Posted by jrbecker on October 4, 2002, at 12:18:42
In reply to Re: Thyroid test scores in ...and the results mean?, posted by pfinstegg on October 3, 2002, at 17:28:37
thanks for the replies. I think I will hold off on any thyroid theapy until I find a more suitable endocrinologist that is familiar with the psycho-endocrinology connection.
Oh, and Pfinstegg. They have done a few studies on depression and hand dominance. And yes, there is a higher incidence of depressive left-handers than in the larger population. As for me, I'm a right-hander though.
> I have taken synthroid 0.1 mg for about ten years because of a slightly enlarged thyroid gland, and slightly elevated TSH. Major unipolar depression began about 8 years ago, treated with intermittent and only partial success with several antidepressants and twice- weekly psychotherapy. I asked an endocrinologist to evaluate the thyroid panel one month ago. The TSH was 0.84. This is low normal, the normal range according to him being 0.5-4.0. However, he said that when depression exists, he aims for a TSH of 0.5 or even a little lower than that. He also said that he finds that in depression, some people have difficulty converting T4(synthroid or levothyroxine) to T3 (triiodothyronine), and for that reason he likes to give a combination of synthroid (T4) and Cytomel(T3). He gave me an article about this: New England Journal of Medicine vol 340: 424-429, Feb 11,1999,# 6. At present, we are adjusting these doses, with small changes every 6 weeks, so I can't yet say whether it is helpful. Since I have to take it anyway, I might as well take it in the way that has the best chance of helping my brain as well as my thyroid.
>
> My endocrinologist is also investigating other endocrine factors which may affect mood, such as estrogen and cortisol levels, and their fluctuations. This is a long, slow process(lots of 24-hour urine collections!), so I can't yet say whether we are coming up with anything useful. I feel really lucky to have an endocrinologist who is trying so hard to help with a depression.
>
> Pfinstegg
>
> PS In response to one of the other posts. I am also left-handed. If we are going to find out whether there is an association betweem handedness and depression,which people have always mentioned, but no-one really knows, we need LOTS of people to answer! Somebody could write their thesis on it!
poster:jrbecker
thread:121758
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020930/msgs/122311.html