Aa
do i listen to my GP or get another opinion?
Hi there,
I went to my doctor initially for tremors in my hands, he tested my thyroid (as he thought it would be hyper) but came back as tsh=7.4, with my t4 and t3 normal level. My second test came back tsh=6.7, my third test came back as tsh=4.7 all t3 and t4 testing normal. Although my thyroid peroxidaise came back at 155. Im getting symptoms of hand tremors, depression, constipation, fatigue, disrupted sleep, long sleeping periods but not refreshed, lack of concentration, braig fog, dry skin, palpitations, nausea, itching (with no rash), strong smelling urine. My GP is not going to give me any treatment and has been testing my bloods for other causes of these symptoms but nothing has come back. Instead i have been given antidepressents and the elbow! What should i do?
I went to my doctor initially for tremors in my hands, he tested my thyroid (as he thought it would be hyper) but came back as tsh=7.4, with my t4 and t3 normal level. My second test came back tsh=6.7, my third test came back as tsh=4.7 all t3 and t4 testing normal. Although my thyroid peroxidaise came back at 155. Im getting symptoms of hand tremors, depression, constipation, fatigue, disrupted sleep, long sleeping periods but not refreshed, lack of concentration, braig fog, dry skin, palpitations, nausea, itching (with no rash), strong smelling urine. My GP is not going to give me any treatment and has been testing my bloods for other causes of these symptoms but nothing has come back. Instead i have been given antidepressents and the elbow! What should i do?
K26 I have no doubt whatsoever that your symptoms are related to thyroid disorder.
My TSH was 1.4 to 2.8 (in range) throughout the entire time I was feeling awful, like my body was falling apart. Like Mary said, TSH is only a indicator of thryoid function. And definitely ask for copies of all of your labs! I just looked at my last lab report yesterday and saw that I am bordeline anemic and neither of the doctors have said a word to me! Now I must address this!
Mary, I have Hashimotos and have spent months at a time in a hyper-thyroid state (the hyper/hypo rollercoaster) Over the last few years I have weighed anywhere from 116 to 165 not understanding the reasons for the bizarre weight gain & losses when my food intake remained pretty much the same. I went for weeks & months suffering from panic attacks, anxiety and heart palps. I was so thin at one point I thought I had cancer (I was 42 yrs old). I am sure I was suffereing bone loss during those times, also heightened by the fact I had a complete hysterectomy with my ovaries removed in 1998. I realize that osteoporosis is related to high T3 levels (which I am sure I had during those hyper months from time to time)
Now that my disease has progressed to the predominantly hypo stage, I am hoping that my bone loss will stabilize.
My TSH was 1.4 to 2.8 (in range) throughout the entire time I was feeling awful, like my body was falling apart. Like Mary said, TSH is only a indicator of thryoid function. And definitely ask for copies of all of your labs! I just looked at my last lab report yesterday and saw that I am bordeline anemic and neither of the doctors have said a word to me! Now I must address this!
Mary, I have Hashimotos and have spent months at a time in a hyper-thyroid state (the hyper/hypo rollercoaster) Over the last few years I have weighed anywhere from 116 to 165 not understanding the reasons for the bizarre weight gain & losses when my food intake remained pretty much the same. I went for weeks & months suffering from panic attacks, anxiety and heart palps. I was so thin at one point I thought I had cancer (I was 42 yrs old). I am sure I was suffereing bone loss during those times, also heightened by the fact I had a complete hysterectomy with my ovaries removed in 1998. I realize that osteoporosis is related to high T3 levels (which I am sure I had during those hyper months from time to time)
Now that my disease has progressed to the predominantly hypo stage, I am hoping that my bone loss will stabilize.
COMMUNITY LEADER
You need to RUN, not walk, for another opinion. First off, you have classic symptoms of being hypo and with your high TPOab, obviously have Hashi's. Secondly, it appears that your doctor is basing your thyroid status solely on TSH, which is almost always disastrous.
It's not the high TSH that causes the hypo symptoms, it's the lack of Free T3 and Free T4, which are the actual thyroid hormones. TSH is a pituitary hormone and should not be used to diagnose thyroid issues; instead it should be used only as an indicator of thyroid function and if it's out of range, further testing should be done.
Shelley - studies indicate that it's high levels of FT3 that are linked to osteoporosis, not "low thyroid" or low/suppressed TSH as has been thought. My own TSH stays at
< 0.01 all the time and is not a concern as long as my FT levels are good.
naka11 -- it might be helpful if you repost your questions into a new thread, as your situation is quite different from k26's, so your questions may not get the answers they deserve; you can go to the top of the screen where it says "Post a New Question" to do that.
That said, in your case, I have to ask if you were put on thyroid replacement med following your TT? Following a TT, your antibodies would go into remission, since they only attack thyroid tissue; unless there was still some healthy thyroid tissue left, therefore your symptoms would not be caused by the Hashi's, but rather by being hypo. With no thyroid you can't produce the hormones your body needs, so either you need to be on med or you may need an increase if you are on med.
In any event, you both need to have your FT3 and FT4 levels tested. When getting blood work done, always make sure you get a copy of the lab report for your own records, so you can keep tabs on your levels. I mark on my lab sheet, the med/dosage I'm on when the blood was drawn, along with how I felt at the time, including a list of symptoms. This way, I know what levels I feel best at, and those become my "target".
It's not the high TSH that causes the hypo symptoms, it's the lack of Free T3 and Free T4, which are the actual thyroid hormones. TSH is a pituitary hormone and should not be used to diagnose thyroid issues; instead it should be used only as an indicator of thyroid function and if it's out of range, further testing should be done.
Shelley - studies indicate that it's high levels of FT3 that are linked to osteoporosis, not "low thyroid" or low/suppressed TSH as has been thought. My own TSH stays at
< 0.01 all the time and is not a concern as long as my FT levels are good.
naka11 -- it might be helpful if you repost your questions into a new thread, as your situation is quite different from k26's, so your questions may not get the answers they deserve; you can go to the top of the screen where it says "Post a New Question" to do that.
That said, in your case, I have to ask if you were put on thyroid replacement med following your TT? Following a TT, your antibodies would go into remission, since they only attack thyroid tissue; unless there was still some healthy thyroid tissue left, therefore your symptoms would not be caused by the Hashi's, but rather by being hypo. With no thyroid you can't produce the hormones your body needs, so either you need to be on med or you may need an increase if you are on med.
In any event, you both need to have your FT3 and FT4 levels tested. When getting blood work done, always make sure you get a copy of the lab report for your own records, so you can keep tabs on your levels. I mark on my lab sheet, the med/dosage I'm on when the blood was drawn, along with how I felt at the time, including a list of symptoms. This way, I know what levels I feel best at, and those become my "target".
OMGosh, your first few sentences were exactly my experience!
You wrote,"I'm getting symptoms of hand tremors, depression, constipation, fatigue, disrupted sleep, long sleeping periods but not refreshed, lack of concentration, braig fog, dry skin, palpitations, nausea".
I went to the doctors AGAIN & AGAIN over a period of about 3 years with these VERY same symptoms. My TSH was in normal range WITH these symptoms (TSH test was done along with regular CBC, Cholesterol blood work etc) so they did not test for the antibodies at that time.
I was frantic wonderting WHAT on earth was happening to me! (My father had Parkinsons so I was very worried I inherited it!) Had they have tested me for anti-TPO levels when I presented with symptoms they'd have known it was Hashimotos! Instead they tried pushing antidepressants on me and suggested a psychologist. I am still VERY displeased with the way the (multiple) doctors misdiagnosed my symptoms.
In the meantime my untreated Hashis caused the development of nodules in both lobes. Would the nodules have developed anyway? Maybe so. But perhaps not! I also may have been able to address the very dry skin, insomnia and fatigue and depression with thryoid hormone meds much sooner. Perhaps I'd also have avoided osteoporosis since low thryoid contributes to that as well. Your TPO of 155 identifies autoimmune thyroid disease. If your current GP will not treat your hypothyroid condition I'd find one who will!
You wrote,"I'm getting symptoms of hand tremors, depression, constipation, fatigue, disrupted sleep, long sleeping periods but not refreshed, lack of concentration, braig fog, dry skin, palpitations, nausea".
I went to the doctors AGAIN & AGAIN over a period of about 3 years with these VERY same symptoms. My TSH was in normal range WITH these symptoms (TSH test was done along with regular CBC, Cholesterol blood work etc) so they did not test for the antibodies at that time.
I was frantic wonderting WHAT on earth was happening to me! (My father had Parkinsons so I was very worried I inherited it!) Had they have tested me for anti-TPO levels when I presented with symptoms they'd have known it was Hashimotos! Instead they tried pushing antidepressants on me and suggested a psychologist. I am still VERY displeased with the way the (multiple) doctors misdiagnosed my symptoms.
In the meantime my untreated Hashis caused the development of nodules in both lobes. Would the nodules have developed anyway? Maybe so. But perhaps not! I also may have been able to address the very dry skin, insomnia and fatigue and depression with thryoid hormone meds much sooner. Perhaps I'd also have avoided osteoporosis since low thryoid contributes to that as well. Your TPO of 155 identifies autoimmune thyroid disease. If your current GP will not treat your hypothyroid condition I'd find one who will!
Hi. I'm new to this forum and forums in general so I hope I'm posting this in the right place. I just read the posts above starting with K26's and was shocked to see a long list of symptoms that I've been having for a while now.
In 2004 I had my thyroid completely removed. I've been told many years ago that I had Hashimoto's and doctors had been watching the nodules on my thyroid. Finally, in 2004, after a biopsy they found a tiny dot of cancer in one of those nodules so my thyroid was removed. No radiation afterwards because they were sure they got it all. However, because there was a tiny bit of cancer, the goal for my TSH is .3 to .5. It took at least 4 years to get to that goal. Then readings were good for a while and in January they starting going haywire again. My last three readings were .38 in Jan (good); .16 in July (Low); .67 in Sept (high). I just took another blood test yesterday - no results yet.
But I write here because I've been plagued with trembling hands since January and it's driving me crazy. I went to a movement specialist and I do not have Parkinson's or any other disease like that. So they tell me I just have Essential Tremor, which runs in the family but no one in my family had it.
I also have these symptoms in varying levels: hand tremors, anxiety, fatigue, disrupted sleep, lack of concentration, braig fog, dry skin, full body tremors, itching (with no rash) on the bottoms of my feet,
My big question is whether you can still have symptoms of Hashimoto's without a thyroid. And is there anything I can do about the tremors??
Thanks for your help.
In 2004 I had my thyroid completely removed. I've been told many years ago that I had Hashimoto's and doctors had been watching the nodules on my thyroid. Finally, in 2004, after a biopsy they found a tiny dot of cancer in one of those nodules so my thyroid was removed. No radiation afterwards because they were sure they got it all. However, because there was a tiny bit of cancer, the goal for my TSH is .3 to .5. It took at least 4 years to get to that goal. Then readings were good for a while and in January they starting going haywire again. My last three readings were .38 in Jan (good); .16 in July (Low); .67 in Sept (high). I just took another blood test yesterday - no results yet.
But I write here because I've been plagued with trembling hands since January and it's driving me crazy. I went to a movement specialist and I do not have Parkinson's or any other disease like that. So they tell me I just have Essential Tremor, which runs in the family but no one in my family had it.
I also have these symptoms in varying levels: hand tremors, anxiety, fatigue, disrupted sleep, lack of concentration, braig fog, dry skin, full body tremors, itching (with no rash) on the bottoms of my feet,
My big question is whether you can still have symptoms of Hashimoto's without a thyroid. And is there anything I can do about the tremors??
Thanks for your help.
Just basing it loosely on your info without the ref ranges, you sound definitely hypo. I get exactly what you are getting and I get it when I am hypo. I was totally stumped when I was CONVINCED a few months ago I would be super hyper, but nope, TSH was 11.99! Plus my Free T3 was way down to 2.6!!!
Often times many doctors go by 'the book' for treating symptomatically, so if you have hyper type symptoms ( like the tremors) and your lab results do no show this, the doc will say, Nope you are ok. Hence the need for more education to doctors!
Depending where you live in the world, if you are in Australia for example, most of our reference ranges for example, TSH, are very wide, 0.3- 5.50 which is much higher than USA. So if the TSH (again I am only using this test as an example) comes back as in your case as 4.7. Then you are 'normal' You see my point? Hypo symptoms do not go away just because the magic number says you aren't!
So do push to get some help!
Often times many doctors go by 'the book' for treating symptomatically, so if you have hyper type symptoms ( like the tremors) and your lab results do no show this, the doc will say, Nope you are ok. Hence the need for more education to doctors!
Depending where you live in the world, if you are in Australia for example, most of our reference ranges for example, TSH, are very wide, 0.3- 5.50 which is much higher than USA. So if the TSH (again I am only using this test as an example) comes back as in your case as 4.7. Then you are 'normal' You see my point? Hypo symptoms do not go away just because the magic number says you aren't!
So do push to get some help!
First and foremost, get copies of your bloodwork. Then, post your results here with the reference ranges. The reference ranges are important to see where your results fall in the range. I have learned to question when doctor's say everything is "normal" Your pituary is obviously working too hard and that is why your TSH is high. You want to make sure that the doctor is testing the Free T3 and Free T4. You are beginning to have hypothryroid symptoms.
After you have your bloodwork in hand and have verified that he did or did not test the frees, you can then decide what to do from there.
After you have your bloodwork in hand and have verified that he did or did not test the frees, you can then decide what to do from there.
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