Just got some blood work done to see if i have hypothyroidism, and my results say my tsh is 4...

just got some blood work done to see if i have hypothyroidism, and my results say my tsh is 4.4ish which my dr says is above range.

my dr wants to put me on thyroid hormones, which he says i'll have to take for life.

i have all the symptoms (some hair loss, lips cracking, constipation, depression) and want to get better, but i really don't want to be taking pills my entire life.

is there anything else i can do? is there anything else that could be causing this? is it possible that it will just go away eventually?

my dr isn't really helping me find alternatives so i thought i'd ask here.

Other urls found in this thread:

hypothyroidmom.com/hashimotos-disease-the-infection-connection/
theepochtimes.com/n3/1882850-treating-the-root-cause-of-thyroid-problems/
twitter.com/NSFWRedditVideo

This isn't the correct place for this. There are entire websites whose goal is to help educate, and help people with their thyroid problems.

I recommend you go there.

I assume you have Hashimoto's disease(autoimmune thyroiditis). Your thyroid gland is irreversibly destroyed, and can't produce enough hormones anymore. You have to get these hormones from somewhere else.

A reversible cause of hypothyroidism is iodine deficiency, but it is very rare outside of very poor countries.

Just take the pills. You don't really have any other choices other than go untreated.

It depends a little on what is the cause of your hypothyroidism. Get some more tests, even if it's just to understand the cause and what type of hypothroidism it. Because TSH is elevated it's probably the type where your thyroid is underactive (so the pituitary is producing a bunch of TSH to stimulate it to get its shit together, but it can't do it). So the guy above is right. You thyroid is probably fucked.

Sorry famalam, I'm not exactly an endocrinologist. You don't have much of a choice though. Btw for medication T3 > T4 but you want to have both. Don't feel bad about taking pills. Thyroid hormones are top drugs man.

you don't have hypothyroidism, you need to cut back on the chow mien

i eat very healthy (keto) and i'm in good shape

just decided to go to the doctors cause of constipation, hair loss, and my lips, and this is what he checked me for.

my tsh is high, so i guess it's not even reallya question. unless there's something else that could have caused my tsh to be high.

>i eat very healthy
>keto
kek try eating some carbs it might actually help you dumby, im serious.
keto isnt bad for a healthy person but for someone with a disorder...

carbs boost leptin and leptin boost hormones like thyroid and test

Exactly.

Cutting out healthy carbs (fruits, starches) is the dumbest thing you can do to yourself. Keto is for people with epilepsy.
Every cell in the body runs on glucose. You need the fuel.

>Keto is for people with epilepsy.
>Every cell in the body runs on glucose.
being this pleb

>>Keto is for people with epilepsy.
This is correct.

Your diet isn't gonna do a thing for your permanently destroyed thyroid gland.

literally all i've gotten so far is a single tsh test which yielded slightly over what my clinic considers the upper limit (4 mIU/L). some sources actually have this well within the limit. also from what i've read tsh can fluctuate a lot. you're supposed to test t3 and t4 as well which my dr didn't do for some reason.

i do have some symptoms like i listed in the OP, but i am really reluctant to admit too quickly that they are a result of my thyroid gland being "permanently destroyed". in the end i'm obviously going to listen to my dr. I'm just looking for more tests or possible explanations to talk to my doctor about.

I am going to request an ultrasound to see if i really do just have hashimodo's disease, in which case, yeah i'm fucked.

What? No T3 or T4? Also, a TPO antibody test is the way to go, and is always done(at least in my country) to confirm the diagnosis. I don't think an ultrasound would show anything significant.

TSH can be fairly unreliable, but I assume your anamnesis was straight forward enough the doctor determined it's a good call.
You may want to try another TSH, or just take the pills you were prescribed and see if you get better and how it impacts your results. Whatever you do, it would be wise to discuss this with your doctor. If you clearly communicate to him what you read and your fears he will be able to recommend the best courses of action.

TSH is the most stable and reliable of the tests for thyroid function. Though it is right to take the test repeatedly to be sure. T3 is the most varying hormone. The anamnesis(is that even an english word? I'm swedish) seems to point in the direction of thyroid disease.

You are symptomatic with an abnormal laboratory result. You have hypothyroidism. However at this point its more likely to be a subclinical hypothyroidism that will be progress to full blown hypothyroidism sooner rather than later.

An ultrasound is for evaluation of nodules, it wont tell you anything except for maybe your gland is atrophied. And no one is going to do a FNA biopsy for what is most likely hashimotos.


Dont be a twat, listen to the professional with the experience and training and take the pills.

>medfag

I absolutely agree, but TSH still has plenty of false positives (maybe 90% specificity) and the norms change between countries (4.4 can be in the upper edge of the norm).
Obviously everything depends on the clinic, as the doctor obviously made the call according to the presentation, and any decision should be discussed with the doctor for that exact reason.

The root cause of Hasimoto's can in some cases be cured. If the trigger for the autoimmune dysfunction can be identified

hypothyroidmom.com/hashimotos-disease-the-infection-connection/

theepochtimes.com/n3/1882850-treating-the-root-cause-of-thyroid-problems/

You're most likely fucked tho

I was diagnosed with crohn's a couple months ago and was put on a shit ton of meds (azothioprine, prednisone, etc) It really does seem shitty at first but trust me it becomes a small part of your life over all.

I was borderline for hypo, my doc put me on lowest dose of synthroid.

she said, just think of it a vitamin pill, which you also take every day. Its a cheap, tiny pill, not a big deal op.

I had the same thing OP, took the pills, shit went away

just saw the dr. not going on hormones for now, 4.4 isn't considered high enough. it's high enough that we're going to keep doing tests every couple months to see where it's at, but for now, no pills.

i'm relieved but at the same time these symptoms are kind of spooky. i can deal with the constipation, my only concern was when i thought it might be a sign of colon cancer or something, but the hair loss is really bumming me out. it's not noticeable yet but i'm afraid that soon it will be.

just take your meds faggot doctors are not that stupid, you probably have autoimmune problem you can have reaction to some kind of foods(celiac often),allergies,lack of vitamn d work on those things and you will be fine