Aa
So scared
Hi. I have made several posts lately about what I thought were panic attacks. Now I'm not so sure .I've had several episodes now where I get uncontrollable shaking and almost shivers and have a horrible time sleeping over the last week. I just start to doze off and I startle awake or my muscles tense up. My Dr did blood work and my TSH came back at 8. Back in August I was at .3. I dont' know about t3 or t4, but she ordered another test because I insisted there must be some mixup. She also felt a goiter in my thyroid...I don't know what she's talking about, since I don't feel my thyroid often. I have an ultrasound today. I was diagnosed with Hashimotos about 10 years ago and my thyroid has been pretty stable since then. I don't understand what is going on..I feel like I have hyperthyroid symptoms with the anxiety and shaking, yet with my TSH being high that seems impossible.My periods have suddenly gotten irregular..one month 25 day cycle and the next was a 30 day cycle. I am concerned that maybe its a pituitary tumor or something. Does anyone have any ideas on what could be going on ? Is it possible for thyroid to suddenly fluctuate like that? Is it possible to have anxiety and by hypo? I feel like I'm dying here. I'm so scared, so tired, have no idea what I'm going to do. My Dr. wanted to just put me on antidepressants but I feel like I need to figure out what's wrong with me. Any thoughts?
Just when I thought I might have an answer..,so I saw my new regular doc yesterday. He looked at my labs, agreed that there is an issue and said no problem to try cytomel. He said he didn't think I should reduce my synthroid and to stay at 175 mcg. You could tell he was not confident about that though. So, I pick up my rx today and see that he gave me 25 mcg daily. Uhhhhhh, that doesn't seem right. As it is i have tried a few days on 150 mcg of synthroid and actually slept at night. Then I decided I'd try the 175 and had a hard time sleeping. I know I should not be flip flopping probably. I have been feeling better anxiety wise tho. Not constantly shaking, no racing thoughts etc. Is it possible that now that I have calmed down that my body might readjust and start making t3 again or at least not making rt3? It seems like taking my b vitamins and stuff might be helping me feel better Not sure what to do now. I have an Endo appt on Jan 16. Maybe I should just try to stick it out on my synthroid until then. I just know from what I've read that the higher dose plus the cytomel is too much. Thoughts ?
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"The research is out there. We can find it, why the heck can't they? " They don't look, because they're too busy relying on what they learned in med school.
Dr's know so little about thyroid that they don't venture far from the ranch. And the standard of care is T4 only medication to get TSH somewhere in the range. So they don't want to venture anywhere outside those bounds.
Frankly the body is so complex I don't have too big a problem with the average primary care physician not really understanding Thyroid. Probably 75% of the people if not more seem to get along fine with a simple T4 med and use of TSH only monitoring.
However for those remaining folks that don't fit into that circumstance, I do have a hard time not understanding the reluctance of a primary care Dr to refer you to another Dr who specializes in Thyroid. And I have absolutely no excuse or tolerance for an Endo who SHOULD know and understand Thyroid to do better. But many if not most don't seem to understand thyroid any better than the average general practitioner. That is unacceptable in my mind.
Many people here have a better understanding of thyroid than most Dr's and possibly most Endo's. How can this be in a day of technology for the Dr's to not understand this better. The research is out there. We can find it, why the heck can't they?
Frankly the body is so complex I don't have too big a problem with the average primary care physician not really understanding Thyroid. Probably 75% of the people if not more seem to get along fine with a simple T4 med and use of TSH only monitoring.
However for those remaining folks that don't fit into that circumstance, I do have a hard time not understanding the reluctance of a primary care Dr to refer you to another Dr who specializes in Thyroid. And I have absolutely no excuse or tolerance for an Endo who SHOULD know and understand Thyroid to do better. But many if not most don't seem to understand thyroid any better than the average general practitioner. That is unacceptable in my mind.
Many people here have a better understanding of thyroid than most Dr's and possibly most Endo's. How can this be in a day of technology for the Dr's to not understand this better. The research is out there. We can find it, why the heck can't they?
These guys were taught in med school that all their patients needed was T4. And logically, that should be true. Conversion of T4 to T3 happens mostly in the liver, but also at lesser sites throughout the body. It's a separate process...metabolic, not thyroid. So, they were taught that you just adjust T4 and T3 takes care of itself. Enter reality...
T3 is more volatile than T4. You really have to take it more than once a day to avoid the peaks and valleys in levels that can occur because it's so much faster-acting. So, it's a little harder to control. Add to that that T3 is about four times more powerful than T4, so a little bit goes a long way.
Nodules are very common with Hashi's. I have a bunch of them, and we just keep an eye on them. Thyroids are naturally nodule-y (i can make up words if I want to). I read an article a while back by a doctor who said that he could pick five healthy people out of a grocery line, and three of them would have nodules.
T3 is more volatile than T4. You really have to take it more than once a day to avoid the peaks and valleys in levels that can occur because it's so much faster-acting. So, it's a little harder to control. Add to that that T3 is about four times more powerful than T4, so a little bit goes a long way.
Nodules are very common with Hashi's. I have a bunch of them, and we just keep an eye on them. Thyroids are naturally nodule-y (i can make up words if I want to). I read an article a while back by a doctor who said that he could pick five healthy people out of a grocery line, and three of them would have nodules.
I don't think I mentioned the nodules on my thyroid either. There are 2, pretty small...small enough that we are just going to "keep and eye on them". Does that sound about right? I got so worked up with these numbers that I forgot. Really trying not to think about that part if the equation.
Wow, thanks for all that info guys! I really feel like I have a place to start and know what types of questions to ask. It makes a world of difference when you are not walking blindly into something. Saves a lot of time. You're right flyingfool, I am very fortunate to be living where I am now. My options would have been limited if this had happened a year ago.
Just out of pure curiosity, why are Drs so against Cytomel? What alternative is there?
Just out of pure curiosity, why are Drs so against Cytomel? What alternative is there?
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