Trauma Triggered Hypothyroidism

[gillingham_01]

hi to everyone here,

Has anyone experienced hypothyroidism that was triggered by very severe, continuous emotional trauma?  My story is long and profoundly painful, so much so that I am unable to write about it all in detail.. All I am able to say here is that the first of what were a succession of  very severe physical and emotional traumas happened to me starting in the Fall of 2011. Before this, I felt I was very healthy and my thyroid was functioning well.  In January 2012 my hair started falling out, and it has not stopped since.  There is also no regrowth.  In August 2014 I began to develop numerous symptoms of hypothyroidism, and is when my thyroid tests began to suggest my thyroid function was starting to decline.

Does anyone know if severe physical and emotional trauma of long duration permanently damages the thyroid, or is there a possibility it could recover on it's own without having to go on thyroid medication.  I am female and now 56 yrs old.

Thank you to everyone who reads my post,
hoping someone might have some experience/insight into what has happened to me.

[gillingham_01]

Thank you for writing on my post again goolarra.  I really appreciate that you are there.

yes, my symptoms are terrible, very severe.  I have never suffered as bad as this in my life, and I have had quite a lot of suffering in my life.  I could try to get my doctor to repeat the antibodies test, but it's hard to know if he will.

I did get my test results today, and they are very confusing:

TSH
Range           0.450-4.5
My value        5.26

FT4
Range            0.82-1.77
my value        1.46

FT3
Range             2.0-4.4
my value         3.36

In the past I always had my blood drawn in the morning, but this time I had it drawn at 2:00 pm.  I did this because every day starting at about 2-3pm I suddenly get freezing cold.  I am cold most all the time, but I get especially cold at this time of day.  I also get freezing cold if I eat something.  Eating is hard for me because I don't have an appetite, yet I am gaining weight.  All my hair is falling out.  I have terrible problems sleeping and I know my circadian rhythm is completely out of whack.  I asked my doctor what time I should go to have my blood drawn, and he said I should go in the afternoon when I start to feel so cold.

To me, my results are saying that my thyroid is really struggling because of the high TSH, yet the Ft3 and Ft4 levels don't seem as bad as they should be with the very severe symptoms I am having.  Looking at these test results, It almost seems as if my thyroid hormones are not entering my cells.  I am feeling even more distraught now.  I feel as if my endocrine system has gone completely haywire.  I also am suffering with severe panic attacks and awful sweating. This is especially bad in the morning.  I wake up with a panic attack and profuse sweating every day. It feels as if my body is just being flooded with adrenaline.  It's the worst feeling.  I did have my cortisol checked several times, and it's always in range towards the high end.

I just don't know what to do now at all.

[goolarra]

You're right.  Your TSH is a bit elevated, yet your FT4 is at 67% of range, which is high of the 50% target, and FT3 is at 57%, which is in the upper half of range recommended.  Neither of those levels should be causing hypo symptoms.  

Has your vitamin D and ferritin been tested?  Once FT3 and FT4 levels are adequate, we have to consider some kind of resistance syndrome.  Vitamin D and ferritin are key to thyroid hormones getting into cells.  

Have you had a 24-hour saliva test for cortisol?  This test gets four distinct readings throughout the day.  Any cortisol test that is just a snapshot or averages can miss high and low spots throughout the day.

I'm going to be offline for a few days, so don't think I'm ignoring you.  

[gillingham_01]

Thank you for writing again goolarra.  I hope you will be back online soon.

My symptoms being as severe as they are, I now wonder if there is something that is preventing my thyroid hormones from getting into my cells.  These are my test results that I had back on March 30, alittle less than 4 months ago.  I had my blood drawn at a different time on that day (9:40 am):

TSH  
my value           3.36

Ft4
my value           1.24

Ft3
my value            3.0

Ferritin
range                 13-150
my value            185

Vit D-25 Hydroxy
range                  32-100
my value             56.8  (this should be higher now have been taking supplement)

Vit B
range                   211-946
my value              1419

Cortisol (7-10am)
range                    6.2-19.4
my value               16.6

I have read that thyroid hormones getting into cells is a complex energy-dependent process.  I have also read that thyroid hormones follow a circadian rhythm, with levels at there lowest around 3 pm and at their highest around 3-4 am.  I have a terrible time sleeping and I know my circadian rhythm is badly messed up.  This weekend I slept most of the day on Sat & Sun because I feel so tired all the time, and then was awake most of the night.  Then during the week I will have to be up early on certain days.  When I wake up I can barely move or get out of bed.  I literally can barely move.  I also wake up in a panic attack and become extremely hot with profuse sweating.  I wake up like this every single day.  I also know my BMR is now very low.  I have no appetite and so I eat very little, yet I am gaining weight.  I can't begin to tell you how terrible I feel.

[gimel]

Since goolarra is away right now, I wanted to respond to your post.  Upon reviewing your symptoms and lab results, I think that you need to follow up on the high ferritin result.  High ferritin is one of the possible causes for a condition called "pooling of T3 in the blood", with which T3 does not adequately get to cells.  Also, a high ferritin suggests that you should get a full iron test panel, which includes serum iron, TIBC, % saturation, and ferritin.  Along with that it would be good to get tested for Free T3 at the same time as a Reverse T3 test.  The ratio of Free T3 to Reverse T3 can be very revealing about your tissue thyroid levels, which can vary from serum thyroid levels.  

Can you get those tests done?  

[jacrjacr]

I call it the superwoman syndrome......too much on one person at once for too long and bammmm your tsh rises.....you can have adrenal fatigue that triggers this and /or your hormones get off from too much stress as well and it can trigger this...and many say to treat the hormones and stress first , and deficiencies etc and then look at thyroid again....google adrenal fatigue and take the online test....Maca extract can help some people, you can google that too.....some use macafem.....just ideas to think about....

[gillingham_01]

Thank you jacrjacr and gimel for writing on my post while goolara is away.  I appreciate your being their very much.

I did also have an iron panel done on March 30.  These were my results:

IRON
Range              37-145
my value           76

TOTAL IRON BINDING CAPACITY
range                228-428
my value           267

% IRON SATURATION
range                15-50%
my value           28

UNSATURATED IRON BIND CAPACITY
range                112-347
my value           191

I was on iron supplements for a few months prior to these tests because my ferritin levels had dropped so this was the cause for my high ferritin level at that time.  I stopped the supplements on March 30 and am sure my ferritin levels have gone down because I eat very little.  I don't have an appetite because my metabolism has slowed down so profoundly.  

I did have a reverse T3 done back in January too.  I went to a neuropath because doctors wouldn't order this test for me.  The results in January were:

Rt3:
range           9.2-24.1
my result      14.3

Ft3
range            2.0-1.77
my value       3.3

Ft4
range             .82-1.77
my value        1.23

The neuropath I went to treated me very badly though, so I will not go back to her.

yes, I can certainly say without question that very severe trauma and chronic, prolonged stress damages the thyroid because this is what has happened to me.  I had no problems at all with my thyroid before all this happened to me.  

I have read about adrenal stress and am sure my adrenals are severely stressed just as my thyroid and my entire body is.  The thing is, I am so severely ill now that I don't think I am physically capable of trying to treat the other hormones first.  I simply do not have the physical strength.  I honestly do feel that I am critically ill.  The doctor I am seeing now wants to start me on Armour  He is going to call me on Friday to talk about it.  It is so hard to know what to do, but I do know that I cannot go on feeling as I am for much longer.