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Mystery Disease with Possible Thyroid Connection
I am a 26 y/o f and I have been very sick for some time and wonder if it is thyroid related:
* In December 2009, I went to bed with a mild knee pain, and woke up bedridden with excruciating pain in both knees. My knees weren't weak, they were just hurting a lot. Months and years following December 2009, doctors did a series of tests, but all of them came back inconclusive, though I am still unable to walk despite some improvements. The doctors don't think it is an infection, an auto-immune disease or reactive arthritis (No Lupus, RA, FMF, etc.). They have also checked for bunch of STD's all of which were negative.
* In May 2012, my wrists started hurting just as randomly as knees did, and never fully healed.
* In October 2012, I got into a car accident that was not very serious at all, but I hurt my back as a result and it never fully healed.
* In May 2013, my hips started hurting out of nowhere just like my knees and wrists, never fully healed.
* Also In May 2103, both my eyes got some sort of infection that never fully went away (the doctor says there is nothing wrong with them other than mild allergy), but my eyes still hurt/itch pretty often and I can't wear contacts. I never had an eye infection since I started wearing contacts in 2001.
* In December 2013, my ears became very sensitive to noise -especially high-pitched, and they hurt.
* The pain is never just located in the joints. It's mostly the muscles. For instance, when my knees hurt, it's the entire frontal knee and the IT band and some other leg muscles. When wrists hurt, it's the wrists and certain muscles in my forearms.
* Sometimes small areas like my thumbs or my toes hurt for a while and then the pain mostly goes away.
* There is never any swelling or redness. All X-rays, MRI's, etc. are normal
* I often (at least once a month) get migraine-like headaches that last anywhere from six hours to two weeks.
* I used to get chronic vaginal yeast infections (first started in 2007) --but I stopped getting them since I was put on a very restrictive diet in July 2011 (no dairy, gluten, sugar, fruits, nuts, soy, caffeine, mushrooms, vinegar, yeast, alcohol)
* I used to get bloated quite often but stopped since I started my boring restrictive diet.
* I have had skin lesions since I was in elementary school.
* In February 2012, I saw a chiropractor who thought I have yeast overgrowth. The herbal supplements he put me on improved my life significantly, but has not resolved my issues completely.
* I am very sensitive to medication in general, and often show severe side effects which scares me.
* I had TB, chicken pox, measles, onset of pneumonia, and a UTI as a child. I also had two other UTI's since I've become an adult - meaning I was exposed to a lot of antibiotics.
* I had Hep B and HPV vaccinations.
* I have started taking probiotics because one of the tests showed that my gut has almost zero lactobacillus and bifidobacterium.
* For some time, I have been wondering if my issues can be thyroid related. My thyroid levels are slightly not normal. My new doctor (since November 2013) told me that given my symptoms even though my thyroid levels are not too crazy, she wants to put me on thyroid medicine. I would love to hear what other people with thyroid issues think about this. Do you think that's a good idea? Did/Does anyone have a similar story to mine? Do you have any questions and/or suggestions? If I take the medicine for a while, will I become dependent on it? The new doctor says my body can learn how to make its own hormones if we introduce some hormone therapy to guide it and then I can be off the medicine.
Below is a list of TSH, Free T3, and some other thyroid related test results and dates.
10-Jun-2010: TSH 1.86 (0.4-4..0)
30-Dec-201: TSH 3.23 (0.27-4.2)
22-Dec-2012: TSH 4.62 (0.27-4.2) / Free T3 2.94 (2.0-4.4) / Free T4 1.08 (0.93-1.70) / TPO 17.05 (0-34) / Thyroglobulin 45.65 (0-115) / Parathormone 39.63 (15-65)
8-Aug-2013: Free T3 3 (2.3-4.2) / TPO 36 (<35) / TSI <89% (<140%)
7-Oct-2013: TSH 1.74 (0.4-4.5) / Free T4 1.1 (0.8-1.8)
25-Nov-2013: 3.77 (.45-4.5) / TPO 41 (0-34) / Thyroglobulin 3.8 (0-0.9)
The past four years has been like trying to find my way in pitch dark. I would appreciate any and all insights, tips, opinions on this. Thanks for reading!
* In December 2009, I went to bed with a mild knee pain, and woke up bedridden with excruciating pain in both knees. My knees weren't weak, they were just hurting a lot. Months and years following December 2009, doctors did a series of tests, but all of them came back inconclusive, though I am still unable to walk despite some improvements. The doctors don't think it is an infection, an auto-immune disease or reactive arthritis (No Lupus, RA, FMF, etc.). They have also checked for bunch of STD's all of which were negative.
* In May 2012, my wrists started hurting just as randomly as knees did, and never fully healed.
* In October 2012, I got into a car accident that was not very serious at all, but I hurt my back as a result and it never fully healed.
* In May 2013, my hips started hurting out of nowhere just like my knees and wrists, never fully healed.
* Also In May 2103, both my eyes got some sort of infection that never fully went away (the doctor says there is nothing wrong with them other than mild allergy), but my eyes still hurt/itch pretty often and I can't wear contacts. I never had an eye infection since I started wearing contacts in 2001.
* In December 2013, my ears became very sensitive to noise -especially high-pitched, and they hurt.
* The pain is never just located in the joints. It's mostly the muscles. For instance, when my knees hurt, it's the entire frontal knee and the IT band and some other leg muscles. When wrists hurt, it's the wrists and certain muscles in my forearms.
* Sometimes small areas like my thumbs or my toes hurt for a while and then the pain mostly goes away.
* There is never any swelling or redness. All X-rays, MRI's, etc. are normal
* I often (at least once a month) get migraine-like headaches that last anywhere from six hours to two weeks.
* I used to get chronic vaginal yeast infections (first started in 2007) --but I stopped getting them since I was put on a very restrictive diet in July 2011 (no dairy, gluten, sugar, fruits, nuts, soy, caffeine, mushrooms, vinegar, yeast, alcohol)
* I used to get bloated quite often but stopped since I started my boring restrictive diet.
* I have had skin lesions since I was in elementary school.
* In February 2012, I saw a chiropractor who thought I have yeast overgrowth. The herbal supplements he put me on improved my life significantly, but has not resolved my issues completely.
* I am very sensitive to medication in general, and often show severe side effects which scares me.
* I had TB, chicken pox, measles, onset of pneumonia, and a UTI as a child. I also had two other UTI's since I've become an adult - meaning I was exposed to a lot of antibiotics.
* I had Hep B and HPV vaccinations.
* I have started taking probiotics because one of the tests showed that my gut has almost zero lactobacillus and bifidobacterium.
* For some time, I have been wondering if my issues can be thyroid related. My thyroid levels are slightly not normal. My new doctor (since November 2013) told me that given my symptoms even though my thyroid levels are not too crazy, she wants to put me on thyroid medicine. I would love to hear what other people with thyroid issues think about this. Do you think that's a good idea? Did/Does anyone have a similar story to mine? Do you have any questions and/or suggestions? If I take the medicine for a while, will I become dependent on it? The new doctor says my body can learn how to make its own hormones if we introduce some hormone therapy to guide it and then I can be off the medicine.
Below is a list of TSH, Free T3, and some other thyroid related test results and dates.
10-Jun-2010: TSH 1.86 (0.4-4..0)
30-Dec-201: TSH 3.23 (0.27-4.2)
22-Dec-2012: TSH 4.62 (0.27-4.2) / Free T3 2.94 (2.0-4.4) / Free T4 1.08 (0.93-1.70) / TPO 17.05 (0-34) / Thyroglobulin 45.65 (0-115) / Parathormone 39.63 (15-65)
8-Aug-2013: Free T3 3 (2.3-4.2) / TPO 36 (<35) / TSI <89% (<140%)
7-Oct-2013: TSH 1.74 (0.4-4.5) / Free T4 1.1 (0.8-1.8)
25-Nov-2013: 3.77 (.45-4.5) / TPO 41 (0-34) / Thyroglobulin 3.8 (0-0.9)
The past four years has been like trying to find my way in pitch dark. I would appreciate any and all insights, tips, opinions on this. Thanks for reading!
Qwest and LabCorp lab specifics for Lyme bacteria are very inaccurate, many false negatives. A CD-57 test from LabCorp checks "killer" Tcell levels, which lyme reduces lower than nedded. Other testing for Lyme and other tick infections are best done by specialty labs.
Lately, I have started experiencing some memory and attention deficit problems; however, this is not to the extend that I can say that I have full force brain fog issues.
I did not know that there is a test for leaky gut syndrome. I'll look into this, and also into Genova Diagnostics and Active Release Technics. On the other hand, I got tested for lyme twice (Quest) and the results were negative. I've heard that there are "good" and "bad" labs for lyme testing, but one of the doctors I've seen said that every sample he sent to one of those "good" labs (in Palo Alto, CA) came positive so I do not know who to trust and how to pursue this end further. I also got tested for food sensitivities and nothing stood out to explain what I am going through. Celiac sensitivity, H-Pylori and Parvovirus tests came back negative also.
As for the deficiencies, in December 2012 my zinc was below normal (50, nml: 65-137 ug/dl) and iron was in low normal range (29, nml: 15-150 ug/L) and I took some zinc supplements. Also, my Calcium was low (8.5, nml: 8.8-10.2 mg/dl). On the same test Vit-D levels were low normal (32.1, nml: 30-50 ng/mL). My sodium, magnesium and phosphor levels were normal. None of the doctors was able to give a logical explanation for my symptoms based on those values.
Since I've started the restrictive diet I'm on, I had only one or two vaginal yeast infections. If I try to include one of the "no" items (like eating one/two blueberry or butter), my yeast symptoms come back with increased knee and muscle pain so I'm afraid to play with others. Also, I'm always in pain since February, 2013 so it's hard to differentiate between the causes. I would not know if the pain is caused by the food item I included or not.
I checked out the functional medicine MD's after reading your replies and came across with a name that I've found onAbout.com ("how to find a good thyroid doc") also. I agree that I need a health "detective" that has the capacity and mind set for looking things in its wholeness. I'm also researching about fecal transplant and the effects of gut microbiota on wellbeing of the whole body. My next step would be to find ways to test my gut microbiota and find out what is missing (if any) and to find a health detective who is willing to walk in this darkness with me to finally reach the light.
Did any of you have any idea and/or experience about orthomolecular medicine practitioners (orthomolecular.org)?
Thank you all for taking time and replying my post. I wish you all a happy and healthy New Year.
I did not know that there is a test for leaky gut syndrome. I'll look into this, and also into Genova Diagnostics and Active Release Technics. On the other hand, I got tested for lyme twice (Quest) and the results were negative. I've heard that there are "good" and "bad" labs for lyme testing, but one of the doctors I've seen said that every sample he sent to one of those "good" labs (in Palo Alto, CA) came positive so I do not know who to trust and how to pursue this end further. I also got tested for food sensitivities and nothing stood out to explain what I am going through. Celiac sensitivity, H-Pylori and Parvovirus tests came back negative also.
As for the deficiencies, in December 2012 my zinc was below normal (50, nml: 65-137 ug/dl) and iron was in low normal range (29, nml: 15-150 ug/L) and I took some zinc supplements. Also, my Calcium was low (8.5, nml: 8.8-10.2 mg/dl). On the same test Vit-D levels were low normal (32.1, nml: 30-50 ng/mL). My sodium, magnesium and phosphor levels were normal. None of the doctors was able to give a logical explanation for my symptoms based on those values.
Since I've started the restrictive diet I'm on, I had only one or two vaginal yeast infections. If I try to include one of the "no" items (like eating one/two blueberry or butter), my yeast symptoms come back with increased knee and muscle pain so I'm afraid to play with others. Also, I'm always in pain since February, 2013 so it's hard to differentiate between the causes. I would not know if the pain is caused by the food item I included or not.
I checked out the functional medicine MD's after reading your replies and came across with a name that I've found onAbout.com ("how to find a good thyroid doc") also. I agree that I need a health "detective" that has the capacity and mind set for looking things in its wholeness. I'm also researching about fecal transplant and the effects of gut microbiota on wellbeing of the whole body. My next step would be to find ways to test my gut microbiota and find out what is missing (if any) and to find a health detective who is willing to walk in this darkness with me to finally reach the light.
Did any of you have any idea and/or experience about orthomolecular medicine practitioners (orthomolecular.org)?
Thank you all for taking time and replying my post. I wish you all a happy and healthy New Year.
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I agree that your thyroid labs don't really support all the symptoms you have. Increased TPOab and TGab are indicators of Hashimoto's, but the antibodies, themselves, won't cause symptoms and your actual thyroid levels don't indicate a resulting hypothyroidism, except a couple of high TSH levels.
Have there been labs done for other things, such as vitamin D, magnesium or other possible deficiencies?
Also agree that you should get tested for tic-borne disease.
I'm trying to figure out how you can have a yeast over-growth with such a restrictive diet.
Because your thyroid levels are somewhat low (unfortunately, your testing hasn't been consistent, with the same parameters tested each time), a low dose of thyroid medication would probably not hurt, but I think I'm pretty safe saying, it's not going to be the answer to your illness. In addition, once a person has Hashimoto's, with the resulting hypothyroidism, they are on medication for life. Your doctor can't "retrain" your thyroid.
Have there been labs done for other things, such as vitamin D, magnesium or other possible deficiencies?
Also agree that you should get tested for tic-borne disease.
I'm trying to figure out how you can have a yeast over-growth with such a restrictive diet.
Because your thyroid levels are somewhat low (unfortunately, your testing hasn't been consistent, with the same parameters tested each time), a low dose of thyroid medication would probably not hurt, but I think I'm pretty safe saying, it's not going to be the answer to your illness. In addition, once a person has Hashimoto's, with the resulting hypothyroidism, they are on medication for life. Your doctor can't "retrain" your thyroid.
Gut health is #1
The best probiotic is LVS#3. It has 112 BILLION of the good stuff in it. From the LVS site its $55 for 60 count. But it works better than everything else (3 lac is not that good) and needs refrigeration. Some clinic pharmacies have it or can get it.
The best probiotic is LVS#3. It has 112 BILLION of the good stuff in it. From the LVS site its $55 for 60 count. But it works better than everything else (3 lac is not that good) and needs refrigeration. Some clinic pharmacies have it or can get it.
Wow.
Obviously your whole body has something going on. If it was all from just your thyroid, I think your thyroid lab #'s would be worse than they are. You are just barely over the limit on both Hashimoto antibodies.
You do not mention any cognitive brain fog issues?
It is now thought autoimmune thyroid can start up from many deeper health issues- and thyroid disease can sometime be a symptom of some other infection or disease. If the thyroid is treated optimally and you still have symptoms, its time to look at other causes.
You have really bad symptoms for a thyroid that does not look to terrible from a lab # standpoint.
You have seen regular MDs from what I can tell. They are limited in specific areas- not the whole body. Chiros have stepped into this area but are not the best either. What you can benefit from is a functional medicine MD - they are everything combined and look for the cause of the big picture.
1)So you have yeast overgrowth,
2)possible leaky gut from what I know about it - there is a test that can prove it now.
3)your not sure of what food sensitivity you have - Looks like your officially on the elimination diet. The idea is to slowly add back one at a time to see what you can or cant handle. This is important to figure out. If a Dr put you on this diet - talk about it.
4)You hurt all over - that can be from the above, or something else.
5) The above issues can be looked further in detail with test from Genova Diagnostics. But you need a brilliant functional MD that can decipher the tests.
6)All of your symptoms also fall inline with tic borne illnesses, which you did not mention. The aching knees and hearing sensitivities kind of set these apart from other issues. But you dont mention cognitive problems - even though not all get that. Regular MDs do not know how to diagnose tic borne illness, nope they dont, really. These specialists usually do not take insurance, sometimes are functional MD's (good), and are called Lyme Literate MD's. One more important thing to consider. PS, standard western blot, elisa, lime titer all have less than 30% accuracy.
I've had all that body pain. Thje whole body was tight and twisting. But I stopped it and I'm 90% healed. Drugs are not the answer. You need to get the knots, adhesion's out and get good circulation again so the tendons and white ends of muscle will heal.. Google Active Release Technique.Or u tube it to watch.It works I wasted $ on all the other technics. I'm not kidding here. I bought a therea cane and do ART on my own now. You start with your hands, forearms, triceps and biceps,, cause you need them to do everything else (they are your tools).
thats my brain storming for now. As you can tell, this all looks familiar to me.
Obviously your whole body has something going on. If it was all from just your thyroid, I think your thyroid lab #'s would be worse than they are. You are just barely over the limit on both Hashimoto antibodies.
You do not mention any cognitive brain fog issues?
It is now thought autoimmune thyroid can start up from many deeper health issues- and thyroid disease can sometime be a symptom of some other infection or disease. If the thyroid is treated optimally and you still have symptoms, its time to look at other causes.
You have really bad symptoms for a thyroid that does not look to terrible from a lab # standpoint.
You have seen regular MDs from what I can tell. They are limited in specific areas- not the whole body. Chiros have stepped into this area but are not the best either. What you can benefit from is a functional medicine MD - they are everything combined and look for the cause of the big picture.
1)So you have yeast overgrowth,
2)possible leaky gut from what I know about it - there is a test that can prove it now.
3)your not sure of what food sensitivity you have - Looks like your officially on the elimination diet. The idea is to slowly add back one at a time to see what you can or cant handle. This is important to figure out. If a Dr put you on this diet - talk about it.
4)You hurt all over - that can be from the above, or something else.
5) The above issues can be looked further in detail with test from Genova Diagnostics. But you need a brilliant functional MD that can decipher the tests.
6)All of your symptoms also fall inline with tic borne illnesses, which you did not mention. The aching knees and hearing sensitivities kind of set these apart from other issues. But you dont mention cognitive problems - even though not all get that. Regular MDs do not know how to diagnose tic borne illness, nope they dont, really. These specialists usually do not take insurance, sometimes are functional MD's (good), and are called Lyme Literate MD's. One more important thing to consider. PS, standard western blot, elisa, lime titer all have less than 30% accuracy.
I've had all that body pain. Thje whole body was tight and twisting. But I stopped it and I'm 90% healed. Drugs are not the answer. You need to get the knots, adhesion's out and get good circulation again so the tendons and white ends of muscle will heal.. Google Active Release Technique.Or u tube it to watch.It works I wasted $ on all the other technics. I'm not kidding here. I bought a therea cane and do ART on my own now. You start with your hands, forearms, triceps and biceps,, cause you need them to do everything else (they are your tools).
thats my brain storming for now. As you can tell, this all looks familiar to me.
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Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
1) A diet that supports overgrowth (you know that already)
2) Taking antibiotics with out probiotics (minimum 3 hours apart)
3) Having a generally low immune system - which can happen from other illness or overall body infections. This is why many people with tic borne illness which lowers the immune system (Quest and Labcorp can test this) also have internal yeast overgrowth - their immune efficiency is low.