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False thyroid results?

I am an 18 year old female. My whole life I've been very active and I exercise for atleast an hour daily (excersize guru) but I can't lose weight (I stay around 150) and I am always exhausted- always. I need naps and a full night of sleep and I am still tired. Doctors always point out a thickness of my neck, regardless of why I am seeing them, which has led me to get labs every time, all coming up with normal TSH levels. Recently I got an ultrasound on my neck which showed multiple cysts, indicating that hypothyroidism is inevitable for me, and my doctor said that nothing has triggered it yet, but it will. I trust my doctor, because she is the expert, but I see ALL of the symptoms now, and they are very impacting on my life; making me anxious to get diagnosed and treated. I also crave sweets every moment of my life and I know it's not normal. So could I actually have a problem that's not being diagnosed correctly, or should I wait until a tsh level comes back not normal to do anything about it?
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649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
Insist on getting Free T3 and Free T4 tests.  Those are the actual thyroid hormones and are much better indicators than TSH.   TSH is a pituitary hormone and is not always indicative a thyroid problem; not to mention that most labs are still using old reference ranges, that end up leaving many patient undiagnosed.  TSH should never be accepted as the sole diagnostic for hypothyroidism and doctors who insist on using it as such, tend to leave their patients ill for much longer than necessary.

Also insist on getting thyroid antibodies tested to determine if you have Hashimoto's.  The antibody tests you need are Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies (TPOab) and Thyroglobulin Antibodies (TgAb).  If you are positive for one or both of these, your doctor would be prudent to start you on thyroid replacement hormones, regardless of TSH (well, she'd be prudent to do that anyway!!).

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1756321 tn?1547095325
If you are waiting for the TSH to go out of range you could wait for years or forever. I waited for decades since it wasn't my thyroid gland having issues but my cells and once my thyroid gland was involved due to Hashimoto's thyroiditis another 4 years for that TSH to rise to 6. A long time to suffer symptoms. In fact some of my symptoms I thought were normal until they improved taking thyroid medication. You mean clogging up the shower drain regularly with my hair isn't normal? Huh.
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649848 tn?1534633700
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