Kidney issues

John Adams4 said:If my body can just make it itself, why even bother with supplements?
How are you supposed to know if your system can actually handle producing the hormone on its own if you haven't even given it a fair shot at trying?

I mean, look... if your thyroid gets removed, or if antibodies basically wreck it entirely—kind of like what happens with Hashimoto—then who’s going to step up and produce those hormones for you? Is some other organ just gonna jump in and take over?

Jose Miller3 said:Spot on—absolutely spot on!

Honestly, forget the pills—it feels like doctors are just trying to phase us all out one prescription at a time!!!

I’m telling you, natural selection hasn't gone anywhere; it’s still out there, operating like a perfectly tuned machine!

Man, if only it were that simple...

John Adams4 said:If my body can produce it on its own, why bother taking a supplement?
How can you possibly know if your body is capable of producing a hormone if you never give it the chance to do so in the first place?

I’d love to know which organ you use instead of a brain. 😈

Try looking at a local library or checking an encyclopedia under "HORMONES." Maybe then it will click that these are essential substances required by specific organs—substances that simply have no substitute.
Nature doesn't just provide everything on a silver platter...

By the way... where does this idea come from that laypeople somehow know more than doctors? And this constant push to distrust medical professionals...
If a patient doesn't trust their physician, we might as well just say goodbye at the front door.
And why does everyone feel the need to seek a second opinion for every little thing? It’s useful and even encouraged in complex, borderline cases, but using hormone substitution for post-op hypothyroidism prevention? Come on, people, let's be reasonable. 🙂
It's like going to a tailor to get pants made and insisting on seeing two different tailors just to make sure they don't mess up your measurements...

Jose Miller3 said:Well, if your thyroid has been removed—or perhaps just completely destroyed by antibodies, like in cases of Hashimoto's disease—then who exactly is going to produce those hormones? I suppose one might wonder if some other organ could step in to take over the job.

mon said:They removed the left side where the nodule was located.

If they only removed the portion containing the nodule, then presumably the remaining tissue should be healthy enough to handle the workload of the entire gland—at least, that's my assumption.

In any case, there isn't quite enough information in the original post to say much more than that.

nimbleskipper13 said:Honestly, I’m just wondering which part of your body you’re using instead of a brain? 😈

You’re starting to grow on me... you're totally my kind of girl!!!

btw: seriously though, since I’m definitely not a doctor, please set me straight if I'm totally tripping here. If it turns out...

nimbleskipper13, please—go be someone else's problem.

John Adams4 said:Get lost, man.

just like I said—she's totally my type... 👍

Listen, honey, if your hormone levels are looking good, it just means your doctor really knows her stuff.

The thyroid is such a big deal, and it can cause some seriously major issues if you decide to just stop taking your meds and try treating it with chamomile tea instead.
You’ve got to trust your medical expertise on this one!

DJanko said:some medications exist just to keep everyone else feeling sane

😁 👍

nimbleskipper13 said:I think people eventually need to realize that following a doctor's advice isn't just some luxury or a choice you make when you feel like it; it’s actually a fundamental responsibility you have toward your own recovery. 😈

If we’re going down that road, then we should probably remind doctors that if things go sideways after they give their orders, it's on them—it's pure RESPONSIBILITY rather than just checking off another task on their shift... 😛

Quote:Madness.

nimbleskipper13 says: Also, I don't get where laypeople get the nerve to act like they know more than MDs, especially with all this modern push to second-guess every single specialist...

As if doctors have always been perfect, which is clearly why everyone suddenly decided to start using their own brains instead. 😉

Just a quick heads-up: if you’re taking any kind of herbal supplements, you absolutely have to tell your doctor first... Not because they want to lecture you, but because they need to know if those things might interfere with your actual prescription meds. (Maybe nimbleskipper13 can weigh in on the other side of the coin here—the risks of using unverified "natural" remedies when they clash with existing treatments)......
While my personal advice—based on what I've seen with my own mother and grandmother—is to stick strictly to what your doctor prescribes, I do believe in keeping a few old-school home remedies in your back pocket. My grandmother is 83 years old, and for the last 35 years, she’s been managing various medications and hormone replacements. She lives a perfectly normal life because she follows her doctor's orders to the letter and stays mindful of her diet (as advised by her physician, of course)......

mistybear4 said:then they gotta go tell those doctors that everything that goes south after following their advice is actually ON THEM—not just part of the job... 😛

🤣

come on mistybear4, give it a rest...

illness is caused by a million different things. stuff "goes wrong" because of a whole bunch of factors, and honestly? bad medical advice is probably the least of them...

and please, don't start with that whole "if everyone on Earth just did X, nobody would ever get sick" nonsense right now 😁

look, when you're dealing with something that isn't just gonna clear up on its own (like a common cold, for instance), you have to make a call on how you're gonna handle it.
if you decide to go the "alternative" route—whatever that means to you—then stick to it, man, and be ready to deal with whatever fallout comes from that choice. 😉

if you choose mainstream Western medicine—well, the exact same logic applies. 😁 🙂

I really hope you aren't sitting there thinking that the first option involves "thinking for yourself" while the second one doesn't... 😁

rustymoose54 said:When you're dealing with an ailment that isn't just going to pass on its own—something more stubborn than a common cold—you eventually have to make a call on how you're going to handle it.
If you opt for the "alternative" route—whatever that looks like to you—then you really need to stick to it consistently and be ready to live with whatever consequences follow. 😉

The same logic applies if you decide to go with mainstream Western medicine. 😁 🙂

I certainly hope you aren't under the impression that choosing the first option means you're finally using your own brain while the second implies you aren't. 😁

If we’re actually going to debate what counts as "alternative," I'm lost on where the line is drawn... is nutrition considered preventive care or is it treated as an alternative to medication?

By "thinking for yourself," I mean reaching those personal realizations about how to prevent a sickness or shake it off naturally through diet and herbs to boost immunity, rather than just waiting for some magic pill and hoping the side effects don't wreck your system in the process.

People tend to fear what they don't understand, so it feels safer to just trust someone with a degree—and by degree, I mean the accountability that should come with it.

It’s funny how rarely people actually ask their doctors, "So, what kind of damage is this medication going to do to my body?"
Or when it comes to kids, asking, "Would you actually give this specific drug to your own child?" 😕

We were talking about thyroid issues and hormone regulation here; I might not have all the medical jargon down perfectly, but I know plenty of people who managed their issues simply by fixing their diet, though I realize most of you won't wrap your heads around that or even believe it's possible. 🙂

I had the same thing done, but on my right side, and I didn't even get prescribed any pills since my doctor said that one side is working perfectly fine 😕 It’s actually been five years since my surgery and I haven't had a single issue

mistybear4 said:what hardly anyone actually asks their doctor is: "hey doc, what kind of side effects is this stuff gonna wreck my system with?"
or when you're talking about kids—"would you actually give this med to your own kid?" ... 😕

we're talking thyroid issues here, hormone secretion, and look—maybe I don't have all the fancy medical jargon down pat, but I know enough folks who sorted their mess out just by switching to "cellular nutrition," but a few of you guys can't even wrap your heads around that... or believe it... 🙂

look man, my wife had a tumor, and she ended up in surgery where they had to cut it out

and while they were at it, they sliced out a chunk of her thyroid too

the doctor recommends hormone replacement therapy—basically taking pills every day—if the rest of her thyroid isn't pumping out enough T3 and T4

so, where does this (classicly blunt) assumption come from that T3 and T4 are these nasty drugs with terrifying side effects? T3 and T4 are literally just the hormones a healthy person's thyroid produces naturally

if you're missing thyroid tissue—whether it’s because autoimmune stuff ate it away or, like in my case, a surgeon had to lop it out—then you take them externally just so you can actually drag yourself out of bed in the morning

it's the exact same deal as Type 1 diabetes and insulin

I mean, would you seriously suggest "cellular nutrition" to a kid who lacks beta cells and depends on external insulin? 😉
I don't think so

mistybear4 said:The whole discussion centers on the thyroid, hormone regulation, and—well, I might not have my medical degree or know all the precise clinical terminology down to a science-- but I certainly know enough folks who have successfully managed their issues through "cellular nutrition"—yet a handful of you just can't wrap your heads around it (or even bring yourselves to believe it)... 🙂

Oh, please, stop talking nonsense! Go read an actual textbook on endocrinology before you start babbling away! Hormones are produced by the internal secretions of glands, and there simply isn't any food on this earth that can serve as a substitute for them.

nimbledriver81 said:Hormones are produced by the gland through internal processes—there isn't any food that can simply replace them.

I suppose we could just stop consuming iodine—which is naturally found in most diets—and then we might see how those glands manage to produce hormones without it.

rustymoose54, I didn't bring up that specific incident—and you know damn well I didn't—so let's not go pinning things on me that I never actually said, alright?

There’s an entire spectrum of hormonal and thyroid issues triggered by specific nutritional deficiencies in our diet, which is exactly what I’m talking about, rather than the fallout from botched surgeries, if you catch my drift.

nimbledriver81 said:Give it a rest already. Maybe try reading up on endocrinology before you start lecturing everyone else. Hormones are produced by endocrine glands, and there isn't a single thing you can eat that acts as a direct substitute for them.

nimbledriver81, no need to get all worked up over nothing... 😁
"you're so brilliant," 😁 but food isn't a replacement; it’s just the raw material the body uses to build those hormones within the endocrine system.. 😉

it seems like you're running a bit low on that specific material yourself... 😁

John Adams4, thanks.. 👍

John Adams4 said:Oh, sure—let’s just stop eating all the iodine naturally found in our food and see how well those glands manage to produce hormones then!

For the record—iodine is NOT a hormone, just in case anyone was under that particular impression.