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5633631 tn?1371346156

Silent / Painless Thyroiditis Recovery & Complications

Hello All,

I'm looking for a bit of reassurance or guidance around the clinical course of silent thyroiditis, guidance other than what you read on wikipedia etc.

I'll start off with a bit about my history and condition. I'm a 29 year old Male who has always been very fit and healthy, live in Australia, no previous medical conditions, never taken drugs etc etc.

On the 8th of January this year (2013) I got struck down with a bout of food poisoning, Campylobachter Jejuni. It was pretty severe, temperature above 40 degrees, diarrhoea, heart rate of 130 bpm, general malaise, impaired cognitive function etc. It lasted about 10 days with two trips to hospital for dehydration. Over the following two weeks it began to improve and I was almost back to 100%, just feeling run down/exhausted with a sore stomach. Then on the 26th (3 weeks after food poisoning) of January I started to feel a light soreness in my throat but nothing to distressing, I was also sweating heavily but thats not uncommon in the middle of an Australian Summer. The next morning when I woke up I knew something was seriously wrong, my heart was pounding out my chest, sweating profusely, I couldn't think, I had severe vertigo and basically felt as though I had a terrible virus of some sort. After seeing 2 different doctors who both said it was some sort of post food poisoning issue I got a 3rd opinion as I knew something else sinister was going on. Luckily he tested my Thyroid function and found my TSH was >0.05, T3 of around 13 and T4 of around 30. My cortisol was also high. He suspected possible Graves and I was sent in for a radio iodine uptake test which ended up showing an uptake of 0.01, it basically absorbed nothing. He looked at me with a puzzled face and referred me to an Endocrinologist, the Endo diagnosed me with painless/silent thyroiditis which apparently is similar to post-partum thyroiditis. I went through a hyper phase for over 3 months, from say January 27th to April 27th, it was pure hell. My TFT numbers were not off the charts but I seemed to be very sensitive to the condition. The Hyper phase subsided and my levels fell within normal ranges, T3 of 4.6 and T4 of 13.6. My TSH stayed suppressed until around the 21st of May at which point it registered at 1.82. a month later (now) its at 3.52 and my T3 and T4 are still within range and holding steady. My thyroid antibodies were negative so Hashi's and Graves are not suspected. All my other tests are completed normal, full blood count is excellent, proteins are all good, etc etc. But they did find one thing concerning, I had a positive ANA reading of 1:80 Speckled pattern although post follow up tests show no sign of Lupus etc etc.

My problem is that a couple of the symptoms have not subsided and i'm curious to know if this is due to the yoyo my TSH is doing, although I understand TSH is not symptomatic, I suspect the stimulating effect on your thyroid may cause some feeling. I'm worried I have some other immune or neuro condition that has not been diagnosed, like Parkinsons, MS, CFS, Fibromyalgia or something. My current symptoms are as follows.

- General Malaise
- Mild fatigue, although sometimes heavy fatigue
- Disequilibrium, this is my main and most concerning symptom. I feel like when i'm walking my legs dont want to move when my brain tells them, although it has never resulted in any type of paralysis. Dizzy and lightheaded when I stand or sit upright, although I feel ok when laying down.
- Impaired cognitive function, I feel like there is pressure in my head (I had an MRI which showed all ok)
- Tinnitus in my left ear only
- I have slightly raised Cortisol levels still, above range. No other signs of Cushings however, no bloating, increased trunk size etc.

So in short, even though my TFT numbers are within range, could these symptoms still lag around for a period of time?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,

Nick
7 Responses
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Avatar universal
It would be great if some one can share their recovery story from silent Thyroiditis - how much time it took for numbers to fall in range and symptoms to disapper and did everyone had a hypo phase before recovery. I am going through it right now .. Although my T3/T4 started to come down but still out of range and TSH still close to 0.
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Avatar universal
How was it determined that you have painless thyroiditis?  

What symptoms do you have?  Please post your thyroid related test results and reference ranges shown on the lab report.
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Avatar universal
Dear nickmc I have read your post. I have the same situation now.I got the painless thyroiditis Oct.2013. And my TFT numbers are good but still have the same symptoms. So I really want to know your feeling now. Do you totally recover from painless thyroiditis?if you has some imformation about painless thyroiditis please tell me. Thank you my friend.
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649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
Do you have the actual results of the antibody tests?
Helpful - 0
5633631 tn?1371346156
Hi Barb,

Reference ranges as follows,

TSH: 0.5 - 5.0. Currently 3.52
FT3: 3.2 - 6.4. Currently 4.6
FT4: 11 - 21 Currently 13.6

All currently within ranges, but some of the symptoms have not passed.

All of my Graves and Hashi's antibody testing was negative, the endo was very postitive it was neither of these.

Thanks,

Nick
Helpful - 0
649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
We need to know the reference ranges for your T3 and T4, since ranges vary lab to lab and have to come from your own report.  We also need to know if they were Free T3 and Free T4, or if they were Total T3 and Total T4.

What thyroid antibodies were tested?  Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies (TPOab) and Thyroglobulin Antibodies (TGab) are both necessary to confirm/rule out Hashimoto's.  Thyroid Stimulating Immunoglobulin (TSI) is necessary to confirm/rule out Graves Disease.

It's quite common with Hashimoto's, to have alternating periods of hyper and hypo.
Helpful - 0
1756321 tn?1547095325
Silent thyroiditis generally resolves to normal thyroid function within 12 to 18 months but there is a 20% possibility of permanent hypothyroidism.

Before my thyroid gland was affected by Hashimoto's thyroiditis, i had a TSH of 1.5 mU/L and a FT4 of 16.6 pmol/L.  I had plenty of hypothyroid symptoms due to my cellular issues but that's another story. :)

Health Intelligence - Optimal Blood Reference Ranges...

"Optimal Blood Reference Ranges courtesy of Life Extension Foundation

Optimal TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) 1.0-2.0 uIU/mL
Optimal FT3 (free T3 thyroid hormone) 4.3-4.9 pmol/L
Optimal FT4 (free T4 thyroid hormone) 15.5-18.0 pmol/L"

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