More blood results, my TSH was 0.4 and my T4 19. So good good.

But because I still have pain a d very much tiredness, she is running some more tests immune profile and other things, to rule them out beofre she refers me to rheumatology as a ?fibromyalgia.

Any of you guys got that too?

Is this the karma bus?

It's not uncommon to have both. Mary Shomon (well known thyroid advocate) can be found on facebook and has written several books on thyroid disease and one on fibromyalgia.

I encourage you to educate yourself well on both diseases. Her fan page, books, and links are a wealth of information.

I have both hypothyroidism and fibromyalgia....I am on the Guaifenisin protocol with Dr. St. Amand:

http://www.fibromyalgiatreatment.com/

Thanks soolee , I have signed up to the Mary Shomon page.

MF, what on earth do you eat? It's a very interesting site

Sorry, just saw this now...food has nothing to do with the Guai protocol ~ what you need to avoid are certain topical products...and it's easier than one might think.

I finally saw a specialist today, and I am pretty thrilled with the results. I'm getting my medication increased, and he wants to treat my symptoms and not just the numbers. He wants my TSH to be quite a bit lower. I'm also going for B12 and D levels to see if I'm deficient with the fatigue I've been experiencing.

He's also keen on sticking with brand over generic and agrees with that mindset. I expected him to be behind the times, being 73 and all. He surprised me pleasantly, and my only concern is that he'll retire on me now that I found him. lol

Just wanted to share the B12 and D tests with others here. He said the D deficiency is almost epidemic.

Thanks MF. I saw the list and a lot of the products I use seem ok.

Great news Soolee! We have been discussing vit D deficiency around here a lot recently.

My skin is fair to med, so if I am going be outside for a long time (like the lunch duty I do every day) I do wear sun cream.

If I'm going to be in and out I don't but I don't expose loads of skin. I wash it off of my hands and don't apply to feet unless I think they may burn (I wear fitflops permanently).

My red headed daughter has a very olivey skin, so I tend to just do her nose and cheeks and shoulders and chest when exposed - only do all of her if on the beach. My son is like me in complexion so he gets covered up a bit more.

My nieces are exceptionally pale skinnned, the older one more so and she has to be smothered to avoid burning and wears a hat too. My sis is worried that she is vit D deficient.

Since my mum had breast cancer she is making sure she gets her daily quota of sun.
Vit D -interesting


I'm sure I can't be, unless my body isn't absorbing it...

I did just fracture my toe by walking in to my 7yo daughter though - I have a 1/2 pint+ glass of milk nearly every evening and have it on cereal every morning.


My rheumatology appt is in October!!! The first appointment available was 69 days away!! I'm at the GI dept next week for Gilbert's syndrome

All these things have such a lot of the same symptoms

I'm very Vit. D deficient, it's extremely common with thyroid problems. I'm on my 3rd round of 50,000 IUs/week for 2 months and it's only sloooooowly creeping up.

Keeping my fingers crossed that this round will make a difference! Most people cannot get enough Vit. D from the sun alone and need supplementation.

Okay, I'm going to go back and read this entire thread, but I just found out that I have subclinical hypothyroidism. I don't know much about it yet, but apparently it is a precursor to hypothyroidism and is generally asymptomatic, or has much milder symptoms than full-blown hypothyroidism. The only symptom I seem to have is hair loss, which is what prompted me to get tested. My doctor said that I can't take any thyroid replacements for the condition, since my actual thyroid levels are still within the normal range. But the hair loss is still a huge concern for me.

Does anyone know anything more about this. Is there anything I can do on my own (supplements, dietary changes, etc.) that might improve the condition (and the hair loss) and prevent it from developing into hypothyroidism. Any info. would be greatly appreciated. I literally just got off the phone with my doctor 5 minutes ago and don't really know anything about this.

Writer, can you post your lab results for me and include the ranges? I'm interested to see what your doctor considers "subclinical".

Please post TSH, Free T3 and Free T4.

Also check this website: www.stopthethyroidmadness.com . I am going to guess that you are not "subclinical" but that you are truly hypothyroid and CAN be treated.

Just a hunch though.

MF: She read me the numbers over the phone, but I don't remember them. She is sending me the results in the mail as well, but that might take a few days. I can call tomorrow though and get them sooner I'm sure.

Okay, these are the numbers they gave me. TSH: 8.380, T4: 1.00, TPO: 8. I don't know what TPO is and neither did the medical assistant who read me the numbers. She didn't say anything about Free T3 or Free T4. I'm not sure if the hard copy they are sending in the mail will have more info on it. It went out yesterday, so it should be here in a day or two.

I need the range for your TSH. If it's what I think it is your doc is out of his freaking mind to say you do not have hypothyroidism. Just to humor me, can you post the lab's range for your TSH?

MF: I don't have that. I called for the numbers and what I posted above is all they told me. I'm still waiting on the actual results from the lab, which the doctor is mailing to me.

If you call back the HAVE TO tell you the ranges. They cannot withhold that info from you. It should also be on the results when you get those ~ just depends on if you want to wait for those to arrive or not.

I will tell you this ~ I have not heard of a lab who uses a range that goes up to 8. This tells me that you are out of the range, thus hypothyroid. I will be interested to hear what the range is.

Well, they're closed now, and I imagine I'll get it tomorrow or the next day. The doctor isn't far away and they said they mailed the results yesterday.

It was just the medical receptionist who read me the numbers, so that might be part of the problem.

If I don't get it tomorrow, I will call them back. I also found a list of endocrinologists that take my insurance in my area and I'm going to call them tomorrow. I'm not sure if I can make an appointment directly or if I need a referral. I have a PPO, so I'm hoping I can just make an appointment and not have to try to get my OB/GYN to give me a referral, since she already said I didn't need any treatment. I have symptoms, so no matter how she feels about the interpretation of the numbers, I would like to be treated. I'm sick of losing my hair and feeling tired and worn down all the time.

Like MF said - I've never heard of ranges going to 8- sometimes 6 but not 8. Range here was 4.5,mine was 6.5 but I've read of people's that were in the 20s - I'm quite sure I'd have been dead at 10

I'd love to know how it works from person to person, my TSH levels didn't seem to be much over range - but my symptoms were... and it seemed to happen fairly quickly for me.

I guess there is no correlation between numbers and symptoms.

I hope you can find someone sympathetic and on the ball soon writer.

I'm just learning what these numbers mean, but from what I've been reading, 8 seems pretty high. Not sure why my OB/GYN would say I don't need treatment right now. All she said to do was come back in a year for another blood test.

I don't know what all of the symptoms are, and some of the things I've been struggling with I have just attributed to recent stresses in my life. Now I'm thinking maybe they are thyroid related? I've had lots of trouble with hair loss. Lack of energy, feeling tired all the time. Extreme irritability and anxiety. Insomnia. Memory and concentration problems. Occasional tingling in my hands and arms when I'm sitting or doing normal activities. Can all of these be related to hypothyroidism?

All of those symptoms are hypothyroid symptoms. Check out this website:

www.stopthethyroidmadness.com

Wow, that is some list of symptoms. I actually have had trouble with a few other things on the list that I didn't even think about.

I've actually had low blood pressure my entire life. My normal used to be 90/60. Here lately, it's been closer to "normal" around 117/70 the last few times I've had it checked.

Weight-wise, I have been okay. It took a lot longer for me to lose the baby weight this time, but I just attributed that to age. I certainly don't lose weight as easily as I used to and I have to watch what I eat a lot more now. But I am 5'5" and weigh 128 lbs., so I'm not overweight.

I don't have all of the symptoms on the list (I'm sure most hypothyroid patients don't) but I do have at least 8 - 10 of them.

Is an endocrinologist the right person to see then? I didn't get the impression that my OB/GYN was taking any of the numbers from my lab results very seriously. And she pretty much brushed off my symptoms (especially the hair loss), saying it was probably just my age or a hereditary thing.