Normal TSH but still having symptoms

[mrsalex1]

Hi Dr. Lupo

Im a 29 yr old female with 3 children. My youngest is 17 months. About 4-6 months after I had my last child I began to experience lots of hair loss. I would comb it and it would just shed everywhere. It has slowed down a little since then but it is still shedding. In addition to the shedding I noticed that it is pretty dry and breaks so easily. I have other symptoms but it seems like a laundry list so i will list a few, sluggishness, cold hands and feet, ear pain, ringing in my ear, muscle aches and twitching all over, burning feet, joint pain(knees and shoulder). Sometimes when I lift my arms to comb my hair it hurts when i try 2 hold them up for a long period and I get this shoulder pain as well. And lastly I have this feeling in my throat like there's something lodged in it. So recently I went to my Dr and they ran TSH with cholesterol and other stuff. My TSH came back as normal 1.92 (.5-5.0). So the dr just said my hair could be coming out for many reasons and that the cold hands and feet is probly the result of a circulatory problem. My question is could a patient have a normal TSH but still have a thyroid problem? And does the thyroid tissue normally feel soft or hard. Im asking cause one day when I had the feeling I get in my throat I felt my thyroid and on one side i felt a small bump that felt relatively harder than the same spot on the opposite side.  

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

This is not likely a thyroid problem - remember, the symptoms are very nonspecific, so one could have "all the symptoms" but normal thyroid --- meaning the symptoms are due to something else.
That being said, I have seen a few patients with early Hashimoto's with normal TSH who have benefited from treatment.  In these cases have only given levothyroxine as a trial in select patients IF they have positive TPO antibodies.

[mrsalex1]

Forgot to mention that my memory is shot to death. I will do something then 5 mins later I cant remember if I did it.