Confusing Thyroid Condition

[pab234]

I have been very sick for almost five months now and I am extremely confused and frustrating so I'm hoping to get a doctor's opinion on this..

I am a 19 year old female and was perfectly healthy up until this all hit me. On February 13 I went to the emergency room because I was eating dinner and out of nowhere felt like something had gotten lodged in my throat. This led to a whole host of tests including xrays of the neck and chest, CTs of the neck, and pages and pages of blood tests. They couldn't find anything wrong. Over the next few weeks I developed the following symptoms- chills, insomnia, headaches, whole body aches, diarrhea, disrupted menstrual cycles, extreme fatigue, and overall weakness to name the main ones. I kept going to doctors for the next two months with no diagnosis.

The first test that came back positive was for mycoplasma pnuemonia. My antibodies, both IGG and IGM, were extremely elevated. Looking back, I had been having chest pain and tightness for a few months before all of this started but it was winter so I chalked it up to being a common cold.

Finally I found a doctor who decided to test my thyroid. Since then, these have been my results-

March- TSH 1.35
April 24- TSH: 0.02 (with high normal T3 and T4, can't remember exactly) & Thyroglobulin Antibodies 432, TPO antibodies 16
May 28- TSH: 28.1 (with low T3 and T3)
Thyroid ultra sound showed a "simple goiter consistent with thyroiditis"

My symptoms pretty much went from textbook hyper symptoms to textbook hypo symptoms in a matter of weeks.

I have since been put on Armour Thyroid. After a few weeks, I was almost feeling normal again- the only things bothering me had been fatigue and the strange feeling in my throat. Then last week the "lump" feeling in my throat got worse again, my hair started falling out very badly, and I started to get muschle twitches, pains, headaches, a a burning feelings in my throat all over again.

So basically my questions are this-

1. Does this sound like some form of acute or subacute thyroiditis or more of an autoimmune condition?
2. Why would these "hyper" symptoms be coming back after I was finally starting to feel better?
3. What can I do to make this lump feeling in my throat go away?

Any input on this would be greatly appreciated as I have apparently baffled every doctor around.

[Smilerdeb]

bumping this up so it doesnt get lost and for others to post..........

[goolarra]

With your elevated TGab, it sounds more like an autoimmune condition to me.  I'm not a doctor, just a fellow patient.

Your hyper symptoms could be coming back because you are overmedicated.  Or, they could be coming back because you have Hashimoto's thyroiditis (autoimmune), which often causes fairly rapid swings from hypo to hyper and back again.  Often there is a very definite hyper stage, just before your thyroid goes into a tailspin.  Or, your hyper symptoms could be caused by the high T3 content in the Armour or that you were started on too high a dose.  Or, like many of us, you could just be very sensitive to thyroid meds.

I'd go in to have your FT3, FT4 and TSH tested again soon.  Don't let yourself get too hyper.

I think the key to having the "lump feeling" go away is adjusting your meds correctly which is sometimes a trying process.  We've all been through it...it's not fun and often takes quite a bit of time.  Hang in there!