Hi, all my names is Martin and my dad was diagnosed with CFS about 4yrs ago, but all the time it was thyroid disfunction. We get a CFS magazine every month and a lot of the people in their that thought they had CFS infact had a thyroid disorder, it's worth a check, but you have to get T3 and T4 tests done.

How did your Dad's thyroid slip by the normal blood tests? How was he diagnosed?

Do you, or anyone, know what the difference between the T3 - T4 and a normal thyroid test is? I've had a thyroid test, and the results came back normal - because of that my doctor told me there was no need for another thyoid test. My insurance will not cover anymore testing this year (thankfully it's almost over) and I have already spent over $1000 of my own money in three months on doctors and tests that haven't helped.

There is not a difference between a t3-t4 and a normal thyroid test? A normal thyroid blood work-up looks at t3, t4, and tsh levels.

I have underactive thyroid but that was found out before the CFS and the doctors, when i got worse, kept thinking it was a thyroid problems even after being on thyroxine for about 9months and my levels were fine after treatment.

I was told I had "normal" thyroid too. But when I took adrenal glandulars and natural dessicated thyroid from a place I found on-line (do a google search you will find tons of places selling this stuff) all of a sudden I was cured of my nearly life-long CFS and fibromyalgia, low temperature, slow heartrate, allergies, etc.

Try looking up Dr. Lowe and CFS/fibromyalgia/thyroid and see what you find.

Please, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

I finally have a life worth living, because I ignored the doctors telling me I was fine (except for having "imaginary" tiredness and aches and pains) and I went ahead and tried thyroid and adrenal supplements.

CS

P.S. Dr. Lowe and many other doctors now believe that CFS/fibro patients lack the ability to convert T-4 to free T-3 readily in the body. That is why sythroid and the other T-4 type drugs doctors want to give you, don't do diddly squat for you but the natural stuff WILL help you tremendously.

And you don't need a prescription either.

What do you have to lose, besides your CFS/fibro/misery?

CS

Hi Crystal

Interesting stuff, I have a few questions:

1) If armour thyroid is the answer, why are you also taking adrenal extracts?
2) How do you know what dosage to give yourself? Are you monitoring your thyroid levels via blood tests?
3) Did you try a T4 only thyorid med first, such as thyroxine?
In my case, I was convinced I had a thyroid problem as I had all the symptoms, but all results came back 'normal', so I was eventually diagnosed with CFS.

However, I have since seen that several people think CFS is simply a thyroid problem that can be easily treated. I really hope there is something in this.

Hi Crystal

Interesting stuff, I have a few questions:

1) If armour thyroid is the answer, why are you also taking adrenal extracts?
2) How do you know what dosage to give yourself? Are you monitoring your thyroid levels via blood tests?
3) Did you try a T4 only thyorid med first, such as thyroxine?
In my case, I was convinced I had a thyroid problem as I had all the symptoms, but all results came back 'normal', so I was eventually diagnosed with CFS.

However, I have since seen that several people think CFS is simply a thyroid problem that can be easily treated. I really hope there is something in this.

Hi, Neil! Those are good questions! NO, I didn't try synthroid. I would not want to try it, based on what I found out about how the FDA censured the makers of synthroid in 2001 and stated that at that time there were no synthetic thyroid replacement hormones on the market that were safe or effective. (The FDA has never faulted Thyroid USP, although popular opinion esp. amongst doctors who listen to synthroid marketing would bely that.) I have read many articles that claim that CFS/fibro patients tend to do better on natural versus synthetic.

I've only been on Armour a month -have not had a blood test yet but will ask for one at my next appointment.

Again, based on what I have been reading, I am highly suspicious of lab results compared to symptoms. Before labs, doctors treated symptoms, not numbers. There are many doctors now who feel that doctors should go back to treating symptoms rather than labs as the labs tend to vary wildly from day to day, and the results vary wildly even when one sample is divided in half and evaluated.

I am taking adrenals because I also have Interstitial Cystitis, which recent research has linked to smaller than normal adrenal glands (roughly half the size of normal) and subsequent reduced adrenal output. The adrenals I take mostly because I hope to gradually see improvement in my IC symptoms.

May I provide a link that explains these things far better than I ever could? The thing is...there's a difference of opinion among doctors out there. So we patients have to decide which doctors to believe. I have made the choice to believe doctors like Dr. Lowe, and follow their advice, and as a result am feeling much better now than I have for years, when I was following the advice of more conventional doctors.

Oh, and my blood tests before I did this have been borderline for years. Not quite hypothyroid enough to treat according to conventional docs but certainly not normal either.

This is the link that explains how to try this stuff, etc.

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This is a link that explains why someone might want to try this stuff in spite of conventional docs saying "your thyroid is fine."

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More great answers can be found by reading posts in the(or something like that can't remember the exact name).

Again, docs are debating this and we as patients have to decide which docs to believe. I chose doctor Lowe and I'm doing better so naturally I tend to believe he is right. But I know it's a decision we each have to make individually.

CS

A recent article in a medical journal stated that 60% of thyroid patients being treated for thyroid disease still were not in the "normal" range - that they were being undertreated for hypothyroidism. Something is wrong here!

There's no harm in just reading up on this stuff. I read up on stuff and talked to doctors and stewed about this for 8 years before making my decision to try natural dessicated thyroid medicine. I'm glad I finally decided to try some. I have a retired gynecologist friend who has been urging me for a couple of years to take a low trial dose of it. He said he'd never seen any of his patients harmed, by a low dose. And many were helped. So I finally decided, I think he's right, what is the harm in just trying a very low dose?

CS

Okay, I'm totally confused about what I did wrong this time so I'll just shut up. Try talking to doctors about the TSH controversy and the recent articles in the journal of new england medicine.

CS

Before I leave this board, I would like to suggest to everyone who has been told their thyroid (TSH) is "normal" to read the new guidelines established by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, please. The guidelines as to what "normal" are have changed quite a bit recently (in the last couple of years) and many, many doctors may not be aware of the changes.

Wishing good health to all,
CS