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1518892 tn?1290901650

I am at a loss on my symptoms

These symptoms started within the past year or two. I am overweight to begin with, but the last year I have gained about 30 lbs and I am finding it very hard to lose. I have two kids that I stay active with i.e. football, softball, baseball, and Girl Scouts. Then all of a sudden I started noticing more hair than normal coming out while taking a shower and brushing my hair. Then about 7 months ago I noticed my hair thining right at the hair line of my forehead. Mind you, I have VERY VERY thick hair and always have until recently. I am now to the point I feel like I can't get enough sleep and I am taking Trazadone 100 mg for the sleep and it's also helping the depression. Over the last 2 months I have been on my menstrual cycle, non-stop. I went in to see my doctor about this and they are a little concerned. The other problem I have noticed the past 3 weeks is the joints in my hands and feet hurt so bad all the time. I can't make a fist or even snap my fingers because they hurt. They did the TSH levels about 6 months ago and it was a 2.2. I have been reading where they consider that to be borderline. I know my body and I know there is a problem. Everything I have been experiencing points to Hypothyroidism. The last two months have been the absolute worst with all the probelms. The past two months I have experienced:
~Menstrual cycle being irregular (bleeding for 2 months straight. Going between a couple heavy days a week to light the rest of the time)
~joint pain in my extremeties
~hair loss getting worse. It's very dry no matter what shampoo/conditioner I use.
~I have absolutely no patience anymore. (The smallest things set me off)
~my throat has been real sore and I have had a very dry cough. I seem to lose my voice for no apparent reason. (I had a flu shot three weeks ago)
~In a days time I could sleep 18 hours out of the day and still be tired. I have to force myself to get up so I stay awake.
One other thing that has come up in the last year is allergies. I have never had an allergy problem in my life. Now all of a sudden I have severe allergies to Bahia and bermuda grass, oak, maple, cats, shrimp, cockroaches, all molds, all dust, feathers, yellow jackets, and wasps. I go for another set of allergy tests on December 8. They did the last allergy testing poking me 45 times in the arms with the needles to see the severity of the allergy.
I also had a sleep study done about 2 months ago. He said I slowed my breathing during sleep but never stopped breathing. I was told with weight loss that could be corrected on its on.
My ENT has decided to take out my tonsils (because they are HUGE) and adenoids.

My doctor says if my TSH levels aren't above a 4.0 then, the thyroid isn't my problem. Is it possible that you have what they call flare ups where your tests would more likely be positive? Please somebody help. I am losing my mind with all these problems.
4 Responses
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798555 tn?1292787551
To really rule out Hashimoto you need to test TPO and TgAb antibodies.  Then Free T3 and Free T4 levels, don't rely on TSH.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi Amy,

I cannot speak to all of your symptoms because I'm a guy. :)  But I can relate to the frustration around knowing your body and being told its not your thyroid.  I had two nodules (lumps on thyroid) that actually could be felt and seen.  I started getting hyper symptoms pretty bad (tremendous anxiety, tremors, short temper, sweating, muscle aches, tingling, numbness all sorts of crazy stuff) I had my thyroid levels tested 4 times over a period of 5 months. (once was literally when I was sitting in my dr's office shaking, sweating, and a complete mess...the test came back "normal")
I then went to a top notch endocrinoligist who ran a complete panel on me and it still came back "within normal range".  It wasn't until I had another terrible flare up that they finally caught my levels "out of range" and hyper. The only thing that kept me persistent was the lump on my neck was there and everytime it swelled up my symptoms came back. I was a perfectly healthy person until then.

I ended up having surgery to remove the overactive nodules. (please dont freak out, I was a rare case of having a "hot nodule".)
I am now in the process of feeling hypo, achy muscles, tired all the time, swollen achey hands etc......well I went and got my levels tested 5 weeks after surgery and my tsh was 2.6.  I thought for sure the endo would say "yes you probably need some thyroid replacement"..NOPE....his response was "the symptoms aren't your thyroid, fatigue for a few months after surgery is common and if it continues you should look for other causes"  Now keep in mind the new normal top level is 3.03. So if my test was just 15% different then I would have been labeled "Hypo" and could have gotten started on replacement meds. Its a very small window.
my plan is to wait a few more weeks and see if things improve, if they don't then I am getting my levels tested again in spite of what he said. I am not hating on dr's by any stretch, what I am trying to tell you is you know your body, if you have a lump on your neck that could be a thyroid nodule and it could be throwing off your levels and causing you symptoms.  Unfortunately you almost have to "hit the jackpot" and have your test come back abnormal for them to believe it is the thyroid.

If you had your thyroid level tested make sure they test TSH, Free T4 and Free T3. Also have them test your thyroid antibodies.  Your TSH can lag behind your symptoms and not be a true indicator of your actual thyroid levels. Of course at my last test they didn't do that, they only tested TSH.  My Dr said it is because he ordered it as a reflex test meaning if the TSH is out of range then the lab would automatically run the other tests, if its in range they call it a day.

Be persistent and get an answer to your questions. If the Dr doesn't think it is thyroid then tell them to test you for things it may be.

When I started having these issues I did a lot of research and I would see people posting all the time about how difficult it was to actually get diagnosed. Funny but I ended up in the same boat in trying to get a diagnosis as well.

Good luck

Helpful - 0
1299122 tn?1281040416
Hi Amy,
Any lump deserves attention. Do not be fearful, but do be pro-active. My TSH numbers were in range over the years too - all the while I had undiagnosed auto-immune thryoid disease (Hashimotos Thyroiditis) that was attacking my thryoid gland causing nodules to form. Now I have to have needle biopsies performed every 6 months.
Ask your doctor to run thyroid antibodies test for you. TSH can be in range even though your thyroid hormones are below optimum levels.
Like you said, you KNOW your body and you can tell when something is up. If your current doctor will not investigate - find a doctor who will. You will read on this forum how people suffered for years expecting their physicians to help them, only to be given anti-depressants and referrals to pyschologists when it was a thyroidand hormonal issues all along. I went to four doctors several times over an 11 month period to FINALLY get my diagnosis of thryoid disease. Good luck!
Helpful - 0
1518892 tn?1290901650
I have also just noticed over the last couple days a large lump on the right side of my neck towards the collar bone. I don't know how long it has been there. I just wish I could get someone to listen to me.. It is so depressing to know you have a problem and pretty much have diagnosed yourself but your doctor won't listen. I have some labs to do Monday morning and I think I am going to see my doctor as soon as I am done about this lump.
Helpful - 0
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