Could I have a Thyroid Disorder?

[DnAPugh]

I am a 27 yr old female who averages between 110-120 lbs.  Four yrs. ago I started experiencing heart palpatations and was diagnosed with high blood pressure as well. I was placed on a beta blocker (25mg) and an ace inhib. (2mg).  At the time my GP said she thought I might have an underlying thyroid disorder but my blood tests always came back "within range" or "normal". I have always felt like something was wrong and would get so frustrated each time I'd seek out an explanation and would be told I'm fine.  Back in 2005 I started having eye problems.  After going from Dr. to Dr. an ophtalmologist diagnosed me with "iritis" that came back several months later in my other eye.  I was treated off and on for Iritis for about 2 yrs. He thought I might have an underlying rheumatological disease because of the inflammation in my eyes and also the fact that I have battled with tendonitis that turned out to be sacroiliitis...since I was 16 due to an injury.   About a yr. ago I began seeing a different GP for a 2nd opinion on my healthcare and he took me off of the beta blocker.  Over the past 5 yrs i have gone through several stressful situations, including a major one this yr. My husband's depression and anxiety got 100 times worse.  Both of us ended up seeing separate counselors; him to learn how to cope with his challenge of depression, and me to learn how to keep myself focused and cope with his emotional struggles while keeping myself afloat.  The therapy did help us both emotionally, and although he has been doing much better since around May and I am not under as much stress as I was...my sypmtoms became more intense.  Over that last 4 yrs i have struggled with: Unusual appetite, yet only gaining no more than 5 or 10 lbs.  IF ANY AT ALL!  Everytime I gain weight...I lose it right away, regardless of what I eat and how much!  I have been experiencing night sweats for the last few yrs.  Even in the dead of winter.  I have a rapid pulse (resting pulse anywhere from mid/high 80's to the 110's, loose stool and frequent bowel movements (which have gotten a little better over the last couple of weeks), muscle fatigue in my arms and legs, bouts of insomnia although I am tired ALL OF THE TIME, cold hands and feet, but at the same time my body temp at night will generally rise to the point that I feel feverish.  Dry brittle nails, awful short term memory, and recently mild anxiety attacks.  My skin is very dry, esp. my scalp.  It is EXTREMELY dry.  
A month ago my hubby and I both had ultrasounds done and found out that we have nodules on our thyroid.  I have 2 on my lower left lobe.  We won't be able to see and Endo until January, but I am wondering why I feel this way although my GP's keep telling me I'm normal.  My last blood tests were as follows:
TSH         2.51  range: 0.27-4.20 uiu/ml
Free T3    3.7    range: 2.6-4.4 pg/ml
Free T4    1.24  range: 0.8-1.70 ng/dl
Can there be any other explanation?  Help...I just want to feel NORMAL again and not just be normal on paper.

[oh2tired]

This site may help explain why you are feeling like that. I had been to 31 doctors and 4 medical centers who all said my thyroid values were fine. I had been taking Synthroid (levothyroxine sodium) at various levels for 3 years to treat Hashimotos. So they said the debillitating fatigue, hair loss, loss of eye brows, constipation, etc were all due to something else. Finally found this group after visiting a doctor for an eye problem. He said he would not treat the eye problem until the underlying problem was fixed, because he would treating a symptom not the cause.
I am being treated to correct high rT3 values.I am half way through a 6 week course of increasing levels of time released T3. I stopped the Synthroid (levothyroxine sodium). So far the heaviness is gone, my eye brows have returned :-) and my "I have to lie down" periods are way way down. Hope this gives you another option.
http://www.hormoneandlongevitycenter.com/thyroidtreatments1/

[DnAPugh]

I just picked up my medical records to have to take to the endo  next month.  In 2005 when I was diagnosed with: "elevated blood pressure tachycardia" my

TSH was at 1.67 uiu/ml range (0.27-4.20)
Free T4 was 1.25 ng/dl  range (0.80-1.70)

In June 2009:

TSH  2.88

Oct. 2009:

TSH         2.51  range: 0.27-4.20 uiu/ml
Free T3    3.7    range: 2.6-4.4 pg/ml
Free T4    1.24  range: 0.8-1.70 ng/dl

I don't know if it means anything, but I noticed that in July of 2008 there was a notation on the lab results that my Gamma Globulin protein levels were High:

GAMMA: 1.30 (0.6-1.1) with the  notation, " SPE: polyclonal increase in gamma globulin suggests a chronic inflammatory condition, no monoclonal band identified."

[DnAPugh]

Thank you so much for your suggestions I have not been checked for Hashimotos, But I will definitely bring up everything you have mentioned when I go to the endo next month.  That's interesting that you mentioned checking my cortisol levels.  I am very unexperienced when it comes to anything like this and have had to do a lot of research...but would my adrenal gland or cortisol levels have anything to do with the fact that although I am very thin, if I do pick up any weight at all, it all goes to my mid section?  Esp. right after eating. But then my abdomen goes back down.  My friends and family and I joke about it.  We call it my "food baby".  It seems as though I"ve heard of cortisol affecting your mid section.

[miolaman]

you sound hyperthyroid but are not based on your labs. have you been checked for Hashimotos with thyroid antibody tests? another thing to consider is your cortisol levels which come from your adrenal gland. there is a 24 hour urine collection that can be done to measure your cortisol levels and adrenaline, norepinephrine, catecholamines and VMA levels. all of these hormaone are produced in your adreal glands and could give you the symptoms you mentioned. this is important with your history of high blood pressure. i will keep thinking and add anything else i come up with. good luck. your doctor might want to try you on a low dose b blocker if you have taken one before if your blood pressure is normal or slightly elevated just to relieve some of your symptoms.
   also the vast majority of small thyroid nodules are benign and dont cause your syptoms unless they are 'hot' nodules on a scan which means they are producing too much thyroid hormaone but this has been ruled out by your lab.