HYPOthyroid problem??????

[cutie__pie]

I have had the classic symptoms for years now... Cold, weight gain, hungry all the time, exausted, mood swings, depression that comes and goes without warming, ovarian cysts, and then most recently I have been getting pain where my adam's apple is located. This pain comes and goes. Also, it runs in my mothers side of the family, with 7 people having either; hyper and hypo thyroid problems. Now I have been tested approximately four times a year for hypothyroid and the tests have always come back negative for the last 4 years. I'm very frustrated because for a 20 year old, I don't look the way I should with all the weight I've gained and with the weight cannot lose at AGE 20!!!, nor do I have the energy like all my other 20-year friends do. In the midst of all this testing I have been given an anti-depressant for the without warning mood swings of depression! I am clearly not depresseed and I'm very concerned because I cannot keep living life this way, half asleep and overweight. Is there a reason why it isn't showing in tests? I do have all the symptoms, don't I? Could it be something else? If it is hypothyroid, is there a hormone over the counter or something I can take?? A specialist I can see?

[gimel]

With the many symptoms you both have mentioned,  you should do yourselves a favor and get a doctor to test you ASAP for thyroid function.  To me the most important test would be for free T3, then TSH and free T4.  If your doctor has only checked TSH in the past and decided you were "normal" because the result was barely within the old range of .5-5.0, then you need to be aware that the range has been revised to .3-3.0.  If you have any prior actual test results, or when you get new test results, please post the actual numbers and their ranges, and you can get a lot of  feedback from the members of this forum, who have a great deal of experience and know the thyroid levels that will give you the best results.   Before spending the time to get an endo appointment, I also suggest that you make sure the endo specializes in thyroid problems and hopefully was recommended by a patient.

[cutie__pie]

Hi Rebbeca,
I understand exactly what you are going through, I also have fibromyalgia, it runs in my family so thats partially ruled out and trying to  get doctors to take your word for it is unbelievable! I also have rheumathoid arthritis... so explains more and more exhaustion.  This may sound weird  but I see a chiropractor who specialises in natural medicines and ways. Even though my TSH showed no signs of thyroid my chiropractor could easily find it doing a simple resistance test (Not blood drawn! easiest test in the world! And fast results!). He has since put me on a program to help my thyroid although he still agrees that I require medical attention. The chiropractor is probably the best thing I ever did for myself. I find having my total body in alignment helps with the fatigue alot i can usually stay up an extra hour or two or three or so after a visit (I usually sleep anywhere from 12-17 hours a day!!! NOT NORMMAL!!!It's pretty bad that I can fall asleep completely unbothered after drinking 2 full cans of redbull !!!) In Canada chiropractics costs on average 25-40$ a visit and to me is very worth while for any type of illness!! My mother has cancer and natural healing on top of medication has worked wonders for her so far! She is a survivor of 7 years!  Also another helpful doctor is a naturapthic doctor, they deal alot with certain hormones and vitamines and work with healing the body the way our ancestors did before all this medication. I find it very helpful, very informative and very easy.

I also have the classic signs of endimitriosis too with the ovarian cysts. I do a little bit of research each day on it and find that the two are very much related  to thyroid!!!

It's tough for me because I'm 20 years old and I shouldn't be sore all the time, or depressed on occasion, or exhausted, or overweight!! I should be happier! skinnier! Energetic! And I'm just none of those. Doctors immediately put me on pain killers and anti-inflammatories, and anti-depressants when they should be looking more into it. Thats medicaation that i dont need!!! Obviously TSH levels arent accurate enough they need to find something that is accurate!!! I know alot of people are suffering and yet i feel so alone!!

I have also been told i am borderline!!! well if i am in between hypo- and hyper- doesnt that mean i have a problem!?!?!?!?!

I'm going to make an appointment with an endocrinologist and I will let you know how it goes! I wish you the best  of luck with figuring everything out!!!

[rebeccadewinter]

The specialist for thyroid problems is called an Endocrinologist. If you suffer with severe fatigue and your muscles ach and feel sore all the time, you probably have Fibronyalgia, but it is hard to get doctors to acknowledge it is a real disease because they have to take our word for it since there is no test that can prove it other than a physical exam where they press on certain areas and ask you if it's sore. Then they say if you don't have eleven of the pressure points they consider being related to fibromyalgia, that you don't have it. My back hurts so bad I want to scream and cry, but I cannot get any help for it other than anti-depressents because the doctor thinks I am depressed and that the depression is making me tired and my body ach. Like I said, I laugh and act silly with my daughter all the time and mask the fact that my body feels like it's breaking, because I am not a depressed person. My life is good other than my health. If sick people are depressed, it's the illness that makes them depressed. Patients with thyroid problems and Fibromyalgia did not get these conditions because they were depressed. They may have become depressed after they suffered severe pain daily from these conditions!

[rebeccadewinter]

Also, they say my thyroid is not Hypo or Hyper active, but normal, (if you can believe that)! They didn't give me any medicine after my surgery even when they could see that my thyroid was growing, just because the tests said my thyroid levels were normal. Then when I kept complaining they prescribed Synthroid but said "you're borderline, but not hypo or hyper active, but take this anyway".

[rebeccadewinter]

I forgot to mention that I have had surgery on my ovaries and uterus for cysts, tumors, and endometriosis. Doctors say this has nothing to do with my other medical problems!

[rebeccadewinter]

I am a 40 year old female and I have pretty much suffered with the same things you have for the past 13 years. When I was 28 I had a baby, but during my pregnancy I had a nodule on my thyroid (not goiter, even though goiters run in my family), I had biopsies and ultrasounds done and they said it was a cyst, not goiter. Anyway, during pregnancy my thyroid became overactive and I was sent to a high-risk maternity clinic. From there, they sent me to a surgeon who said he would remove the cyst. But, he also said he would take out half my thyroid because he thought that would make my thyroid function normally. It was overactive so removing half of it would make it normal, he said. That made no sense to me because there is medicine that is supposed to help balance an over or underactive thyroid. And wasn't the cyst causing the problem, not my thyroid itself? Well, he operated, and not long after that I started having severe muscle aches, especially my back, and my thyroid started enlarging. I was placed on anti-depressants even though I am normally a cheerful person, and every time they checked my TSH levels, they said it was normal. Now they say I have a goiter. They said to continue taking the Synthroid even though my thyroid continues to grow. I have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, I have gained a lot of weight, my hair falls out and gets oily fast, I'm cold all the time and my nose runs a lot, and they say none of this is related and that I have a goiter because it runs in my family. Also, I crave sugar, but I don't know if this has anything to do with my thyroid. I have also had a sore throat for 2 months so I am scared it is something bad. Recently I had an ultrasound done and they say I have something else besides goiter and they have ordered a thryroid uptake. I am so mad! I believe that most of this could have been avoided, and I think someone should be held accountable for what I am going through and that I might lose my thyroid altogether and end up taking thyroid rapalcement for the rest of my life and possibly become Huge (extremely overweight). I do not think there is any over the counter medicine that is going to help you. I have heard that kelp (seaweed) and citrus foods help thyroids, but they have never helped me. I wish you luck in getting some honest anwers from qualified medical people, but so far I just get people in the medical profession that back one another up, and say one health problem is not related to another. If you get some real answers and you get better, please let me know. I also wish that I could find someone in the legal profession that would agree with me that there is malpractice here, and help me. I have applied for disability twice (because of my back and muscle problems which I believe are a result of the thyroid surgery), but have been denied. I have no insurance, can't work, and have to pay all these medical bills pertaining to my thyroid. I can't afford any medicines for thyroid or muscles.