Here’s your Wednesday Weekly Roundup of Thyroid News from Thyroid Mom for September 3, 2014. These are articles, abstracts or blog posts that either appeared in the news this week or things that I found this week that I wanted to share with you relating to hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism in both adults and children. Happy Reading! As may know, September is Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month. This week, each section begins with articles and resources regarding thyroid cancer for adults and children. General Thyroid Related Articles (Hypothyroidism, Hashimoto's, Hyperthyroidism, Graves' Disease, Thyroid Cancer) Thyroid Cancer - Symptoms, Causes, Treatment, Exams and Tests ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors' Association, Inc. Website 145 … [Read more...]
Congenital Hypothyroidism and Thyroid Resistance: A Story About Heart
One of the amazing things about volunteering with MAGIC Foundation and about starting this blog is all of the amazing parents I have met. I am very excited to introduce you to my friend, Julie Lopez. She has very openly and honestly written this guest blog post for Thyroid Mom so that you can learn more about congenital hypothyroidism and about thyroid resistance. It's so important to understand that not everyone's journey with congenital hypothyroidism is the same. We can all learn from each other. Thank you, Julie, from the bottom of my heart for sharing your story about David's journey.~Blythe aka Thyroid Mom My son, David, was 5 days old, and we showed up at his scheduled newborn checkup. The pediatrician our daughter usually saw … [Read more...]
Thyroid Imbalance: A Yin-Yang Perspective
I am pleased to introduce you to my acupuncturist, Ginna Browning. Ginna has been helpful in treating many issues for me, beginning with sciatic nerve pain when I was pregnant with my oldest son. The information she is sharing as today's Guest Blogger will hopefully help you understand more about thyroid imbalance and help you see the value of incorporating a holistic or balanced approach to treating hypothyroidism (under active thyroid). Happy Reading! ~Blythe aka Thyroid Mom ******************************************************************* In traditional Chinese medicine, thyroid disorders are treated depending on the patient’s symptoms and presenting diagnosis pattern. Low thyroid function often presents as a “Spleen and Kidney … [Read more...]
You Are What You Eat – Your Thyroid and Diet
You are what you eat. We’ve all heard that phrase. Well, I could be in trouble then, based on that picture. That was a pumpkin spice waffle, complete with all the things I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to eat. My husband and I shared it on Halloween, and I'm not going to lie - it was delicious - truly amazing. As much as I try to eat healthy, I give in from time to time. I’ve been asked a lot lately what foods I eat to help boost thyroid function. I’ve also been asked whether I alter my diet at all or my children’s diet. The answer is yes (pumpkin spice waffle splurges aside). The biggest change that I made was to follow the directions in the prescribing information to maximize absorption of the thyroid hormone replacement … [Read more...]
Optimism and Thyroid Disorders
My 3 year-old son has been sick, but well enough yesterday to sit in the stroller while I pushed him around the lake near our house. After we got back, he said that I was right, the fresh air had made him feel better and he wanted to try playing outside for a while. I agreed and he, noting the occasional wind gusts, decided it was perfect kite flying weather. I tried to explain to him that in order to fly the kite, we needed sustained wind, not just a few gusts. I reminded him that we usually only fly kites at the beach, where there is plenty of wind. His kite-flying mission wasn’t deterred. He unwound lots of string and tried running with the kite, and then had me try. Nothing worked, yet I could sense his little mind already had … [Read more...]
Graves’ Disease – A Family’s Struggle with Thyroid Disorders
Graves' Disease - A Family's Struggle with Thyroid Disorders I got such a great response on my interview with my oldest son about life with congenital hypothyroidism that I decided to interview my husband about his experience with Graves' Disease. I think I may be obsessed with interviewing people, especially family members. Watch out family! Just a heads up for Thanksgiving! Anyway, here's what my darling husband had to say. What is Graves' Disease? Graves' Disease is an autoimmune disease that causes the overproduction of thyroid hormones, in other words hyperthyroidism. When were you diagnosed? At age 28, I had lost some weight and wasn't sleeping well. I decided to go in for a physical before our first son was born, … [Read more...]
Hair
That’s me - with mighty big hair. As you can tell, I have red hair, well it’s really more strawberry blonde, but I’ve been classified as a redhead. I have the fair skin and freckles to go with it. As a child, I was often picked on and teased because of the color of my hair. I was called “coppertop”, “Clifford, the Big Red Dog” (yes, I have the unfortunate combination of having red hair and Clifford as my last name) and told “I’d rather be dead than red on the head”. Even as a teenager, I would hear things like “no offense, but I’d hate to have hair like that” – mostly centered around the fact that I didn’t tan like everyone else and my friends feeling sorry for me and my perpetual need for sunscreen. I was constantly counseled on what … [Read more...]
My Journey
That is a picture of me climbing at Joshua Tree in CA. Climbing is something that both thrills me and terrifies me. Overcoming my fear of heights to be able to do climbs like that was quite a feat and quite the journey. Similarly, my journey with thyroid disease has been an adventure. I have shared a lot about how my children were diagnosed, but I haven’t talked much about my journey with thyroid disease. I’ve heard some people say that we should call it a disorder, but to me, it feels like disease is the right word. Lots of folks ask me what my symptoms were and what led to my diagnosis. The truth is I didn’t have any symptoms – at least none that I had really been paying attention to. I was in my twenties, and my husband and I were … [Read more...]
Read the Fine Print
Have you taken time to read the prescribing information (“PI”) for your thyroid hormone replacement medication? If not, you should. Because as Francis Bacon said: “Knowledge is power”. You can ask your pharmacist for the information (if it doesn’t come with your medication) or you can find it online here: http://www.rxabbvie.com/pdf/synthroid.pdf Recently, I spent some time reviewing the over 20 page PI for Synthroid (levothyroxine sodium tablets) and found many interesting things I wanted to share and discuss. Below I have highlighted the items that caught my attention. These are the things that interest me the most, but not a replacment for reading the PI for your medication and discussing it with your doctor. SOY AND … [Read more...]
The Hyper-Hypo Roller Coaster
Fasten your seatbelts and prepare for the ride of your life! The first year of life with a child who has congenital hypothyroidism is quite the roller coaster ride. The first thing we heard was my son had a high TSH, and we needed to start medication. Then, the next blood test revealed that his TSH was still too high and we had to increase his dose. Soon after, the next results showed that he was severely hyperthyroid (his was TSH too low). This went on for the entire first year of his life – back and forth - always having to adjust his dose and then repeat blood draws. After the first year, though, he seemed to level off and we had many more results where his thyroid levels were in the normal range. When my second child was born … [Read more...]