What type of specialist treats your Hashimoto's?

Parent Cafe
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<p>On the board I frequent for HRT info, it is all over the board that HRT interferes with thyroid. They say that estrogen & thyroxin compete for the same receptors, I have yet to figure out what that means for me as i have no thyroid. I cannot get a straight answer as to whether it affects how your thyroxin is used or how the manufacture of it is triggered, but I am paying attention to it. So, menopause would be a big factor in how your thyroid meds are working.</p>

<p>I don’t have my thyroid levels tested that often because I don’t have to worry about variations in manufacture. I went for years with every 3-6 months, every month during my first pregnancy, but as an adult, I get it tested when things are changing in life or when I change symptoms or brand of meds. I take 300mcg but am not skinny or hyper like I was before surgery!!</p>

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<p>Wow Somemom, I know we aren’t supposed to share links but I sure would love to read those posts about HRT and thyroxin competing for the same receptors. Any way to describe the name of your HRT board so I could wander over there? Shoot, if wacky estrogen levels in menopause are causing the thyroid to get confused, that would make sense to me. I’m not hypo (hubby is) but I swear sometimes these days during menopause I feel like I’m having a COLD flash instead of a HOT flash. Maybe it’s a thyroid/estrogen thing.</p>

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<p>just search thyroid & HRT on the hystersister website, it’s a great link. There are many new & inexperienced posters as people come for their emergency and then move on, but there is a great deal of info to be gleaned from the experiences of so many others.</p>

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<p>Is anyone having any neuropathy?
Thanks for putting in the good word for nurse practitioners!</p>

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<p>DH had swollen hands and lack of sensitivity in finger tips. I learned that yellowed swollen hands/palms/fingers is a signpost of hypo. Circulation is sluggish so extremities don’t function properly. He also had Reynaud’s where one finger gets completely white - totally lacking in circulation. Worse in winter. Much better now that he’s treated. Also had surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome; we now read that this can be a symptom of hypo (cts, not surgery lol). Also - he had such pain in the knees he was contemplating sports surgery for knee issues. Could not kneel. Constant pain. Better on med’s!</p>

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<p>Several studies have shown that “generic levothyroxine preparations are frequently dispensed as equivalent to branded preparations, while not necessarily being shown to be therapeutically equivalent” to branded preparations such as Synthroid.

[Thyroid</a> Organizations Take On Generic Levothyroxine: Should You Be Concerned About Taking Generic Thyroid Drugs?](<a href=“http://thyroid.about.com/od/thyroiddrugstreatments/a/oct2006.htm]Thyroid”>Should You Take Generic Levothyroxine?) </p>

<p>See the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists guidelines for treatment of thyroid disease at <a href=“http://www.aace.com/pub/pdf/guidelines/hypo_hyper.pdf[/url]”>http://www.aace.com/pub/pdf/guidelines/hypo_hyper.pdf&lt;/a&gt;. This paper (2002, updated in 2006) discusses diagnosis, treatment options, T3/T4 treatment, thyroid replacement preparations and appropriate followup.</p>

<p>If you don’t like your doctor, find one you like.</p>

<p>(a doctor’s opinion)</p>

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<p>I was curious if any of you who have thyroid issues also had an enlarged/swollen thyroid gland and whether you found any medicine that shrunk the thyroid back to a more normal size. It seems that once a thyroid gland gets bigger it is very difficult to shrink without some major surgery (at least that is what I thought I heard from my doctor). Any information would be greatly appreciated.</p>

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<p>At every appointment, my endo feels my neck and asks if I am having trouble swallowing. I assume that at some point the answer will be yes. She does an ultrasound once a year. I don’t really know how all of this is supposed to end.</p>

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<p>OP here, with an update if anyone cares. Since I first posted, I have stopped taking birth control pills (I was taking them 365 days a year to control migraines) and it really seems to have helped.</p>

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<p>Thanks Missypie, I’m interested in hearing any and all comments re/ thyroid issues especially interesting compounding factors like your thyroid/birthcontrol pill info. FWIW my elder cousin who is hypo also took bc pills until her early 60’s for various reasons. She is on thyroid med’s now but stopped the bc pills. Missypie, are you on T4? T3? </p>

<p>My $0.2 - glad to hear a doc chime in. This thyroid stuff is def. one of those deals where medicine is an art as well as a science.</p>

<p>Need_coffee, my H. who is the hypo in our household had such a swollen neck internally (you could not see a goiter or outer swelling) that he had to sleep sitting up or he would choke. His snoring was of the choking apnea-like loud variety =/. The internal swelling and the snoring both eased once he got on both T4 and T3. YMMV.</p>