Hypothyroidism misery & pain?

[LightInMe]

To start, Hi everyone.
I'm 22 and in my teens around 15, I became depressed for no reason, crying..letting what others say get to me and just not me. I suspected depression, he put me on lexapro..I was on it for about 3 months and then stopped because things didn't get better worse if you asked me. Life went on and I had bouts of depression, but was able to deal. Around 18, I felt I couldn't take it, went to mental health facility, he said I needed counseling and wasn't really depressed.
At 19, I started to get brain fog, dizziness..IBS came back (i noticed that at 17)
I had troubles breathing and chest pain..I was rushed to the E.R. they ran blood test. I was HYPOTHYROID,
she told me, my symptoms were going to clear up within 3 months on meds. Something happen to my insurance, so I was off my meds for 2 months but when I got tested- I was within normal range. (weird I know)
Anyway, it seem when I started my meds..things got worse (synthroid-generic)
Depression,brain fog,forgetfulness,joint pain, feeling spaced out and out of my body, paranoid, IBS, hair  falling out, brittle nails/hair, dry/cracked skin, shortness of breath and- too be honest to many symptoms.
I've tried to talk to my doctors- they say I;m in normal range and try to give me an antidepressant.
I had to stop school, because my mind can't function and I had extreme fatigue.
I went to the doctor this pass Wednesday and now they say its a possibility of rheumatoid arthritis..are thyroid and rheumatoid arthritis connected in anyway? and is the depression connected. Because honestly its all too much and I feel i can't go on? anyone been through this and just any advice would be appreciated? thanks and God bless

[LightInMe]

I know, they can just belittle you so much, I've been to one of the top endos in my town, PCP, MDs and still no one will listen. I pray and hope this doctor will listen. Thanks again

[LightInMe]

Thanks for explaining that to me, but my doctor is just not trying to hear it, I'm going to another doctor next Thursday so hopefully she'll listen and I knew something was missing thanks for pointing it out.

[Barb135]

Since you've been on the levo for that long, it's unlikely that your FT3 will come up much at all, without the addition of T3, as I mentioned before.  

You may have to think about finding a different doctor if this one isn't willing to do more to help alleviate your symptoms.  Some people have to go through several doctors, before they find one who is good with thyroid issues.

[flyingfool]

You need some T3.  You have some conversion issue going on.  This can come from basically two different causes.

One and the more common one is that your body for whatever reasons doesn't convert the T4 into T3 well.  Call this an efficiency issue.  Selenium can help increase this conversion efficiency some but it won't work miracles.

The other is if the conversion produces too much Reverse T3 compared to T3.  Stress can induce this situation.

In both cases however the bottom line is you need more T3.  You may want to test for Reverse T3 the next time as well as Selenium as too much Selenium can be toxic.

You can add T3 two ways. One would be to switch medication over to Natural dissected thyroid.  The other and the one I would recommend would be to add a synthetic T3 medication.  I would lean towards the latter since you almost have your FT4 levels nailed so there is no sense starting over on a whole new medication.

If the Dr does prescribe synthetic T3 (Cytomel) anticipate that the Dr will also lower your T4 medication dosage some.  This is because some less conversion will be needed since you are adding direct source of T3 into the blood.  So this has a tendency to raise your FT4 levels a bit.  But you being so low on FT3 there may be little conversion going on anyhow so he may not lower your T4 medication.  Just don't be surprised if they do adjust your T4 med if they introduce T3.

Also most people need to introduce T3 meds SLOWLY.  You will also want to take the T2 in two doses a day. Since T3 is so fast acting by taking half in the morning and half in the afternoon it helps level off the amount in your blood through the day.

Talk to your Dr about this.

[LightInMe]

I've been on it, almost 2 years if not more..my doctor insist my levels are normal and depression is causing these symptoms

[Barb135]

Rule of thumb, and where many of us feel best is to have FT4 at mid range and FT3 in the upper 1/3 of its range.  Your FT4 is at 47% of the range, which could be acceptable; however, your FT3 is only at 10.5%, which would explain why you still  have symptoms.  It's been shown that FT3 correlates best with symptoms.

How long have you been on the 75 mcg levo?  FT3 often lags behind, so yours could still come up some, if you haven't been on  the levo very long.  

Do you think it's possible to get your doctor to add a direct source of T3? This could be either in the form of synthetic T3, such as cytomel or generic, or a desiccated porcine hormone, which contains both T3 and T4.

[LightInMe]

Yes I take Levo or something t4 only 75 mcg

[thelma201]

Are you taking thyroid hormone replacement now? That FT3 is pretty low in-range.

[LightInMe]

TSH- 1.019 (0.350-4.500)
FREE T4- 1.27 (0.80-1.80)
FREE T3- 2.5 (2.3-4.2)
Thyroglobulin Antibody- 20.0 (40.00)
Thyroid Peroxidase- 10.0 (35.0 iu/ml)
Sorry, for the confusion, I updated it

[Barb135]

Please post the reference ranges for your FT3 and FT4. Ranges vary lab to lab, so must come from your own report. According to ranges we often see, your FT4 is somewhere near mid range, but your FT3 is near the bottom. We also need the range for the antibody tests.  They are usually expressed as < XX - that will tell us if you are positive or negative for Hashimoto's.

FT3 correlates best with symptoms and since yours is low in the range, I can see where your symptoms come from.

Since Hashi and RA are both autoimmune, it's very possible to have both.

[LightInMe]

Thanks and hopefully it does get better.
thanks again and I though my joint pain was cause by my thyroid but my doctor said I was tested positive for RA factor.

[LightInMe]

Thanks for ur response, It's just so overwhelming, i don't know if I could ever be happy again..I didn't know a thyroid gland could control so much.

[LightInMe]

Thanks for you comment and understanding I thought I was alone,here are my results from Last Wednesday
TSH- 1.019
FREE T4- 1.27
FREE T3- 2.5
Thyroglobulin Antibody- 20.0
Thyroid Peroxidase- 10.0

[blueeyes1962]

Sorry that you have gone through all this--I am sure this has been very frustrating  for you.  Like the 2 above posts say--if your free t4 is at the lower end of the  "normal" scale then you can still have hypothyroid symptoms.  I remember my doctor tell me that my level was "normal" and I asked him for the number and that number was at the lower end of the scale---it took my convincing my doctor that I felt down, cried unprovoked,  felt unmotivated, felt cold, and just plain had trouble  feeling much of anything.  With medication adjustment  I feel much better.  To answer your question about Rheumatoid Arthritis being related to thyroid ...in the sense that both can be caused by autoimmune response in the body but they are 2 separate problems.  You can have joint pain with hypothyroidism but once the thyroid hormones are stabilized the pain goes away I believe.  Hang in there.

[flyingfool]

I agree with gimel.

"somewhere" in the normal range is NOT sufficient for many if not most people.

People who are symptomatic seem to find symptom relief when they are well up into the range.  In fact the better target many have found is:

"Free T4" hormone in the MIDDLE of the range or slightly higher AND (that means in addition to) the "Free T3" hormone to be in the UPPER 1/3 of the range.

Again everyone is different so you really need to find out where YOU feel well.  But that can only be found once the two free hormones are tested and dosages adjusted until you feel symptom free and well.

Notice that TSH was NOT listed. This is because TSH is terribly unreliable and frankly in my opinion should not even be used.

So DEMAND that you get the FREE T4 and FREE T3 hormones tested, do not take no for an answer.  Switch Dr's until you find one who will test these hormones.  Don't  be surprised if you have to go through several Dr's to get one who even tests for these. THEN the next hurdle is to persuade the Dr if you are "somewhere" within those ranges but on the lower end of the rule of thumb listed below to prescribe medication.  

With Thyroid, you MUST become your own best advocate. Do not rely solely on Dr's as so many of them simply do not understand thyroid well at all (even endocrinologists who seem more interested in diabetes).  Unfortunately that is the way this crazy world works.

[gimel]

So sorry to hear that you have had to go through all that.  I suspect that it is due to inadequate testing and treatment for hypothyroidism.  Just because thyroid test results fall anywhere within the ranges does not mean that is adequate for YOU.  If you will please post your thyroid related test results and their reference ranges shown on the lab report, members will be better able to assess the adequacy of your testing and treatment.