So confused.........

[GSandra37]

Over the past 7 years or so I've been feeling worse and worse. I'm now 37 and most days feel like I'm 90.
I have no energy, always tired, hair is falling out, the skin on my face is so dry and flaky, joint pains, dry eyes/mouth, memory loss, anxiety, the list could go on. It's just steadily got worse over the years. I just assumed it's apart of getting older.
So a few years ago I finally decided to see my doc about everything that's going on. First thing I found out was that I have hip dysplasia which explains why my hips hurt but didn't explain anything else. He didn't do any blood work. So I found myself a new doctor. He ran blood tests. Found out I was low on vitamin D (7ng/mL range 30-100) and low on iron (5ng/mL range 10-154). What that doctor didn't tell me was that I was ANA positive for lupus. I didn't find that out until I came back in to check my iron again. Which were still low after 3 months. So I get referred to a rheumatologist. Who runs more blood work. 14 vials worth. And this is what I find out..

That I do have SLE
Sjorgens syndrome
Raunauds syndrome
And then come my thyroid panel.


TSH 1.29 range 0.40-4.00 uIU/ml
Free T4 0.8 range 0.5-1.6 ng/dL
Thyroglobulin 1.3 range 0.0-4.0 IU/mL
Thyroperoxidase 19.30 range 0.00-9.00 IU/mL

Now my mom has hashimotos and has for 7 years so I'm a little informed that it's a Thyroid issue. When I asked my rheumatologist about it he said that since the rest of my levels were fine that I was OK and they would just keep an eye on my thyroid levels.
I just had more blood work done last Tuesday and waiting on the test results for that.
Could these be the reasons I've been feeling so bad? And what exactly do the thyroid tests mean? Sorry this is so long winded. I really don't have anyone else to talk to about this. My kids look at me like I'm an alien.
Thanks in advance for any replies.

[dgmootry]

make sure its the Free T3 test, not just T3, it has to say free T3. debbie

[GSandra37]

Thank you for your response. I'll talk to my doctor the next time I see her and ask to test my t3 and discuss further.

[goolarra]

Thyroid test reference ranges are very flawed for a number of reasons.  So, any results in the lower half of the FT3 and FT4 ranges are questionable.

Your TPOab is positive for Hashi's, but it's a weak positive, i.e. many of us have TPOab counts in the high hundreds or even thousands.

Your FT4 is only at 27% of range, and so you well down into that questionable lower half.  FT3 is the test that correlates best with symptoms, and your doctor didn't order that, so we have no idea what that might be doing.  Hopefully, your new labs will include FT3.

I wouldn't let your doctor drop the ball on this.  With positive TPOab, symptoms and FT4 in the bottom of the range, you should pursue it aggressively.