I’m 22 years old man. I diagnosed myself Hashimoto (1 year after taking finasteride), blood tests and doctor confirmed that. Do you think it could be triggered by finasteride ? Taking T4 hormones helped with many finasteride side effects, mainly gloomy mind.
add me to the list of guys testing positive for high thyroid antibodies (Ab is short for antibody)
HIGH Antithyroid Peroxidase Antibody (TPO Ab)
HIGH Antithyroglobulin Antibody (TG Ab)
Taking D3, vit C, B complex and selenium for now.
I also have hashimoto’s. I have high anti-peroxidase antibody as well. I cycled t3 with dr. shippen to increase body temperature but that didn’t help at all.
I’m starting to think I’ve got this issue. I’ve been tested for pretty much every thyroid hormone (inc reverse T3) which have all been well within range. But my symptoms include:
- Cold hands and feet. Comes and goes and worse after arousal.
- Dark circles under eyes which have got progressively worse
- Put on a bit of weight around the stomach (but with christmas who knows!)
- Brain fog. Varies over the week.
The most bizarre thing of all this all gets worse after sex/masturbation.
Are these consistent with the symptoms you guys have?
Yes, but insist on getting the blood test done. (TPO Ab, TG Ab)
My TSH and T3 were in the normal range but the antibodies were sky high.
Will do.
What are you doing so far to help with it? Is anything working?
Also just out of interest does sex/masturbation make your symptoms worse? It seems really odd and every endo i’ve seen has told me to push on through because its good and natural to have sex.
In my case, I can feel my thyroid gland thumping in my neck when I feel an attack.
Sex/masturbation makes things worse.
I’m still learning how to deal with my symptoms.
I’m taking vit C, vit D3, vit B complex, a multivitamin and selenium.
Studies show that selenium helps. Eating gluten free apparently helps too.
I have tested twice in recent years for flagged Anti-TPO antibodies. Somewhere in the 30s, I believe, which is considered onset hashi’s?
I think that I have to do the other test in addition to the Anti-TPO to absolutely confirm Hashi’s.
I wonder how prevalent this is in this PFS community, and if, in fact, the auto-immune element is not caused by finasteride and is not a major clue.
For those who like to take a cautious and perhaps more “natural” route, check out freetheanimal.com, where the former paleo dieter/blogger discusses his recent hashimoto’s diagnosis in the context of his ongoing research and experiments including resistant starch probiotics, gluten, probiotics, etc. since he views this hash’s from the lens of the gut-HPTA axis. He also includes some interesting analysis from the Cooling Inflammation blogger who weighs in with his explanation of Hashimoto’s.
I’m not sure what approach to take, probably mostly holistic stuff: strict gluten abstention, vitamin D, seafood (iodine & selenium – but wait – some argue that iodine flares up hashi’s — no consensus here), etc.
Curious how people here are planning on addressing this, if at all…
Not sure this is what I have as if I got a couple of weeks with no sex symptoms improve significantly. Sex seems to be the trigger to get worse which is just bizarre.
Xhorndog, its prudent to see an endo to diagnose and treat Hashis. Unlike PFS, you are dealing with a better known phenomenon. That said, the etiology of Hashis is complex. Knowing your triggers is important.
Interesting for us, estrogen can be part of the puzzle.
And see this YOUTUBE link
Here’s a bit of background on why I delved deeper into thyroid issues. I was feeling weaker …fatigue… and my SCALP WAS ON FIRE like never before. My hair was thinning as well. The heat from my head was so distracting–felt like i had lice or something.
Anyway i found this POST on google which opened my eyes to the scalp burning.
After reading that normal TSH and T3/T4 is not determinative of the issue, I got my thryoid antibodies tested as well. BTW, almost all of my blood tests come in perfect (except for low-normal T) so im not used to FLAGGED results. Heres what it showed.
From what I’ve read, people are usually given Synthroid in varying amounts with moderate to low success.
Anyway, still waiting to see an endocrinologist to investigate properly.
I’m trying to go gluten free and take the supplements mentioned above.
Since quitting Propecia, I developed vitiligo on my scalp.
Autoimmune diseases such as Addison’s disease, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis tend to occur more often in people who have vitiligo …
I have not had any TPO antibody tests for Hashimoto, however after taking some Sea Kelp tablets recently, I developed a nasty pain in my neck around the thyroid area. The Sea Kelp tablets contain 225mg of iodine which is quite a high dose.
Now for the interesting bit … normally iodine is good for the thyroid but if you have Hashimoto’s, then supplementing with Iodine can make the condition worse.
Supplementing with iodine stimulates the production and activity of TPO (Thyroid peroxidase).
For most people with Hashimoto’s, TPO also happens to be the site of autoimmune attack, and surrounding thyroid tissue is damaged in the process.
So everytime TPO production is stimulated, the immune system, which perceives TPO as a foreign invader to be eradicated, responds more aggressively and amps up the attack.
This explains the pain in my neck around my thyroid after taking the iodine supplements … autoimmune reaction !!!
Anyone else experienced a bad reaction to supplements containing iodine?
For example, Sea Kelp / Spirulina etc?
Link to source:
drknews.com/iodine-and-hashimotos/
I had this same reaction when I tool iodine and used AI’s. Before propecia, I did that and got that way for a short while, but no so sure now. It’s been a month since a crashed
Xhorndog, what are your symptoms with Hashis? Do you have a burning sensation in your head at all? Any oxygen problems?
Just curious, because I think I might have this too. Gonna get tested.
Check out the vids at the bottom of the URL in the above post. He give a good description of Hashi’s and you might be able to get treated by him. He knows his stuff. There’s no cure, but there are things you can do to help. He has oxidative stress tests and oxygen tests you can do, and allergy stuff. Ect, ect. Check out the videos. They’ll fill you in.
I had a brief period of improvement of symptoms during which I felt discomfort in the area where the thyroid is. I know that the thyroid is involved somehow.
I have taken more than 13 years finasteride. Because I had no problems in the first years, I did not relate the first appearance problems to finasteride as the cause.
Before, I was completely healthy. After that I had almost all of the PFS-symptoms.
I was diagnosed with Hashimoto after nearly 7 years taking finasteride. But I suspect that he was already a few years before present, because of the symptoms.
Now, 7 month after discontinuation, I still have Hashimoto, the doctors said, that this will stay all my live. I’m shure that Hashimoto is related to Finasteride.
I also had peyronies desease, gynocomastie, brainfog, panic social phobia, and a lot of other typical PFS-symtoms.
Wols.
Thanks for posting.
Are you on a gluten free diet?
Its not easy sticking to a gluten free diet but it does seem to help.
No I’m not.
But Hashimoto is irreversible, the thyroid is destroyed by this disease, and the ultrasound shows, that in my case the half has been destroyed yet. So I do not expect that helps me a diet.
I’m not looking for help here, I just wanted to inform you all, that I suspect a link between finasteride and Hashimoto.
What treatments are you on? Has anything helped?