour had any effect on minimizing my own Lyme symptoms.
Posted by dguy (Member # 8979) on :
I had to take high doses of thyroid hormone until, after years of searching for an explanation, I accidentally discovered something. When I take supplements that purport to boost serotonin, my need for thyroid hormone drops dramatically.
l-tryptophan, 5-HTP, vitamin B6 and zinc are recommended for low serotonin. The B6 in particular seemed to be key... just a small dose, about 25 mg per day, makes a huge difference for me. With that supplement, within a day I felt hyperthyroid and had to reduce thyroid dosing. Might be worth a try.
Posted by Lyra (Member # 16706) on :
My TSH was so out of whack due to Lyme- there is definitely a correlation. I don't have to take thyroid meds anymore because the Lyme treatment seems to be getting it back under control. It is within a normal range now for the first time, but only after 6mo of antibiotics!
Posted by SForsgren (Member # 7686) on :
Both Lyme and heavy metals/toxins can impact the thyroid. It is definitely wise to work with a doctor who knows thyroid for any of us that have Lyme. Adrenals is another important area to monitor.
Posted by Tracy9 (Member # 7521) on :
I started Armour Thyroid just about two weeks ago. My hair has completely stopped falling out, literally overnight. I was shocked. I am so used to pulling handfuls out a day, one morning I went to begin my daily pulling out of hair and NOTHING came out!!!
I have lost five pounds already. I am hardly ever hungry. I am eating dramatically less.
I am not constipated anymore.
This is all just the beginning, I'm hoping to lost a LOT more weight, and would love to hear how much people lost when they started thyroid meds and how long it took.
Posted by kimwg (Member # 19094) on :
Now you see, I've been taking thyroid meds since early December, and I've actually *gained* weight! (I think it might be water weight mostly, I'm puffy like a little balloon woman!) I'm on 50mcg of bioidentical thyroid (T3/4 mix). Although I thought the thyroid was helping at first, now I'm not so sure. It was initally rx'd by another doc, not my LLMD but I will have to talk to him about it or trying Armour. Waaah!
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
hmmm, i have an appt with my doc tomorrow and i'm going to ask him to test for thyroid.
Posted by VeryNew2Lyme (Member # 18958) on :
I'm going to an endocrineologist on Thursday to see if I can get on some Armour thyroid. Will keep you all posted.
Shannon
Posted by VeryNew2Lyme (Member # 18958) on :
One more question for those of you doing Armour thyroid. If I can get my Dr. to prescribe this, should it help not only with some energy and the CFS I have, but will it help with the terrible anxiety I'm having as this is also reported as a sign of Hypothyroid and one symptom I would like to get under control.
Shannon
Posted by lymeladyinNY (Member # 10235) on :
If you get your levels right, you should feel much better.
I wish I had known about armour thyroid when I became pregnant with my oldest son. I also wish I'd had a doctor who knew about reading thyroid labs and/or gave a damn about following my hypothyroidism.
I was ignorant about how serious the condition is and was on an incorrect dose of synthroid for many months when I got pregnant.
My son has mosaic Down syndrome. This is a rare form of Down's in which two normal egg/sperm cells unite and begin dividing. During one of the earliest cell divisions, chromosome 21 divided wrong. My son has approximately 5% normal cells, 95% Down's.
This happened because of hypothyroidism. It caused a sluggishness in the cell division. My son's pediatrician asked me if I was hypothyroid when I first met her. When I said yes, she said often mosaic Down syndrome and hypothyroidism go hand in hand.
I'm very careful with staying on top of it now. Hindsight can be incredibly painful. Synthroid - no. Armour - yes.
I wanted to let all the ladies out there who plan to have babies in the future to be aware of what happened to me and my (wonderful) son! God bless.
- Lymelady
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
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This book will help answer many questions for you - he details the endocrine dysfunction that comes with lyme.
This book, by an ILADS member LLMD, holds great information about treatments options and support measures:
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