No ovaries and hypothyroidism . .

Anyone else dealing with thyroid disease along with losing your hormones? I would appreciate your thoughts.

I went to the health food store today to purchase soy tablets to help with the hot flashes. When I read the box it says to consult your physician before taking if you are currently taking med. for this disease.

I am hypothyroid but I kept my ovaries. From what I've read, soy keeps your body from absorbing your thyroid meds.

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Originally Posted by CDP I am hypothyroid but I kept my ovaries. From what I've read, soy keeps your body from absorbing your thyroid meds.

Thanks for your input. I am definitely going to wait to talk to the md before beginning the tablets. While they would be a welcome benefit (I have many hot and cold flashes), there is no way I want to do more harm to my thyroid.

Hi my3bugs, this is cheryle...My ovaries are gone now as well, and I'v been on synthroid since 1998. I had read some info on this site about HRT affecting your thyroid replacement therapy and that it was more difficult to manage. That is primarily why I opted not to have HRT unless I absolutly need it. I was early perimenopause anyway @ 45 yrs old. I've had mild hot flashes/night sweats, irritability, the last can be attributed to my crappy situation with an open incisional wound that we're packing and dressing twice daily though!!!

I'm not a big fan of all the over the counter, health food store suppliments...you just don't know how they will affect your thyroid meds, and frankly I believe the doses of those supplements can vary greatly among brands...not worth the risk in my thinking.

Yep I agree. I have been hypothyroid since '94 and am very wary about OTC supplements too. You do have to be so careful.

Just so I get in on this discussion...I have no answers but could use some. I had radioactive iodine to treat Grave's disease in 99. I've never since been in the normal range no matter what type of thyroid replacement or dosage combo used. If the numbers on the blood panel read "normal", I still had the clinical signs of hypothyroid. Since have the hyst. I seem to be getting more hypo. Was first on bio-id HRT, but took myself off completely because I retained too much water and grew huge boobs. I hate being so hormone deficient.

There does exist a good newsgroup for thyroid issues where a lot of this stuff is talked about: alt.support.thyroid

Some of the posters in that group are more knowledgeable than others, and you have to hang in there a while to figure out who those persons may be. Most posters are very helpful and supportive. (Unfortunately in any group there are fanatics and self professed experts, and hopefully you can figure out who those folks are as well.)

Thyroid regulation/control is nothing that can be toyed with and it may take some time to get the right doses of replacement, especially with other substances and the timing of what else you ingest including HRT, calcium products, soy, basically anything else you may put into your mouth for any reason. I think one rule of thumb with thyroid pills is to be consistent, meaning if you wait an hour before eating, or don't wait an hour, just do the same thing every day to help your dose get adjusted to how you regularly absorb on a daily basis. Let your doctor and/or the lab who draws your blood know what your daily routine is.

I forget exactly why (and I am not a chemist, duh) but it has been suggested that "too much" soy can interact with how the thyroid gland functions with some people. I have read that large quantities of soy can render a normal thyroid to become hypo. (I hope this isn't just meat industry hype!) And this finding has nothing to do with hysterectomies and sudden menopause, so that is just one more thing to have to consider.

I started my levoxyl (t4) thyroid replacement about 10 years ago. It is interesting that my complaints back them were heavy bleeding, irregular periods (closer together), fatigue, and a few other "vague" things. Once on thyroid replacement most of that cleared up and I became regular. Prior to my hysterectomy these same symptoms were present again but this time I ended up having uterine cancer. A lot of crossover similar complaints, only this time I was closer to what would have been a natural menopause.

Sorry I have strayed away from the original post. I guess the best advise for you is again, ask your doctor about all of this concerning soy and thyroid... but be aware that most doctors are not very versed in thyroid diseases, so you need to do a lot of reading about this on your own too. Good Luck!!!

There is definitely a hormone link with HRT, but I have failed to work out really what it is. I became hypothyroid at the menopause, a premature one at 39.Which came first or caused what still baffles me, but I do know that thyroid issues often coincide with major hormone disruptions.
Having said that I took HRT for 12 years without any known problems connected it with the thyroid. I have 12 month check ups and have had the dose adjusted a few times, but I believe this is normal. Not an easy game!

Great post folky!!! You are exactly right...I have yet to find an internist that I am absolutly comfortable with managing my thyroid...luckily I have been stable on the same dose for 2 yrs now. I have blood levels drawn every 6 months, so the more knowledgable you are about your condition, the better equipt you are to manage it with your physician. Pink pixy, I have to keep my levels at the extrme normal to feel normal. I have had Drs. who say "your levels are normal and we need to leave your synthroid dosage as is" but my body felt like crap. A slight increase in my synthroid meds and I felt better.
Remember too that a hypothyroid can make you feel extremely depressed. I initally went to Dr. with symptoms of severe depression when my low thyroid was diagnosed. I never did get over that depression thing and have been on lexapro for 4 years. This hormone thing really affect our bodies in so many ways...it truely can be a big mystery huh???

Yeah, there is really no such thing as "normal" tsh levels with regards to individuals. It should be based on how you feel, and very few doctors seem pay attention to this! There exists a normal range, but we are all different. My tsh (with t4 supplement) varies between 1.9 and 3.5 (sometimes higher) and I insist that I feel better, more "myself" when my number is below a 2. My docs won't pay any attention to this at all because I still fall within "normal" range. I am too much of a wimp to experiment on my own to get my number down, plus I don't feel that it is wise, even though it is my own body.

Again, since I am not a scientist I can't possibly explain let alone completely understand the role of SOY with regards to all of this. To my limited knowledge maybe it has something to do with "phytoestrogens" in the soy that may play a role here?

I still have never got the straight poop whether plant food with phytoestrogens count as real "estrogen" in the body. It is not an animal produced estrogen, but it supposedly it wants to "fake" out other body systems leading them to react, and produce hormones as if it were estrogen. I go around in circles trying to understand this. Not only because of my thyroid, but also because I had uterine cancer, I'd like to know how much soy, flax seed, etc., we can safely eat, or if it even matters.