> Denel Wardell <[log in to unmask]>
 Yes, that was 60 lbs in 2
> months.
I've never done that, but my wife has had that incredible weight gain, while
doing aerobics and weights and no change in diet.  Yes, depression and weight
gain are related.  You become hypothyroid, gain weight, and are awfully
depressed you don't have the energy to do anything.  The doctors tend to
think the depression is first, one year I was sitting in my chair incapable
of doing almost anything and my wife was thinking I should see a
psychiatrist.  I really just needed more thyroid meds.

>  Several years
> ago I was
>  diagnosed with hypothyroid by my doctor and was placed on medication.  I
> started
>  to lose weight, and a lot of things in my life started going better.  But,
> my doctor
>  retired.

The major problem with thyroid treatment today is the reliance on the TSH
test, which was elevated above common sense in medical practice in 1973.
Doctors of the old school were trained in identifying thyroid problems by
symptoms.  The goal was to alleviate those symptoms and so they treated
people who have difficulty getting today and gave them higher doses because
the goal was not normal TSH but alleviation of symptoms.

We have a doctor on the list, Doc Don (Dr. Donald Michael from South Bend, IN
 219-287-6010), who will treat based on symptoms.  Sometimes you can find one
locally by using the telephone, if you just show up for an appointment that
gets costly.

The reliance on TSH is one of the biggest boons to drug company
profitability.  But it's not good for patients.

Note also that if you call the lab and talk to a technician they are likely
to tell you that a TSH level is not a well / sick cutoff and it's the
doctor's job to diagnose.  Also, lab "normal" is the statistical definition
that encompasses 95.5% of the population.  It is not optimal, or even a mid
range.  High TSH means you are hypothyroid.   If the top of the range is 5.5
and your TSH is 5.6, the likelihood is that you would be able to stand in a
room of 100 people and only one of them would have a higher TSH level than
you, and most doctors aren't really aware of this.

There are doctors who will treat, it takes smart use of the telephone to find
them, or finding someone like Doc Don who's willing to try to help you get
better.

Skipper Beers



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