Re: [EDIT] Being thyroidless

EDIT

Scotch...

Here is what Janie has written on what some of  challenges that  those who have had  thyroidectomies must deal with...

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2009/12/29/the-agonies-of-being-thyroidl...

 There was a time when I thought being hypo without a thyroid was really no different than being hypo with one.  Hypo is hypo.

But I was wrong. There really is a difference in our journeys – even if we both end up with hypothyroidism — and four strong ones:

1. It’s no picnic to lose one’s thyroid. Surgical removal, called a thyroidectomy,  can come with neck soreness, loss of one’s voice, and other complications. inclu­ding the loss of parathyroids.  Treatment with RAI, or Iodine 1 – 131 to kill the thy­roid, has it’s own life long side effects, including gastrointestinal issues, parotid salivary gland problems, and more.  A good web site about the controversy of RAI is atomicwomen.org.
2. The stress of surgery and/or RAI can do a number on one’s adrenals. I suspect that there is a high percen tage of those who had surgery and/or RAI who also have adre nal fati gue with it’s nightmarishside effects, whether simply from the physical stress of removal and/or treatment, or having a Synthroid, T4-only obsessed doctor.  Being on T4 is the number one predictor of adrenal fatigue.
3. Some have a unique anguish about their vulnerability. No one can live without a thy roid.  And that thought with the absolute life long dependency on thy­roid meds is not a comfortable state.
4. Life long regret can be huge. Many patients came to realize, after removal, that they may not have needed the removal at all if they had known about the fallacy of the TSH lab test, or the idiocy of T4-only meds, or potential benefits of iodine, or natural desiccated thyroid like Naturethroid, compounded, or Erfa Thyroid.

Read the latest personal and gut-wrenching blog post by thyroid can­cer Stephanie Buist, who is thyroidless after treatment for thyroid can­cer nearly 10 years ago.  Also see the Talk to Others link below to find the Thyroid less yahoo group.