I read on a previous post that taking flax seed oil is a "no-no" when taking hypo meds (I take Armour). Can anyone shed some light on this? I currently take a 1000 milligrams of flax seed oil capulet daily about 6 hours after I take my Armour. It helps greatly with menopausal night sweat symptoms - as a matter of fact, since taking the flax seed capulets my night sweats have completely disappeared. I don't want to mess up my thyroid meds though.
Whether anyone should take flax in any form when hypothyroid may be a matter of trial and error.
I had a severe reaction to ground flaxseed just before I began thyroid treatment. I was hypothyroid when I started eating it, but undiagnosed. It appeared to completely shut down whatever natural thyroid function I had aat that time, judging by the symptoms it caused.
Now that I'm in treatment, and doing pretty well, my doctor wants me to take flax oil capsules for their omega-3 benefit. He's an alternative practitioner, and he says he's never heard of a reaction to flax like I had, although he doesn't doubt that it happened. He often has thyroid patients take it without problems. Naturally, I'm pretty reluctant to risk that the oil might have the same effect as the seed; I don't want to enter Myxedema Land again.... Boy, that was rough! So to appease him, I've been taking fish oil caps instead.
So, I can't tell you for sure if flax oil is bad for you. Maybe the oil is fine, and the seed isn't .... Maybe either one is ok if you're in treatment, but will shut down your gland if you aren't in treatment .... Maybe I had some kind of allergic reaction to it that you wouldn't have .... ???? Lots of 'maybes'.
I'd say... if your thyroid levels are good, and the symptoms of hypoT have abated, it's probably ok to take the oil for your meno symptoms. Just don't ask me to take any!
HI midwest1 and yock: I too take thyriod meds and was interested in adding ground flax seed to my cereal and salad etc. I have not read any studies on the subject and of course the Dr.'s can't or won't give you any advice on this subject. I am going to do some research on the internet to see what I can come up with. Meanwhile the ground flaxseed that I have in my cupboard will stay there until we can find out more. I am really tired of being tired and sick at the time. Hope I can find us some answers ! Sherriof WV
Last edited by Sherriof WV; 12-02-2004 at 08:25 AM.
Sherri...
I did a lot of research about flax after what happened to me. There isn't a lot of info out there about it, but I did find some facts about it. I entered them into the Information Archive. Here's the URL for that post ~
http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showpost.php?p=598200&postcount=72
Since that post, I found more... It seems farmers are routinely cautioned about allowing livestock to feed on flax silage, because it's well known in agricultural circles that it inhibits their thyroid function.
I think this is worth cautioning people about.... We all know that when a certain food becomes the darling of the health food industry - like the Evil Soy - horrible things can happen. And I can see that flax is slowly and currently inching its way up to "darling" status.
Also... don't know if you know this, but flax will go rancid pretty quickly. It should be refrigerated to preserve its freshness. If it's ground instead of whole, it should be consumed within a month. If it has even a slight odor of turpentine (turp is made from flax), it means it's becoming toxic. You shouldn't eat it at that point.
interesting, I was informed by my pharmacist as well as my doctor, that soy and flax were no no's until further notice, which has not come yet! I knew about flax (and as a kid had to eat tons of that Red River Cereal) healthy stuff but hey look at me hypo after age 40 most weird.
so I do not consume it, I do miss soy though, but soy sauce as it is so minute amounts compared to frozen tofu or stuff like that..... also read intersting facts somewhere about fermented soy is not as bad for us as fresh..
I read on a previous post that taking flax seed oil is a "no-no" when taking hypo meds (I take Armour). Can anyone shed some light on this? I currently take a 1000 milligrams of flax seed oil capulet daily about 6 hours after I take my Armour. It helps greatly with menopausal night sweat symptoms - as a matter of fact, since taking the flax seed capulets my night sweats have completely disappeared. I don't want to mess up my thyroid meds though.
Flax doesn't interfere with your meds, but it does interfere with yoru thyroid gland's ability to make hormones. IF your thyroid gland is still working, this could be a problem. If you take the same amount of flax every day, this can be compensated for by adjusting your thyroid dose. If your TSH is completely suppressed (mine stays below .01) Flax shouldn't pose a problem.
Soy and Millet shouldbe avoided like the plague, no matter what, though.
__________________
Danny
I am not a doctor, nor have I ever played one on TV...
Love you guys....I wish I would have found this site sooner!! Thanks so much for the info and yes I threw out my flax seed. I am now really looking at all my cupboards and reading the ingredients.....I like and eat natural food (most of the time) but you would be surprised the items natural and easy foods, (like mac and cheese, cererals, etc) that this stuff is in...(also the soy and millet) great job guys thanks a million talk to you soon.....I'm heading in the positive direction. Sherriof WV
Did you take the fish oil capsules yet? How are you doing with them? I'm interested in them for the omega three since I seriously need to get some "plump" into my dried- out hypo skin.
~S...
Funny you should ask. Several months ago, when I tried them, I got the "fish burps" so bad I couldn't stand it and quit taking them. Since then, I found a product at Walgreen's that has an enteric coating that's supposed to prevent the burps. Been taking them for about two weeks without a problem. Then yesterday, all of a sudden, after I'd taken one with my lunch.... *burp*... ICK! The putrid taste of dead fish. The stupid capsule must've burst in my stomach instead of the gut. Surely just a fluke, I thought... Then tonight it happened again. Double ICK! Twice is quite enough, thank you. So-o-o-o....
I've been thinking very hard about what Meep said ~ "If your TSH is completely suppressed (mine stays below .01) Flax shouldn't pose a problem." My TSH is also suppressed. And there's no way I can tolerate fish oil. So today I broke down and bought flax oil. Gonna give it the ol' college try... Wish me luck.
Just in case anyone who's having fish oil problems wants to give it one more try....
I use TwinLab's Mega Twin EPA. They are softgels (not capsules) and both my husband and I take them. I can say that neither of us has ever experienced the fishy taste or the fish burps with this brand (and we have with others.) Everyone's different, so others may not have a good experience with these, but just wanted to offer this out as an option.
Meep or anyone,
Do fish oil capsules interfere with the thyroid gland's function like you said flax does??
No. There should be no problem with fish oil.
Thanks to Misha and Nornie for the fish oil tips. If this flax oil experiment I'm starting backfires, I'll definitely try one or both of your ideas for the fish oil.
HI midwest1 and yock: I too take thyriod meds and was interested in adding ground flax seed to my cereal and salad etc. I have not read any studies on the subject and of course the Dr.'s can't or won't give you any advice on this subject. I am going to do some research on the internet to see what I can come up with. Meanwhile the ground flaxseed that I have in my cupboard will stay there until we can find out more. I am really tired of being tired and sick at the time. Hope I can find us some answers ! 
Sherriof WV
