# Self treating/medicating?



## charliejay (Jul 26, 2011)

So I've been reading about people who have hypothyroidism but their tests come out normal so they order meds from overseas and treat themselves. How risky is this? How can you monitor your progress without tests? If you feel better, how can you know when to stop taking it(if possible)?
I know that's it's not advised but I've been considering trying Thyroid-S to see if I feel any better. I'm so sick of being sick and tired. I could always jut go off of it if it makes me worse right?


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

In my opinion, the biggest risk with this plan is you don't truly know what drugs you are getting. How do you ensure you're ordering from a legitimate pharmacy?

As far as monitoring progress, there are websites you can use to order your own lab tests.

Do you feel you've exhausted other likely possibilities for what may be making you sick and tired? I'd hate for you to waste time and money trying to solve the wrong problem.


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## lainey (Aug 26, 2010)

Once again, your numbers are nearly perfect and you don't have enough antibodies to be very concerned about.

In the recent past, we have had a couple of posters who have diagnosed and treated themselves. If you read back through the threads in this folder you may find them. One ended up very ill and in the doctor's office with a lot of explaining to do.

We have several other current posters with normal labs who have gotten doctors to prescribe thyroid meds with and have had poor results--if only from the fact that they keep posting, wondering why they don't feel well yet, and sharing all kinds of other additional tests results, looking for "perfect" labs.

The ultra low results that people medicate themselves to that you read about on the internet are not realistic or representative of the general population.

You take a risk, ordering medications on the internet and treating yourself with out a doctor's supervision. It's up to you if you want to take it. However, IMHO, it is not worth it.


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## webster2 (May 19, 2011)

charliejay said:


> So I've been reading about people who have hypothyroidism but their tests come out normal so they order meds from overseas and treat themselves. How risky is this? How can you monitor your progress without tests? If you feel better, how can you know when to stop taking it(if possible)?
> I know that's it's not advised but I've been considering trying Thyroid-S to see if I feel any better. I'm so sick of being sick and tired. I could always jut go off of it if it makes me worse right?


Hi, I am really sorry to hear you are not feeling well. Have you investigated any of causes for the way you feel? In the two years before I was diagnosed, many other malladies were thought to be the culprit since the symptoms overlap and are kind of vague.

Please don't try self medicating, that is a dangerous thing to do. I hope you will find some relief soon. Take care.


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## charliejay (Jul 26, 2011)

I've been trying to figure this out for quite a while now. I guess I am just desperate. The self medicating idea was foolish. 
I had heard about this medication called Thyroid-S from the "Stop the thyroid madness" website. Upon looking it up on amazon, there were customers that had very similar stories to mine. They claimed that they took the medication and it changed their lives. Some of them claimed that their thyroid tests came out normal too so I figured it wouldn't kill me to try it. I can't help but think that I'll never feel anything less than exhausted again.


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

I can understand your desperation. Don't give up...there is a "better" out there, you just have to be persistent. (I know...easier said than done when you're so exhausted.)

What other illnesses/conditions have you eliminated? What others are possibilities, based on your research and symptoms?


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## lainey (Aug 26, 2010)

Thyroid-S is a medication similar to Armour in it's formulation, but is available via the internet with out a prescription. It comes from Thailand, so is unregulated by the US government.

Suppose you do take it, and it does work. Thyroid disease is life long. At what point, do you suppose if you should choose to medicate yourself, will you be able to properly explain your actions so that a physician will assume your care? Are you prepared and educated enough to do this for yourself for the rest of your life without a doctor? Look at some of the posts here, of people as their medication needs have changed, and the monitoring that they have had done--do you really think you can do this without a physician?

I appreciate that you are desperate. However, improperly medicating the thyroid can have serious cardiovascular effects. People like to forget that hyperthyroid symptoms include fatigue and weight gain. #Just saying.


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## charliejay (Jul 26, 2011)

I've been tested for tons of vitamin and mineral deficiencies. I was slightly magnesium deficient but I take magnesium oil for it. Same thing with Vitamin D. These were both very slight deficiencies that have been corrected. 
I've had my blood sugar, cortisol, and testosterone checked. I've also been tested for sleep apnea. For a while, I was seeing a functional medicine doctor who diagnosed me with "adrenal fatigue" and "leaky gut". She had me buy some supplements and put me on an elimination diet. She kept extending the diet until I had been doing it over a year with no results. I had to pay for the visits and the testing out of pocket. Biggest waste of money ever.
Every doctor that I've talked about this with says the same thing. That I'm in perfect metabolic condition and that I'm depressed or eating too much or eating too little or overtraining, or undertraining. I've considered all of these things and there is something else going on. Plus, all of these issues started happening over the course of only a couple months when I was *21*! 
If my diet and exercise didn't change, that means it was something else. No brainer.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

charliejay said:


> I've been tested for tons of vitamin and mineral deficiencies. I was slightly magnesium deficient but I take magnesium oil for it. Same thing with Vitamin D. These were both very slight deficiencies that have been corrected.
> I've had my blood sugar, cortisol, and testosterone checked. I've also been tested for sleep apnea. For a while, I was seeing a functional medicine doctor who diagnosed me with "adrenal fatigue" and "leaky gut". She had me buy some supplements and put me on an elimination diet. She kept extending the diet until I had been doing it over a year with no results. I had to pay for the visits and the testing out of pocket. Biggest waste of money ever.
> Every doctor that I've talked about this with says the same thing. That I'm in perfect metabolic condition and that I'm depressed or eating too much or eating too little or overtraining, or undertraining. I've considered all of these things and there is something else going on. Plus, all of these issues started happening over the course of only a couple months when I was *21*!
> If my diet and exercise didn't change, that means it was something else. No brainer.


Have you had an untra-sound of your thyroid?


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## charliejay (Jul 26, 2011)

Andros said:


> Have you had an untra-sound of your thyroid?


No, I've never had this done. I'll have to look into it.


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## charliejay (Jul 26, 2011)

I've been told that I'm on the border of Hashi's. Could anyone tell me if this is a possibility? (note my tests results on my post signature).


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## lainey (Aug 26, 2010)

About 20% of the normal population has thyroid antibodies.

You have a very low amount of antibodies. The presence of antibodies does not guarantee the progression to full blown thyroid disease. In people with very high titers, the progression is at a rate of about 5% per year, as measured by thyroid function tests.

Thyroid antibodies cannot be treated are not treated with replacement medications.

You could go to 10 doctors, and they will tell you your labs are perfect. They do reflect what many on replacement aspire to, for sure. You could go to 1 website, and they may tell you that if you have any antibodies at all, you have a treatable condition. Those same websites will convince you that you are part of the 1% of the population that "functions best" with an ultra low TSH. Believing that, you could medicate yourself to a TSH of .05 or thereabouts, and still not have any impact on your symptoms if your problem is not thyroid related to begin with.

Right now, your thyroid function tests are pretty much spot on.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

charliejay said:


> I've been told that I'm on the border of Hashi's. Could anyone tell me if this is a possibility? (note my tests results on my post signature).


An ultra-sound is definitely in order and the presence of TPO only "suggests" Hashimoto's amongst other things.

Please read.

Negative test is normal; you should not have any of these antibodies. And the healthy person does have a low titer of TPO.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003556.htm

Your antibodies are low but their presence does mean that something is afoot. What that is will only be determined by further in-depth testing.


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## artms (Jul 23, 2011)

I have been taking Thyroid S and monitoring with labs. I have had no trouble with it. As I understand you can also order Naturthroid and Westhroid online. I've not taken those. 
I do think at some point we patients become pretty familiar with the steps a Dr takes to regulate thyroid, that's not to say a Dr isn't valuable but we often run into a wall in terms of what we think might be an improvement and the availability of a Dr in our area who might be helpful. That said, it requires a great deal of experience, research, patience, self monitoring and labs to be successful and should not be attempted until you've done all of the research beforehand. It's not to be taken lightly and remember, more is not always better.
I wouldn't attempt such a venture unless I had been on meds prescribed by a physician for a number of years and very familiar with the whole process. For me once I started meds it was for life.
Your labs look pretty good, BTW. You might try is icelandic kelp and selenium supplements.
Just my $.02


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## charliejay (Jul 26, 2011)

Yes, I will most definitely be looking into these supplements.

Oh yeah! I have also noticed I very small "lump" feeling in the back of my throat. I have this feeling of constantly wanting to swallow. It's not bad at all and I figured it was allergies but it certainly raises the thyroid question again. It has been much more noticeable as of late but my allergies have been insane the past few weeks. 
I also have cold feet at times but I figured that could just be normal too because they are smaller extremities. It's weird though, when I was in my teens, my feet used to get hot. Like...really, really hot. I would take my shoes off and stick them in the snow in the winter. I would be able to see the heat coming from the inside of my shoes. I assumed it was an adolescent thing- having sweaty, hot feet, but I can't help but wonder. Could this be the fluctuation of my thyroid throughout my life?


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

> Could this be the fluctuation of my thyroid throughout my life?


Possibly - do you have any lab history?

I think your lab's look great.

If fatigue your main complaint? Vit D supplements made a huge difference in my fatigue levels. Are you supplementing daily?

How old are you? Male or Female?


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## charliejay (Jul 26, 2011)

Lovlkn said:


> Possibly - do you have any lab history?
> 
> I think your lab's look great.
> 
> ...


I don't have the history of my labs. Just the one that is in my signature which was about 6 months ago. My main complains are fatigue and extremely stubborn weight. When I say stubborn, I mean impossible to budge. I also have profound brain fog. I have the worst confusion spells. I actually failed out of college 3 times because of it(combined with the fatigue)! I am only slightly overweight, but I'm a hell of an athlete and I eat like a monk. The vitamin D doesn't seem to make me feel any better. I have been taking it for quite a while now. Yes, I do supplement daily as ordered by my doctor. I am a Male.


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## artms (Jul 23, 2011)

I was hypo for probably 25 years before diagnosed.Always in range. Always tired and cold and foggy.Those were my lost years. I took kelp and I would heat up and wake up.Now of course I need meds to wake up. Another thing I ran across which I thought was interesting is that eating regular little meals every three hours keeps your metabolism up. I know....DUH!! but even now on meds, when I eat I can feel my body heat up after. You actually have to fuel your thyroid which will make the rest of your bodies cells function so don't be too monkish with the food thing.


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## charliejay (Jul 26, 2011)

artms said:


> I was hypo for probably 25 years before diagnosed.Always in range. Always tired and cold and foggy.Those were my lost years. I took kelp and I would heat up and wake up.Now of course I need meds to wake up. Another thing I ran across which I thought was interesting is that eating regular little meals every three hours keeps your metabolism up. I know....DUH!! but even now on meds, when I eat I can feel my body heat up after. You actually have to fuel your thyroid which will make the rest of your bodies cells function so don't be too monkish with the food thing.


Hm, that's really interesting. I actually never thought much about having cold feet. Mine aren't _that_ cold but they do tend to get icy from time to time. I considered the iodine thing but it seems like a gamble. I heard that in some cases, it can make you a bit worse without you really realizing it at first. What I meant by eating like a "monk" was that I eat very nutritious food. I just eat what I need and nothing else. I don't even really eat food for the taste as much anymore. I also don't do "emotional eating". It's just not my thing.


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## JPGreco (Mar 2, 2012)

DO NOT SELF MEDICATE. I'm sorry, but that's a terrible idea, especially when it comes to something that can kill you. I've been of medication for 2 days now and have taken 1 full dose and a half since I started last night. I can feel its affect already and that's with known labs and dose.

However, I fully endorse researching and using natural sources. I've heard kelp and seaweed are good sources of iodine for hypo's, so add it to your diet. I'm sure there is more that you can look into as a diet modification that may help boost your system. But do be careful with that too. Start easy.


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