mybjers 1 min
I’m not the author of this post, I have responded to try to support Shadowmed.
Sorry for the miscommunication , I was attempting to explain that I feel miserable if my TSH is above 1.3, which is “normal” My last 4 TSH results were 91.5, 9.6, 23.1, 2.77. I gather from your post you know TSH test alone is sort of pointless, doctors easily dismiss patients with a “normal” TSH
I have been diagnosed with Hashimotos,, not Shadowmed. I have had T4, freeT4, T3, free T3, and TPO, which is the only way to confirm Hashimotos, at least that’s my understanding..
I understand your feelings of not wanting more tests, but when the pain/discomfort makes you decide to pursue the issue again, you might talk to your doctor about H. Pylori. Most of us have H. Pylori and it doesn’t cause any issues; however, if we get an overgrowth, it can cause a lot of uncomfortable symptoms, including abdominal pain, feeling full quickly, feeling bloated. I’ve had H. Pylori twice and I think the bloating is the worst. H. Pylori is treated with dual antibiotics for 2 weeks. There are a couple of different tests you can do for H. Pylori. One is the stool test, another is a breath test and the last is a biopsy, taken during endoscopy.
The first time I had H. Pylori, the stool sample came back negative, but my gastroenterologist did a biopsy when he did my endoscopy and the biopsy came back positive. About a year later, I had the same symptoms and a stool sample came back positive. I suspect that I didn’t completely get rid of the H. Pylori the first time I was treated - not even sure I got rid of it the second time as I often have those same symptoms.
Another thing I have to ask: Has anyone taken a good look at your gall bladder? I had severe pains for close to 20 yrs - almost every night. It felt like I had a big gas bubble or something. It was extremely painful, but the pain would eventually work it’s way down and go away, only to come back the next day. It was by accident that I was in the doctor’s office for a physical and the doctor palpated my abdomen and almost brought me off the table when she hit the spot under my right rib cage. She sent me for an ultrasound and it turned out that I had a large gallstone that periodically blocked the main bile duct causing the severe pain. I had my gall bladder removed within a couple of weeks from that exam and have never had that pain again!!
All of that said, I had a lot of those same symptoms prior to being diagnosed with hypothyroidism and a lot of them went away once my thyroid hormones were adequate. Doctors don’t care if your levels are low in the range, as long as they’re “in the range” but the fact is, we can have thyroid symptoms anytime our levels aren’t “optimal” for us… We’re all individual and many/most need actual hormone levels higher than the bottom of the reference ranges. If you care to, you can visit the Thyroid Disorders Community to learn more.
Have you had any more tests?
Very kind of you to ask. I'm doing better at the moment, thanks, I have been taking antihistamines daily. I found that they were helping reduce the swelling though I have been tested for allergies in the past and nothing obvious was found. The antihistamines still seem to be making a big difference, which seemed odd, and then I came across histamine sensitivity. This seems very close to what I have been dealing with. Following a low-histamine diet seems very complicated so I'll stick to the antihistamines for the moment.
Interestingly, very shortly after I came to the conclusion antihistamines were helping me, this article was published about depression and histamine. I was quite astonished at the coincidence and it makes for interesting reading, though I felt sorry for the mice!
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210817111404.htm
How are you doing Shadowmed
Thank you for your reply mybjers. Yes, they have tested the usual thyroid panel, not just TSH. Apparently, it's not a thyroid problem.
Have they tested your thyroid, not just a TSH test. Try to push for T4,T3,free T4,reverseT4,TPO
You may feel this answer is simplistic (as I did when my doctor suggested it to me.) Try Gasex pills (simethicone) for the swelling and uncomfortable feeling, and try it for awhile. You can get it over the counter as well as prescribed. I usually use it when eating wheat as I have a very slight allergy to wheat, but you may find using for every meal will help. It has really helped me. I have never been a very gassy person (from either end) however it makes me burp (and fart) more, but relieves the pressure. Also as someone else suggested it may be your diet. I know when I don't feel well I reach for stuff I really should not be eating because it is easy. Look into allergies, and diet options, not necessarily dieting options, but specialized diet options; like dairy free or gluten free, no msg, whatever, try all organic, etc.. and do it for a long while like 6 months it may take some time to adjust your poor system.
Next time you go to your doctor hand him a written list (it's faster for him to read it) of your symptoms maybe it will "click" for him, that this, and this, and this, all mean this. Too bad if they only want one symptom you will not get an answer that way.
Too much to unpack here. You are quite depressed, and I get that. I too suffer from a host of problems that trace their origins to medication, and I will apparently never get better but always get worse. So yeah, I get it. But I have a host of problems caused by something known that has no known treatment, whereas you have something that hasn't yet been diagnosed so you don't really know that it can't be fixed. Now here's the thing about IBS -- it isn't really a thing. It's a name used for pain in the digestive system but without knowing why it's there it's a pretty useless designation. The cause can be a lot of different things, but if they've all be ruled out, it's your diet. I'm also confused because you seem to say you're not constipated but are being treated for constipation, so I don't really get that. Constipation is either caused by medication or again, your diet if no disease state has been found. What people with the means and the ability to travel do when they have a problem their docs can't find is to go to a place where they have better docs, such as Johns Hopkins or the Mayo Clinic, just to name two most have heard of, but if you can afford to do that and are able to travel, when your current docs can't find the problem, find better docs. I really don't know why you've had so many problems, but I do know a lot of them are associated with anxiety and depression. Don't know if that's a factor with you, but digestive problems and migraines and things like that are often caused by that. Doesn't mean it's so in your case, but it is a possibility. I doubt anyone can help you on the internet because you have so many different things going on and if you have that big a swelling in your abdomen and you don't just feel like you have one and your docs aren't finding anything, that sounds odd. So again, that means better docs. I hope you keep looking for the fix or at least a diagnosis before you resort to drastic action. Peace.