Dr. Mark and all,
Can you please comment on lab ranges--specifically I'd like to know if a range is, say for cortisol, 4-22 and you test at 10 and feel TOTALLY exhausted, irritable, foggy, unmotivated, etc., then isn't it possible that your body chemistry just requires you to be at the higher end of the "normal" range?
I mean if I had tested at 21 or 22 the doctor would have said I was normal but at 10 I have all these symptoms so why not try raising the cortisol?
Likewise, my TSH has fluctuated between 1.1 and 2.0 (most recent 1.58; range .4-5.5) and my Free T4 has never budged off 1.1(range 0.8-1.8). Free T3? Who knows since I can't seem to get tested for it. My Total T3 is in the "normal" range but it is my understanding that this test is not useful b/c it is not the T3 (unbound) that the body uses.
Free T3 is what the body uses (even more than T4) and gives you energy, metabolism, clear headedness, etc. Why do I keep hitting resistance with getting this test.
And if this is not thyroid or adrenal than what other differential diagnosis/testing would you suggest? I've been checked for lyme, EBV (had past infection).
Also, I have huge abdominal bloating/bulging. I have never had this before--except when 4 months pregnant! It is up to my rib cage to below my navel. I am and have been constipated for years. I -- at the advice of my doc -- take fiber pills to increase regularity...is this somehow causing this? I have taken them on and off for years and have only started with the belly since Nov. when I went off the pill (not preg.).
Please advise