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A little direction from those of you who know this stuff

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Thyroid Disorders
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Kate9183
Regular Member
Joined : Feb 2014
Posts : 78
Posted 2/14/2014 5:47 PM (GMT -8)
Due to some recent symptoms, my doctor ran a thyroid panel on my last week. I am going in to get the results next week. In the meantime, would anyone be able to shed a little light on what is going on with my body/share any similar stories?

Family History: Mother, sister, maternal aunts, maternal uncle, and maternal grandfather have/had thyroid disease of varying types (some hyper, some hypo).

Personal History: 30 year old female, Long (25 year) history of anxiety, panic attacks, and depression; long (20+) year history of IBS type symptoms; due to family history, my thyroid has been checked several times and has always been "normal". I don't have those labs available to me now to know what is termed "normal".

Recent History: within the past 2 months, the following symptoms have occurred: extreme loss of appetite (forcing myself to eat), weight loss (8% of body weight in less than a month--assume related to loss of appetite), drenching night sweats (have somewhat improved, but still sweating at night), lower back pain, pain in lower abdomen, chills/cold intolerance, extreme anxiety and depression, dry skin, weird sensations in my throat (kind of like a random sharp pain in the area of my thyroid)

Doctor confirmed that I am not anemic and though my white cell count was elevated, I had a sore throat and swollen lymph node during the blood work and the doctor felt that I was/am fighting a virus.

From my reading, it seems like I have some symptoms of hypo and some of hyper thyroid. I am confused, and to be honest, quite scared.

Any thoughts to share? I really appreciate it.
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jujub
Elite Member
Joined : Mar 2003
Posts : 10424
Posted 2/14/2014 6:06 PM (GMT -8)
The symptoms of thyroid dysfunction are so varied and non-specific that it isn't possible to diagnose based solely on symptoms. Your lab results will be more helpful in that area; hopefully your doctor ordered at least TSH, free T4 & T3. Let us know what your results are (including the reference ranges) and we might be able to be more help to you.
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Kate9183
Regular Member
Joined : Feb 2014
Posts : 78
Posted 2/14/2014 6:11 PM (GMT -8)
I will post my results when I get them. Thanks for responding, Judy. My biggest concern right now is that my tests have always come back "normal", but I know something isn't right with my body. Right now my doctor seems to think that my anxiety is causing all these symptoms and therefore I don't feel like she is willing to figure things out. We are a military family so I don't really have the option of switching doctors.

Again, thanks for responding. I know the litany of symptoms of thyroid dysfunction is great and there is really no way to know what is going on from symptoms alone, but is it possible to have symptoms of both hypo and hyper thyroid simultaneously? Such a wild little gland, that thyroid is!
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rinaalisha74
New Member
Joined : Feb 2014
Posts : 4
Posted 2/14/2014 9:59 PM (GMT -8)
I think that if you ask a doctor for something specific because you're worried, then you should just ask them to do a TSH, T3, and T4 test, and they usually will.

I believe it's the kind of doctor you have though, because my doctor automatically thought it was my thyroid. Tests came back and I found out I had an underactive thyroid. I have a bit of the symptoms like you. Cold intolerance, achy body pains, throat pain, but with a tiny bit of hyper symptoms. Doctor even checked to see if I was anemic, because I'm so tiny for being 20. But I'm not. Just hypo.

But just ask your doctor for a thyroid test. It shouldn't really be a problem. & I hope all goes well for you. x
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Kate9183
Regular Member
Joined : Feb 2014
Posts : 78
Posted 2/22/2014 5:57 AM (GMT -8)
Got my result. Apparently my doctor didn't run a full panel and only ran TSH which was 0.482 (ref range for this lab 0.27-4.8). My doctor tells me this is "well within the normal range" and doesn't see the need for further bloodwork despite my symptoms and substantial family history of thyroid disease.

Is 0.482 too "normal" to push for further testing? Are all my symptoms in my head as my doctor seems to think?
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jujub
Elite Member
Joined : Mar 2003
Posts : 10424
Posted 2/22/2014 7:42 AM (GMT -8)
You might consider seeing an endocrinologist for a definitive workup. This is at the upper limits of normal, and may be high for some people. Also, for proper diagnosis a minimum of TSH, free t4 and t3 should be done. TSH tests more how the pituitary is responding to the circulating level of thyroid hormone than the thyroid function itself.
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Kate9183
Regular Member
Joined : Feb 2014
Posts : 78
Posted 3/8/2014 9:01 AM (GMT -8)
Thanks, Judy. I am going to ask for the other bloodwork to be completed and see about a referral to an endo when I go back in to my doctor next.

In the meantime, I dug through my medical records and found some bloodwork from a little over 10 years ago. At that time my TSH was 2.8. Does the drop from 2.8 to 0.482 over the course of that time period mean anything or is there that much variation in TSH over time? I will bring the old labs with me to the doctor, but am curious if anyone has any insight before I go back in.

Thanks!
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cfs
Regular Member
Joined : Aug 2011
Posts : 80
Posted 3/18/2014 5:24 AM (GMT -8)
Hi Kate. There can be variation but as has been said, you should be getting a full thyroid panel, especially with your history. That low a TSH isn't so much a matter of concern in and of itself but does indicate that you should have follow up say in 6 months absent acceleration of any symptoms.
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