Hi Stella

[modine]

Here are all my symptoms now--I didn't know how to respond directly to your reply : swollen thyroid which I can feel when I swallow, headaches, cold feet, feeling worse upon waking than going to bed, excessive thirst that sometimes wakes me up at night or I have to drink a full glass of water in the am, burning back pain that is worse at night and upon waking, fatigue, hot flashes, night sweats, horizontal ridges in my fingernails, heart cramps-like it freezes in contraction for a half a second too long, dizziness, brain fog, muscle aches, burning in my feet, swollen hands upon waking. I am 51, developed fibromyalgia after a head-on car wreck in 1997. I have had a partial hysterectomy due to anemia from heavy periods in 2005, I had Bell's Palsy in 2006 and still feel tingling in my face and recurrent severe headaches. I had my gall bladder removed, 2007 and have suffered from post-cholesectomy dumping syndrome since. I lost down to 112 from 126, went back up to 122, until these new symptoms started, now I'm down to 117 in a week. I had a reaction to isoview/ipamidol September of 2008 and have felt terrible ever since although I've been told that doesn't have anything to do with how I feel. My axillary temp in the morning has been under 98 every morning for a week so far. I've had the following blood work:
Free T4 1.25 (0.74-1.83)
TSH 0.470 (0.46-4.70)----how can a range this wide be considered "normal"
amylase 57
glucose 78
sodium 141
potassium 4.8
chloride 103
co2 29
anion gap 8
bun 15
creatinine 0.66
calcium 9.8
bilirubin total 0.5
bilirubin direct 0.0
total protein 8.0
albumin 5.2  (3.5-5.0)
ast 27
alt 25
alk phosphatase 82
ggtp 17
egfr >60
lipase 112
urine test were all negative except bacteria & mucous were present
I haven't been back to the GP that discovered the swollen thyroid gland yet, but I've read and heard so many conflicting things I want to be fully informed when he starts suggesting treatments. I know pituitary/adrenal/thyroid are all tied together, so how/where do I start? I am finishing a masters degree in speech pathology and have a job beginning in Aug, but am afraid I won't have the stamina to get through the day.
Thank you so much for your input! I will read what you've suggested.
modine

[gimel]

The only part of your post that I have any experience with is hypothyroidism, so I'll try to provide some info on that, since you have a lot of symptoms that could be related to hypothyroidism.  
Body temperature can be a good indicator of metabolism, but your axillary temp data was not detailed enough to assess.  Axillary temp is said to be about one degree under max. body temp. and normal body temp is 98.6. so just being under 98 degrees does not tell me enough.  What were the actual numbers?

From your limited thyroid test data, I can only observe that your FT4 level was slightly below the range midpoint.  Again, not enough data to make any conclusion one way or the other.  If the TSH level of .47 is correct, then that is not typical of hypothyroidism; however TSH is a pituitary hormone that does not correlate well at all with hypo symptoms.  I agree with Stella that you need to go for antibody testing and especially free T3.  Free T3 is the most important thyroid hormone because it is four times as potent as free T4 and largely regulates metabolism and other body functions.  It also has the best correlation with hypo symptoms.

If I were you I think I would first want to determine if hypothyroidism is a concern.  If it is, then I would want to get that under control and see what problems remain.

[Smilerdeb]

Gees ...where do we start?

1. You had a reaction to a contrast dye that was injected  and some do (I know I cant have contrast dye either).

2. Your Free T4 is mid range (you dont state your Free T3) so really hard to say whether the throat sensation is from hyper or T3 toxycosis. Your Tsh looks maybe borderline Hyper??Why wasnt your FT3 done?

3. Your ast & alt arent excelerated so your liver enzymes arent up which is good, although your albumin is at the top of the range and this can be from the gallbladder removal which sometimes leaves a 'dumping' effect of gastric fluids.

4. It is hard to determine the results of ALL your tests as there are no levels with them and levels differ worldwide.

5. Until you know what your Free T3 levels are and also had antibody testing for Graves and hashi's, it is hard to determine whether your symptoms are from the side effects of the gallbladder surgery (which often leaves the person with being prone to stomach ulcers) or whether it is the Thyroid.

6. I would suggest you go for antibody tests and also FT3 to rule out Hashi's and Graves.
And eliminate each one...one by one.

Not much help, I'm afraid.

4.

[stella5349]

bump this up