preparing for my endo referral in 2 days...

[clareyh]

Hey everyone,

Wondered if anyone can help me in what the important things to stress to the endocrinologist i am seeing this thursday are:

The history of my TSH levels are:

Dec 2008: 7.5
Feb 2009: 5.8
May 2009: 5.7
September 2009: 7.2
October 2009: 5.7

obviously they are not consistant, I have just had my Thyroid antibodies tested and the levels are normal- ruling out anything autoimmune. I have had a full blood work done for which everything else was ok.

I have over the last year suffered from: muscle weakness, tiredness, bad joint pain, extreme coldness in feet hands and nose, have gone from u.k size 4 to u.k size 8 (which doesnt bother me as i have always been too thin!), a very slight numbess in my left leg (and sometimes in my left arm), irregular periods (that are heavier than they used to be), TMJ pain (dont know if this is related or independent from thyroid problems), noticed a lot of hair falls out in the shower and when brushing, brittle nails, dry itchy eyes, vertigo (although i feel this is more related to my TMJ and grinding my teeth in my sleep).

my main worry is that my G.P keeps saying, oh, your not much over the lab range (which upper limit is 5.5) and i get so annoyed as it is still over the threshold, even if 'not by much'. She keeps trying to prescribe me mild forms of an antidepressant for my anxiety, but i keep trying to tell her that I seem so anxious because I have been feeling like this for a YEAR now and no one is doing anything.

I am worried the endo will say the same thing? Does anyone know whether they use more sensitive lab ranges or will maybe trial me on some kind of meds? I am just wondering what to expect really, and if anyone has any advice as to what I can say to insist my case.

thanks in advance for any help anyone can give,

Clare :-)

[goolarra]

It does get that way, doesn't it?  I've made a lot of friends here.

Liver is very important...it removes all the toxins from your body.  However, there are people who will tell you that thyroid is actually more important since every cell in your body depends on it.  I guess it's just a matter of what you focus on or what your health considerations make you focus on.  

Goitrogens can cause an already inflamed thyroid to become more inflamed.  Cooking destroys the goitrogens.  Many of us haven't changed our diets at all to accomodate our Hashi's.  My recommendation is that you should do anything that makes you feel better, but if it doesn't make you feel better, you can pretty much ignore it.  I eat many of those regularly and they never bother me at all.  Those are some very "good for you" veggies.  If they don't cause distress or make your thyroid swell, you might benefit from the nutrition they offer more than your thyroid benefits from avoiding them.

When are you supposed to re-test?

[Otto44$]

Stupid me never realized how important our livers are, or would've changed my eating habits a long time ago. I never was a bad eater, but didn't eat many veggies or fruits. Oh well, hoping it works and heals my sick liver. I'm more scared about my liver at this time. I'll work on my thyroid next.

I'm glad that Dr. Cabot, informed me that raw Goitrogens can cause a inflamed thryoid. I'll have to do more research on what veggies are considered goitrogens, to avoid them raw.

I'm changing my diet for the liver. I never new that certain foods could affect the thyroid.

I have my thyroid testing with all other lab test every 3 months. Just went in July, so I go again in October.

just looked at the link. It's fairly unusual to have TSH and FT4 within range and FT3 high, which is probably why they don't mention it.  It's especially unusual to have FT4 a little on the low side and FT3 high.

You could have more than one thing going on.  The antibodies could be keeping your FT4 down (by destroying thyroid tissue), and since you have had both liver and kidney issues, there may be a metabolic disorder causing excess conversion of T4 to T3  It could also indicate a swing from hyper to hypo...your FT4 had gone down, but FT3 was still high due to previously high FT4.

Since your U/S found no discreet nodule, we can rule out a toxic nodule (also called a toxic adenoma), which can sometimes cause higher FT3 levels.

I'm now worried about why the T3 is high and T4 is low if it shouldn't be. I don't see the Endocrinologist until Oct. I still have to call & do the phone interview you suggested.

[goolarra]

I'm a little worried about your FT3 level, too.  I don't understand why they didn't test it in July when it was above range in May.  They should have followed up on that.  

You might want to do some reading on T3 toxicosis and Hashimoto's toxicosis.  As antobodies attack the thyroid and cells die, they sometimes "dump" thyroid hormone into the bloodstream, causing FT3 levels to rise.  T3 toxicosis can be a serious condition.  Your TSH went up from May to July with little change in your FT4.  That could mean that your FT3 went down also, which would be good.  But that's a leap of faith I'd like to see confirmed with actual FT3 numbers.

I'd just encourage you to stay on top of thyroid at the same time you work on your liver issues.  

[Otto44$]

Oh boy, now I'm real scared. I didn't understand the what the level's meant, or I could've had my PCP retest. My PCP probably doesn't know as much about Thyroid Disease as he would like. Because he actually tried to tell me, when I was informed on the forum to have my FT3 checked, that that doesn't matter. I insisted in him checking it. When I requested to be referred to a Endocrinologist, he said, you know alot of Endo's. don't really know as much as they claim about Thyroid's. I didn't really respond, just thought. Well, you obviously don't understand it either, it thinking the FT 3 test doesn't matter.

I will definitely do my research & call his office demanding to have all test retested before Oct.

Oh I misspoke, I will definitely, stay on top of what I am learning on the thyroid.

This is so much for me to take in, all these health issue's at once and not knowing which way to go anymore.

So, what is the best readings for FT4, FT3 & TSH?

I wonder if this is why I'm getting alot of headaches, aches, pains, ect
You know I was told yrs. ago that it was the lipitor I was on, that was making affecting my memory (Side effect of lipitor is memory loss) it's probably my thyroid disease, probably have had it for a long time.

[Otto44$]

Sorry, forgot to add, maybe that's why I've having issue's with my liver now, because of toxins releasing. OMG! I don't know if it's better to not know anything about my health & just live the rest of my life happy vs. knowing & trying to control.

[Otto44$]

Sorry for so many different post, but wanted to share with you, what I just sent to my PCP in testing  regarding my thyroid:

I've been doing research about Hashi's, in which I was diagnosed with. I noticed that my lab test results in May showed that my FT3 was over the range,(it appears that's not good) FT 4 was on the lower end of the range. Anyhow, not sure why having Hashi's, my FT3 was repeated again in July. In my research, having Hashi's, TSH, FT3 & FT4 levels should always be tested at the same time. Therefore, I would like the following tested concerning my thyroid disease:

TSH
Free T3/T4
TSI-to rule out graves also
Vitamin D
Ferritin
B-12
Iron

My PCP has given me access to my chart thru portal. He'll probably wish he never did that, lol!

Ok, I'm gonna go check my sugar & watch a show called Dallas.

You've a good night & I'll probably ttyt