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Can gastro and liver issues be related to thyroid?

Hi Everyone,

I promise to post newest blood results as soon as the doctor forwards them to me.  Virginia law does not allow the lab to send results directly to patients.  I have been on this forum with concerns about my daughter that has hypothyroidism and some gastro issues.  She is taking 2 grains naturethroid and 35mcg on T3 and is feeling more energy and has totally no muscle pain.  I felt things were progressing well because of these new developments.  She also got her period for the first time in 5 years which all seemed positive to me.  The downside to this is she now has a lot of acne and has gained another 8 pounds since Christmas.  
Another side of all this is extreme sensitivity to many foods.  She recently had an endoscopy and found out she had a yeast infection in her esophagus.  This is a condition normally found in people with suppressed immune systems, alcoholism, hiv, chemotherapy and after antibiotic use.  None of these relate to her.  She does have a significant problem with diarrhea, bloating, stomach pain and gas.  She does not tolerate fat well so we did a liver panel and found her liver enzymes were elevated.  Nothing alarming but odd.  The gastro guy thinks this is all the endocrinologists problem.  Could that be true?  Back to the weight issue, my daugher has gained 30 pounds in the last 18months while maintaining a very strict diet.  Should we assume that if you have hypothyroidism you will always be somewhat overweight?  She has become extremely uncomfortable in her own skin and is now wearing very large clothing to hide herself.  I just want to manager our expectations with truths from people that have lived with thyroid issues.  None of this seems to make sense to me.  The gastro guy wants her to see an infectious disease guy because of the esophagus infection and she is having a colonoscopy in two weeks to rule out Crohns and Ulcerative colitis.  
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798555 tn?1292787551
Ok, so the values in your original post were Free T3 and Free T4. Good to know.

Reverse T3 test results are confusing and reported differently by different labs. Best answers for RT3 is to goggle Yahoo RT3 group. Its a forum like this but specialized.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I understand having too much RT3 but I don't know what happens with too little RT3.  Do you know?  The candida is actually much better we think.  She generally has stomach issues but the candida was different and she feels better since being treated.  
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Im sorry they ares  free T4 and Free T3.  Is that one you mean?
Helpful - 0
798555 tn?1292787551
Oh.

You dont have FT3 and FT4 tested?, T3 and T4 are close, but not as acurate.
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798555 tn?1292787551
I asked about the estrogen due to the high testosteron (for a female anyway).

Low stomach acid in hypo usually goes up with FT3 levels (which is high).

So after the doc did the RT3 ratio, it was high? (the posted result threw me). And thats why she gets so much supplimental T3?

I know what candida is like, Its hard to eradicate, I would still suggest further treatment to see if other digestive issues get better.

The Rt3 can throw the whole body off.

A fasting blood sugar and a average from AC1 test would make sense too.

Sorry, I cant help you in the area of estradiol or PCOS.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Yes, it is a lot and way too much for us to handle but we are trying.  She eats a very low carb diet except for fruits and vegetables.  We do have the candida calmed down.   She has started eating greek yogurt.   I don't know if that has helped.  Her last test results were a very high RT3 and very low T3.  I think those numbers are almost right but perhaps she will need a little less T3.  She is seeing doctor next week.  I don't understand the estrogen but her estradiol was 32 which was 21 days after the fluke period.  The ranges are follicular pahse 19 - 144
Mid Cycle            64-357
Luteal  phase      56 - 214

I was thinking PCOS but she had a pelvic ultrasound back in 2010 and everything looked fine.   I was also thinking something might be going on with insulin.  It just seems every system in her body is a mess.  

Helpful - 0
1756321 tn?1547095325
Hypothyroidism is one of the causes of elevated liver enzymes. As for the other symptoms, low stomach acid lists your daughters symptoms.

Excerpt from a very informative article from Gallbladder Attack...

"Signs of Deficient Stomach Acid

Gas, bloating and burping shortly after a meal could be lack of HCl
Constipation
Diarrhea
Feeling of fullness or food not digesting
Heartburn and/or gastric relux (sometimes too much HCl but most often not enough)
Bad breath
Foul smelling stools
Loose stools in the early morning
Food allergies
Dialated blood vessles on the cheeks and nose - Rosacea
Pernicious anemia or iron deficiency
Anal Itching
Nausea especially after taking vitamins and minerals
Weak or cracked nails
Parasites - or at least increased susceptibility to parasitic infections
Chronic yeast infections
Acne in adults - especially if you have other symptoms from the list
Asthma

Since low levels of stomach acid results in poor absorption of nutrients, many symptoms that accompany a deficiency of that vitamin or mineral makes this list much longer. The nutrients most affected are calcium, iron, folic acid, vitamin K and many B vitamins. See pernicious anemia.

If you're nervous about trying supplemental hydrochloric acid, you can do a trial with 1-2 TBSP of organic apple cider vinegar mixed with 1/8 to 1/4 cup of water after a meal. If it makes you feel better and does not hurt, you most likely would benefit from taking 500 - 1000 mg. of Betaine HCl with your meals.

If you have any of the following including GERD, they are often accompanied by or the cause of low stomach acid.

Risk Factors and Causes of Low Stomach Acid:

Allergies
Anemia
Adrenal fatigue
Alcohol
Atrophic gastritis
Heartburn
Gerd
IBS
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Hives
Candida and other Yeast
Bacterial Dysbiosis or infections in the Gut
Adult acne
Eczema
Alchohol consumption
H. plylori infection
Stress even in children
Age. HCl production decreases wtih age

Diseases Associated with Low HCl:

Asthma
Diabetes
Osteoporosis
Arthritis
Hepatitis
Eczema
Acne rosacea
Dry Skin
Psoriasis
Parasites
Gallbladder disease
Herpes
Hives
Hypothyroid
Hyperthyroid
Thyrotoxicosis
Autoimmune disorders
Lupus erythematosus
Myasthenia gravis
Pernicious anemia
Celiac disease
Sjogren 's Syndrome"
Helpful - 0
231441 tn?1333892766
By the way, the blood tests for celiac hava a high rate of false negatives.  The only gold standard is the endocscopy/colonoscopy results.  If endoscopy is +ve then you are highly recommended to avoid gluten completely.

Correct test for thyroid function is FT3 and FT4, not just TSH, as these reflect available thyroid hormone (not T3 and T4).  I would be very interested to see her FT3/FT4 resutls.

My bets are on for PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), Hypothyroid and Celiac.

Please let us know how she goes and what you think.
Helpful - 0
231441 tn?1333892766
Hello, she could also have PCOS.  

This is often coexisting with hypothyroid and it does make losing weight difficult.  I would suggest that if she's not already you consider a low carb diet, rather than the traditional low calories low fat, high carb diet.

She should be tested for celiac.

She should also be tested for diabetes (HBa1c as well as fasting blood sugar and insulin numbers), as such infections can be more common if blood sugars are higher than usual.

If she does have PCOS, metformin  may be useful, including helping with reducing insulin resistance and making weight loss a little easier.
Helpful - 0
798555 tn?1292787551
Lots of stuff going on here.

This is one of the differences between Hashimoto autoimmune and general non-autoimmune hypothyroid. Even my Dr thinks that Hashimoto is not just a thyroid problem, but a autoimmune body problem that mostly effects the thyroid. People with Hashi need to pay attention to their whole body more. All autoimmune conditions can be more likely to develop two more autoimmune issues in a life time. Most are manageable.

Your daughter has a yeast infection in her esophagus. Its probably deeper than that, but not found. That is termed as digestive Candida in natural path talk. I have personal experience with this as well as a few others here in the past. It is more common for  autoimmune people to have digestive issues than the general public. Candida feeds on sugars (milk has sugar too), grains, butter, grease, fats and carbs. After eating theses foods the person will/can feel bloated, gassy, have reflux / Gerd, sometimes diarrhea, pain and brain fog, weight gain. 90% of medical Drs doubt its existence. I found two that knew about it, but did not know what to do since they are not trained for that.

What works for most people: Eliminate the offenders above for a while. Take a product such as NOW Candida Cure natural herbs to combat the Candida. Take a good pro-biotic (friendly flora) opposite time of candida cure (dont want to kill the good stuff).

When the symptoms of candida settle down.:

You can re-introduce the offending food areas, but pay attention as to what makes it come back, and eat less of it. Its trial and error. Some find out that they also have certain food allergy. I would not suddenly jump on the gluten free fad yet. But you could try it out- parts of it. Some eat gluten fine but do not tolerate whole grains, yes thats right. Some people cant eat corn, some are lactose intolerant and love almond milk (say no to soy milk with Hashi).

I'm confused as to why she is taking more T3 with NT that has a lot of T3 in it. There are several ways labs present RT3 results, its confusing. If someone has reverse T3 dominance then taking more T3 is the cure. The best info for RT3 is Yahoo RT3 group - google it.

Whats here estrogen level?
Helpful - 0
4939681 tn?1361299299
The TSH and T3 look like my hyperthyroid results.  I'm not sure about RT3, since I just recently had that test done and don't know very much about it yet.  I also get acne as a result of my thyroid issues (as it messes with estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone levels).  The bloating and intestinal issues definitely could be related.  I recently had a colonoscopy and the biopsy of my small intestine was "abnormal probably due to celiac disease".  However, blood tests came back negative for celiac.  Just another crappy symptom of Hashimoto's:(
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
new labs

TSH .01 range .40 - 4.5
T4    .9   range .8 - 1.8
T3    4.5 range  2.3 -4.2
RT3 5    range 7 - 24

Also new weird test result

Testosterone   47  range 2 - 45

Any ideas?
Helpful - 0
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