Warning

 

Close
Confirm Action

Are you sure you wish to do this?

Cancel Confirm
AR15.COM
6/11/2012 11:39:26 AM EDT
How many things in the male body does the thyroid influence or control?

I know "large" people will say, "I'm fat because I have a thyroid problem." I've suffered from horrific kidney stones (I've had 2 surgeries so far) and finally got the green light to be tested for hyperthyroidism (I think "para" belongs in there) to see if my thyroid is causing my body to produce too much calcium, hence the kidney stones.

So it got me thinking, how many other male functions are controlled or influenced by this?
6/11/2012 11:42:42 AM EDT
[#1]
I don't know what it does exactly, but whatever it does mine does too much.
 
6/11/2012 11:47:02 AM EDT
[#2]
The parathyroid glands are not the same gland as the thyroid.

Two different subjects, with multiple functions, and diseases that can occur.

My thyroid gland is non-functional. It's dead, Jim.  

Google hyperparathyroidism.
6/11/2012 11:51:40 AM EDT
[#3]
Don't know about thyroid specific to "male functions".
If you are at all concerned about male functions, get your testosterone tested.
Get thee to 1000 ng/dl   !!!!111!!!!!!1
6/11/2012 11:52:49 AM EDT
[#4]
Quoted:
The parathyroid glands are not the same gland as the thyroid.

Two different subjects, with multiple functions, and diseases that can occur.

My thyroid gland is non-functional. It's dead, Jim.  

Google hyperparathyroidism.


Oh, I'm pretty sure the kidney stone issue comes from the parathyroid...

Why is your thyroid gland non-functional? How did that change your life? If you don't mind my asking.
6/11/2012 11:53:12 AM EDT
[#5]
I was generally a larger guy - about 220lbs at 6'1"   I'm a retired Soldier, and was on Active Duty at the time.  I started to lose weight at an alarming rate ... approximately 24lbs in about a week and a half.  Thing is, I was hungry all the time and ate a lot - but still the weight came off of me (my wife and daughter were envious).  Also, I found that I became extremely 'fidgety' ... couldn't hold still and was anxious all the time, and couldn't rest or sleep easily.  

I finally went in to sick call and blood testing revealed that I had a hyper-active thyroid.  I was later tested and diagnosed with "grave's disease" - thyroid was in high gear.  I was put on medication to slow down my heart rate, which allowed me to actually relax when at rest (otherwise I'd constantly tap my feet and drive my wife nuts).

A few days after that, I began having chest pains and felt as if my heart was racing.  A couple days of this and I returned to the medics.  Doctor did an ECG and found that I was in afib ... one of my heart chambers wasn't pumping, but was 'fluttering.'  I had to start taking blood thinners, and even had to inject myself twice a day for a week and a half with blood thinning medication.  I was sent to Walter Reed Army hospital, in Washington DC, and after they confirmed that I had grave's disease I was treated with radiation - had to swallow a large pill full of radioactive iodine (I-131).

In the months since that, I gained a lot of weight, with the medical folks readjusting the thyroid medication I have to take every day.  My weight bounced between 200 and 260 lbs, with it eventually settling around 250lbs.  I'm now retired from the Army, however I still deal with my weight.

One story ... I imagine there are several different ones out there.
6/11/2012 11:54:05 AM EDT
[#6]
Quoted:
Don't know about thyroid specific to "male functions".
If you are at all concerned about male functions, get your testosterone tested.
Get thee to 1000 ng/dl   !!!!111!!!!!!1


hahahaha, no I'm not worried about "those functions" I'm way too young.
6/11/2012 11:54:19 AM EDT
[#7]
usually it's your parathyroids that mess with your calcium ( 4 rice grain glands behind your thyroid)
6/11/2012 12:04:36 PM EDT
[#8]
Quoted:
I was generally a larger guy - about 220lbs at 6'1"   I'm a retired Soldier, and was on Active Duty at the time.  I started to lose weight at an alarming rate ... approximately 24lbs in about a week and a half.  Thing is, I was hungry all the time and ate a lot - but still the weight came off of me (my wife and daughter were envious).  Also, I found that I became extremely 'fidgety' ... couldn't hold still and was anxious all the time, and couldn't rest or sleep easily.  

I finally went in to sick call and blood testing revealed that I had a hyper-active thyroid.  I was later tested and diagnosed with "grave's disease" - thyroid was in high gear.  I was put on medication to slow down my heart rate, which allowed me to actually relax when at rest (otherwise I'd constantly tap my feet and drive my wife nuts).

A few days after that, I began having chest pains and felt as if my heart was racing.  A couple days of this and I returned to the medics.  Doctor did an ECG and found that I was in afib ... one of my heart chambers wasn't pumping, but was 'fluttering.'  I had to start taking blood thinners, and even had to inject myself twice a day for a week and a half with blood thinning medication.  I was sent to Walter Reed Army hospital, in Washington DC, and after they confirmed that I had grave's disease I was treated with radiation - had to swallow a large pill full of radioactive iodine (I-131).

In the months since that, I gained a lot of weight, with the medical folks readjusting the thyroid medication I have to take every day.  My weight bounced between 200 and 260 lbs, with it eventually settling around 250lbs.  I'm now retired from the Army, however I still deal with my weight.

One story ... I imagine there are several different ones out there.


Wow.....I'm wicked fidgety, bite my nails, tap my feet (or bounce my leg while sitting), premature balding, can lay in bed in the complete dark for hours and not fall asleep. No weight issues, but I have a pretty strict diet. Not that I have anything, but seeing that I'm getting tested for the calcium issue, I wondered what else the thyroid and I guess parathyroid do.
6/11/2012 12:10:46 PM EDT
[#9]
Quoted:
Oh, I'm pretty sure the kidney stone issue comes from the parathyroid...

Why is your thyroid gland non-functional? How did that change your life? If you don't mind my asking.


It was ablated with I-131, radioactive iodine administered in a dose that is designed to kill the thyroid. Sometimes a smaller dose is administered to "maim" the thyroid, to reduce function without destroying the entire gland.

In my case, my thyroid was running amuck, damaging my body while the doctors could not control it's behavior. They tried suppressing it, making it go to sleep so to speak, and then replacing the hormones it produces. That didn't work.

How did it change my life...

Damaged my organs, affected my digestion, brain function, made me ultra-sensitve to sunlight.
I'm the most healthy looking specimen you could find, that cannot work for a half hour at a time.

I closed my business, spent my savings, and now I am one of the hated welfare leaches that subsist on Social Security Disability. My memory, both long term and short term are severely degraded.

I continue to produce antibodies that were attacking my thyroid. One type continues to fuck my brain like a screen door in a huricane. I have arythmias, my heart and my brain cannot handle stress.

I avoid crowds. I can't sit down with five people and "visit". I can't travel 100 miles without getting ill. I need a full 8 hours of sleep and a nap in the afternoon. If I don't get enough rest, all that stuff I typed gets worse.

My hair has thinned out dramatically, and wierd things happen to my skin, like thickening, or bad reactions to laundry detergent. The skin issues come and go on various parts of my body.    

6/11/2012 12:24:20 PM EDT
[#10]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Oh, I'm pretty sure the kidney stone issue comes from the parathyroid...

Why is your thyroid gland non-functional? How did that change your life? If you don't mind my asking.


It was ablated with I-131, radioactive iodine administered in a dose that is designed to kill the thyroid. Sometimes a smaller dose is administered to "maim" the thyroid, to reduce function without destroying the entire gland.

In my case, my thyroid was running amuck, damaging my body while the doctors could not control it's behavior. They tried suppressing it, making it go to sleep so to speak, and then replacing the hormones it produces. That didn't work.

How did it change my life...

Damaged my organs, affected my digestion, brain function, made me ultra-sensitve to sunlight.
I'm the most healthy looking specimen you could find, that cannot work for a half hour at a time.

I closed my business, spent my savings, and now I am one of the hated welfare leaches that subsist on Social Security Disability. My memory, both long term and short term are severely degraded.

I continue to produce antibodies that were attacking my thyroid. One type continues to fuck my brain like a screen door in a huricane. I have arythmias, my heart and my brain cannot handle stress.

I avoid crowds. I can't sit down with five people and "visit". I can't travel 100 miles without getting ill. I need a full 8 hours of sleep and a nap in the afternoon. If I don't get enough rest, all that stuff I typed gets worse.

My hair has thinned out dramatically, and wierd things happen to my skin, like thickening, or bad reactions to laundry detergent. The skin issues come and go on various parts of my body.    



I'm sorry to hear that...was this all a result from the treatment?
6/11/2012 12:29:08 PM EDT
[#11]
Most of it was the result of dithering around trying to "save the gland".

Some of it is from the ongoing production of thyroid antibodies.