possible hyperthyroid? please help

[codyeli82]

first, let me say i'm sorry if this is the wrong place to post this, but I need some other opinions.  my doctor has been no help (I am a student and stuck going to a student clinic)

i am a 26 year old woman who has been experiencing what i can only describe as hot flashes for about 2 years.  They used to be infrequent, but now happen almost every day and last long.  Their usually accompanied by sweating and a horrible pulsing head ache at my temples.  Since my periods are still normal and I am still young, menopause has been ruled out.  I also have night sweats.
Also, over the past two years I have lost weight- i was already pretty thing (5 feet, 100lbs) and have dropped to 88lbs without trying.  I am always hungry and thirsty.  i've also been experiencing GI problems- nothing seems to stay in me.  my hands are shaking and i'm starting to get very tired and depressed from all of this.
I've had a thyroid panel run when this first started, i was told my levels were slightly high, but nothing to be worried about.  Then, last year when things got worse, i had another panel done and was told it was "normal"
Does this sound like it could be a hyperthyroidism?  are there any other tests i can have done?
please help!  my head is pounding and i feel like my body is burning up :-(  any advice is appreciated.
thanks!

[gimel]

Just wanted to add to the discussion my opinion that the clinic is not supposed to be treating your TSH level, they should be treating your symptoms.  TSH is a pituitary hormone that has negligible correlation with patient symptoms.  Even if your TSH is barely within the low limit of its range, with all your other symptoms, you need to get the clinic or somewhere else to do a full thyroid panel of tests for you.  This should include free T3, free T4, TSH, and antibodies testing to determine possible cause for your symptoms.

[cbread]

technically .5 is in range for TSH- but everyone feels different which is why the reference range is so large .5-5 sometimes.  I feel best at a 1.0, others like to be closer to a .5   For hyperthyrodism/graves disease you want to check your total T3 to see if its within range.   I often have a low TSH but they check my T3 to make sure that is in range for my graves disease.  If you can get a full panel it may tell you more.

[codyeli82]

sorry, just wanted to bump this up in case anyone can give me advice on if I should be concerned about a 0.5 tsh (ref range 0.45-4.6) along with my symptoms?  Sorry, just anxious to get some help.  thanks!

[codyeli82]

Hi everybody!  So, I received a call from my doctor telling me everything was normal.  when i pressed her for my labs, she told me they only ran TSH (they were supposed to do a full panel....oh, well) and it was 0.5.  They're ref range went down to 0.45.  

Do you guys think this combined with the wgt loss, sweating, shakiness is suggestive of hyperthyroid?  I'm going to a new doctor wednesday- i'm guessing I should ask for a full panel?  Is there anything else I can do?

thanks for any help!  I really need it and appreciate it!



(chitchat9- originally, i had a full panel done and my T3/T4 were high, TSH normal?  that's what my doctor said.  it was a while ago and I wasn't really a good patient then
:-)

[MarianGirl]

Hey,
You are doing a wonderful job by following up with blood work...make sure they are testing TSH, TSI, T3 and T4 all these test will let you know if you hyper or hypo!

I was in your shoes a couple months ago and I didnt settle for one answer...you dont either ...keep digging!

Good Luck!

[codyeli82]

Thanks!  Yeah, the problem is with going to a student clinic, they apparently "lost" the old results I had.  I just had blood drawn for testing yesterday.  I almost hope it comes back as hyperthryoid so I know whats wrong with me!
thanks for the kindness and concern.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

[ann4512]

sorry to here u feel so terrible,have been their, u should get a copy of ur blood's and post them on site,the girl's here are great they will help u their are a few dealing with  thyroid for year's i'am only still learning about  my hyper thyroid,but will need to c what ur tsh levels are at take care xx annmarie

[ChitChatNine]

HI -- sounds like you may need a full panel workup .. I'm not a doc but when you say your levels were high were the #'s high .. if so that is hypO not hyper .. but if the #'s are low then it's HypER vs. Hypo.  Its the opposite.

Welcome to our community!

C~