Hashimotos, interpreting blood results anyone similar?

Ang108

I hope you can find a good Endocrinologist that can explain everything to you.

In the meantime, I can help you a bit. I am assuming your measurements are the same as ours in the US.

I've been dealing with thyroid issues my whole life. I was hyperthyroid and had a goiter, the bulging eyes, rapid heartbeat, was very thin, when I was four years old. It would get under control with medication, then my pediatrician would try taking me off of medication, and I would get hyper again. When I was in my 20's I decided to get radioactive iodine. It's possible it could have cured me, but it made me hypothyroid.

Your TSH is in the normal range. It sounds like you are hyperthyroid if you have tachycardia and a goiter.

Your Free T4 is very high if it is the same range as ours. Unless that measurement is for Total T4, then it is just slightly higher than normal.

Beta blockers will slow your heart rate down. They usually work immediately.

I don't know what the other test is for.
I don't understand something. if you have a goiter, that means the thyroid is enlarged. You have the symptoms of goiter yet the doctor said it's not enlarged.

None of it really makes sense, gaining weight is a symptom of hypothyroid, but it sounds as if you are hyperthyroid. Or maybe that's what Hashimoto is? I am not familiar with that disease.

Good luck! I hope you find a doctor that can help.

Maybe you need to check other options. Years ago I had similar symptoms to yours and since I was then in my early 50's everything was blamed on pre-menopause. I started to feel even worse and the blame fell on active menopause. I felt about the same and things were blamed on post-menopause......and I believed it all, because it made sense to me.
One day I collapsed in the street because I had fallen into a adrenaline storm and experienced a myxedemic coma with my TSH being at 118 ( it took three weeks in the hospital before they considered to check my thyroid ). I was treated and felt a bit better, but after two years they discovered after several long needle biopsies that I had many " suspicious " cells and no one could say with certainty that it was not cancer. I had my thyroid removed and since lymph nodes were affected I also had some of those removed and was given one high dose radiation and after that chemo. I recovered, but never felt really well until on Nov.2, 2011 I was diagnosed with rampant systemic Lupus which probably had developed over years......I am still not 100 %, but I feel much , much better than I ever did in the last ten years. The thyroid diagnosis was not wrong, but was not the reason ( or maybe just a very minor one ) why I felt so bad over 12 years.
Please don't just assume that what you have is thyroid based.....it might be and it might not be.....and you are worth it to find out what the correct diagnose is, be treated and lead a better life.
Good Luck to you !

PS: Do not allow people to confuse you. There are no 100% clear cut symptoms for either hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, except weight gain and weight loss. It is possible to experience symptoms from either side of the spectrum and you need a health care professional who knows and understands that. A good specialist does not just go by the lab results, because in problems regarding the thyroid they appear to be " normal " for almost 40% even though they are not and a good doctor goes a lot by the clinical and anectodenal history of a patient. If you are treated, you need to have patience, because it takes a while to be well adjusted as far as meds are concerned. It took me just over two years. I now take 300 mg of levothyroxine and 150-200 mgs of Cytomel a day and a beta blocker, because the whole ordeal ( mostly the adrenal storm ) damaged my heart...not a lot, but enough to have to take something to protect it.

Oops, I thought I had answered to the OP, but now it looks like I messed up.....sorry.

Ang108

If you were italian I'd refer you to my doctor. My blood work is almost perfect, nothing is out of range (except vit.D) and yet he thinks my thyroid is not working well and he wants me to have a scan. And he said I have to start taking at least some herbs to help my thyroid, but I will wait for the scan. No reason to start taking something without a reason, right?

I dont' want to be dependent on medications for the rest of my life, I see my cousin and my aunts taking their thyroid medications everyday and I don't want to do it.

I understand that no one wants to be medication dependent for no real reason. I would not want to either. But since I have no thyroid any more I have to take meds each day and must say that considering all the med dependent problems, thyroid treatment is easy. No special diet, no restrictions just a few very small pills each morning....and that's it. It's really not a big deal.....

chocoholicdiva

Lisa, I truly feel you pain right now. I was told over the phone that my blood tests had come back, and something new had shown up in it - underactive thyroid. I'm going to be seeing my doctor on Tuesday, so I'll find out the course she'll have for me. Add me to your list of friends if you like, I could use someone for support over this situation.

Jennifer

Snicklefritz81

http://hypothyroidmom.com/hashimotos-your-body-is-not-supposed-to-destroy-itself-right/


That site has a LOT of information!!

I'd get seen by someone else, and keep going, until you find one who'll take your symptoms into account, and not just the numbers. Good luck, I really feel for you!

Lofteren

I double checked the T4 and what I wrote was right. The GP is puzzled and keeps saying there is nothing wrong with me...

Obviously you guys have a better knowledge than me, do you think I need treatment? I am feeling crap...seriously.

No I eat a normal diet, I eat carbs,protein, fats and lots of fruits and veg.

Anything else you can tell me? desperate for any help

The GP doesn't know what he's talking about because he's a GP. He's basically just the receptionist in the healthcare system. He's there to direct you to someone who can properly diagnose and treat you; not to diagnose and treat you himself unless it's something trivial. See a specialist. You might have a hard time since y'all have socialized healthcare and it's over-regulated but I know that there is a growing privitized healthcare industry in the UK to address this problem. It might be worth it to go see a doc outside the system if you can't get in otherwise.

lindsey1979

I have Hashi's and my TSH has been all over the map. I went through 4 docs (2 GPs and 2 endos) before finding my current one that specializes in thyroid and metabolism issues. He explained to me that with Hashi's, when you still have thyroid function left, it's impossible to know if you're getting effective thyroid hormones because of the antibodies -- they could be binding up 20% of your T4/T3 or 80% and there is really no way to know -- except by symptoms. People's TSH will eventually full hypo once they lose most/all of their effective thyroid function and that at that time, the symptoms tend to be more consistent because you don't have the constant on/off again to thyroid response.

My last TSH was totally normal, though my T3 and T4 were at the very bottom of the range (and my antibodies were high). My doc prescribes me Nature-throid, the natural dessicated thyroid. He says he can't say exactly why, but he's found his Hashi patients generally respond better to it than the synthetics -- likely because of the T3 + T4 component (and possibly with the other thyroid hormones as well). He tracks me blood tests to make sure that I'm not being over treated (so long as my TSH is detectable, I'm not over medicated since my body is still responding), but works with my symptoms to find what is the better part of the "normal" range for me. At low/normal, I still have many of the symptoms, including inability to lose weight. But at the middle of the range for T3 and T4, my symptoms are greatly reduced or gone, so that's what we aim for.

perseverance14

Oops, I thought I had answered to the OP, but now it looks like I messed up.....sorry.

I understand, and I am sure she saw the post.