Wondering if they're missing something...

[Amazin'Grace]

For the last 10 years, I have had worsening fatigue & weight gain.
It's been increasingly difficult to lose weight.
I've been in strict induction again, with dark purple ketosticks for 6 weeks with only a 4 pound weight loss.

I've been getting increasingly worse heart palpitations/skipped beats for the last few years.

Everytime I mention palpitations to my PMD (I've switched), the reaction is "maybe it's thyroid", they draw blood with the rest of the usual annual tests & tell me it's normal.

Looking at the armour website, it lists early hypothyroid symptoms as
Weight gain - YES
Puffy face - Not really
Loss or thinning of eyebrows - NO
Cold intolerance - YES!!!
Low sex drive - Unfortunately, yes...
Depression - yes
Abdominal bloating - YES
Cold hands or feet - YES
Dry or thinning hair - I'm noticing hair falling out, but had chalked it up to an induction symptom...
Joint or muscle pain - Yes
Thickening of the skin - I don't know what that is...
Thin, brittle fingernails - definitely brittle

Of HyPERthyroid, the syptoms are
Common symptoms and signs of hyperthyroidism
•Palpitations Y
•Heat intolerance N
•Nervousness N
•Insomnia Y
•Breathlessness Y
•Increased bowel movements N
•Light or absent menstrual periods Sometimes
•Fatigue Y
•Fast heart rate Y
•Trembling hands Y
•Weight loss NO!
•Muscle weakness N
•Warm moist skin N
•Hair loss N
•Staring gaze N

Is it possible to have hyper & hypo at the same time? LOL


I've had full cardiac workup (echo & stress test I think were normal - still waiting on echo results, and had to wear a monitor for 2 weeks, the results of which are also pending).

I decided to peek back at my last blood test from 8/09... the only test that was done was
"TSH, 3rd Generation" - the result was 3.85... the reference range is 0.40 - 4.50

Is that one of the ones he "should have" tested for... or is that a waste of time test?

On edit -
I found the results from previous year, also - different doc, different lab:
6/08 TSH=2.030 Reference range 0.400-4.900

Sorry if it seems like I am "all over the place"... just grasping at straws.
There feels like there is so much that feels wrong, and I'm trying to find a starting point.

Thanks...

[GME]

I'm afraid TSH menas nothing. You look hypO to me. I'm sure someone more knowlegable will chime in here, but you need Free T3 & T4 tested.

Good luck. You are probably in for a long haul, but you are in the right place to get help.

[Amazin'Grace]

oh - this last test he did run a
ANAChoice Screen, which was negative...

[Amazin'Grace]

Originally Posted by GME

I'm afraid TSH menas nothing. You look hypO to me. I'm sure someone more knowlegable will chime in here, but you need Free T3 & T4 tested.

Good luck. You are probably in for a long haul, but you are in the right place to get help.

I feel if I was one or the other, I'd be hypo... and the palpitations are an indication of something else, I guess...

I can't figure out if they are actually looking for a reason for a symptom (like palpitations), why they would only do an essentially useless test...

[inatic]

hun The dr isnt doing the right tests..

you need FREE t4 and free T3.. TPO antibodies would help.. TSH is totally worthless! Totally.

There is a nyc list here somewhere ... you have to change drs!

[Leo41]

People with Hashimoto's can go back and forth between hyper and hypo.

I'm not saying that's your problem, but you certainly need to have the right tests done, as other posters have noted.

[nonstickpam107]

Cut to the chase and have the following done:

Free T4 (Normal is usually about halfway of range, or slightly over/under)
Free T3 (Normal is usually about 2/3 of range or higher..some lots higher)
TSH (Normal is about a 1)
TPO antibodies (why in the WORLD do docs run ANA...that doesn't show thyroid antibodies!!!!).

Pam

[Amazin'Grace]

Thx!

[maile]

Originally Posted by Amazin'Grace

Of HyPERthyroid, the syptoms are
Common symptoms and signs of hyperthyroidism
•Palpitations Y
•Heat intolerance N
•Nervousness N
•Insomnia Y
•Breathlessness Y
•Increased bowel movements N
•Light or absent menstrual periods Sometimes
•Fatigue Y
•Fast heart rate Y
•Trembling hands Y
•Weight loss NO!
•Muscle weakness N
•Warm moist skin N
•Hair loss N
•Staring gaze N

Is it possible to have hyper & hypo at the same time? LOL

Just as a thought many of the items you have listed on the hyper list are also yes'es for either high or low cortisol (adrenals)
Have you looked into that as well?

[nonstickpam107]

And then again, many of the yes' she has there are also perimenopause, low progesterone, low estradiol and estriol and low testosterone.

THIS is why it's so complicated.

Pam

[maile]

Originally Posted by nonstickpam107

And then again, many of the yes' she has there are also perimenopause, low progesterone, low estradiol and estriol and low testosterone.

THIS is why it's so complicated.

Pam

good point!

[Amazin'Grace]

I'll have the adrenals checked, too... but most of this stuff has been going on for years, so I suspect it's not perimenopause stuff.

Hopefully it's nothing and all coincidental... you guys sure have a tough time getting things regulated! But it's great that this forum is here; it's a wealth of info!

My primary is decent & caring (though not extremely knowledgeable about all things) and will probably run any test I ask him to... if anything is amiss, he will probably then just ship me off to an endo (& then I might need your help to find someone in NYC/Long Island area). I haven't been crazy about some of the specialists he's referred me to in the past.

[nonstickpam107]

Um, most docs only do a TSH, most docs don't care where the T4 is as long as it's there, and most docs think a T3 Uptake is a test that measures T3 thyroid hormone (it's NOT..it's another T4 binding test..make SURE your doc does a FREE T3, a FREE T4 and TPO antibodies). And, unfortunately, most of us see five endo's before finding a good thyroid doc (oh, but not in NY..in NY I can name no less than 23 endo's who won't treat you if you don't have a TSH of ten and aren't at LEAST 100 lbs. over weight...they don't do any other tests).

Thankfully, there IS hope, and there ARE some very brilliant doctors who treat thyroid disease....hardly any are endocrinologists, btw. Endo's do good diabetes (they make lots of money at that!). I saw a doctor who I just LOVED, he was so NICE..but let me go 13 years with only a TSH and a T4 (and was at bottom of range at that~but 'normal' cuz it was 'somewhere/anywhere' in range) and would only say 'Oh, you're normal...you must just be a depressed deranged fruitcake fatarse person...now, have a nice day!!!" (No he didn't say that, but it would have been more 'honest' than him taking money for doing NOTHING for me).

[Amazin'Grace]

What test checks adrenals?

Whoda thunk that NYC would have a dearth of specialists in anything?

[nonstickpam107]

The adrenals are a 4x in one day salivary kit which is sent to a lab. (it is NOT the 'pee in a jug all day and then we'll figure out when your adrenals were up and when they were down).

Pam

[Lemming]

I went to my PCP because of an increase in PVC's ("palpitations," premature ventricular contractions, which I've had for years.). He tested my thyroid because he said thyroid issues can be a cause, and I was indeed hypo--although my TSH was only 2.0. Fortunately my doc also tested FT3 and FT4, and FT3 was below range (I had suspected I was hypo for a couple years, but levels were always just barely in range, so no diagnosis). I did a holter monitor, too, which showed only the PVC's. I've been on levothyroxine now for 5 weeks, and the PVC's are almost nonexistant (although that could be a coincidence, since I've had them for years). Anyway, I'm proof that TSH doesn't matter--any doc who only tested TSH would have said that my thyroid is fine! So--get the FT3 and FT4!

[Amazin'Grace]

I saw cardiologist yesterday - he was super - must have spent 1 and a half hours with me. He said there are PACs, blocked PACs and inappropriate tachycardia (shot up as high as 150bpm, at rest).

He said the other tests showed no cardiac damage or blockages, and the heart is healthy.

I talked to him about other symptoms (weight gain & inability to lose, sleeplessness, fatigue, always cold, etc).

He thinks I'm screwed up metabolically (but he gave me a beta blocker to see if it helps the heart rhythms).

With the other labs, he agreed to do the thyroid tests I wanted, but said with the reading I've been doing, I am probably a lot more current with thyroid info than he is, especially since endocrine is not his "bread and butter".

He ordered the TSH, FT4 & TPO - the lab request book we were looking at didn't even have FT3 test listed.
He wrote it in, hopefully it is a test this lab does...(the book was from 2000, so 10 years outdated.. )

He said I'm probably also producing too much cortisol, but I think we forgot to do that test. He said exercise is good for clearing the body of cortisol, but wants me to wait until we get the tachycardia under control.

He's all for low-carb eating.

He also noted that I get migraines - and have bad sleep issues... he said there have been studies done that connect the 2. That a good many migraine sufferers also have insomnia. I didn't know that & never put it together, even though both things started in my late teens.

I loved him; I wish he was an endo!

I have to call him Friday for the results & to update him on the atenolol for the arrythmias (which he also said may help the migraines).

[nonstickpam107]

Actually, cardio makes one produce even MORE cortisol (and their bellies get even ROUNDER) if you're already producing too much and have very low FT3.

Pam

[Amazin'Grace]

ugh.
Last thing I want is a rounder tummy.

Welp, he said don't do anything until we start fixing stuff.

I was looking at last years labs again... seems my ferritin level was 20, which I don't think is very good, either...

Vit D was 45

Quick question (putting the cart before the horse)...
Should I be hypothyroid, I see a "supposedly decent" doc isn't too far from me...a David Borenstein.
He even takes my insurance, but in the book he's listed as "Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation".
How in the world would my doctor give me a needed referral for thyroid evaluation to that type of specialist? Anyone ever have this experience?

[nonstickpam107]

There's a couple of ladies on here who see T3 giving docs who 'get it' in your neck of the woods. Just re post with: Need thyroid doc in NYC or nearby who 'gets it'.

Yeah, don't get it in your head that endos do good thyroid...most do not.

I like the choice of using David Borenstein, he is a naturopathic doctor who 'gets it' and uses T3. He's on my lists. And he's 'more than decent' with the choices around you.

Pam

[Amazin'Grace]

I saw his name on the 'stop the thyroid madness' top docs list... I'm excited that he takes my insurance, but not sure how my doc would write the referral.

I guess if the time comes I'll call his office & ask how it's usually written... (or maybe he's also an endo?)... I just can't see Blue Cross saying it's ok to go to a rehab doc for a thyroid problem...

[nonstickpam107]

I have Blue Cross/Shield and can go anywhere to anyone without a referral. I've had worse insurance and had doctors write for me to go to an immunologist before (no dx. yet) saying that I 'looked autoimmune'. ??? Your doc should know how to write it..Dr. B is a naturopathic and a lot of times referrals kind of say 'We've already tried the conventional approach and it didn't work...on to the naturopathic..."

Pam