Hypothyroidism????

stacystar

Here's another question for all you pros out there! Sore throat... is it a sign/symptom too? I just put this together today, and will ask the doc on Monday, but see if this makes any sense (or if I'm being a hypochondriac now!!!)

In about May, I got a really bad sore throat. It felt like I had huge sores in my throat. It felt swollen, and felt like sandpaper. When I drank anything, it was like my throat was dry and stuck together. My kids had strep throat at the time, so I figured I had it too, but hate going to the doc, so I didn't.

Fast forward to now... tonight, sitting here telling a friend about my new "hypo" discovery and having a sore throat, it hit me. I have had the same sort of sore throat just about once a month since around May. It's never been quite as bad as the May one, but the same sort of feeling. It's also always more sore on the left than the right. It's also a few days before my female cycle.

So, here's the question.... can the hormones of our cycles mess with the thyroid enough to make it enlarge and hurt? Are these 2 things related? I didn't even think about it until today. "Maybe it's a tumor!" (For those of you movie buffs... name that movie!)

It's amazing all the things that are connected with a bum thyroid. Not really sure if the sore throat is or not or they cycle and hormonies (name that movie) But I have read info about Espten (sp?) Barr --aka mono--can lead to they thryoid out of wack-y-ness. I know that when my levels are off I tend to get a horse rasphy thoaty voice.

(kindergarden cop--it's not a tumor)

songbyrdsweet

Here's another question for all you pros out there! Sore throat... is it a sign/symptom too? I just put this together today, and will ask the doc on Monday, but see if this makes any sense (or if I'm being a hypochondriac now!!!)

In about May, I got a really bad sore throat. It felt like I had huge sores in my throat. It felt swollen, and felt like sandpaper. When I drank anything, it was like my throat was dry and stuck together. My kids had strep throat at the time, so I figured I had it too, but hate going to the doc, so I didn't.

Fast forward to now... tonight, sitting here telling a friend about my new "hypo" discovery and having a sore throat, it hit me. I have had the same sort of sore throat just about once a month since around May. It's never been quite as bad as the May one, but the same sort of feeling. It's also always more sore on the left than the right. It's also a few days before my female cycle.

So, here's the question.... can the hormones of our cycles mess with the thyroid enough to make it enlarge and hurt? Are these 2 things related? I didn't even think about it until today. "Maybe it's a tumor!" (For those of you movie buffs... name that movie!)

It's not a Toomah!! :laugh:

If you're lacking iodine, the thyroid will increase its cell number, causing the entire thyroid to grow, to increase the chances of 'catching' an iodine. When the thyroid gets realllllllly huge, that's when you have a goiter. The thyroid sort of wraps around your larynx and esophagus, so if it is enlarged, it makes sense that it could cause pain in that area. However, iodine deficiency isn't the same as hypothyroidism, wherein the thyroid isn't making enough hormones for whatever reason.

fitmom2six

However, iodine deficiency isn't the same as hypothyroidism, wherein the thyroid isn't making enough hormones for whatever reason.

I've read that. I guess I'll have to wait until Monday to see what my "numbers" are. With iodine deficiency, the hormone levels are still within normal though, right? So, if they are saying my "thyroid is low," that's not an iodine deficiency. do I have that right??? It's on my huge list of questions.

songbyrdsweet

However, iodine deficiency isn't the same as hypothyroidism, wherein the thyroid isn't making enough hormones for whatever reason.

I've read that. I guess I'll have to wait until Monday to see what my "numbers" are. With iodine deficiency, the hormone levels are still within normal though, right? So, if they are saying my "thyroid is low," that's not an iodine deficiency. do I have that right??? It's on my huge list of questions.

I'm not really sure what they mean by that. A 'low thyroid' generally just means your T3 and T4 levels are low, but the problem could stem from SO MUCH. You could be releasing too little thyroid stimulating hormone, you could have an iodine deficiency, you could have too little of the precursor hormones to T3 and T4...there's a ton of things that could be wrong (not to worry you, and it's most likely not EVERYTHING lol). With iodine deficiency, you'd have low levels of T3 and T4, which are made from certain hormones binding to iodine. You'd have normal levels of TSH. If there were too little TSH, your iodine levels would be fine, but you wouldn't have enough of the hormone to bind with it to make T3 and T4. Or there could be something wrong with another organ in that system. The human body is just so complex and we know so little about it that it takes a lot of trial and error to figure out what's wrong.

pinkpixies

I went in for my regular 6 month retest for my levels in july and they were way off--after a little talking with the doc, we discovered that I had been taking my perscription just as perscribed--but somehow that information got lost in tranlastion. I had been on a dose of 0.175 and they upped me to 0.200 anyhow the lost in translation part is that I was taking both (that's right 2 pills .175 & .200) for about a year. Let's just say that the effects of an overdose took a while to show up (started dropping pounds like mad at first--then a total stand still & pounds piled on despite every effort I was making.) I had tons of energy--in fact I could not sleep at all most nights. So please please please Everyone question anyone you talk to about a change in levels (which I did when the new doses were given--the par & the nurse, both said yep this is right) I was heading towards big problems had it not been caught. (I really hope my case is rare and that you don't have anything to worry about)

damn...thats a really high dose, isn't it? I only take 50 mcg...I believe the .175 is 175 mcg, right?

yep that is correct--I'm back to just taking that now. My levels tend to be all over the place and they are constently messing with my doses. It's rather frustrating. I can never do anything simple--when I was finally labled hypothroid, my numbers were way way high (like in the 300's--not sure which numbers those were because I was too tired to remember at the time--I had blackouts, lost my hearing, thought I was crazy, and a number of other things too)

dang...thats scary. Only side effects I've had from hypothyroidism is extreme tiredness, weight gain (gained over 170 lbs in two years.) and my hair falls out and breaks bad.

TNTPete

:happy: I also have hypothyroidism -- pretty common esp after having children from what I have heard. No biggie.. little pill every day but -- to regulate my mind, metabolism, etc.. so worth it. You'll do just fine!!

fitmom2six

[I'm not really sure what they mean by that. A 'low thyroid' generally just means your T3 and T4 levels are low, but the problem could stem from SO MUCH. You could be releasing too little thyroid stimulating hormone, you could have an iodine deficiency, you could have too little of the precursor hormones to T3 and T4...there's a ton of things that could be wrong (not to worry you, and it's most likely not EVERYTHING lol). With iodine deficiency, you'd have low levels of T3 and T4, which are made from certain hormones binding to iodine. You'd have normal levels of TSH. If there were too little TSH, your iodine levels would be fine, but you wouldn't have enough of the hormone to bind with it to make T3 and T4. Or there could be something wrong with another organ in that system. The human body is just so complex and we know so little about it that it takes a lot of trial and error to figure out what's wrong.

We are complex, aren't we??? Do you all go to an endocrinologist or just your family doc? I'm thinking I might want to see if they will refer me to an endocrinologist. I really don't want my metabolism to speed up so much that I start losing weight -- I'm at the bottom end of "healthy weight" as it is. Not that that means much, IMO. I'm still at about 24% body fat according to the scale. So, I do have a little to lose...... now I'm rambling! lol!

I also worry about my 13-year-old daughter now too. She is showing some of the same signs... tiredness, always wears a sweatshirt, weight gain. I guess maybe I should go get her checked too.

fitmom2six

So, I went in to the doc today. All they did was another blood test. The first test was just the general screening they do at physicals. My TSH was 5.2, which is only marginally high. So they did another test today to get the T3, T4, and redo the TSH levels. Now, its back to waiting for these results to come back!

soup78

So, I went in to the doc today. All they did was another blood test. The first test was just the general screening they do at physicals. My TSH was 5.2, which is only marginally high. So they did another test today to get the T3, T4, and redo the TSH levels. Now, its back to waiting for these results to come back!

Good luck! :flowerforyou:

Keep us informed, okay?

songbyrdsweet

So, I went in to the doc today. All they did was another blood test. The first test was just the general screening they do at physicals. My TSH was 5.2, which is only marginally high. So they did another test today to get the T3, T4, and redo the TSH levels. Now, its back to waiting for these results to come back!

Yea, when I got tested they only did TSH, which looked normal. I'm going to get back in for the T3 and T4 when I have an extra $40 and some time. Good luck!!

fitmom2six

Okay! How good are you at interpreting tyroid test results?

My TSH was 5.2, on the retest it was 4.82. From what I can find online, the normal range is 0.5 to 5.5, so I would fall in the "normal" range. Some would call normal 0.3 to 3.0, that would put me a tiny bit high.

My Free T4 level was 1.15. Online says 0.7 to 2.0 is normal.

BUT my total T3 was 32.2. Online says normal is 80 to 220. Mine, obviously, is MUCH less than that!

My doc is saying everything is fine for now, but wants to recheck in 6 weeks. This is fine with me, but I think I might go to a different doc. I'm not too impressed.

I also don't know if the values I'm finding online are acurate. Anyone have any "normal" values they trust?

sindyb9

I have this as well. I was falling a sleep every where I sat down for more than a min. They put me on meds and do a blood test every six months. After starting the medicine I felt so much better, got more energy and lost 50 pounds. It is good they caught it early. I have no side effects from the medicine at all.

LuvinLife

I have hypothyroidism also. It was diagnosed about 4 1/2 years ago. I had all the symptoms, fatigue, weight gain (couldn't lose a pound to save my life!), dry skin on hands and feet, and missed periods. My doctor caught it because my thyroid was very enlarged. For the longest time I thought I was just crazy and being a hypochondriac too, but when I started missing periods, I knew something was wrong (My tubes are tied, being prego was not much of a probability). Another thing that hypothyroidism can affect is antidepressants. It can keep them from working to their full potential. I noticed a difference after my levels were normal. What is frustrating to me is that another family doc I had almost 15 years ago noticed the enlargement but never did anything about it. I keep wondering if I could have avoided some of this weight gain and depression if it had been caught earlier.

From what my doc said is that in some cases when the thyroid is having production problems, it can enlarge because it is working harder. She said that this enlargement can come and go and can cause your levels to yo-yo. It is good that he wants to do another test in 6 weeks I think. That may be what they are looking for. It took about 18 months to get my levels "normal", but I was still symptomatic so she increased my dose by .25 and that helped LOTS. I am now on 200mcg. Her theory is that I have probably always run on the high end of normal. A year ago, I thought that my levels may have been off again, but they were where we wanted them. She switched me to the name brand Synthroid and that helped tons. She said that some people just process the name brand better. It's more expensive, but worth it to me.

But like everyone else says, little pill everyday for the rest of my life, no biggie. I have heard the taking on an empty stomach recommendation too, but I've done both and don't feel a difference.

I wish you lots of luck on this. It can be very frustrating.

Think happy thoughts!!!:flowerforyou:

songbyrdsweet

Well T4 is converted to T3 before use in the cell, so that T4 will be used. Your doc probably is unconcerned for that reason. T4 and T3 are almost the same thing, except that T3 is much more bioactive, so our cells use that instead of the T4.