No Ovaries, No Thyroid. My Mom Needs Your Help.?

Question

No Ovaries, No Thyroid. My Mom Needs Your Help.?
My mother had thryoid cancer almost 16 years ago and the doctors removed it. She has been on synthetic thyroid medication ever since. Four years ago my mother had her uterus and ovaries removed. This has completely put her hormone system into major craziness. She has gained a large ammount of weight despite diet and taking care of her body. I need someone who knows about hormonal weight gain, due to no thryoid and no ovaries. This has been difficult, and she just wants to get her weight down. Any ideas? Anybody who has had both removed??

Answer 1

I suggest your Mom learn more about hypothyroidism. Most likely her increased weight is from either being undermedicated or on the wrong medication. Having no thyroid gland, if I were your Mom I'd go on a medication like ARmour that contained T1, T2, T3, & T4. Right now, she is on T4 only. Below are some links that may help.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Find a doctor who will work with her rebalancing her hormnes. If she has no ovaries - she needs to supplement with natural progesterone. It is possible that she has too much estrogen and too llittle DHEA.. A doctor prescribing natural hormones would help her tremendously. Also, make sure your Mom is on correct thyroid medicine - the TSH should be around 1 not 5 or 4 or what not... And make sure that she is on a very strict diet, exercise regimen and doctor supervision. I think it is possible to lose weight and balance the hormones but it will take time and effore. Look for componding pharmacies in your area who will tell you the doctros prescribing natural hormones (not synthetics - those will cause more weight gain). Go see those doctros. These might even switch your Mom to Armour from Synhtroid. Well, I wish you and your Mom good luck and even better health!!!!

Answer 4

Hi there - I had my thyroid removed 10 years ago because of cancer. About five years ago I started to put on weight, and ended up gaining about 50 lbs. I needed to gain probably 20 of those, but the extra 30 were most inexplicable. I was eating healthfully and exercising everyday, but still gaining weight. I went to my GP and he could find nothing wrong with me, and ended up attempting to diagnose me with depression. Ummm no. So I tracked down the most recommended endocrinologist in my area and went to see him. While my blood tests showed my thyroid levels were normal, I knew in my gut that something was off. He ended up prescribing two thyroid medications, Cytomel and Synthroid (which I had been taking prior). Cytomel delivers the T3 form of thyroid hormone while Synthoid is T4 - a normally functioning thyroid releases both (in addition to two other forms, 1 and 2, which someone mentioned above in connection with Armor. My experience with Armor hasn't been that great...I found the potency of each dose unpredictable, and I had a hard time "swallowing" the fact that I was ingesting ground up pig thyroids). The effect on my energy was huge, and I also found my appetite has lessened a bit (sometimes when you're a teensy bit over-medicated with thyroid hormone, your appetite increases, but your metabolism does not increase to match it). I was able to drop a few pounds that way. I'm unfortunately not able to comment about the effects of losing her ovaries and uterus, but I feel for her situation, and for yours in having to watch someone close to you go through this. Good luck to you both.

Answer 5

A few months ago, I was very sick, zero energy, freezing cold, depressed, weight gain, thought I was dying. I read every word of this Hypothyroidism Revolution program and followed all the advice. My life turned around the first week. I started to feel human again. Within weeks my energy came back and I felt like living again.

Get the entire hypothyroidism revolution system today? just choose the best option for you.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

Is your mother on any type of steriod medication (like corticosteriods, such as SoluCortef or dexamethasone). I know that prolonged steriod therapy can cause weight gain & develop into a disorder called Cushing's Syndrome.

Has she talked with her doctor about what could be causing her weight gain?

Answer 8

I would sincerely suggest that she should consult a good Homeopathic Practitioner. Nothing else works better in circumstances such as your Mother's, trust me nothing else does.

Take Care and God Bless you and your loved ones.

Answer 9

I am not sure I can be of any help, but I will say this: "No more surgery for any reason, ever again." I can understand the cancer surgery. It was a life threatening condition, but why the uterus and ovaries removed? Like these are vestigial organs with no function in the body? Why does your mother even begin to think that a cure or even an improvement in any condition she might find can be found at the end of a scalpel? Sorry, I'm a bit furious about this, and you should be too, as total hysterectomy is one of the most over-prescribed and least necessary surgeries performed today. Your mother is essentially going through mechanical/surgical menopause and probably years before her body would have done it by itself in its own natural way and in its own good time. Even after menopause, the ovaries STILL secrete minute amounts of hormones that help women to age gracefully and well, and to not loose too much bone mass at once. Eventually the adrenals take over this function, but tI want you to understand that the hormonal system is incredibly delicate and incredibly subtle. It should not be handled with the cut/burn/purge/chemical warfare mentality. By making a stupid, uninformed choice, she's created a medical emergency for and in herself. Big surprise. So when is your mom going to stop listening to idiots who maim her and take her life and body away piece by piece? I beg to differ if you both think this is what "taking care of your body" is all about...It's not like a car, you know, where if a part is misfunctioning you can just remove it, throw it away, perhaps put a replacement in and think it's going to work as well or better than it did before. That kind of thinking is totally reductionist, totally about lack of respect for the body and its beautiful systems and rather delusional, is it not? It SMACKS of refusal to really look, really understand reality and to take some bloody responsibility for one's own health rather than leaving it up to Dr. Frankenstein, who will just make everything better with a few cuts here, a few stitches there, no?

Were it me, I would put your mom on an all vegetarian diet for years, maybe with some poultry and fish, maybe with a little eggs or dairy if she seemed to need those things (ie build-up/ warming foods, but being extremely careful w/ the eggs and dairy b/c they impact the hormonal system incredibly strongly.) I would have her eat raw foods and juices as much as absolutely possible, especially during the spring thru Indian summer, as these foods will create cataplexy in the body and breakdown the excess weight she's built up. Expect that process to wreak havoc with her hormones, too., but she'll need to go through it and come out on the other side to find her body's own balance. She needs to walk and to exercise every single day of her life, and yeah, I know how hard this is b/c I need to do it too, and I don't enough. Occupational hazard of being a mom. She should look at taking herbs as well. Here are some that might help her: Blue and black cohosh, Dong quai, Vitex agnus-castus (aka chaste tree berry. It's a hormonal regulator. It's also extremely bitter, so she will need to put it into her bottled water and drink it that way, not straight on her tongue.); Soy of any kind will help to cool her body and calm the hormonal surges, so get used to eating tofu and tempeh. Make lasagne with it if she (or you) can't stomach it any other way; Dandelion, burdock, scull cap, red root, clover, alfalfa (Alfalco tonic would be ideal for her. She needs to eat greens every single day of her life. They will cool her, fill her full of vitamins and minerals, rebalance her hormones, build her blood, calm, cool and clear her liver/gall bladder which is where a lot of this hormonal disruption is coming from. Because so much of her endocrine system has been removed, you need to know that she is at extra high risk for osteoporosis and bone loss now, much, much more so than other women. Almonds, broccoli, sardines w/ bones still in them, salmon, tofu and all soy, yogurt and all those greens I talked about will be her best friends now. I'm not sure where in this f***ed up country that surgically mutilates its women you live, but if you can, contact either Annemarie Colbin in NYC, Chistiane Northrup (who used to be in Maine) or a woman FRIENDLY doctor in your area. If you need a SAFE referral, contact a midwife in your immediate area or call the Boston Women's Healthbook Collective in Watertown, MA. I would also look strongly at putting seaweed in my diet and maybe going macrobiotic or raw foods (especially in the warm weather) for awhile. The juices route would be excellent b/c it will literally help her to rebuild her body at a cellular level...NO MORE DAMN SURGERIES, OKAY? You be her guardian and help her to save her own life. NO MORE MAIMING!!!!! Also no sugar and no white flour/refined grains. Whole foods ONLY to create a whole and non-fragmented condition. She could also look at taking Armour Thyroid Extract rather than the Synthroid. Go with her when she talks to her doctor about this. Have her do her research about it first, tho', so she and you can ask intelligent questions about switching. Also take her to an acupuncturist/ND (a naturopathic doctor, preferably female.)

I am sorry to be so harsh in the beginning of this e-mail, but I do strongly feel that harshness is warranted by the extent to which it appears your mother is setting herself up to be a "medical victim" and the extent to which she is not taking responsibility for her own health.