is this my thyroid?

[Aggie1]

Dear Dr. Lupo, I have been trying to get a possible answer to this question and possibly you can help.  I have been on synthroid for 10 years now and there is a long history of thyroid problems in the family (Hashimoto's).  I have had these strange symptoms that have come and gone about four times over the course of 16 years with this last bout staying the longest and being the worst.  Fatigue, trouble going up the stairs without getting out of breath, sleep disturbances, muscle pain, feet pain with almost a neuropathic pain, severe muscle cramping at times, some hoarseness and a few times some dry mouth,eyes with difficulty swallowing without a lot of water.  Also feeling like there is somethng in my throat preventing swallowing at times.  I have Rayauds that developed about five years ago as well.  I had my GP do an ANA test to see if it may be another autioimmune disease (my sister had Discoid Lupus) and my ANA level came back 1:1230 high with centromere pattern.  My question is this though.  Could this be just thyroid issues as I have read this ANA pattern can be attributed to Raynaud's alone or do I need to be thinking CREST syndrome.  I do not have any skin symptoms only the Raynaud's of this disorder, no esophageal problems that I can call obvious.  I will be seeing a Rheumatologist in the near future but should I be seeing an ENDO instead?  Thank you for your answers!

[Aggie1]

Thanks for the help, what is the book?  I have been going the very natural route and I am hoping it helps, Moducare ( a natural plant serol and sterolin) chinese herbs and acupunture and lots of nutritional support such as Natural Calm, Holy  basil, insositol for relaxing and when I do Chinese relaxation I can really feel the difference in the pain.  On days when I do not get enough sleep like last night, the end of the day is a killer.  I really want to try and avoid steroids and any chemo drugs to suppress immune system so I am scared to go to the rhumatologist to get the firm diagnosis.  Hoping this is mainly that my thyroid is not quite right as my symtoms have just left me for years at a time and they will come and go throughout the day and travel from limb to limb.  I feel like I am loosing my mind.  I hope my boys will have the advantage of being male and things seem more even for guys  because they do not have the hormone factor we lucky girls do.  I am definitely going through the perimenopausal stage.  I also have started on the eat right for your blood type diet and feel it is certainly a good thing ( even though  I tend to eat well anyway)  Does anyone have any thoughts on that eating program? Hopefully these things will eventually kick in and I will feel better soon.  I have to tell myself there are people dealing with worse out there!  Oh, I have also incorporated the magnet therapy in our bed.  It has definitely helped my husband's bad back and me overnight.  There is some efficacy to it as we investigated it thoroughly before trying.  A friend is a consultant for Nikken and she loaned us the sleep system and it has proven to be effective in pain levels.  I am now afraid to be without the magnets!  Sounds crazy I know and I was the most skeptical but I thought I would mention for those of you reading posts.  Thanks again, I am anxious to see what my blood levels are now as my last one a year and a half ago and for about the last 5 years has not been under 2.6 and hovers at around 4.5. Aggie

[frootbar]

no problem.  well, Dr. Lupo has suggested to me (and others) that our TSH should
be around 2, or between 1 and 2.  I typically sit anywhere between .5 and 6, but usually
around 2.5ish.  if i get up to 4, i start to feel unwell and tired even more.
i have tons of antibodies, and i'm certain they are draining on my system.  my ana was
also positive, but weak at the time.  i hear you.  i work 6 days a week and with the hashimoto's and the other symptoms it's pretty much killing me.
hope your boys are ok.  there's a new book out on the autoimmune epidemic and it
really stinks to have these diseases for sure.

frootbar.

[AR-10]

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[Aggie1]

Dear frootbar, thanks for your comment.  I also forgot to add to my original question that my TSH has ran around 4.2 the last year and a half and I haven't had it checked for a year since those levels!  I was told they were in the normal range but I am now seeing on this forum how that is really not "normal" for treated hypo.  I definitely want to get meds straightened out to see if my symptoms get better cause this is no fun.  Have to work full time as I am the breadwinner at home right now.  This forum has given a lot of info to me that hopefully will be helpful down the road.  My two boys have Hashimoto's too and I am concerned about them. Thanks! Aggie

[frootbar]

you've described my situation almost to a T.
Dr. Lupo suggested another autoimmune problem for me, and my parathyroid has
acted up a few times.
for what it's worth, sounds like we are both on the verge of another one on top of our
hashimoto's, but i'm not the doctor so hopefully he'll help you out.

frootbar.