Help with decisions

[mommy887]

Hello,

  I am new to this site.  I have been experiencing some issues that I felt was a result of pregnancy and childbirth.  I have been having excessive hair loss, constipation, fatique, weight gain, body aches, and no sex drive.  I thought maybe it was the side effects of an IUD I had inserted so I went to my OBGYN and he ordered bloodwork that said my thyroid was the problem.  I went to an endo and here are the latest results.

  TSH   0.031 uIU/ml
  FT4   1.18 ng/dl
  T3  4.5H  pg/mL

My questions are what does this mean and is the IT scan really necessary?   I currently breastfeed my 6month old.  I told the endo that and he said that I would have to stop for a week.  He also stated that any meds to treat a thyroid condition would not be possible while breastfeeding.  Is this true?  Is there really no other options?  I don't want to keep experiencing these symptoms or wait to see if they subside, but I do not want to stop breastfeeding unless it is truely necessary.

Thanks for help

[mommy887]

Thanks for your reply.  I have had most of these symptoms for a couple of years, it is just recently that when my hair started excessively falling out that I discussed more with my OB.  I don't take any supplements.  I am going to start with my prenatals again.  I will look into the vitamins you listed and try to find a doc.  Hopefully before I am bald :)

[mommy887]

Thank you for your reply.  The doc did so that he felt it could be something with the pituitary gland.  I am going to look for another doc, wow you had to go through 6!  It is still hard for me to discuss some of my issues.  I got lucky finding a good OBGYN that I felt comfy with to talk to.  I will look at the website.  Thank you again:)

[stella5349]

yes - that is right.. let's keep in mind too that a birth happened recently and thyroid levels are swinging all over the place after this ordeal..

May take up to a year to stabilize for some.

Are you getting your period regularly right now?

Are you taking any supplements for your milk production>?

It may be somewhat correct on your doctors scripting thoughts. Adding in more hormone could be the wrong thing to do - expecially if this is a birth related issue.

Again the TSH read hyper and symptoms of hypo... Solid evidence the TSH should not be the only tool used to determine thyroid issues.

Personally - I would go the route of trying to use vitamins here. Maybe you are Vit B deficient? Or Vit D too>?

Maybe a magnesium issue exsist.. that's common after birth.

all those issue play on the thyroid so if you're low on those - the thyroid maybe saying - it needs to rest too.

Tamra is right - find a good doctor that thinks of all these things before cramming a hormone pill in you. That was good advice.

[TamraW]

Your symptoms say you are hypo. Your labs say you are hyper. Strange.

I don't know ranges for T3 tests. My endo uses the FT3 test, which is more reliable. Your endo should have run the FT3 as well. I think you need a second opinion. Find a doc who can run the FT3 test and maybe even a reverse T3 to see if you've got an RT3 issue making you have hypo symptoms. Maybe even look into a pituitary issue because of your low TSH and hypo symptoms. Finally, ask the doc to test your antibodies for Hashimoto's disease, just based on your symptoms.

I think you should get a thyroid ultrasound, but I don't remember the docs telling me that breastfeeding was forbidden for an ultrasound. Stopping breastfeeding is hard. If my doc would have made me stop for a week, it would have been too difficult to start up again.

Below is a wonderful website where I found a recommended endo. Call the doctor's office and ask the nurse if the endo tests and treats BOTH sets of Free levels. Also, ask how many thyroid patients this doctor treats. My new endo sees 75 percent thyroid. Too many endos specialize in diabetes and don't know enough about thyroid. I have personally interviewed six endos in this town, and found only one who knows how to treat thyroid.

http://www.thyroid-info.com/topdrs/

:) Tamra