Is this Thyroid or something else?

[mandyisme]

I just turned 30 and have a slew of issues which I have posted previousl about before.  They found a Goiter on my neck and are only watching it.  My TSH was 0.9 then 0.5 and I have to have it retested tomorrow.  I have to go to the endo next week for my routine check up.  I am on no meds for thyrod but I am on meds for Vitamin D, OCD, High Blood Pressure, High Triglycerides, Acne, Heartburn, No gallbladder, allergies, and migraines.  I am overweight and am a size 18W but I am working hard to lose weight and am doing so very slowly.  Now though more than ever I keep having these heart sensations.  It's very specific but hard to explain.  No matter what I am doing and when I get one of these I realize it.  It's like a flutter in my heart that is very noticeable.  When I was a teenager they checked me thoroughly for heart problems before getting accurately diagnosed with OCD and didn't find anything wrong with my heart.  Could this be my thyroid?  Should I mention it to my endo?  Also I had a spell a couple months back where my eye twitched for 7 days solid.  It still twitches a good bit but is not nearly as bothersome.  What do you think?

[TamraW]

This could definitely be related to thyroid. Is this doc only monitoring TSH??? Why not test the FT4, FT3 and the antibodies to see if an auto-immune thyroid disease is to blame? You could have Graves disease with your hyper symptoms. For that, you will need a TSI blood test. You could have Hashimoto's and some nodules leaking hormone making you go hyper. TGab and TPOab blood tests are required to rule out Hashi. I have Hashimoto's. My levels would swing up and down and I'd have spells of hyperthyroid because of my leaky nodules. Here were my symptoms prior to thyroid hormone treatment:

These symptoms slowly appeared and worsened after birthing an infant (who was also premature)

Hypo problems:
Mild weight gain even while dieting
Extreme fatigue in the morning and throughout the day/napping
GERD/Heartburn/chest pain
constipation Abdomen swells for no apparent reason
Depression
forgetfulness/brain fog
Neck/jaw pain/swelling/pressure
Scratchy voice
Very cold feet and hands and sometimes a feeling like ants are biting my feet
Endometriosis (2 years ago – cured after one year of birth control)
Irregular/heavy periods and menstrual-like cramping in between periods
Voice is sometimes hoarse
Knee/joint pains – finger swelling and pain
Rash or scaly skin on neck, hands, chest, chin, nose, right armpit down to waist
Dry, gritty eyes
Chills
Muscles in legs sometimes go wobbly and weak when I am standing
Body temp ranges 97-97.5
Hair clumps in shower
Decreased sex drive
Aches all over body like the flu
Enlarged lymphnodes in neck and armpit
Legs feel heavy and swollen at times
Pain in the soles of my feet like muscle cramps
Toe nails feel painful and brittle

Hyper Problems:
Weight loss when not dieting
GERD/Heartburn/chest pain
diarrhea
anxiety
Abdomen swells for no apparent reason
Neck/jaw pain/swelling/pressure
Scratchy voice
Migraines, dizziness and back of neck/head pain
Ear pressure/pain
Rash on back of head
Voice is sometimes hoarse
Sore eyes
Hot flashes
Night throbbing/pounding in ears that wakes me
Tingling feet/hands/lips
Shaky hands
Stabbing pain below right ribcage
Pain in kidney and lower back area
Increased thirst, urination and a feeling like I have a bladder infection
Blood pressure changing
Feeling like heart is beating fast
Enlarged lymphnodes in neck and armpit
Legs feel heavy and swollen at times
Pain in the soles of my feet like muscle cramps
Increased sex drive

You will need an endo who tests and treats more than just the old school TSH. Sounds like this doc doesn't specialize in thyroid. Here's the site where I found my new endo. Call the nurse and ask if the doctor tests and treats the frees and the symptoms, not the TSH:

http://www.thyroid-info.com/topdrs/

:) Tamra

[Barb135]

A goiter is simply an enlarged thyroid.  Have you had your Free T3 and Free T4 tested?  Those are the actual thyroid hormones and are much more important than TSH.  You have a lot of symptoms normally associated with hypothyroidism, but your TSH indicates hypER -- that's why it's necessary to know what the Free's are......... it's also important to note that some symptoms can be associated with either hypo or hyper.  

Did you have an ultra sound? And do you have nodules on your thyroid?  Nodules can leak hormone independently of your thyroid.  

Also, have you had thyroid antibodies tested to see if you have an autoimmune disease, which is destroying your thyroid?  Those would be thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOab), thyroglobulin antibodies (TGab) to confirm/rule out Hashimoto's; and you'd also want thyroid stimulating immunoglobulin (TSI) to confirm/rule out Graves Disease.  

By the way -- I have heart flutters also, and a complete workup on my heart shows that there is nothing wrong with it except that all of the valves leak, but that is causing no problem *yet*; I do take 2 meds for high blood pressure, one being a beta blocker which also helps to keep the flutters under control. .  Pulmonary Function Tests show that I do have emphysema from smoking for many years.  I take med for that now too and it helps a lot.  

I also have no gall bladder;  took med for severe acid reflex for many years.  Since my thyroid levels are getting better, I almost never take med for the heart burn any more. I also have had a hard time losing weight, but even that too, is getting easier now that my thyroid levels are coming in line.

When you have blood work done, ask for Free T3, Free T4, TSH, TPOab, TGab and TSI; then make sure you get a copy of the lab report and post the test results, along with the reference ranges since those are lab specific.  That will help members comment more fully.