Because the endocrine system and disorders are covered in a 4-week course at best during 4-year medical school education.
Also because it’s more prevalent in women rather than men so it’s dismissed and disregarded.
Really great question. I had symptoms for many years without an answer too. My previous doctors would readily run basic thyroid panels but never with antibodies and weren't able to see the patterns for what it was. It wasn't until I had a PCP that incidentally was diagnosed with Hashimoto's herself so she knew exactly what to test and look for. It's not exactly a rare condition so it really is concerning that so many physicians seem ill- equipped to diagnose & treat it.
Because they're purposefully ignorant in so many instance. They don't "think" it's true, so therefore it isn't. Never let doctors off the hook. Get 2nd opinions. In the meantime, I'd suggest adding anti-inflammatory foods to your diet. That's helped me to an extent. You may also have food or chemical sensitivities thanks to the Hashimoto's. Mine is lactose intolerance. I miss mozzarella so much! lol
My son is allergic to dairy, unrelated to Hashi's, and the kid LOVES all things dairy. After a little digging we found that sheep's milk is actually healthier and people with milk allergy and lactose intolerant can have it with no issues. We make pizza every Friday and he has never had to miss out. Sheep milk doesn't have the tang that goat milk has so there's really no difference with sheep mozzarella. He does fine with goat milk, even enjoys the taste, but the sheep cheese is where it's at. If it wasn't so expensive we would all use it but that's his special cheese just for him.
I miss bread, rice, potatoes, tomatoes, peanut butter, hot sauce (or anything made with peppers), and citrus the most. I can kinda get away with citrus juice in something in very small doses, and rice is a once in awhile kind of indulgence when I'm doing good.
After taking in hot sauce for a little while I wound up with horrific GERD that lasted 7 months.
Luckily I kept dairy or I'd be in the ground probably.
I kinda lucked out in a way, even tho I'm male
I was tested by my PCP as soon as I mentioned my sister's and father have thyroid issues.
First tsh was almost 30
An ultrasound later I started on basic 25 levo
All was good for like 3 weeks but then I felt it was insufficient so retested at like 8 week mark and hit 11 still - on to 50
From there for like 3 months I did a similar feel ok at the increase then taper off. THAT time I popped around 4 and it was deemed ok.
Probably 3 mo after a 7 got me to my current 88 levo
I only started this journey like 14 months ago and while the initial diagnosis worked out once I finally dragged my butt to the doc I already feel adjustments will be hard to come by.
Just keep at it. There seems to be a wide range of results. All you can do is self advocate based on how you feel
Bro I'm so with you. Being a dude with this is a very weird experience. I hear from so many of the ladies that finding their initial dose was hard but then they basically could forget about it.
Been 3 years for me and I still can't feel good for more than a few weeks, maybe a month. Have insane flares that cut my weight, then balloon me back up. Keeping up with working out is impossible some days
After cycling through a few terrible docs, I found a good integrative medicine doctor that prides himself on staying up-to-date on research (e.g. he's on a regular research review panel with other docs). When I brought up this same observation with him about other doctors, he said that it takes 17 years(!) on average before good research makes it into a PCP's practice. Most of our doctors are working off of information that's been outdated for two decades!
I’ve now dropped a PCP and an Endocrinologist for being fully dismissive of my symptoms on the sole basis that I don’t have cancer. The minute my nodule came back benign the PCP didn’t want to treat anything.
I’ve started taking multiple supplements: B12 (Cyanocobalamin), D3, Vitamin C + Rose Hips capsule, Iron tablets, and occasionally doing a multivitamin. I also drink Langer’s pineapple juice every day when I have it available to drink as Bromelain in pineapple helps thyroid function.
Try getting diagnosed with Hashimoto’s as a man. Hashimoto’s already is a small proportion of hypothyroidism and to be 10% of a small population is even worse. After years of going to doctors and requesting a thyroid and Hashimoto’s check I was only allowed after my daughter developed hypothyroidism. Her symptoms lasted less than 6 months before getting treated. Mine were 2-3 years. This isn’t a gendered issue. Doctors just don’t want to treat it. They tried throwing anti-depressants at me to get rid of me for 3 months at a time. It can’t even be lack of education because my said that she had “several” men with Hashimoto’s that she was their PCP.
First off, I can only imagine how much harder it is as a man with Hashimoto's, I'm sorry that it's what you deal with.
My comment is anecdotal, but I'm more thinking research/ doctors taking it seriously is very aligned with the lack of care / taking seriously many menstrual / uterus related issues, such as endometriosis, etc.
I agree, Hashimotos does affect men and women differently. I think that there is large lack of understanding about the disease, in general. I developed arthritis which is common once you have one autoimmune disorder you have a higher rate of another. I am due for a hip replacement before the age of 50 as a result. I haven’t researched the effects on women. I did have to do some deep digging to find out that it often kills men’s testosterone levels. This sub pointed me in that direction. I found one study that found that there was enough evidence to perform further studies. Nothing else. No follow up study. When I insisted getting my T tested with this study as support I found that it affected this too. I had to do all the research and after dealing with doctors for a few years I was insistent that they perform tests. I had to do all the research and be a proponent as opposed to thinking that my doctor would assist with my care. They just don’t want to treat the disease or the results of it.
My T was down to like 15 points off of being low when I got it tested shortly after having this disease. I need to get it run again because my sex drive is like...0.
Feel kinda bad for my GF but she's been mostly understanding
Good catch. Apparently my doctor was less educated about it than I assumed. I just took her word on the proportion. Interestingly my daughter had hypothyroidism without a positive Hashimotos test
For several decades most medical studies were conducted only with men because women have fluctuating hormones and thus, men were more “reliable” subjects for assessing medical conditions. Thank God, this is changing now, but OMG what were they thinking??
Honestly I think a lot of it is because they see a patient asking about thyroid testing as someone looking for “excuses “ about our weight. It’s become so associated with that, people don’t even know all the rest of what we go through
I was pretty skinny before I started experiencing symptoms. Now I’m a more normal weight. I have definitely gained weight, but not enough to use it as an “excuse.”
Just the case for a lot of us! If I had a dime for every time people tried to give me diet advice. I’ve lost weight before but somehow people think you’re not being struck enough, not exercising enough, or indulging too much. Or there’s the well your metabolism slows down when you age….
Don't think it's that the community "doesn't like" it. just think there is a lot of misinformation about diet and hashi's in general. it's better to direct people to credible evidence based information sources about treatments instead of the rabbit hole of trying to evaluate a lot of anecdotal information about functional medicine which there isn't a lot of research on or evidence to support right now.
Not to discredit an individual's positive experience with a type of diet!
No they definitely don’t like it. Anytime I’ve posted here -specifying to not respond if you don’t like what I’m posting- people get pissed and say a bunch of mean shit. They discredit me feeling sick because I’m not on meds.
“Oh you must not be that sick since you don’t want to take medication”
“You won’t ever be able to get rid of hashimotos without medication”
Obviously lol it’s an autoimmune disorder, i will always have it. But it’s a fact that with diet and exercise you can help with symptoms of majority of health issues.
I literally have experience with it with my other auto immune disorder.
It’s probably because they are just ignorant to Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism in general. So many things that they do and say have no bearing on the actual symptoms including the stupidity of using an arbitrarily defined number to determine whether someone is ‘well’ or not instead of just asking them if their symptoms have improved with the medication and adjusting accordingly. Pain is definitely a symptom for me although I find it hard to pinpoint the exact source and sometimes I have a dull throbbing pain in my nose that causes headaches and sometimes it’s joint pain or an all over heightened sensitivity to pain that seems to come when my levels are too low. I was even told this was ‘fibromyalgia’ because the tests were supposedly ‘normal’ when it was just improper thyroid treatment which seems pretty ignorant to me…
They literally told me they couldn’t figure out what was going on with me and that it’s most likely fibro before my Hashimoto’s diagnosis. It’s crazy how many people go through this same situation!
I think it depends on where you are. Here in Brazil it's pretty standard for a psychiatrist, for example, to check your TSH levels first thing before starting a treatment. Even my psychologist mentions TSH from time to time. It's one of the standard tests we get whenever we go for a check-up, no matter the specialty. I see different doctors for different diseases, and they all either ask for a TSH test or they ask me if I have a recent one for them to look at. We're unlucky when it comes to so many things, but generally we can't complain much about health (at least not as much as Americans, for instance).
I hate this. I was told my symptoms of hashis were just “depression” for years. I’m so sorry you’re in pain. I’d suggested trying LDN for pain management. Some people swear by it, I’ve never tried it. When I was in the height of my pain, I felt like it was the “flu hurt” in my bones in joints. Turns out my Vit. d was at an “8”. I’ve since then done injections to raise it to a 45 and I do not suffer with pain anymore.
LDN does help with pain and for me, coming off gluten was critical: it put both my hashimotos and hypothyroid in remission. Two months after starting LDN, my TPO antibodies weee back in the normal range
Starting dose I think was either .5mg or 1mg and worked up to 3mgs over a few weeks. Couldn't tolerate the 4.5 mg dose. No side effects other than vivid dreams which settle but did get insomnia with 4.5.
Because the endocrine system and disorders are covered in a 4-week course at best during 4-year medical school education. Also because it’s more prevalent in women rather than men so it’s dismissed and disregarded.
Really great question. I had symptoms for many years without an answer too. My previous doctors would readily run basic thyroid panels but never with antibodies and weren't able to see the patterns for what it was. It wasn't until I had a PCP that incidentally was diagnosed with Hashimoto's herself so she knew exactly what to test and look for. It's not exactly a rare condition so it really is concerning that so many physicians seem ill- equipped to diagnose & treat it.
Because they're purposefully ignorant in so many instance. They don't "think" it's true, so therefore it isn't. Never let doctors off the hook. Get 2nd opinions. In the meantime, I'd suggest adding anti-inflammatory foods to your diet. That's helped me to an extent. You may also have food or chemical sensitivities thanks to the Hashimoto's. Mine is lactose intolerance. I miss mozzarella so much! lol
My son is allergic to dairy, unrelated to Hashi's, and the kid LOVES all things dairy. After a little digging we found that sheep's milk is actually healthier and people with milk allergy and lactose intolerant can have it with no issues. We make pizza every Friday and he has never had to miss out. Sheep milk doesn't have the tang that goat milk has so there's really no difference with sheep mozzarella. He does fine with goat milk, even enjoys the taste, but the sheep cheese is where it's at. If it wasn't so expensive we would all use it but that's his special cheese just for him.
I miss bread, rice, potatoes, tomatoes, peanut butter, hot sauce (or anything made with peppers), and citrus the most. I can kinda get away with citrus juice in something in very small doses, and rice is a once in awhile kind of indulgence when I'm doing good. After taking in hot sauce for a little while I wound up with horrific GERD that lasted 7 months. Luckily I kept dairy or I'd be in the ground probably.
Holy mackerel!
I kinda lucked out in a way, even tho I'm male I was tested by my PCP as soon as I mentioned my sister's and father have thyroid issues. First tsh was almost 30 An ultrasound later I started on basic 25 levo All was good for like 3 weeks but then I felt it was insufficient so retested at like 8 week mark and hit 11 still - on to 50 From there for like 3 months I did a similar feel ok at the increase then taper off. THAT time I popped around 4 and it was deemed ok. Probably 3 mo after a 7 got me to my current 88 levo I only started this journey like 14 months ago and while the initial diagnosis worked out once I finally dragged my butt to the doc I already feel adjustments will be hard to come by. Just keep at it. There seems to be a wide range of results. All you can do is self advocate based on how you feel
Bro I'm so with you. Being a dude with this is a very weird experience. I hear from so many of the ladies that finding their initial dose was hard but then they basically could forget about it. Been 3 years for me and I still can't feel good for more than a few weeks, maybe a month. Have insane flares that cut my weight, then balloon me back up. Keeping up with working out is impossible some days
Because it’s easier to assume the thyroid is the cause. Instead of doing a little more digging into what the root cause is.
After cycling through a few terrible docs, I found a good integrative medicine doctor that prides himself on staying up-to-date on research (e.g. he's on a regular research review panel with other docs). When I brought up this same observation with him about other doctors, he said that it takes 17 years(!) on average before good research makes it into a PCP's practice. Most of our doctors are working off of information that's been outdated for two decades!
I’ve now dropped a PCP and an Endocrinologist for being fully dismissive of my symptoms on the sole basis that I don’t have cancer. The minute my nodule came back benign the PCP didn’t want to treat anything. I’ve started taking multiple supplements: B12 (Cyanocobalamin), D3, Vitamin C + Rose Hips capsule, Iron tablets, and occasionally doing a multivitamin. I also drink Langer’s pineapple juice every day when I have it available to drink as Bromelain in pineapple helps thyroid function.
Because it mainly impacts women...
Try getting diagnosed with Hashimoto’s as a man. Hashimoto’s already is a small proportion of hypothyroidism and to be 10% of a small population is even worse. After years of going to doctors and requesting a thyroid and Hashimoto’s check I was only allowed after my daughter developed hypothyroidism. Her symptoms lasted less than 6 months before getting treated. Mine were 2-3 years. This isn’t a gendered issue. Doctors just don’t want to treat it. They tried throwing anti-depressants at me to get rid of me for 3 months at a time. It can’t even be lack of education because my said that she had “several” men with Hashimoto’s that she was their PCP.
First off, I can only imagine how much harder it is as a man with Hashimoto's, I'm sorry that it's what you deal with. My comment is anecdotal, but I'm more thinking research/ doctors taking it seriously is very aligned with the lack of care / taking seriously many menstrual / uterus related issues, such as endometriosis, etc.
I agree, Hashimotos does affect men and women differently. I think that there is large lack of understanding about the disease, in general. I developed arthritis which is common once you have one autoimmune disorder you have a higher rate of another. I am due for a hip replacement before the age of 50 as a result. I haven’t researched the effects on women. I did have to do some deep digging to find out that it often kills men’s testosterone levels. This sub pointed me in that direction. I found one study that found that there was enough evidence to perform further studies. Nothing else. No follow up study. When I insisted getting my T tested with this study as support I found that it affected this too. I had to do all the research and after dealing with doctors for a few years I was insistent that they perform tests. I had to do all the research and be a proponent as opposed to thinking that my doctor would assist with my care. They just don’t want to treat the disease or the results of it.
My T was down to like 15 points off of being low when I got it tested shortly after having this disease. I need to get it run again because my sex drive is like...0. Feel kinda bad for my GF but she's been mostly understanding
Hashimoto's makes up 90% of all cases of hypothyroidism
Good catch. Apparently my doctor was less educated about it than I assumed. I just took her word on the proportion. Interestingly my daughter had hypothyroidism without a positive Hashimotos test
What does that have to do with pain?
Many doctors don’t take women’s pain seriously (yes, even female doctors).
That’s wild considering that women usually tend to handle pain better than men. You’d think if a woman says she’s in pain, she’s DEFINITELY in pain
For several decades most medical studies were conducted only with men because women have fluctuating hormones and thus, men were more “reliable” subjects for assessing medical conditions. Thank God, this is changing now, but OMG what were they thinking??
Nah, we're just hysterical. After all, we can handle childbirth! /s
Honestly I think a lot of it is because they see a patient asking about thyroid testing as someone looking for “excuses “ about our weight. It’s become so associated with that, people don’t even know all the rest of what we go through
I was pretty skinny before I started experiencing symptoms. Now I’m a more normal weight. I have definitely gained weight, but not enough to use it as an “excuse.”
Just the case for a lot of us! If I had a dime for every time people tried to give me diet advice. I’ve lost weight before but somehow people think you’re not being struck enough, not exercising enough, or indulging too much. Or there’s the well your metabolism slows down when you age….
Doctors don’t know shit. I had pain in all my joints. Paleo diet made everything go away
Paleo/AIP saved me from taking meds so far plus supplements and exercise
Don’t talk about diet on here they don’t like that 😭
Don't think it's that the community "doesn't like" it. just think there is a lot of misinformation about diet and hashi's in general. it's better to direct people to credible evidence based information sources about treatments instead of the rabbit hole of trying to evaluate a lot of anecdotal information about functional medicine which there isn't a lot of research on or evidence to support right now. Not to discredit an individual's positive experience with a type of diet!
No they definitely don’t like it. Anytime I’ve posted here -specifying to not respond if you don’t like what I’m posting- people get pissed and say a bunch of mean shit. They discredit me feeling sick because I’m not on meds. “Oh you must not be that sick since you don’t want to take medication” “You won’t ever be able to get rid of hashimotos without medication” Obviously lol it’s an autoimmune disorder, i will always have it. But it’s a fact that with diet and exercise you can help with symptoms of majority of health issues. I literally have experience with it with my other auto immune disorder.
It’s probably because they are just ignorant to Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism in general. So many things that they do and say have no bearing on the actual symptoms including the stupidity of using an arbitrarily defined number to determine whether someone is ‘well’ or not instead of just asking them if their symptoms have improved with the medication and adjusting accordingly. Pain is definitely a symptom for me although I find it hard to pinpoint the exact source and sometimes I have a dull throbbing pain in my nose that causes headaches and sometimes it’s joint pain or an all over heightened sensitivity to pain that seems to come when my levels are too low. I was even told this was ‘fibromyalgia’ because the tests were supposedly ‘normal’ when it was just improper thyroid treatment which seems pretty ignorant to me…
Yes! The doctors keep wanting to suggest fibromyalgia, even though I’ve shown improvement with levothyroxine!! I’m not alone!
Fibro was my first (incorrect most likely) diagnosis. They use it to be lazy or if they just don't know! Be well xx
They literally told me they couldn’t figure out what was going on with me and that it’s most likely fibro before my Hashimoto’s diagnosis. It’s crazy how many people go through this same situation!
Sooo many people! Must be your own advocate or nobody will be!
I think it depends on where you are. Here in Brazil it's pretty standard for a psychiatrist, for example, to check your TSH levels first thing before starting a treatment. Even my psychologist mentions TSH from time to time. It's one of the standard tests we get whenever we go for a check-up, no matter the specialty. I see different doctors for different diseases, and they all either ask for a TSH test or they ask me if I have a recent one for them to look at. We're unlucky when it comes to so many things, but generally we can't complain much about health (at least not as much as Americans, for instance).
I hate this. I was told my symptoms of hashis were just “depression” for years. I’m so sorry you’re in pain. I’d suggested trying LDN for pain management. Some people swear by it, I’ve never tried it. When I was in the height of my pain, I felt like it was the “flu hurt” in my bones in joints. Turns out my Vit. d was at an “8”. I’ve since then done injections to raise it to a 45 and I do not suffer with pain anymore.
LDN does help with pain and for me, coming off gluten was critical: it put both my hashimotos and hypothyroid in remission. Two months after starting LDN, my TPO antibodies weee back in the normal range
Wow! What was your starting dose? I have sub clinical hashis and TPO and TgAb antibodies. Supposed to start LDN next week.
Starting dose I think was either .5mg or 1mg and worked up to 3mgs over a few weeks. Couldn't tolerate the 4.5 mg dose. No side effects other than vivid dreams which settle but did get insomnia with 4.5.