Low Thyroid Numbers but Normal Antibodies

[kris10_2]

I am a 35 year old female and when I FINALLY went to the doctor after months of hip pain and then recent back pain my doctor ordered a full blood work up just because it had been a while.  They called me the next day and said that my thyroid numbers were low and so they were going to request they do an antibodies test.  I don't know the first thing about all of this medical stuff and have a severe, probably unreasonable fear of "results" so I tend NOT to go to the doctor.  They called me after my antibodies came back normal and scheduled me for a thyroid ultrasound.  A little history of my symptoms might help so I'll tell you that I quit smoking seven months ago.  I gained 8-10 pounds gradually over about a 3 or 4 month period which I expected.  However...over the last 3-3 1/2 months, I have gained 18-20 pounds.  I have also felt extremely tired, have had lots of joint pain (that made me wonder if I could have arthritis), and have had an overall "yucky" feeling....like my body feels similar to what it has felt like when I've had the flu or some similar illness.  I'm absolutely terrified of the result of this test that I have to go get Wednesday and would love to know if anyone has experienced this same thing and if you might be willing to share their results.  I know I probably shouldn't worry YET but my biggest fear is going to the doctor and getting some terrible news.  I didn't think that at the age of 35, I would have to be worrying about something like this.  I do hope and pray that once the test is over, they find it's something that is completely treatable and will fix all that has been making me feel so uncomfortable, exhausted and irritable.  Thank you in advance for your assistance.

[gimel]

T4 is the storage form of thyroid hormone.  It is supposed to be converted to T3 as needed.  Most all of both T4 and T3 is bound up with protein and thereby inactive.  Only the small portion that is unbound (free) is the active portion.  If your body is converting adequately then the FT3 and FT4 should be fairly well balanced.  In this case a T4 med can provide enough of both hormones.  If unbalanced, and you are low in T3 then a combo T4/T3 med can be used to provide the additional T3 required to help alleviate symptoms.  I have a strong belief that the reference ranges for the "Frees" are too broad, since they have never been adjusted like the one for TSH.  This is a logical explanation for why we hear of so many patients who have FT3 and/or FT4 within the lower part of the reference range, yet they still suffer from hypo symptoms.  If you want to read more about  this, check my post to Sunshine_67 written 12 hours ago.

[kris10_2]

Is the free T3 the one that is stored and converted to free T4?  If that's the one I am lacking...isn't Armour the drug that replaces that or does Synthroid do the same thing? Thanks for the link.  I'm going to save it to favs and go read on it.

[gimel]

Just to add my two cents to this discussion, I noticed that the FT3 result was well below the midpoint of its range.  Since FT3 is four times as potent as FT4, and correlates best with hypo symptoms,  that looks to be significant to me.  I think the relatively low FT3 needs to be addressed by your doctor.  You might find some interesting info in this article.

http://www.hormonerestoration.com/Thyroid.html

[kris10_2]

I am hoping that my good feeling about this doctor is good and hoping it won't take long to get me to normal levels.  I mostly want my joints and body to stop hurting so I can go back to running every other day.  I stopped getting on the scale at 18 pounds so I don't know truly how much I've actually gained over this period of time.  The nurse that talked to me Friday when she called to give me my results said that the vitamin D supplement should help make my body feel better but it could take a couple of weeks.  I can handle that.  I used to do Weight Watchers and was very successful on it.  I did it without exercise though so I'm thinking that this time when I start it back up because my metabolism is compromised by the thyroid stuff, I'm going to have to be diligent about exercising too.  I don't mind walking and running with my music anyway.  It's kind of a stress reliever so as soon as my joints start feeling better I'm going to get back into it slowly and gradually.

I've heard about "parathyroids" and one of my co-workers had hers removed and never had any other problems.  I think I'll bring that up when I hear from the nurse about my antibodies.  

My throat has been hurting the last couple of days too.  It could be totally unrelated so I think I'll just keep an eye on it for a couple of days and if it gets worse, just go to my PCP and get him to take a look.  With all the flu junk floating around these days it could likely be something like that I guess.

[Barb135]

Usually once a person is on thyroid med, they have to stay on it for life.  I have heard of people going off med, but they usually end up back on it again.  

If you take med and get your levels into the normal range, some people think they are "cured" and that isn't the case.  The only reason the levels are "normal" is BECAUSE of the med.  

Also, don't be disappointed if you don't start losing weight right away.  Sometimes people on synthroid DO lose weight, but then there are those of us who don't.  I gained about 30 pounds in approximately a 3 month period.  I've been on thyroid med for about 18 months and have just recently gotten my levels to a point that will allow me to lose weight.  The thing you need to concentrate on first is getting your body healed and well, then worry about the weight.  

Vitamin D and magnesium are necessary in order to absorb calcium.  Lack of calcium could cause osteopenia/osteoporosis.  You should talk to your doctor about taking supplements.  I take 1200 mg/day.  

Has anyone thought about looking into your parathyroids?  

[kris10_2]

If my Calcium is normal, should I still take a supplement maybe?  I mean, if I did, is there any chance of overdosing on it or anything like that?  I don't know how long I've been D deficient but couldn't that cause bone problems if I have been deficient for quite some time?  Maybe adding Calcium would be helpful.  I used to take Magnesium and also Primrose Oil for something else so maybe I'll start taking them again.  I never know how much of them to take though.  Usually just taking what's on the bottle doesn't seem to help anything.

It was kind of funny at my sons football game because I thought it was going to be cloudy and rainy the whole time.  Well the sun came out nice and bright and hot and I had told my fellow team mom that I was D deficient and so I rolled my sleeves up as much as I could and kept saying throughout the game "yep, soaking up the D".  LOL!!!  

OH yeah..  Also...I thought in all of my reading that I read most people who go on Thyroid hormones had to pretty much stay on them forever?  I was talking to another team mom and told her what my doc had said and she said that I'll be able to start losing some of my weight once on the Synthroid because I would feel better.  She also said she did and then she didn't need it anymore after a while.  Is it possible to only have a temporary thyroid problem?