Thyroiditis? Just curious. :)

by lylesg Dec 14, 2003 11:26AM PST

I?ve recently read that eight times as many women contract thyroiditis than do men. I am curious if any of the men posting here have thyroid issues/disease.

I contracted Hashimoto?s virus back in 1994 and it shut my thyroid gland down completely. I take my little *birth control pill* (I so fondly call it) each day and life is pretty close to normal for me. My weight is good too, but my cholesterol is border line. After ten years of taking a thyroid medication, I am just now doing a bit of research on the different types of medications. I?m just curious about them, my medication ?ain
t broken?, so I am not seeking to fix it. I know of many women with thyroid issues, but I personally do not know one single male with thyroid problems.

Have a good week all of ya?s.

ps. From the *Edit* and *Preview* portion of writing this post, I see that a couple of adjectives got switched around. Must be a forum glitch? Hopefully, the end result will look better.

Mojo

Discussion is locked

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I'm not a male, but I did have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. . .Never heard of it as a virus though. . .

by Paula Rae Dec 16, 2003 8:17AM PST

Nor have I considered that I "contracted" it.

I had my whole thyroid removed in 2001 (they found some abnormal cells before surgery, but no cancer on the removed gland), and the dose of Levoxyl I take now is far lower than what I was taking for the 10 years prior to surgery.

My co-worker's husband has thyroid cancer, and even after surgery the prognosis for him is apparently not very good. It is apparently very rare for thyroid cancer to spread, but with him it did.

As you asked for responses from men, I hope you get some.

Paula

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Re:I'm not a male, but I did have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. . .Never heard of it as a virus though. . .

by lylesg Dec 16, 2003 9:39AM PST

Hi Paula,

Thanks for your reply. I did a Google search and I stand corrected as far as Hashi's being a virus. Thank you. I am sure my Dr. described it viral though. But, by the time I got in for my physical I was barely able to move. I was at the *extreme* point of hypothyroidism and in danger of drifting into a coma, so there is no telling what my mind was/was-not doing at the time.

He also indicated that I should never need surgery and that my condition was not cancer related. I also take Levoxyl (137mcg) and I do well. Some days I struggle with concentration, but with enough sleep and a good diet those bad concentration days are not that often. Many times I put in ten and twelve hour work days and I have no problems working long hours.

Good luck to you and thanks again.

mojo

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Mojo, I wish you well with this...

by Paula Rae Dec 16, 2003 6:01PM PST

They explained to me that with Hashimoto's your thyroid will sometimes temporarily grow larger with a sudden stress (mine did overnight after a little whiplash), and may take months to "shrink" again.

If you first were diagnosed in 1994, perhaps you were given the same test I was: the "antimicrosomal antibody" test, that they either don't do anymore or they have renamed. They told me for a normal thyroid, the value is 0.5 or below. Mine was 300 and still rising after 2 weeks, tested in about 1992.

It sounds like you are under good care, and glad you can do so much now.

I was taking 125 mcg levoxyl for ten years before my surgery, but now am at 100 mcg.

Good luck and good health to you.

Paula

Thyroiditis? Just curious. :)

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