Jo’s Cafe

January 2006 is Thyroid Awareness Month.

I have a condition called “Hypothyroidism” but mine is due to the treatment I received for “Graves Disease“. I started out being treated with synthetic T4, which is simply put, taking one thyroid hormone to replace a gland that produced 4 different types. After loosing a year of my life because I was so hypo, I finally found a great doctor in Austin, Texas who put me on Armour Thyroid and it turned my life around. I have been taking 2 Grains a day since and my TSH, Free T3 and T4 have been right in line.

Over 27 million Americans have overactive or underactive thyroid glands, but more than half remain undiagnosed. To recognize Thyroid Awareness Month 2006 in January, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE), in cooperation with the American Thyroid Association (ATA), will highlight the importance of the TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) and Free T4 tests, simple blood tests that measures the appropriateness of the thyroid gland’s hormone production. It is very important for patients with thyroid imbalance to know their TSH and Free T4 numbers. The optimal TSH range is 0.3 to 3.0 mIU/L. Patients should talk to their doctors about their Free T4 numbers since laboratory ranges can vary.

I have listed some of my favorite places on the internet here for thyroid disease information. But if you are going to start somewhere, start at the Thyroid Support Area on About.com. Because of the wonderful work Mary Shomon has done, I was able to talk to other people with my condition and find out that maybe T4 alone wasn’t the best treatment for me.

One piece of advice: A lot of doctors simply treat by lab results and refuse to listen to symptoms you may have through talking to you. If you find you have a doctor that won’t listen to your symptoms, puts them off to “female issues”, or tells you that he only uses one medication — don’t walk, run out of there as fast as you can. Find another doctor. That’s what I had to do. I was dying before I finally realized my life was turning into a spiraling pit of hell. I fired him, went out of my pocket to pay for it, but I found a doctor that “listened” … my life changed that day for the better.

YOU are the one in control of YOUR health.