Possible Hypothyroidism???

[TMR070971]

I am a 34 year old female with the following symptoms - hair loss, cold intolerance, fatigue, don't sleep very well at night, diagnosed with hypoglycemia, very dry skin, developing calus-like areas on palms, eye lids puffy, lab work show slightly anemic (per doctor) and muscle fatigue especially in my upper arms.  Labs are:

T3 uptake 44.5% (24-35%)
TSH 1.110 (.360-5.4)
T4 = 8 (4.5-12.5)
FTI 3.56 (1.5-5.4)
FT4 .75 (.59-1.17)
FT3  2.7 (2.3-4.2)
CO2 30.4 (22.0-29.0)
Globulin 4.1 (2.0-4.1)

I have seen and endocrinologist who says that I am "normal", but I surely do not feel normal.  My fatigue and cold intolerance tend to get worse as the day progresses.  Any help would be appreciated.

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

Would test thyroid antibodies (TPO and Tg) to be certain, but the thyroid function looks pretty good and in these cases I have not seen much benefit from thyroid hormone -- with the possible exception of patients with positive antibodies (ie, concern for hashimotos) but would follow the labs and the patient closely.

By the way, while your symptoms sound like hypothyroid, the symptoms have multiple other causes that need to be considered and often for cold intolerance, a treatable cause is hard to find.

[HashiMan]

Hi, just curious if they did the TSH test on you. It can indicate a struggling thyroid, even with the other thyroid levels at normal.
The opposite "can be" true according to testimonies of people on hormone replacement meds. TSH can be low during treatment, even though the other levels aren't at the optimal range yet.
From your question, I don't think you're on medication for thyroid, so in my opinion, just as a patient, the "TSH" would be a valuable test at this point because it is the most "sensitive", in regards to diagnosing developing thyroid disease. Thyroid antibodies tests can also be helpful for same reasons just mentioned.
If you are on med already or have a TSH result to add to your info, it might help the Dr. in his response to you.

[TMR070971]

My TSH is listed above is was 1.11.  I am not on any thyroid meds.  I also didn't mention that I have extreme brain fog and trouble concentration.  No thyroid antibody levels have been done.  Thanks for your help.

[HashiMan]

Sorry! Can't believe I overlooked that, read it twice.
Your symptoms sound like thyroid but Dr. Mark will have a better opinion about it. The antibodies one I mentioned are the TG (anti-thyroglobulin) and TPO (anti-thyroid peroxidase). Many, many people have claimed these were elevated and caused symptoms, even with other levels normal. Medical web pages state that this is due to antibodies "blocking the thyroid receptors".
Sorry again for the blurb, I must be having a spell of hashi-brain (lol).

[Chocobabe]

You sound SO much like me at one time--having all those symptoms and being told I was "normal" because of lab ranges. I have since learned that before these labs were ever invented, patients were dosed by symptoms, and successfully. Doesn't take away the value of labs, but does show that we may have swung the pendulum too far the other direction--making labs way too important over obvious symptoms. And by the way, the one lab you gave that sends a warning sign to me is your free T3, which is very low in the range, in my opinion. Your TSH just hasn't caught up with that. And it's common for those of us with hypo to be anemic--especially low Ferritin! I had the same. Personally, if your labs were mine, I'd find a doc who pays attention to my free T3, and one who will consider a trial run of Armour, because most doctors out there will tend to put you on Synthroid or other T4-only meds.....and lots of us here found out how poorly they really worked in comparison.

[childrenrtreasures]

After a year's worth of visits to my dr I finally asked him to consider a "trial run" of thyroid meds. Because of my strong family history, symptoms (although I don't "look" hypothyroid...at least so I've been told) and an "in range" but climbing TSH (3.75 at the highest) he agreed. I felt better within a week but needed a med increase within 6 weeks.

Two months later I requested antibody testing and we discovered that my Tg and TPO were elevated. I was sent to an endocrinologist and diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

My endo and I do not see eye to eye on many things but I admit I'm feeling better than I had been.

It's possible to have thyroid disease in the presence of in range labs.

Kelly

P.S. Adrenal disorders can have symptoms that are very similar to thyroid disease. It may be worth looking into and talking to your endo about.

[ancientmariner]

Looking at your free T3 & T4, they're very low in their respective ranges. My doc thinks those 2 labs are the most important, and he's trying to get my Free T4 above the midpoint and the free T3 in the top third of the range. I'm not quite there yet, but close, and felling better than I have in a long time. I also recommend Broda Barnes' book "Hypothyroidism: The Unsuspected Illness". He recommends using basal body temperature as a diagnostic tool for hypothyroid. And Dr. Rind's website (www.drrind.com) takes it a step further. He advicates taking your temp at three different times during the day, charting the average and treating by that. He also has a chart that shows which symptoms are purely thyroid, which are purely adrenal and which could be a combination. Using the temperature chart has really worked for me - I show it to my doc and he increases/decreases adrenal support and Armour thyroid based on the chart. It hasn't steered us wrong yet!

[dotcomengineer]

TMR070971 - I have been recently diagnosed with Graves and also have a lump on my hand.  It is called Dupuytren's Contracture and is linked to thyroid disease.  Do a search, you will find some info.  No biggie, it is the least of your worries - ;>)

Darrell
TSH < .010 (0.4 - 4.0)
FT3 10.8 (1.8 - 4.2)
FT4  3.6 (0.8 - 1.9)

[ancientmariner]

How is your Graves' being treated? I was Dx with Graves in 2002 - took 6 months for the docs to realize that all my symptoms were thyroid - and my endo offered 2 options, surgery or RAI. He never told me I could stay on the ATDs for 2 years to see if I normalized.....So I had RAI. He also said that I'd probably go hypo, and all I'd have to do was take a pill once a day and I'd be fine. Well, his idea of fine and mine do not jive at all. I gained 50 lb in 3 months (was always underweight until thyroid problems), exhausted, joint pains....So I took the pill every day as prescribed and still had all those symptoms. The endo told me I should diet and exercise to lose weight (I was) and the GP laughed at me for being fat, and told me the extra weight was causing my joint pain.....

Anyway, I suggest that you learn as much as you can about thyroid treatment, both for Graves, and then for hypothyroid that you will be some day (after the Graves burns out or the doctors cause it with their "treatments"). Look into Armour thyroid or other natural desiccated porcine thyroid. I feel so much better on Armour than I ever did on their "one pill a day" synthetic drug.