Question:
I've been for a blood test to have various things tested (blood count,
Glucose and Thyroxin), and I just rang the doctors to get the results and
apparently they have all come back as normal. I don't know any numbers for the Thyroid results yet, but I have an appointment with the doctor on Monday to discuss the results and 'what now?'.
Even though this is good news and deep down I am glad they are normal, I have to say I am a bit disheartened, because I seem to have so many symptoms of being hypo and am now even more worried at what is the cause of my symptoms and if it is because of something more serious.
I am very fatigued and depressed, tired all the time, having difficulty losing weight, my hair is really coarse and thinning out, I have 'ridges' on my nails, thick and dry skin, thick tongue, my eyelids often twitch etc.
Does anyone know of any other medical problem that can cause all this apart from hypo?
I have read on websites about the problems with Thyroid testing and how lab results can be inaccurate. Could anyone point me to some good articles on this on the net that I could read up on?
Anyway, when I see the doc on Monday, I am going to put plan B into action and try and get treatment for sleep apnea which I also have (I realize that this may be the cause of the fatigue/depression - but not sure about the other symptoms) and I am also now going to accept the anti-depressants which she offered me on my last visit to help with the depression as that is the part I am having most problems in dealing with.
I'd be really grateful if anyone could let me know about any thyroid test articles.
Answer:
There are many good articles. e-mail me your e-mail address and I'll send you a copy of our "Welcome and Reading", or you can go to a search engine/the internet and do a power search under alt.support.thyroid for it under that topic. The article that may be most helpful to you is the NEJM one that shows that people feel better when TSH is below 2. If you can get the Arem and Shomon book out of the library it would be great to read those also. If it turns out that your TSH is above 2 and you have other family members with thyroid disease (which increases the chances that you do too) I would recommend you buy the books - otherwise it's a bit of an expense for books that may not be related to your problem. Definitely get a copy of the test results. Then you can know where you are within ranges, as well as how comprehensively they have tested. There are some simple things that might not have been tested, including
pernicious anemia/B12 deficiency, which alone can explain most of the symptoms you have listed. Similarly, I bet they didn't look at other pituitary hormones, including ACTH (or the adrenal hormones that it
stimulates) or growth hormone, either of which also can explain some things. If TSH happens to be near the lower end of its range, it could help to demonstrate that you have a non-thyroidal illness (if not sub-
clinical hypER).
I'm also in the UK and in my experience National Health Service basic tests for thyroid function are limited to TSH. Thanks to thiswebsites I was motivated to ask my GP doc in future to test my free-T3 + free-T4.
My GP tested me for thyroid antibodies by ordering an ''auto-immune profile''. I believe this is quite expensive, so hope you can persuade your GP! It may help persuade him if auto-immune disease of any type exists in members of your family. This is why my GP ordered the test. Incidentally, it indicated I had antibodies to my thyroid + systemic rheumatic disease. (Luckily, the latter seems to have been cleared by my body over a period of 3 yrs since sudden onset during spinal surgery that included bone removal).
