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Home
About Rachel
Start Here!
- Symptoms of Hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s
- Order Your Own Thyroid Tests
All Articles
Newsletter
My Books
- About My Books
Store

Browsing Tag

Swelling

What My Cankles Taught Me About Thyroid Health

Zana Carver from Thyroid Code wrote the below guest post. Fluid retention is something I’m asked…

Find me on Instagram

theinvisiblehypothyroidism

Reposting this popular video from last year!

•••

😣 Everything I ‘figured out myself’ and utilised to get myself better, and the Hashimoto’s in to remission with hypothyroidism under control and stable, is documented in the many articles on my website as well as my book “Be Your Own Thyroid Advocate”.

😣 If test results come back “normal”, we can ask 2 questions: is normal really optimal? And what does optimal look like? And what do we test / consider next?

😣 We can ask the question “ok, so what are we investigating next?”

😣 Many of us are told for years that tests come back normal and sent back out the door with no follow up on what happens next.

😣 How do we find out what is actually causing the issues then?

😣 Examples of this situation for me: I complained of fatigue for years. Iron came back normal. So I was told to just get more sleep.

When my thyroid function WAS finally checked, my TSH was deemed ‘normal’ as it was at 9, within “acceptable limits” but nowhere near optimal. A TSH this high isn’t optimal. When I did push for further testing, we confirmed I did indeed have hypothyroidism with Hashimoto’s, iron deficiency and Vitamin D deficiency.

•••

📖 If you’d like a link to my thyroid patient book, leave a comment saying “book” below and I’ll send it to you. 💙

- Rachel Hill, Thyroid Patient Advocate 🦋💙

💊 How are your thyroid meds working for you?

•••

💊 Did you know there are more options if your current ones aren’t really helping? Though getting them prescribed can be tricky. 😒

❗️I never responded well to the T4-only medication Levothyroxine. I unfortunately only felt worse on it.

❗️But when I switched to an NDT medication, everything changed. My dry skin, fatigue, muscle pains, acid reflux and more all greatly improved or disappeared altogether. Changing medication type was such a huge puzzle piece for me. 🧩💕

❗️A study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism in 2013 compared NDT to levothyroxine in the treatment of hypothyroidism. The results showed that almost half (48.6%) of patients preferred NDT, with 18.6% preferring T4-only, and 32.9% having no preference.

❗️However, the hardest part can be trying to convince your doctor or endocrinologist to prescribe anything other than T4-only medicine. The vast majority of doctors and endocrinologists have been trained to only prescribe T4 synthetic medications, so many patients these days are unfortunately having to go private to see a doctor who will prescribe other medication options or even self-source it online, which carries many risks, just to get the medication they need to function like a regular human being.

❗️In the US, trying different doctors covered by your insurance until you find one who is open to prescribing it is an option.

❗️In the U.K., NDT isn’t licensed, so you usually have to go private to obtain it. Synthetic T3 (Liothyronine) is more easily prescribed on the NHS but still not routinely. A very small number get NDT or Liothyronine prescribed on the NHS but it’s definitely not common practice.

❗️For those who don’t respond well to T4-only synthetic medications, T3 medications such as Liothyronine and NDT may drastically improve their quality of life. This is just one area of thyroid advocacy that we need to keep shouting about.

•••

👇 What are your thoughts on this?

(I am currently on Armour Thyroid NDT, and after the birth of my first child in 2020, require a small amount of Levothyroxine alongside it)

- Rachel Hill, Thyroid Patient Advocate🦋💙

😶‍🌫️ Thyroid brain fog has caused me to:

😶‍🌫️ Thyroid brain fog has caused me to:

• get paperwork muddled up

• forget the office greeting went answering the phone

• take a lot longer to read, digest and reply to emails

• not feel present in meetings

• struggle to learn new processes and retain information

•••

🦋 Have you experienced anything like this? 👇

🦋 I used to really struggle with work when feeling so fatigue and brain fogged back in the early days of my thorough issues and not having my thyroid levels optimised.

🧩 What can help? These thyroid jigsaw puzzle pieces:

• optimising thyroid hormone levels, especially FT3

• improving gut health

• addressing any adrenal dysfunction

• lowering thyroid antibodies

• pinpointing and avoiding any dietary triggers (gluten and alcohol were mine)

• addressing any low nutrient levels (such as vitamin B12, vitamin D, iron etc.)

• eating in a way that keeps your blood sugar more balanced

• prioritising sleep and avoiding overexertion

•••

🔖 Share this post with your loved ones / to your stories to show them that thyroid brain fog is REAL. Just because you can’t see it, it doesn’t mean it’s not there!

- Rachel Hill, Thyroid Patient Advocate 🦋💙

🤷🏼‍♀️ Have you left an appointment fee

🤷🏼‍♀️ Have you left an appointment feeling totally confused because you were sure your thyroid levels were off but the doctor said they were ‘normal’?

•••

✊ You’re not alone!

🧪 The problem often lies with how a doctor is reading those results. This is a big puzzle piece 🧩 to better health with thyroid disease.

🧪 Yes, your results may fall ‘within range’ but are they optimal? If you still have symptoms, possibly not.

🧪 In short: it’s not just about falling within range. It’s about WHERE you fall in range.

🧪 ‘Optimal’ is a place within the range. It’s way more specific. ‘Optimal’ is the place a lot of thyroid patients will say they feel best at.

🧪 For example, a standard TSH test range may be from 1-4 and the more specific optimal place within this 1-2 🤯

🧪 So if your TSH is a 4, then your doctor may well say you’re fine because it’s within range, but it’s not optimal. And this can be causing your ongoing symptoms.

🦋 Getting your thyroid levels optimal - and this includes the FULL panel: TSH, Free T3, Free T4, thyroid Peroxidase antibodies and thyroglobulin antibodies where possible - can make a whole world of difference.

💊 A slight medication increase can get you there, or you may find you need a different type of thyroid med. I needed a T3-containing medication to get my Free T3 levels optimal. Before this, I felt truly awful.

👇 Have you found the right type and dosage of thyroid med for you yet? Let me know below.

•••

📖 And as always, you can find lots more useful info like this in the book Be Your Own Thyroid Advocate. Comment BOOK for a link.

- Rachel Hill, Thyroid Patient Advocate 🦋💙

© Rachel Gask and The Invisible Hypothyroidism, 2015-2024. All Rights Reserved.

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