Aa
preparing for my endo referral in 2 days...
Hey everyone,
Wondered if anyone can help me in what the important things to stress to the endocrinologist i am seeing this thursday are:
The history of my TSH levels are:
Dec 2008: 7.5
Feb 2009: 5.8
May 2009: 5.7
September 2009: 7.2
October 2009: 5.7
obviously they are not consistant, I have just had my Thyroid antibodies tested and the levels are normal- ruling out anything autoimmune. I have had a full blood work done for which everything else was ok.
I have over the last year suffered from: muscle weakness, tiredness, bad joint pain, extreme coldness in feet hands and nose, have gone from u.k size 4 to u.k size 8 (which doesnt bother me as i have always been too thin!), a very slight numbess in my left leg (and sometimes in my left arm), irregular periods (that are heavier than they used to be), TMJ pain (dont know if this is related or independent from thyroid problems), noticed a lot of hair falls out in the shower and when brushing, brittle nails, dry itchy eyes, vertigo (although i feel this is more related to my TMJ and grinding my teeth in my sleep).
my main worry is that my G.P keeps saying, oh, your not much over the lab range (which upper limit is 5.5) and i get so annoyed as it is still over the threshold, even if 'not by much'. She keeps trying to prescribe me mild forms of an antidepressant for my anxiety, but i keep trying to tell her that I seem so anxious because I have been feeling like this for a YEAR now and no one is doing anything.
I am worried the endo will say the same thing? Does anyone know whether they use more sensitive lab ranges or will maybe trial me on some kind of meds? I am just wondering what to expect really, and if anyone has any advice as to what I can say to insist my case.
thanks in advance for any help anyone can give,
Clare :-)
Wondered if anyone can help me in what the important things to stress to the endocrinologist i am seeing this thursday are:
The history of my TSH levels are:
Dec 2008: 7.5
Feb 2009: 5.8
May 2009: 5.7
September 2009: 7.2
October 2009: 5.7
obviously they are not consistant, I have just had my Thyroid antibodies tested and the levels are normal- ruling out anything autoimmune. I have had a full blood work done for which everything else was ok.
I have over the last year suffered from: muscle weakness, tiredness, bad joint pain, extreme coldness in feet hands and nose, have gone from u.k size 4 to u.k size 8 (which doesnt bother me as i have always been too thin!), a very slight numbess in my left leg (and sometimes in my left arm), irregular periods (that are heavier than they used to be), TMJ pain (dont know if this is related or independent from thyroid problems), noticed a lot of hair falls out in the shower and when brushing, brittle nails, dry itchy eyes, vertigo (although i feel this is more related to my TMJ and grinding my teeth in my sleep).
my main worry is that my G.P keeps saying, oh, your not much over the lab range (which upper limit is 5.5) and i get so annoyed as it is still over the threshold, even if 'not by much'. She keeps trying to prescribe me mild forms of an antidepressant for my anxiety, but i keep trying to tell her that I seem so anxious because I have been feeling like this for a YEAR now and no one is doing anything.
I am worried the endo will say the same thing? Does anyone know whether they use more sensitive lab ranges or will maybe trial me on some kind of meds? I am just wondering what to expect really, and if anyone has any advice as to what I can say to insist my case.
thanks in advance for any help anyone can give,
Clare :-)
A lot of doctors don't think FT3 is important because that's what they were taught in med school...not an excuse, in my opinion, but they have been being badly taught for generations.
Many members find that FT4 should be about midrange. FT3 often has to be upper half to upper third of its range before symptoms are relieved. That doesn't work for everyone, it's just a "rule of thumb" to shoot for until we find where we feel best.
Sometimes it takes the antibodies years or even decades to cause enough damage for symptoms to become evident, so it's quite possible you have been have less noticable fluctuations for some time.
Those are the tests you want. I hope he'll order them all for you. Just be sure he orders FREE T3 and FREE T4. If FREE is not specified, they will do total T3 and total T4, and they are not nearly as useful.
Dallas? That hasn't been on TV in years. Or is that something else from what I'm thinking of?
Many members find that FT4 should be about midrange. FT3 often has to be upper half to upper third of its range before symptoms are relieved. That doesn't work for everyone, it's just a "rule of thumb" to shoot for until we find where we feel best.
Sometimes it takes the antibodies years or even decades to cause enough damage for symptoms to become evident, so it's quite possible you have been have less noticable fluctuations for some time.
Those are the tests you want. I hope he'll order them all for you. Just be sure he orders FREE T3 and FREE T4. If FREE is not specified, they will do total T3 and total T4, and they are not nearly as useful.
Dallas? That hasn't been on TV in years. Or is that something else from what I'm thinking of?
This is where I get frustrated with Dr.'s. You would think, they'd be happy to have the patient help them out when they're diagnosed with a illness or disease.
So, Free T3 and Free T4 are the FT3/4 correct? I am requesting the correct test above?
Well, here's my dr.'s response to my request:
Per Dr. we can check these levels at your 3 month. Dr is aware of work up and will do the tests if necessary.
Not sure what that is suppose to mean, by stating he will do the necessary test, seeing that he doesn't believe the FT 3 matter's. I had to push for him in May to order that test. So, here was my response:
I do have a concern regarding my FT3 levels being over the range, with my FT4 being in the lower range in May, and noticed that the FT3 was not rechecked in July. Being that the actual thyroid hormones are the FT3/FT4 and TSH is just a guideline. Would really hate to end up with T3 ToxiCosis. Furthermore, not even realizing that it's the thyroid that's the possible cause till now for alot of former & previous symptoms I've been having for a long long time does give me great concern. Thank you for the quick response. Have a great day!
Haven't received a response as of yet.
Anyhow, like I mentioned above. I've had alot of different symptoms past & present, can't recall for how long now. Per the Dr. it was related to me taking lipitor and my type 2 diabetes. Well, I've been off lipitor for a month now & not feeling. Also, my sugars are excellent, with my change in diet. I'm getting alot of headaches lately, not sure if it's stress from all this or a symptom of the Hashi's.
Something dawned on me last night, I went to a Endocrinologist in 2005, who was very people oriented even her staff, so I wouldn't go back. Anyhow, she ordered some nuclear thyroid scan, where they put a injection (not a IV) in the forearm, and the technician was scanning my thyroid. I really don't know what the purpose of it was for, seeing that I went to her for my diabetes. Anyhow, I'm real concerned (not that it matters now) but curious if by doing that test, it could've killed thyroid tissue and reason for the Hashimoto's now? I called her office, for my results today. Needless to say, they destroyed my records due to being 7 yrs. ago. Again, her staff isn't to nice. I stated why would they destroy medical records & that I never received my thyroid scan results. The nasty receptionist, said I highly doubt that. I said listen, I've no reason to lie and back then was stupid in understanding anything about nuclear medicine or thyroid disease & because of the Dr.'s attitude & her staff, that I never came back for the results. So, I asked her where she would've sent me for the test, to get a copy of the scan, because I can't remember where and actually had just relocated to the city I had it done in due to my husbands job. Anyhow, She told me 2 different places. Well, needless to say, I contacted them & neither place did the scan. I've tried to do some research, to see if that radioactive iodine would be the cause of my thyroid disease now, just for a piece of mind. I guess curious.
So, Free T3 and Free T4 are the FT3/4 correct? I am requesting the correct test above?
Well, here's my dr.'s response to my request:
Per Dr. we can check these levels at your 3 month. Dr is aware of work up and will do the tests if necessary.
Not sure what that is suppose to mean, by stating he will do the necessary test, seeing that he doesn't believe the FT 3 matter's. I had to push for him in May to order that test. So, here was my response:
I do have a concern regarding my FT3 levels being over the range, with my FT4 being in the lower range in May, and noticed that the FT3 was not rechecked in July. Being that the actual thyroid hormones are the FT3/FT4 and TSH is just a guideline. Would really hate to end up with T3 ToxiCosis. Furthermore, not even realizing that it's the thyroid that's the possible cause till now for alot of former & previous symptoms I've been having for a long long time does give me great concern. Thank you for the quick response. Have a great day!
Haven't received a response as of yet.
Anyhow, like I mentioned above. I've had alot of different symptoms past & present, can't recall for how long now. Per the Dr. it was related to me taking lipitor and my type 2 diabetes. Well, I've been off lipitor for a month now & not feeling. Also, my sugars are excellent, with my change in diet. I'm getting alot of headaches lately, not sure if it's stress from all this or a symptom of the Hashi's.
Something dawned on me last night, I went to a Endocrinologist in 2005, who was very people oriented even her staff, so I wouldn't go back. Anyhow, she ordered some nuclear thyroid scan, where they put a injection (not a IV) in the forearm, and the technician was scanning my thyroid. I really don't know what the purpose of it was for, seeing that I went to her for my diabetes. Anyhow, I'm real concerned (not that it matters now) but curious if by doing that test, it could've killed thyroid tissue and reason for the Hashimoto's now? I called her office, for my results today. Needless to say, they destroyed my records due to being 7 yrs. ago. Again, her staff isn't to nice. I stated why would they destroy medical records & that I never received my thyroid scan results. The nasty receptionist, said I highly doubt that. I said listen, I've no reason to lie and back then was stupid in understanding anything about nuclear medicine or thyroid disease & because of the Dr.'s attitude & her staff, that I never came back for the results. So, I asked her where she would've sent me for the test, to get a copy of the scan, because I can't remember where and actually had just relocated to the city I had it done in due to my husbands job. Anyhow, She told me 2 different places. Well, needless to say, I contacted them & neither place did the scan. I've tried to do some research, to see if that radioactive iodine would be the cause of my thyroid disease now, just for a piece of mind. I guess curious.
Sorry, it just dawned on me that you asked about Dallas. Yes, Dallas was on yrs. ago, but started up again a couple months back. Last night was the show of the season. Starts up again in Jan.
Yes, you are requesting the correct tests.
I really doubt the radioactive scan damaged your thyroid in any way. Radioactive scans are standard procedure and done all the time. I've never heard of one damaging anyone's thyroid. However, it would be interesting to see the results of the scan report...it's too old to be worth a lot now, but since you never went back, it would be interesting to see if the scan found anything relevant.
Oh, I didn't know it had started up again...probably because I never watched it when it was on before. Hope you enjoyed it.
I really doubt the radioactive scan damaged your thyroid in any way. Radioactive scans are standard procedure and done all the time. I've never heard of one damaging anyone's thyroid. However, it would be interesting to see the results of the scan report...it's too old to be worth a lot now, but since you never went back, it would be interesting to see if the scan found anything relevant.
Oh, I didn't know it had started up again...probably because I never watched it when it was on before. Hope you enjoyed it.
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