Do I have a thyroid problem?

[roni892]

The reason I am posting this question is that I think that I might have the symptoms of a thyroid disease but I'm really not sure. I am an 18 yr old girl. First of all, I have been feeling very tired lately and it seems like I don't have the energy to do anything.  I also feel depressed. Also, for the past year and a half I have had irregular periods (only 6 or 8 a year). And I have put on about 17 lbs in the past 6 months and have not been eating more or eating more unhealthily. I am not overweight but the sudden weight gain is very upsetting to me. I have been able to take of 6 lbs but it was very hard to do that. I used to be able to lose weight fairly quickly on past diets. My question is, is it a possibility that something is wrong with my thyroid or pituitary gland?

[gimel]

I'm glad you found this Forum.  I know we can be of help to you.  Don't just accept those type of answers from your doctor and nurse practitioner.  Your health and your well being are too important to you to not pursue the thyroid question thoroughly.  You should insist that you want to be tested for the active thyroid hormones, which are free T3 and free T4 (FT3 and FT4).  These are the biologically active hormones that largely regulate metabolism and many other body functions.  No doubt your doctor will also want to test for TSH.  No problem, as long as he does not want to treat you based on TSH alone.  Just keep in mind that in my opinion the best way to treat a hypo patient is listen to their symptoms and to test and adjust the FT3 and FT4 levels with medication as required to alleviate those symptoms.  
As remar suggested you may need to find a good thyroid doctor, but that may take a while, so I would start by trying to get this testing done by your current doctor and post the results and reference ranges here for member comment.  We'll be here for you.

[roni892]

Yes, I told the nurse that my diet has been the same but she said that maybe I just did not notice I was overeating. Although, I think that something must be wrong with my metabolism because I only eat around 1200-1400 calories a day. Most girls my age can eat a lot more and stay very thin.

[remar]

Did you tell the nurse that you've been eating like you usually do?  
Yes, I would agree with her about being irregular, especially at your age, it's not uncommon.
You might want to consider seeing another Dr since you don't get to see yours anyway.

[roni892]

I forgot to mention that the nurse practitioner said that my weight gain was from me overeating and that the irregular periods is normal for some women.

[roni892]

Well, I talked to the nurse practitioner because the doctor at my office rarely sees anyone. Anyway, she said that I was just stressing out to much over work and school.  Although I'm on summer vacation and I feel very relaxed so I don't think it is that. Also, I've had the memory problem for about two years.

[remar]

Your memory could be related to a thyroid problem. Have you talked to your Dr about these symptoms yet?

[roni892]

Well, the only other symptom I can think of is that I have been having problems with my memory a little bit, but I don't think that is related. I could be wrong.

[remar]

It is possible but your Dr needs to run some tests. What other symptoms are you having?