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what do you think

Hi everyone. I am at my wits end and i need a little bit of info because for the past year i have not been feeling "right". I am in my late twenties.
So here it goes: Auto-immune diseases are big in my family. I was also myself diagnoses with ITP( platelet problem which goes into remission) since i was 13 with no known cause. It had not really impacted too much in my life as it comes and goes every eight years or so. I deal with it well and when i had it never experienced much tiredness. I had good doctors who looked after it.
My main concern is last year i began to feel off balance and slightly dizzy accompanied with what i thought was sinus issues and a flu i had. The flu set off my ITP again which took longer then usual to resolve and i was put on a few things but eventually i was fine as far as platelets were concerned. The problem was all year i felt slightly off. I had brain fog and slight feeling of not being right.
Here are my symtoms:
Fatigue( the biggest probem)
Off balance, dizziness which is not severe
Extreme fatigue
Muscle twitches
Brain fog
Weak feeling
pain tenderness in left breast
lower blood pressure
near fainting( three episodes)
heavy hands feeling at times numbness maybe
headaches
neck ache in certain spot
flashing light slighlty at edges of eye
anxiety and at times depression
slight cognitive dysfunction
cold feet
slight internal shaking

After loads of tests at the end of this year it was discovered Vitamin d was low. I know it can cause tiredness but i was not satisfied that this was all it was.  A month later got my thyroid checked and tsh was 4.3 which my doctor said was borderine hypothyroid. He said he will recheck in a week and i have agreed. My point is i am getting slight indicators of little things. But people think its in my head but i know its not.

Tests i have done: (i also work in optics and tests are fine)
Optical coherence tomography- perfect
MRI- pending results (done in Nov)
eye examination: good except im high myopic at -8.00
- eye pressure: 17 17 20
Vitamin d: 14 (should be 30)
TSH Thyroid: 4.3
Platelets: 119

To be honest my biggest problem is the fatigue and slight off balance feelingand the weakness. If i do too much i feel faint or sort of like things are very bright and im disoreientated. I am sure im either about to go hypothyroid or there is something else going on but i havent had a perfect answer. I guess i can take a lot of things but when i feel so tired i cannot work it drives me mad. i loved my job but i had to quit for a while as i was feeling so exhausted. iw as living in a different country and the health care system was ok but i have moved home for a few months as my family doctor knows my history better. What do my symptoms sound like? My family history is as follows: hypo and hyperthyroidism in at least six members of my family. automiimunity issues for at least two generations on one side. Any help would be appreciated.
12 Responses
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1530171 tn?1448129593
Low D3 and Hypothyroidism are associated.
But please monitor your levels closely.

Here's a relevant study:

The prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in HT cases (148 of 161, 92%) was significantly higher than that observed in healthy controls (102 of 162, 63%, p < 0.0001). Among HT cases, the prevalence rate of vitamin D insufficiency showed a trend to be higher in patients with overt hypothyroidism (47 of 50, 94%) or subclinical hypothyroidism (44 of 45, 98%) than in those with euthyroidism (57 of 66, 86%), but the differences were not significant (p = 0.083).
PMID: 21751884 [PubMed}

Perseverance and determination will help you greatly, in your pursuit of
better health and wellness. There are a lot of fine details to look into and much tweaking necessary, though.
Keep on posting!  And we're always here to help.

Cheers!
Niko
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
sorry meant to say is now 55
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Avatar universal
Hi just got my levels checked again and surprise surprise. Tsh went from 4.2 to 2.1 i ten days! is that normal what does that mean?also my vitamin d deficiency that was 14 in december is not 55. That may be because i have been taken high dose vitamin d capsules. I mean im not sure where to turn some days i feel ok but some days i feel so tired its rediculous. and the migraines at times is annoying. i mean is normal people with hypothyroid to go up and down. As i said all five of my aunts sister have thyroid issues. All i have to say is god this is frustrating, but im trying to eliminate things now.
Helpful - 0
434278 tn?1324706225
Thank you.  And I'll check on the Magnesium crystal/spray as well.  Blessings
Helpful - 0
1530171 tn?1448129593
Hey Kara.

After a little digging I found out that your chances of getting Armour are limited lately, as availability is tight.
After the mfg's (Forest Labs)reformulation a couple years ago along with their addition of cellulose in the formula - the cellulose was binding with the
Armour and losing effectiveness apparently- and other changes resulting in  many hypothyroid patient complaints, they attempted to fix the problems and till now there's little availability. They're working on a limited production run of 60 mg dose Armour.
While all this is taking place, RLC Labs could not get enough material to
supply the increased demand for Natural Desiccated Thyroid with their brands Westhroid and Nature-throid.
There's also an increase of hypothyroidism cases of  epidemic proportions
and I'll be doing some investigating to find out where, how and why.

Your best bet( or for anybody previously on Armour) is to get the prescriptions to state  "Natural Desiccated Thyroid", so it lets Pharmacies fill in the brand they have on hand at the time. it should really make no difference, along as the strength (dose) is made clear to you.

I 'll let you know if I find out more! (I have 5 Pharmacists friends and many Pharmaceutical research connections)

Cheers!
Niko





Helpful - 0
434278 tn?1324706225
Some are having a hard time.  But so far I've not had any trouble.  We had a prescription drug company that seemed to never have it, but my local pharmacy was able to get it for me, but not for my sister.  (now explain that!)  Same pharm and everything.  But I go in there all the time and they know my face very well. :(
Helpful - 0
1530171 tn?1448129593
You can buy it from some health food stores
or order it from online vendors. I buy mine in crystals (magnesium chloride
flakes) mix it 50/50 with boiled filtered water, wait till cooled down, transfer to a plastic spray bottle. (costs much less this way).
Spray all over body avoiding sensitive areas, wait for 30 minutes and after shower well. repeat every other day.
Best way to get magnesium, as there are no laxative issues.
Oral magnesium has a very low absorption rate, estimated at only 3-4%.
Hope this helps.
Niko

PS. Is it true that Armour is hard to get lately in the US?
I know that there's no issue in Canada (yet)
Helpful - 0
434278 tn?1324706225
I am on the Armour Thyroid.  I had to talk my dr. into letting me "try" it before he would write the prescription.  I've been on it for many years now.

Niko, I would like to know where to get the transdermal magnesium?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi thank you for your replies. Exactly i though the same about vitamin d being down. There is something that i need to look into. My symptoms are so varied that i cannot pinpoint anything. I used to sit in work and yawn all day. I used always want to do everything in my job and i can say sincerely that i loved it. But I was feeling more and more off as the year want on. Sometimes i feel like i have pressure on my head and i thought it was just stress but i had nothing really major to stress about. All i wanted was to continue on building my career. My job wasnt really hard either. This has in turn given me anxiety and worries. I have before been depressed in my teenage years but i always worked through it without any medication. But i was never tired like this.
Helpful - 0
1530171 tn?1448129593
Hi Dream_ers and welcome to the forum.

When I was reading your post I remembered a book-originated as a speech- "Acres of Diamonds", by Russell Conwell
The book details story after story of people overlooking riches in their own back yard, only to spend their time looking elsewhere.

Obvious significant interrelated findings, such as TSH 4.3, strongly indicating hypothyroidism, which should be thoroughly checked asap!
Either get it ruled out or DX'd and treated. Why stop at the TSH and not have T3, T4, T3 free and T4 free checked? I don't understand this.
One of hypothyroid symptoms is Tinnitus and many of your symptoms are consistent with hypothyroidism.

D3 deficiency. If this is not a RED FLAG, what is? This alone can explain half your issues, as pointed out by elbamom.
There are thousands of enzymic processes, facilitated by vitamin D3.
take with meals  containing fat, as D3 is fat soluble and not in the evening
(as some sources may suggest, since there's suspicion that D3 interferes with circadian rhythms possibly disturbing your sleep.)


Low vitamin D is associated with just about every disease in the medical books! lol!

Heart disease,Obesity,Metabolic impairment, Diabetes
Autoimmune diseases,Multiple sclerosis,Rheumatoid arthritis
Osteoarthritis , Bursitis, Gout, Infertility and PMS
Parkinson’s Disease, Depression , Seasonal Affective Disorder
Alzheimer’s Disease, Chronic fatigue syndrome
Fibromyalgia,Chronic Pain,Periodontal disease, Psoriasis...

Please don't look at anything else till you correct your D3 deficiency and
your possible low thyroid function (rule out or treat).
If to be treated, insist on natural desiccated thyroid supplement.
Doctors may say otherwise, but check it out for yourself online
For your D3 -this will take time-you need adequate calcium and there's a good chance you're also magnesium deficient, so you possibly need magnesium supplementation-best way is transdermal magnesium oil treatments. These 2 minerals are  D3 co-factors.

Take care and please post again.
Niko
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Dear Dreamer:

So sorry to hear about your health issues, you many want to check out the www. vitamindcouncil.org web site. They recommend D3 levels of between 50 and 70, not 30 for optimal health. I don't know how much D3 you take but in my family we take 10,000 IU a day and between the 3 of us there is quite a difference in levels depending on our health issues.It took months to get to above 50. D3 is cheap at Costco, Walmart, etc. Keep up with twice yearly blood work to make sure your levels are where you want them to be.

Also don't know it this is helpful in anyway but some of the symptoms you have seem to look like Meniere's disease. Lots of info on web about that.
You need an ENT to diagnose this correctly. Also with that much auto-immune in your family, you many have an immune disease.
For more info on that and ideas of what to test, and where to find a good immunologist go to primaryimmune .org they are very helpful and free. Lots of good ideas there.

A small dose of thyroid shouldn't hurt and should help if that is part of the issue. It sounds like several things are happening at once, and it will take time to separate them all out.

This may require more than one doc.The most important thing we have found to be helpful, is to be persistent. Since you know your body and know something isn't right, just keep plugging away at it.
If your doc won't help you or doesn't understand the problems, go somewhere else.

Good luck, and post again.
elbamom
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
sorry for long post didnt realise it would take so long to get that all out.
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