DEAR THYROID^TM

From Low Sex Drives to Self Medicating…..where do we go from here?

Recently, on Facebook, I asked, “How have your relationships been affected by your thyroid cancer or disease,” Amber said: “low sex drive for has had an effect on me.”

Amber, you are so NOT alone on this one. This experience is just plain evil. This would eventually occur naturally in relatively healthy beings as we age. With that being said, I can tell you right now from my own experience, this is able to hit us twice as hard at the same time. It can be experienced as a side effect from medication and/or by starting menopause, whether it’s from a hysterectomy in our younger years or coming on naturally in our later years.

Determine if it could be a side effect from one of your medications, presuming you are on more than just your thyroid meds.  This can be done by checking with your pharmacist or checking online with places such as:  Drug Digest. One thing is for sure, health concerns can include common hormonal imbalances such as hypothyroidism.

Please take a good peek at this check list: Symptoms of Hypothyroidism, Sex Drive (Mary Shomon). If your thyroid labs are in range and you feel good, you may want to consider asking your doctor to do a female hormone lab panel. Knowing where your estrogen, progesterone and testerone levels are could reveal the reason for the low sex drive.  Please see these links, just as a reference list:  College Pharmacy/Biodentical of female hormones and what they do and how they affect us.

There are also Over the Counter (OTC) supplements for estrogen and progesterone at your local drug stores, that you can discuss taking with your doctor, should you not need a prescription for hormone replacement.

You can never know too much about your health! Please feel free to print out copies on the above research to help discuss this issue with your doctor and do keep me posted. I will be right here for you.

Kelly asked:  I suspect I have Hashimoto’s, and because my husband is currently laid off we don’t have any health coverage and little money to pay cash for doctor first dates”. I bought American Biologics Bovine freeze-dried raw Thyroid concentrate – have you heard from others that have self-treated with OTC thyroid concentrates?

Kelly, first, thank you so much for reaching out and connecting with me. I hope you continue to do so. Please note, we do not condone or advocate self-medicating, so I’ve provided some solutions that I strongly urge you to consider. Self medicating is very dangerous, especially without a doctor’s supervision.

I have not heard of anyone specifically using what you are trying with the bovine freeze dried concentrate but there are many others who have been. or currently are in the same position as you.  I went through it myself, from 2005-2009, due to my illnesses forcing me into retirement disability.  This forced me to look for another doctor since my favorite endo did not accept cash paying patients. This leads patients like yourself wondering if you can treat it naturally or by self-medicating.

Please see:

Can your hypothyroidism be treated naturally? (Mary Shomon)

Should thyroid patients self medicate? (Mary Shomon)

These articles specifically discuss the aforementioned two topics.

There I sat, like you, little money and no health coverage whatsoever.  I would like to share with you what I was forced to figure out since treating myself naturally was not an option after having a stroke, thyroid cancer and a blood disease.

I just want you to have this information on hand so that you can be informed. Okay?

By calling around, I found that there are doctors out there willing to work with patients with no insurance, and give up to 20% discounts for paying in cash.

First, you want to look for a clinic near you where you can see a doctor for free. Most doctors even have free samples of medications you need on hand, so that helps out tremendously! If the doctor should be out of samples, most pharmaceutical companies who make medications will give it to you for free after filling out an application. For example, Synthroid is made by Abbott Laboratories. Go to their website to see how to apply. If that doesn’t work, there are also places like:  RX Outreach that offer patient assistance programs who provide medication at a discount, which is helpful to low income families.

Your health plays an important role in the quality of life you can live on a daily basis and that’s why I want to provide you with all the information that I possibly can so that you are very informed when making decisions.

Please do let me know how you are doing, whether you are doing it naturally or professionally because I care! And, please let me know how finding a doctor is going.

***

To all of my thyroidees and thyroidettes, this is Dear Ann Glanders signing off for the week and saying, “never give up, never surrender!”

Keep those questions coming via Facebook or right on DearThyroid.org, in comments or by leaving comments on previous “Ann Glander’s” Columns.

I am here for you to use, so PLEASE USE ME!

Tags: learning how to treat thyroid disease and cancer, low sex drive and hypothyroidism, managing low self drive, never self medicate, resources for dealing with low sex drive, seeing a doctor when money is tight, seeing a doctor when you don't have insurance, self medicating

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