Can you tell me which direction I should go?

[judithmhol]

Can you tell me which direction I should go?  I have been suffering from what I am guessing as well as what I have been involved with on this website that perhaps some of my symptoms argue to a poorly treated hypothyroidism. Very minimal basic care since when I was first diagnosed in 2013. I have an appointment with a thyroid coming up in April.   But in the meantime I am suffering from a rash on my scalp that I’ve had almost a year. A tremendous amount of insomnia this past week I went from having slept on Saturday night to not sleeping again until Wednesday.    I can just feel that I am deficient in a lot of vitamins and minerals, I’ve not had my vitamin D checked my cortisol, well I haven’t had any of that checked. My hair and skin are a mess I get a lot of facial acne.   And as of last night I am suffering with two or three cake or sores on my tongue. I mean at there is a huge amount that I need to do medically speaking. Unfortunately I have only the most basic of medical care. My eyesight has gotten horribly horrible, and whatever is going on within my system I believe I know that all of this is the result of that .  Course that is no great revelation. Things are a mess at home,  laundry etc. you name it. I have no interest or I simply don’t care about it right now because I can’t think clearly.   I know there are many of us out there that have it a lot worse than I do and of course that lends itself to guilt because I’m complaining that doesn’t do me any good to feel guilty though so instead I will be appreciative of this website and for the help I received

[specialmom]

I had hypothyroidism and that does leave you feeing fatigued among other things. I was depressed at a low level (in that I was functioning but had dysthymia and it made me have no desire to do anything), I had skin changes, etc.  Before I saw an endocrinologist which I had to book an appointment months out because the specialty in my area is such that lots of patients, few doctors . . . but about a month before my actual appointment, everything went back to normal for me.  My ob/gyn did another thyroid check and my levels were in normal.  I had almost two years of a slow thyroid.  The only thing different I did was I took Prozac due to the depression.  I discontinued it after my thyroid was back to normal.  I was in my 20's at the time.    And now I'm of an age in which my thyroid is functioning fine but I have insomnia because of my hormones.  It's a bit cyclic for me.  Does yours follow any pattern?  I don't know your age but if you are getting to a certain point, insomnia is very common in women. All my lady friends are going through varying levels of it due to hormonal changes. Have you had your hormonal levels checked?  I recommend it.

When was your last full physical?  I'm wondering if you can't get a panel done that shows where you are deficient in vitamins and minerals.  That woudl be useful information for then choosing if there is anything to add.  And would you consider a dermatologist to check on the scalp?  Lots of fungal things also can cause things looking like a rash or itching on the scalp. Or Vitamin b6 deficiency.  I'm a big fan of a good woman's multi vitamin that has what most people need in it.  :>))  


Sounds like you are definitely going through a rough patch and I hope it gets better really soon.  hugs

[Paxiled]

Of course there are no medical professionals on this forum of any kind, so all we can do is offer comment based on what we've experienced or seen in our own lives.  If you are indeed hypothyroid, it could indeed be the cause of all the symptoms you're describing.  Or not.  People react quite a bit differently to being hypothyroid and a lot of that has to do with their mental makeup.  People who are prone to depression or worrying and become hypothyroid react differently than those who are better able constitutionally to deal with the ups and downs life offers everyone.  My wife has Hashimoto's, but the symptoms she suffered before finally getting the diagnosis and medication right -- which took a while -- were a whole lot less that what others on these forums report feeling.  I think this is because she is very stable mentally and many of us come to these forums because we have multiple problems that draw us here looking for support.  She didn't need that, she just saw the docs, did what they told her to do and patiently kept doing that until they got it right.  Not a lot of suffering from it.  Which is to say, people are just really different from one another, and therefore react differently which makes it very hard to generalize from a specific case to others except to warn about what might be going wrong and what to look out for.  Being hypothyroid, if you are in fact that, can be a disease state such as Hashimoto's, which can only be treated with medication, or a deficiency state, which theoretically at least can be righted by getting back into balance.  In the first case, the thyroid doesn't work anymore.  In the latter case, it can work but isn't working and the issue is to figure out why and the best approach to fixing that.  As for Vitamin D, pretty much all doctors now recommend supplementation with it whether you test low for it or not.  This is because the same docs are advising people to avoid the sun, and it's through exposure to the sun at peak times that allows the body to manufacture vitamin D.  In other words, doctors are advising patients to avoid skin cancer at the expense of vitamin D, trading the potential of getting one problem that is probably caused not just by skin exposure but by that combined with the contaminants we've introduced into our air, food, water, etc. for the problems of a lack of vitamin D.  But our lifestyles also lead to a lack in that nutrient, as these days our jobs and lives are mostly lived indoors in urban areas rather than outdoors farming or hunting and gathering.  So you should get tested, but I've never shown any lack of D in any test but was still told by my doc to supplement with it.  So it goes.  Cortisol would be a problem, by the way, if you have a thyroid problem, as the adrenals are intimately connected to the functioning of the thyroid.  But it's very hard to test for cortisol without getting tested repeatedly, as we produce more when we're stressed and less when we're at rest.  Basically, with the constellation of problems you're reporting, you need an extremely thorough evaluation by a doctor and perhaps a referral to one or more specialists so you can get to the minimum position of knowing what you're probably dealing with.  Then you have to formulate a plan to deal with it.  If that includes working on your mental state as well, that also has to be attended to.  When you get through this initial medical evaluation, people here will have more specific help than just knowing you are suffering from a lot of things.  I feel for you -- I have a lot wrong and it's very hard when you have a lot wrong to get good medical help even if you have good insurance -- docs are better when just one thing is wrong at a time.  But if it does turn out to be the thyroid, again, that could explain all the rest.