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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by trouble on March 9, 2002, at 1:37:51
Hey,
Thanks for answering all my questions on this board. I'm getting confused right now about the thyroid issue, and will keep looking at the links, but the links don't interact, and I need that too.
Several times now I've heard that thyroid dysfunction is often linked to childhood abuse, but the books I've seen this in had a feminist orientation, and w/out research to back it I've become wary of accepting any claim at face value. Has anyone seen data on this they could direct me to?
When I was 16 I was hospitalized for 2 weeks to treat a hyperactive thyroid. It took the docs a long time to determine it was hyperactive, I guess b/c I was 30 pounds overweight, but had bulging eyes, goiter-like neck, excessive verbosity and animation, insomnia, fast pulse, no period for 6 months, etc.
So they gave me iodine to "kill" it, this was in 1974. Ten years ago my gp said I now have hypothyroidism, and I've been taking synthroid every day since. I get my blood levels checked annually for readjustments. I'm just wondering after reading the posts here if this treatment is sufficient, or could the thyroid condition be another complicating factor regarding the psychiatric problems, are there issues I need to take into account when my meds poop out or go haywire, is a more detailed blood work-up recommended for psych patients, and what is an endocrinologist? The fewer doctors the better, but I want to make sure the right specialists are on the team. Also a friend, a med student, thinks I should see an internist from now on instead of a general practitioner. When I asked him what's the difference between the two he said "about fifteen I.Q. points."I'm not sure if I should take him seriously or not. Responses are most appreciated!
trouble
Posted by Ritch on March 9, 2002, at 13:38:35
In reply to another question! this one re endocrinology, posted by trouble on March 9, 2002, at 1:37:51
> Hey,
> Thanks for answering all my questions on this board. I'm getting confused right now about the thyroid issue, and will keep looking at the links, but the links don't interact, and I need that too.
> Several times now I've heard that thyroid dysfunction is often linked to childhood abuse, but the books I've seen this in had a feminist orientation, and w/out research to back it I've become wary of accepting any claim at face value. Has anyone seen data on this they could direct me to?
> When I was 16 I was hospitalized for 2 weeks to treat a hyperactive thyroid. It took the docs a long time to determine it was hyperactive, I guess b/c I was 30 pounds overweight, but had bulging eyes, goiter-like neck, excessive verbosity and animation, insomnia, fast pulse, no period for 6 months, etc.
> So they gave me iodine to "kill" it, this was in 1974. Ten years ago my gp said I now have hypothyroidism, and I've been taking synthroid every day since. I get my blood levels checked annually for readjustments. I'm just wondering after reading the posts here if this treatment is sufficient, or could the thyroid condition be another complicating factor regarding the psychiatric problems, are there issues I need to take into account when my meds poop out or go haywire, is a more detailed blood work-up recommended for psych patients, and what is an endocrinologist? The fewer doctors the better, but I want to make sure the right specialists are on the team. Also a friend, a med student, thinks I should see an internist from now on instead of a general practitioner. When I asked him what's the difference between the two he said "about fifteen I.Q. points."
>
> I'm not sure if I should take him seriously or not. Responses are most appreciated!
>
> trouble
That is an interesting statement about the "15 IQ points". That could be taken positively or negatively. You might get a smarter specialist who could catch something a GP wouldn't, but OTOH, you could have something *else* obviously wrong that the specialist could miss. Endocrinologists are focused on glandular and metabolic disorders related to thyroid function, diabetes, growth hormones, growth disorders, adrenal glands, etc.etc. They tend not to like psychiatric uses of hormone treatments (estrogen, thyroxine, T3, etc.). I really don't have an opinion about whether that is good or bad. You might *ask* your GP what your TSH currently is (if you don't already know). "Normal" TSH values run between 0.6-2.0 --the last I heard. If you are above 2.0 you *should* be getting some thyroid hormone therapy. Some say you should get thyroid hormone supplementation even if it is between 1.0 - 2.0. As far as seeing an endocrinologist-you will need to get referred by another doctor (probably). Your own GP who has been treating you might be a little miffed about that-who knows?hope this helps,
Mitch
Posted by BarbaraCat on March 12, 2002, at 12:36:35
In reply to another question! this one re endocrinology, posted by trouble on March 9, 2002, at 1:37:51
Dear Trouble,
First of all, there is more and more evidence that T3 is necessary, especially for hypothyroid depressives. You are not getting ANY T3 in your Synthroid. Your TSH blood levels may look great, but that does not mean that you're converting the T4 into the active T3. There is an ongoing thread discussing this, contributed to by Dr. Ivan Goldberg (he's provided a link explaining the T3 factor to print and take to your physician). The link for the thyroid forum is www.thyroid.about.com. Definitely check this one out. It's loaded with great information.Now about the abuse issue. There have been some conjectures about early abuse contributing to many metabolic problems, including hypothyroid and fibromyalgia (I have both). The theory that makes the most sense to me is the connection between high stress -> high cortisol -> impaired HPA axis which from that point on takes out pituitary function which controls endocrine feedback and on and on. High stress at an early age can cause structural changes within the brain that maintains this nasty loop ad nauseum. Succesfull antidepressant therapy can supposedly reset the HPA axis, but by this time if the thyroid is fried, you're on thyroid meds for life. - Barbara
Posted by noa on March 12, 2002, at 15:43:47
In reply to Re: another question! this one re endocrinology » trouble, posted by BarbaraCat on March 12, 2002, at 12:36:35
I don't know about the abuse link.
My experience doesn't concur with the idea that endos tend not to like hormone use in psychiatry. Mine is fine with that.
Given that you have a history of thyroid problems and treatments I think it is worthwhile consulting an endo (get a recommendation for a good one).
And yes, I do believe that your thyroid problems could be having an effect on your psych problems or the effectiveness of your psych treatment. There is a lot of *under*treatment of thyroid problems, and perhaps that is what is going on with you.
This is the end of the thread.
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