Woman of Mystery

Hormones
1

Hi;

started a thread several days ago to say that my tsh was coming back normal but I felt that I'd got a lot of hypothyroid symptoms.at the time I was very weak and foggy but I've recovered a bit and can walk a few hundred yards!

anyway, saw Professor X, an endocrinologist at my local hospital yesterday and once again all my tests are coming back normal and he's puzzled..so I'm a woman of mystery.

I don't know exacly what was tested and didn't ask for a printout because his printer was playing up but I know they hadn't tested free T4.

He is pretty convinced I haven't got hypothyroid but has given me a bloodtest for hypothyroid antibodies (and cortisol) "in order to convince me"...but he told me that even if the thyroid antibody test came back positive for hashimoto's he wouldn't treat me because of my otherwise normal results.He is also ruling out other auto-immune problems because my ESR (?) test was normal.

My pulse rate was 90 and he said that my heatbeat sounded anxious through the stethascope..I said that I thought that  being anxious at that point was pretty normal behaviour!

Anyway, I've been referred to cardiology for an ecg which can't do any harm as my circulation has always been pretty pathetic and I've got to have 3 "prolonged fasting" tests to rule out hypoglycaemia as I told him how I get very weak and "nasty" if I get too hungry and don't eat regularly.

Told my niece, who takes so many tablets she must rattle for symptoms very similar to hypothyroid and she laughed,apparently it's the standard "don't know so pass the buck" route that she and her daughter(diagnosed cfs) have been down.

Guess I'm just a menopausal woman after all..pass the valium.

2

Post your results which pertain to Thyroid: TSH, T4, T3 and we might be able to give some opinions. Also, take your own basal pulse rate and basal temperature for about a week - this will rule out the "white coat affect" - which I suffer from. Measure your BP at your local pharmacy (chemist?) for the same reason.

But post your results so that we all know where we are.

Oh, basal = first thing in the morning, before you get up.

3

What is the white coat effect please?. Lucy

4

Well, when I am in a doctor's office I am nervous, so when the doc measures my Pulse, Blood Pressure it is far higher than normal. My blood pressure, for example, which is a little bit high but normal for my age is 140 mmHg but recently when taken by my doc was 170mmHg! That is known as the "white coat affect" - the doc (or nurse) is wearing a white coat. You have to know your own BP so that you dont get put on horrid statin drugs - for nothing. So take your own BP when you are not under stress, I take mine at the pharmacy (chemist) next door to my supermarket.

5

Hello Liauq:

My name is Shelly and I am a nurse in the USA.  I have Hashimoto's disease since 1987.

ESR test  -Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate....  a test which measures the way a red blood cells settle in a timed period. If it takes a long time to settle in the test, than it indicates a problem like autoimmune disease like Hashimoto's and Lupus or cancer.

Hashimoto's is a slow disease and basically a lot of symptoms appear and it may come on slow and your TSH may be normal for a while.  While protein antibodies attack, and it can take a while, you will see symptoms of Hypothyroid, weight gain, feeling cold, hair loss, no periods, constipation.

Hashimoto's is sneaky in the blood, and it can take a while to drop your T3 down and many of the symptoms start out on the hyper side. When I first was diagnosed I was thin, had a very low T4 which looks like Hperthyroid, and many people swing back and forth so it is hard to get right. However my T3 was off.

I was undiagnosed from 1973 until 1987 because TSH was so called normal.  I had horrible symptoms but not all at once.  Feeling cold, Bruising, constipation, that started at age 12.  Later I got no periods or infrequent ones....in my 20's.  It takes years and in 1982 I had a goiter.

You should see a cardiologist and rule out any problem there. Get an EKG done. Also ask your doctor for your lab work and please post your results here.

Have your cortisol checked as it could be CUSHINGS Syndrome. They can tell by a 24 hour urine collection or blood.

So please call the doc's office and get the printout they can even e-mail it now, as long as you agree.

Let us know, any questions just ask,

Shelly

6

Many thanks for all replies; I'll definitely come back with my results.I was just feeling so frustrated that I wanted to let off steam, it's great to be able to talk to others who've been through it!