Trauma Triggered Hypothyroidism

[gillingham_01]

hi to everyone here,

Has anyone experienced hypothyroidism that was triggered by very severe, continuous emotional trauma?  My story is long and profoundly painful, so much so that I am unable to write about it all in detail.. All I am able to say here is that the first of what were a succession of  very severe physical and emotional traumas happened to me starting in the Fall of 2011. Before this, I felt I was very healthy and my thyroid was functioning well.  In January 2012 my hair started falling out, and it has not stopped since.  There is also no regrowth.  In August 2014 I began to develop numerous symptoms of hypothyroidism, and is when my thyroid tests began to suggest my thyroid function was starting to decline.

Does anyone know if severe physical and emotional trauma of long duration permanently damages the thyroid, or is there a possibility it could recover on it's own without having to go on thyroid medication.  I am female and now 56 yrs old.

Thank you to everyone who reads my post,
hoping someone might have some experience/insight into what has happened to me.

[gillingham_01]

Thank you gimel.  I wrote down the wrong range for the test I had in January.  It should be:

Ft3
range            2.0-4.4
my value       3.3

The time my blood was drawn was alittle after 6 am for the January tests.  The time my blood was drawn for the March 30 tests was alittle after 9 am.
The time my blood was drawn for the tests I had the other day was alittle after 2 pm.

I've noticed that my values seem to be lower in the early morning than they are in the early afternoon.  It's strange because every day for the past year, while my body always seems to be cold, I suddenly become freezing cold in the early afternoon.  I also become very cold right after I eat anything.  

[gimel]

Please check the range shown for Free T3.  

[gillingham_01]

I forgot to say that when I had the rT3 done back in January, my TSH was 6.16

[gillingham_01]

Thank you jacrjacr and gimel for writing on my post while goolara is away.  I appreciate your being their very much.

I did also have an iron panel done on March 30.  These were my results:

IRON
Range              37-145
my value           76

TOTAL IRON BINDING CAPACITY
range                228-428
my value           267

% IRON SATURATION
range                15-50%
my value           28

UNSATURATED IRON BIND CAPACITY
range                112-347
my value           191

I was on iron supplements for a few months prior to these tests because my ferritin levels had dropped so this was the cause for my high ferritin level at that time.  I stopped the supplements on March 30 and am sure my ferritin levels have gone down because I eat very little.  I don't have an appetite because my metabolism has slowed down so profoundly.  

I did have a reverse T3 done back in January too.  I went to a neuropath because doctors wouldn't order this test for me.  The results in January were:

Rt3:
range           9.2-24.1
my result      14.3

Ft3
range            2.0-1.77
my value       3.3

Ft4
range             .82-1.77
my value        1.23

The neuropath I went to treated me very badly though, so I will not go back to her.

yes, I can certainly say without question that very severe trauma and chronic, prolonged stress damages the thyroid because this is what has happened to me.  I had no problems at all with my thyroid before all this happened to me.  

I have read about adrenal stress and am sure my adrenals are severely stressed just as my thyroid and my entire body is.  The thing is, I am so severely ill now that I don't think I am physically capable of trying to treat the other hormones first.  I simply do not have the physical strength.  I honestly do feel that I am critically ill.  The doctor I am seeing now wants to start me on Armour  He is going to call me on Friday to talk about it.  It is so hard to know what to do, but I do know that I cannot go on feeling as I am for much longer.  

[jacrjacr]

I call it the superwoman syndrome......too much on one person at once for too long and bammmm your tsh rises.....you can have adrenal fatigue that triggers this and /or your hormones get off from too much stress as well and it can trigger this...and many say to treat the hormones and stress first , and deficiencies etc and then look at thyroid again....google adrenal fatigue and take the online test....Maca extract can help some people, you can google that too.....some use macafem.....just ideas to think about....

[gimel]

Since goolarra is away right now, I wanted to respond to your post.  Upon reviewing your symptoms and lab results, I think that you need to follow up on the high ferritin result.  High ferritin is one of the possible causes for a condition called "pooling of T3 in the blood", with which T3 does not adequately get to cells.  Also, a high ferritin suggests that you should get a full iron test panel, which includes serum iron, TIBC, % saturation, and ferritin.  Along with that it would be good to get tested for Free T3 at the same time as a Reverse T3 test.  The ratio of Free T3 to Reverse T3 can be very revealing about your tissue thyroid levels, which can vary from serum thyroid levels.  

Can you get those tests done?