I do NOT have Clinical Depression, I do have Hypo!!

[albertr]

Sorry if this is a bit of a rant but a couple weeks ago I put all the pieces together and I strongly feel that I am hypo. I went to a Dr who has good word of mouth reccomendations. He did do a good job of asking me questions but at the end of this he said he would test me for TSH and low iron. If those come back "normal" he said that I have clinical depression! I know what clinical depression is as I went thru a bout of it about 10 years ago! Anyway, if the tests come back "normal" I am going to ask him for the results of my clinical depression labs!!!! I know threre are none but hopefully this will open his eyes to the possibility that there are conditions for which labs are NOT reliable or non-existent! Its a good thing I had a preminition of this and ordered glandular suppliments before this appointment!
Thanks!!

[albertr]

The list above is a quick list that I've found. A more in depth questionaire is in Dr. Shames' thyroid power book. I scored 42 on that. He recommends that anyone scoring over 25 should get meds irregardless of what labs say!

[albertr]

I take many suppliments daily due to malabsorption from my gastric bypass. I presented him a list of these and all he had to say was that due to the amounts I am taking that I did not need a B12 or vit D test but he also did not caution me to reduce or stop any of them. We also did talk about other gastric bypass patients he has seen that come in years after surgery but are lacking some sort of traces that cannot be absorbed by the small intestine. I said yes it sounds like you are talking about micronutrients and that is why I eat a lot of veggies and would be a nutritionist if there were $$ in it in my area. So he knows I'm not an idiot and he knows that I am well read but I dont know why he is stuck in thinking that fT3 and fT4 are unnecissary!

[Brucergoldberg]

Most of your symptoms look almost as though they are the complete list of hypothyroid symptoms as outlined on most thyroid websites.  there are a couple missing from your list, but maybe you just haven't thought of them.  With proper treatment, a lot of those symptoms will disappear.  For the most part i had most of those too.  My eyebrows didnt fall out, but i sort of wish they would since they are so big LOL.

If you need help finding a good doctor as Gimel mentioned above, there are many resources out there for "thyroid smart" doctors.  

[gimel]

In a lot of cases, it is worthwhile to try to work with the current doctor by presenting info about the proper testing and treatment, and trying to influence the doctor to treat clinically by testing and adjusting Free T3 and Free T4 as necessary to relieve symptoms, without being constrained by resultant TSH levels.  In view of what your doctor has said about FT3 and FT4, and your many symptoms that the doctor has ignored, I think you should forget that doctor and find a good thyroid doctor.  

You can get some good insight into clinical treatment from this letter written by a good thyroid doctor for patients that he sometimes consults with from a distance.   The letter is then sent to the PCP of the patient to help guide treatment.  

http://hormonerestoration.com/files/ThyroidPMD.pdf

You definitely need to be tested for Free T3 and Free T4, along with TSH that they always test, so it is good that you have gone ahead with that.  I would also suggest that you should be tested for Vitamin D, B12, ferritin, a full iron test panel, zinc and selenium.  

If you will tell us your location, perhaps a member can recommend a good thyroid doctor for you.

[albertr]

Here are my comments on the list of symptoms. I do have most of them and have been experiencing them for a long time if not most of my life!

•Feeling tired (fatigue) and sluggishness
•Weight gain (I weigh the same now as I did at 9 mos prego almost 4 years ago!)
•Slow movement and speech
•Constipation (I had gastric bypass 7 years ago and have issues with the opposite problem)
•Increased sensitivity to cold
•Puffy face (I have always had a round full face and in the past 2 years I have developed a puffy 2nd chin)
•Swelling around the eyes (nope but have had dark circles since I was 9 which coincentally is when I started to become overweight)
•Loss of eyebrows (nope but they used to be very thick and now I need to tweeze only twice a year when in years past I needed to at least once a month)
•Joint and muscle pain, aches, and stiffness (yes RLS, twitches, and all of the above)
•Pale, dry, rough, and thick skin (on my feet only)
•Dry, thinning, or coarse hair (maybe, its been so long that I think my current hair condition is normal, who knows if this will change if I am allowed medicine??)
•Brittle nails (my whole life)
•A horse voice (yes)
•An enlarged tongue (yes)
•Decrease in taste (yes)
•Decreased sweating (i still dont know what this means. I sweat so much wilth such littke exertion and I sweat everynight to various degrees)
•Heavy or irregular menstrual periods (heavy, not irregular. but in years past they were very irregular like 2 a year!)
•Infertility (nope 1st pregnancy went to term and I became prego after only 6 months of trying)
•Miscarriage in early pregnancy (nope)
•Depression (I have been on antidepressants for almost 10 years)
•Slowed heart rate (last time I checked it was 78RHR. Is that low?)
•Swollen ankles (not swollen but stiff)
•Decreased hearing (yes and getting worse)
•Mild high blood pressure (appointment on Friday was 129 over 86. I was usually around 120 / 70 even thru pregnancy and even when I was morbidly obese)
•Difficulty catching your breath (severe shortness of breath) when exercising ( i have this at random times during the day and it is not associates with physical activity)
•Decreased ability to exercise (yes! too tired to do housework let alone exercise!)

[albertr]

I did order a thyroid panel from Canary Club which is somewhat associated with Dr. Shames. I did this myself because I have asked for a thyroid test since I was 15 and never was granted one (I am 30 now). The tests are free Thyroxine (fT4), free Triiodothryronine (fT3), Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH), Thyroid Peroxidase Antibody (TPO). I showed the questionaire that I filled out to the Dr. and he said that the ft3 ft4 and TPO were not necissary! I beg to differ. Also he said that the lab that is analizing the sample may be fake just because they are in the state of OR. I did find the lab's CLIA cerification and will bring this along with that test's results to my appt on Fri. As of right now I have no test results but when I do get them I will post them (along with the reference ranges). I hope I can elighten him or else I may need to shop around like I have seen others comment on. Thanks everyone!!