IS IT A THYROID PROBLEM?

[anajinn]

IS IT THYROID?
by anajinn, 1 minute ago
Tags: thyroid, frequent urination, Diabetes, Arthritis
I had been having problems with my feet and ankles, which was subsequently diagnosed as arthritis, but not rheumatoid. I also have the problems in my hands, wrists and neck.

I then had a wisdom tooth removed and took dexamethasone, which caused me to urinate a lot and all the inflammation and the edema I had had for years disappeared.

I got the doctor to give me blood tests, and they found that I am diabetic but not bad enough to require medication. It has taken four years to reach this point. Four years ago, I reached menopause and had already been taking HRT for many years, due to other problems. I continue to take the hormones, but my weight ballooned and I am double the weight I was four years ago.

18 months ago, I had some blood tests, and the doctor said everything was normal. I did not see the results until now, but wish I had done so because my thyroid was 5.1 and my glucose was 6.1

Now I have arthritis and diabetes. I eat good food and never buy convenience foods although I have been eating bread (whole grain with flax) and dairy products, and my fat and starch consumption has increased. I rarely eat sugars or baked goods.  I have gone from about 115 lbs. to about 215 lbs in four years. I am fatigued all the time, and have been suffering from anxiety and depression now for 13 years, which was prior to the weight gain and foot pain.

Since taking the dexamethasone, my frequent urination has been maintained. I now notice that I don't have the inflammation and foot pain because I am urinating frequently - not out of urgency like cystitis, but because of a full bladder. The edema in my ankles that I had before has gone.  

Last week, my diabetes reading was 7.1 with a 2 hour glucose test result of 12.1. My thyroid test was 4.5

I feel I have a thyroid problem, but my doctor says I am within range and sent me for urine testing for irrable bladder syndrome and liver problems.

What do you think? Could it be thyroid causing all my problems, including the diabetes sugar level?   My mother had thyroid problems and osteoporosis, which is why I take HRT (to avoid osteoporosis). There is no history of breast cancer. On the other side of my family, both of my grandparents died from cerebral thrombosis or cerbral haemorrhage, with high blood pressure. My blood pressure has always been on the low side.

[gimel]

The following is a copy of an email that I sent to the American Thyroid Assn. quite a while ago.  I think it will explain why your TSH is indicative of being hypo.  Also, you need to be tested for the actual, biologically active thyroid hormones, which are free T3 and free T4 (FT3 and FT4, not total T3 and total T4).  





After having gone through years of not being treated for hypothyroidism, because my TSH was 4.97 and thus "normal", I was very pleased to note that the AACE had finally recognized that the range was incorrectly determined.  After removing some suspect hypo patients' data, and recalculating the range, they recommended  it be lowered and narrowed to .3-3.0.  Six years after this recommendation, why is it that most labs and doctors still do not recognize the change and still use the old range?  Since doctors also over-rely on TSH as the gold standard for thyroid testing, multitudes of hypo patients are still being told they are "normal" and do not get treated.  Is the ATA doing anything to encourage the medical community to change this practice?   If so, why is it taking so long?

My second concern is that doctors predominantly rely on TSH in determining a patient's thyroid status.  Why is this, since TSH is a pituitary hormone that is affected by so many variables, including even the time of day when tested?  Why not promote more widespread use of the actual thyroid hormones that are biologically active (FT3 and FT4) and that largely regulate metabolism and many other body functions?  From studies I have seen and much personal experience, TSH does not even correlate very well at all  with  hypo symptoms.  The test that has been shown to correlate best with hypo symptoms is free T3.  Yet there are very few doctors that order a FT3 test as a matter of course, and some that refuse to order one at all.

When FT3 and FT4 are tested,  the ranges are so broad that patients with overt hypo symptoms will usually still fall in the lower end of the current range.   As a result they are also told they are "normal" and receive no treatment.  Why haven"t the reference ranges for FT3 and FT4 been corrected like TSH, to exclude suspect hypo patients?  If this were done, these ranges would likewise be raised and narrowed,  comparable to the new range for TSH.  I'm sure that some would say that the range is just a reference range, that as you approach the lower end of the range, that the probability of being hypo goes up and that in those cases, doctors look further to determine if medication is advisable.  I agree that this should be the case but I assure you it isn't. Labs and doctors interpret results within the reference range as "normal" and don't want to go any further.   As a result of all this above  misunderstanding and misapplication, millions of patients go untreated and remain miserable with their hypo symptoms.

Is the ATA doing anything to raise the awareness  of these problems among the medical community so that we hypo patients can look forward to some positive changes?  If you are not, then I cannot imagine any other organization that could do the work necessary to coordinate changing the awful mess that exists in the area of diagnosis and treatment of thyroid patients. Your response will be greatly appreciated.