Re: Schizophrenia and Iodine

if I were you I would try to contact this guy and see if he can give you a referral, he's done some of the best writing on thyroid/iodine and psychiatric issues that I've seen. Looks like the site is down right now, but they're working on it. BTW, my husband had an aunt that was a bit loopy. His mom used to say "Doris needs to take some iodine, her thyroid's all wacky".

BTW, puppetmaster has dealt with a lot of psychological issues, so listen to him, he's been there.

AND, a LOT of us on this board, myself included, have dealt with transient psychological issues due to detox.

the rest of my post is just cut & pastes from old posts. Yeah, there's a lot of info out there on thyroid disorders and psychiatric symptoms.

Anyway, the doc:

http://www.corepsychblog.com/2007/05/iodine_deficien.html



"Hypothyroidism can be caused by the medication Lithium which is used to treat Bipolar Disorder (previously known as Manic Depression).

In addition, patients with hypothyroidism and psychiatric symptoms may be diagnosed with:[5] atypical Depression (which may present as dysthymia) bipolar spectrum syndrome (including bipolar depression, manic-depression, mixed mania, rapid-cycling bipolar disorder, cyclothymia, and premenstrual syndromes) borderline personality disorder psychotic disorder (typically, paranoid psychosis) inattentive ADHD or more specifically sluggish cognitive tempo.

Any of these common diagnostic presentations sound familiar? Do they respond to antidepressants? Yes for awhile, but not long term. For the long term we have to look below the tip of the iceberg."

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http://www.thyromind.info/index.html




A REALLY interesting website on thyroid problems and psychiatric issues...a taste:

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http://www.thyromind.info/underactivethyroid.html



“Mind” Symptoms of Underactive Thyroid Disease

Early stage:- forgetfulness, confusion, difficulty in concentrating, insomnia, depression, feeling low or anxious, inability to cope well with stress or shock.
Later stage:- panic attacks, paranoia, severe Depression and/or anxiety and very severe insomnia leading to the possibility of hallucinations especially after stress and/or insomnia.

If a person with an underactive thyroid is not given a thyroid test, they may be misdiagnosed as experiencing depression, anxiety, psychosis or other psychiatric disorder.

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http://www.thyromind.info/overactivethyroid.html



Mind” Symptoms of Overactive Thyroid Disease

1. Nervousness, a mix of anxiety and irritability or the feeling that you have PMT all the time.
2. Bursting into tears.
3. Difficulties in relaxing and sleeping.
4. Exhaustion due to so much activity and little sleep.
5. Reduced ability to deal well with stress or shock.
6. Thoughts rushing through the head, particularly at night.
7. Particularly in the elderly a feeling of apathy may occur instead of anxiety.
8. Feelings of panic or panic attacks in which the heartbeat feels fast and seems loud.
9. Paranoia.
10. What others may view as neurotic behaviour.
11. Hallucinations particularly after prolonged insomnia.

If a person with an overactive thyroid is not given a thyroid test, they may be misdiagnosed as experiencing anxiety, neurosis, psychosis or other psychiatric disorder.

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http://www.thyromind.info/doctors.html



INSPIRATION SHEET FOR DOCTORS


PLEASE THYROID TEST THE PSYCHOTIC, NEUROTIC, INSOMNIAC, DEPRESSED,

those with hallucinations, paranoia, panic attacks, anxiety, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, manic depression, puerperal psychosis, postnatal depression, any confusion, forgetfulness or dementia or any symptom or diagnosis of mental illness. Also those with Down’s Syndrome.

Both hypothyroidism (myxoedema) and hyperthyroidism (thyrotoxicosis) may cause or exacerbate mental health problems. Misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment of myxoedematous psychosis and Depression are still happening even though thyroxine may restore or improve mental health for sufferers in most cases.

* Hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism affect men, women and children of all ages.
* Some psychiatric medication may worsen thyroid disease.
* Do any patients on psychiatric medication have exhaustion, feel cold, have a cold temperature, hair loss, amenorrhoea, foot dragging and/or slow digestion? Or do they seem hyper, hot and jittery? Has their blood been recently tested for levels of TSH and T4?
* Do you routinely ask about thyroid disease or autoimmune diseases in the family?

Severe mental distress is still going on because thyroid disease has been overlooked. Please don’t assume that a test has already been done.

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http://www.thyromind.info/finalthoughts.html



The mind and body are linked by the neck, the “bridge” between the physical and the mental and the home of the thyroid.

Better links and bridges are needed between psychiatry, general practice and endocrinology to promote the holistic approach necessary for better thyroid diagnosis and better treatment for the physical and mental problems caused by or connected to the thyroid.

For those who respond well to thyroid treatment this is happy news

*
normality may be restored
*
energy and balance return
*
so many things are possible
*
the future is brighter

MISDIAGNOSIS MUST STOP NOW

THYROID TESTS FOR ALL
with symptoms or diagnosis of mental illness

Thyromind wishes you well and happy

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http://www.orthomolecular.org/library/jom/2001/articles/2001-v16n04-p205.shtml


Schizophrenia Due to Hypothyroidism

Pfeiffer wisely included hypothyroidism as one of the causes of this syndrome. Psychiatrists have not paid enough attention to his classification. I hope this report will alert physicians to the state of thyroid metabolism which must always be taken into account. According to Pfeiffer about ten percent of schizophrenic patients are hypothyroid.

The mental state may include perceptual changes such as hallucinations, (aural and visual); thought disorder including obsessions, paranoid delusions, fear, suspiciousness, resentment; mood disorder including depression, mood swings and suicide ruminations. This conforms to the Conolly definition of schizophrenia.

Schizophrenic patients do respond to treatment with thyroid containing T3 but very large doses may have to be used. They are able to tolerate these doses. The biochemical evidence suggests that adrenochrome is antagonistic to thyroid hormone, perhaps to T3. If adrenochrome prevents T3 from functioning properly it would account for the hypothyroid symptoms and for the need for large doses to overcome this inhibition.

Conclusion

Schizophrenic patients should be examined for hypothyroidism. When there are clinical symptoms and signs of this condition, thyroid should be added to the program. This may be T4, or T3, or desiccated thyroid which contains both. Low TSH values should not prevent the use of thyroid. Some thyroidologists recommend that TSH be kept below 3. The blood values may be low or normal for TSH, and low for T3. Low T3 is more reliably related to hypothyroidism as seen clinically.

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http://www.schizophrenia.com/sznews/archives/004348.html



"Symptoms of hypothyroidism can mimic, or be intertwined with, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety and depression. Treating an underlying thyroid problem is critical to alleviating the associated psychiatric symptoms. The first hurdle to treating underlying hypothyroidism is in its diagnosis.

An article in Current Psychiatry Online focusing on the psychiatric presentation and diagnosis of hypothyroidism explains the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid endocrinology involved, psychiatric presentations, testing and treatment, including the treatment in conditions considered “sub-clinical”. Although in general practice, testing for hypothyroidism is usually limited to the testing of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), the article’s author, Dr. Thomas D. Geracioti Jr, MD calls for more extensive testing in patients exhibiting psychiatric symptoms.

Patients diagnosed with mental illnesses (especially those with a mood component) are more likely to have involvement of a thyroid hormone imbalance than the general population. Patients with thyroid disturbance and psychiatric symptoms are most often diagnosed with one of the following:

* atypical depression (which may present as dysthymia)
* bipolar spectrum syndrome (including manic-depression, mixed mania, bipolar depression, rapid-cycling bipolar disorder, cyclothymia, and premenstrual syndromes)
* borderline personality disorder
* psychotic disorder (typically paranoid psychosis)

Psychiatric symptoms of hypothyroidism can include psychosis, depression, mood instability, mania, anxiety, hypersomnia, apathy, anergia, impaired memory, psychomotor slowing, and attentional problems. Other symptoms (such as hypersomnia and lethargy), as well as laboratory findings such as hypercholesterolemia, galactorrhea, hyperprolactinemia, menstrual irregularities, and sexual dysfunction could be misconstrued as resulting from the psychotropic medications being given to alleviate the psychiatric symptoms.

Because thyroid hormone levels have a circadian rhythm with a peak at night, Dr. Geracioti suggests that blood tests for hypothyroidism be done before 9AM in order to not miss subclinical hypothyroidism. Blood tests may need to be serially repeated and should include measurements of the following:

* thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)
* free triiodothyronine (T3)
* free levothyroxine (T4)
* total T3
* total T4
* antithyroid antibodies
* serum cholesterol
* prolactin

The endocrinology of hypothyroidism is complex. It can occur from a problem in the hypothalamus, the pituitary, in the thyroid itself, or even in the body’s own resistance to thyroid hormone, with varying levels of thyroid sensitivity in different organs of the body. When this happens in pediatric patients, symptoms additionally include short stature, learning problems, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

When it comes to augmenting psychiatric treatment with thyroid hormone, the author asserts,

“Psychiatric patients with subclinical hypothyroidism—especially those with incomplete responses to psychotropic therapy—should usually be treated with thyroid hormone. Free T3 levels in the lower 20% of the laboratory’s normal range are cause for pause in a patient with a mood or psychotic disorder and any of hypothyroidism’s clinical stigmata, even if thyroxine and TSH concentrations are normal.”

Also, in regards to depressive symptoms:

“In some patients with no clear evidence of a biochemical or clinical thyroid disorder, mood symptoms nevertheless respond to thyroid hormone augmentation of antidepressants.”


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract...



Hypothyroidism and depression. Evidence from complete thyroid function evaluation.

Gold MS, Pottash AL, Extein I.

"To evaluate the relationship between hypothyroidism and depression, thyroid function was evaluated in 250 consecutive patients referred to a psychiatric hospital for treatment of depression or anergia. Twenty of the 250 patients had some degree of hypothyroidism. Two patients (less than 1%) were identified with grade 1 (overt); nine patients (3.6%), grade 2 (mild); and ten patients (4%), grade 3 (subclinical) hypothyroidism. These results suggest that a significant proportion of patients with depression and anergia may have early hypothyroidism, the cases of about half of which are detected only by thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) testing. Because hypothyroidism can produce signs and symptoms of depression and can coexist as a second illness in depressed patients, patients with early hypothyroidism may be candidates for thyroid replacement therapy. Clinical examination and measurement of triiodothyronine resin uptake thyroxine and baseline thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels, and TSH response to TRH are necessary to identify candidates for thyroid replacement among cases diagnosed by descriptive criteria as having either major or minor depression, particularly those that are atypical or treatment resistant." Tweet