I had my thyroid levels checked today at my yearly physical.I read all the posts on the early menopause and the symptoms kinda sounded like me but he said no I was too young (I know he's wrong).Do thyroid and menopause mimic eachother.Anybody here with thyroid problems after pregnancy and what am I to expect if it is thryoid level problems.TIA

By Ginny~moderator on Friday, October 27, 2006 - 01:14 pm:

If a doctor diagnoses you by your age and not your symptoms and test results, in my opinion you either need to have a serious talk with the doctor and ask him why your age overrules the tests, or change doctors.

By Emily7 on Friday, October 27, 2006 - 02:37 pm:

In my expereince I had dry skin, hair loss, missed periods, weight gain & a hard time getting pregnant. I had my thyroid checked 3 times before I was finally diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I also had severe mood swings, depression & was tired a lot.

By Reds9298 on Friday, October 27, 2006 - 04:25 pm:

I highly recommend this book!!
"What Your Doctor May NOT Tell You About Premenopause", by Dr. John M. Lee

It is so insightful. This dr. was groundbreaking in hormonal issues with women. I think someone else on this board recommended it and that's the reason I bought it. I got it on half.com really cheap. I believe there is also a website. I fairly certain that Dr. Lee is now deceased, but his work with hormonal issues continues.

By Hol on Friday, October 27, 2006 - 09:41 pm:

MOST DEFINITELY that hypothyroidism and menopause mimic each other!! Many of the symptoms are the same, and one condition can bring on the other. Low thyroid can cause early menopause and hypothyroid can wait until menopause to manifest itself. That's what happened to me.

I have always battled weight except when I was very young. I gain easily and it takes starvation for me to lose weight. There are a lot of glangular issues in my family, i.e diabetes, thyroid, prostate cancer, colon cancer, so I always suspected thyroid, but my levels always came back normal. Then, about 13 years ago (I was 45), I went for a routine eye exam with a military opthalmologist. As he was examining me, he asked me when the last time was that I had had a real thorough physical, including thyroid. I said, "Never" because back then, I only saw my GYN, and if I had any other issues, I'm mention it to him. Well,the eye doctor ordered a thyroid level because he could tell by the way I blinked my eyes that there could be a problem (it's called "lid lag"). He also told me to make an appointment for a physical.

Well, my thyroid level came back "low normal". No treatment was prescribed at that time. Well, about four years later, when I started to have funky menopause symptoms, I also started getting body ache and fatigue, was cold all the time, my hair was thinning, etc. I had my thyroid tested again, and the doctor prescribed Synthroid .025mg, a very LOW dose. I started to feel better, and my ever increasing weight leveled off. Then, someone recommended a book to me, which I urge you to get, called "The Thyroid Connection" by Ridha Arem, MD. It is the BEST book, and it will answer so many of your questions. As time went on, and I was more into menopause, my Synthroid was increased, but my fatigue and body ache got worse. I found a wonderful female endocronologist. She also put me on Cytomel. One is T4 and the other is T3. Some people, myself included, need both, and that is exactly what Dr. Arem says in the book.

My DD is starting to show symptoms of hypothyroidism SINCE her baby was born 22 months ago. She also has rheumatoid arthritis. My neice has Hashimoto's Disease, which is where your own body actually attacks your thyroid as a foreign body. (Auto immune diseases run rampant in my family).

My endocronologist says that there is a strong connection between female hormones and thyroid hormone, and Dr. Arem's book concurs. Hypothyroidism is one of the most under diagnosed conditions, especially in women.

By Emily7 on Friday, October 27, 2006 - 11:07 pm:

Along with your fatigue did you have problems getting to sleep & staying asleep?
Thank you for the book recomendation, I will most certainly have to read it.

By Hol on Friday, October 27, 2006 - 11:49 pm:

Emily - Yes, I DID have trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep. And, like you, I had my thyroid levels tested several times before they came back low enough to treat.

By Tripletmom on Saturday, October 28, 2006 - 10:11 am:

Thank you ladies.I checked out Dr Lee's web site last night and some others on hypothryoid and it definately sounds like me.I thought menopause because of some of the symptoms.I've been bruising easily lately and I've developed some hives also which falls under the hypothyroid.He did my levels yesterday along with sugar,liver and some others.I have no problems sleeping and staying asleep,actually I can never have enough sleep.I was starting to feel a little blue and I went back to work a couple of days a week and that seem to help put some balance in my life.I'm not depressed I'm just REALLY tired and itchy most of the time.I've never had an allergy in my life and for this to have developed floors me and I have no idea what I'm allergic to.I also have been having weird periods and mood swings.I read alot of connections between autoimmune diseases and thyroid problems.The most common are with arthritis and fibromyalgia.My boys have to go for needles on Friday so I'll go for my results then.I just can't wait to have more energy soon.I've been blaming my tiredness on raising 4 kids and working but this is a different kinda tired.I also got dizzy a few times and thats also a symptom.In my next life I'm coming back as an animal or a guy.Its hard being a girl sometimes.

By Hol on Saturday, October 28, 2006 - 10:34 am:

Sherri - The easy bruising can be a symptom of B-12 deficiency, which goes with hypothyroid. Dr. Arem mentions that in his book as well.

I get a scrip from my doc for B-12 and hypodermic needles, and my DD (a nurse) gives me the shots once a month.

It won't hurt you, as B-12 is water soluable, so you can't overdose. However, B-12 can only be administered intra-muscularly to be effective. The digestive enzymes kill the effects of oral B-12.

By Sandysmom on Monday, October 30, 2006 - 09:33 am:

I just got around to reading this Sherri. One thing I have found is that a lot of doctors don't do all the blood tests needed to detect hypothyroidism. They only do 2 instead of 4. Since I have Hypothyroidism, I should know more about it but I don't. I should buy the book as well. My symptoms are, easy weight gain (and very hard to lose), fatigue, dry skin, thinning hair, irregular periods, sensitivity to heat and cold. ( I can't remember anything else right now)
I do know that I really thought I was going through menopause until I was diagnosed. Keep us updated as to how things are going. (((hugs)))

By Emily7 on Monday, October 30, 2006 - 10:03 am:

Have any of you with hypothyroidism found a good support group?
Hol I ordered the book & am looking forward to reading it. My mom was just diagnosed this past year as well so she is going to read it also.

By Tripletmom on Friday, November 3, 2006 - 09:38 pm:

I forgot to post back on this.I rec'd my blood work on Monday.The nurse from my doctors office called and said my iron was quite low.She said to take palafer twice a day for 3 months and I need to get my count done again.The rest of my tests were not in when I went today with the boys for there needles.I thought the palafer would take longer to work but by today I wasn't getting any dizzy spells and I don't feel so tired.

By Colette on Friday, November 3, 2006 - 09:54 pm:

I am borderline anemic, if you want some recipes or easy ways to add iron to your diet let me know. I am glad it's not your thyroid, my mother has thyroid disease and she has struggled with it.

By Tripletmom on Friday, November 3, 2006 - 10:02 pm:

Thanks Colette,I actually do eat alot of foods with iron.They think most of it was due with the pregnancy with triplets and my body never did get the boost it needed.It's been low for awhile but I blamed most of my symptoms on being busy with the kids.I've also struggled with heavy periods since I'm not on birth control anymore.I'm hoping thats all it is.I do have more tests coming back.