Life with Hashimoto's hypothyroidismThyroid
Support Review can be very frustrating. The reason being is that Hashimoto's, the most common cause of low thyroid, is an immune problem that affects thyroid function, yet is treated the same way as every other form of hypothyroidism in conventional health care.
My son is now seven, and I think I can teach him the basic treatment approach to managing hypothyroidism from a conventional perspective.
Basic Conventional Management of Hypothyroidism (no matter what is the cause):
If the patient complains of fatigue, weight gain, cold hands, heart palpitations, or depression then test TSH. If the TSH is above 3.0 then prescribe hormone replacement. Continue to increase the hormone dose until the TSH measures below 2.0. If the patient continues to experience any of the symptoms after the thyroid is "balanced" on the lab tests then treat it as a separate condition and give the appropriate medication, usually anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medication.
Now what is the glaring problem in that approach? Never is consideration given to the actual cause of the low thyroid. We never stopped to ask why is the thyroid not working.
My son is now seven, and I think I can teach him the basic treatment approach to managing hypothyroidism from a conventional perspective.
Basic Conventional Management of Hypothyroidism (no matter what is the cause):
If the patient complains of fatigue, weight gain, cold hands, heart palpitations, or depression then test TSH. If the TSH is above 3.0 then prescribe hormone replacement. Continue to increase the hormone dose until the TSH measures below 2.0. If the patient continues to experience any of the symptoms after the thyroid is "balanced" on the lab tests then treat it as a separate condition and give the appropriate medication, usually anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medication.
Now what is the glaring problem in that approach? Never is consideration given to the actual cause of the low thyroid. We never stopped to ask why is the thyroid not working.
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