Thyroid Tested Normal?
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Please, people. Just stop responding to the poster that's obviously just posting here to purposely piss people off and insult them. Trolls feed on attention.0
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I had over 20 (and not even exagerating thyroid tests done a few years ago because my body was acting crazy in spurts.They all were normL RANGHE. When I was younger they said I was borderline hyperthyroid abd as I got older - just in normal range. But my thyroid would sporatically cause major problems with my health (there are just too many to list) but I was in and out of the hospital or doctor for 3 years. Finally after an episode an intern said you are not leaving this hospital until we figure this out. She almost had to release me - but after a last test on something totally unrelated - they found noguals on my thyroid that was the cause of it all. They took my thyroid out and now I just take medication for replacement and I feel like normal again. All the depression, fatrigue, on edge-ness, etc. totally went away. Now it I am in my 40's and just had a baby 19 months ago (a side effect from the surgery - but a good one) so it is just hard for me to see fast results. Bottom line what I am telling you - do not give up - make them keep testing until they find the cause. Go to an endochronologist that is a specialist in just this thing and they will get you the help you need. If you feel something is not right - usually your gut feeling is right.
What kind of meds are you on? A T4-only med like synthroid or levothyroxine?
I had my thyroidectomy as treatment for uncontrollable graves, and the T4-only meds don't work for me. Without a thyroid you're already "behind" in T3 hormone, so it's generally not the greatest treatment. Does your doctor ever test your free T3?
Congrats on the "side effect of the surgery".
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I want to respond with a very recent experience that I have had with this very same issue. After an intense year of healthy life changes in 2012 including working with a fitness trainer and a nutritionist they finally encouraged me to look for any underlying issues that would prevent me from losing weight. I was diagnosed with a goiter 4 years ago but have pretty much ignored it because the doc said there was nothing that should be done about it. After my year of intensity without any scale results I finally decided to take the plunge and see an endocrinologist.It has been confirmed that I do have hashimotos but my levels are still only borderline low. My doc also tested my B and D levels which were extremely low. The doc put me on a therepeutic dose of thyroid medicine, Vitamin D and B12 with no promise that the thyroid medicine would encourage weight loss. Well lo and behold after only4 weeks into taking the medicines the scale has budged (5lbs in 2 weeks) my periods have straightened themselves out and I feel like a new woman!! Was it the thryroid medicine, is it the vitmamins? I am not sure but I am finally feeling all of my hard work is finally going to pay off. I say this to encourage you to keep on looking into it. I always thought "oh it's my thyroid" was a lousy excuse but after putting in all of the work I did last year without any results I am a believer that if your body is not balanced hormonally it's going to hang onto the weight. I have no scientific proof about any of this, just my own experience. Truth be told I am thinking a lot of the credit goes to the Vitamin D. i think it has given me the power boost that my metabolism has needed. Good luck! I wish you well in your journey. Know that you are not alone.0
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these are the exact same symptoms i have. Only additional symptom i have is the feeling of a permanent lump in my throat and my chest tightens up a lot when i exercise. My doctor did bloods just before christmas and my thyroid came out normal. I went back two weeks ago and told her if anything i feel worse and she is sending me for a treadmill stress test to see whats going on as i also have irregular heartbeats every so often. I take vitamins and supplements by the handful in an effort to 'wake me up' since i feel sluggish and foggy and shattered all the time. I also gain weight very easily although i can lose it on about 1300 calories. I weight train and work out 2 hours a day but i drag myself there and make myself do it. I just hope my doctor finds out whats wrong, we dont have Endocrinologists here in the Uk unless youe doctor refers you to one0
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TSH is not a good indicator of thyroid issues. They should be testing all of your levels AND checking for anti-bodies. My doctor kept telling me my thyroid was fine and referred me to a nutritionist. I did what the nutritionist told me to do and I was not losing weight. She went through 4 years of blood tests...I had Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and had for at least 4 years. She couldn't look beyond that. I would suggest seeing an endocrinologist. It's more than just a numbers game. It's also how you feel. If you can, get your metabolism checked, too.0
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i am anemic on top of thyroid issues and found the pills didn't help for the b12. once i started on the injections i saw a difference.0
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If your doctor is not an Endocrinologist, then go see an Endocrinologist. If he/she is one, find a different Endocrinologist. I was well within the normal range of TSH and my PCP told me there was nothing wrong with me. I knew better and went to an Endocrinologist and I am now on twice the dose for me to feel well. My TSH is on the low side of normal and my medication is almost double what is was. In addition, I take a T4 which has made me feel even better. Bottom line is that you don't have to live with a foggy brain and all the other symptoms. You owe it to yourself to find a good Endocrinologist.
As a side note... every lab is differend and they have scales they use for their Normal range so stating a number isn't the same at all labs. It is best to know your own lab and what their normal range is and evaluate your numbers based on that.0 -
Thyroid meds or surgery is not going to change much for your weight loss if you have always been heavy or overweight or 'thick'. Thyroid disorders are a cause of weight problems for very few people and once treated there is little evidence of the problem.
I had a complete thyroidectomy in 1998 and have been on meds ever since. I know lots of women and a few men who have had hypo or hyper and have continued to struggle with weight loss/gain.
Get a second opinion if you must, but don't hang your weight loss dreams on a thyroid problem.0 -
My doc also tested my B and D levels which were extremely low. The doc put me on a therepeutic dose of thyroid medicine, Vitamin D and B12
Congrats, it sounds like you got a decent thyroid doctor right away, which is actually quite rare!
Vit B12 is involved in converting T4 (the storage thyroid hormone) into T3 (the active thyroid hormone); and Vit D is required for the T3 to do its work on your cells. So I'm thinking it was the combo that was effective. 0 -
these are the exact same symptoms i have. Only additional symptom i have is the feeling of a permanent lump in my throat and my chest tightens up a lot when i exercise. My doctor did bloods just before christmas and my thyroid came out normal. I went back two weeks ago and told her if anything i feel worse and she is sending me for a treadmill stress test to see whats going on as i also have irregular heartbeats every so often. I take vitamins and supplements by the handful in an effort to 'wake me up' since i feel sluggish and foggy and shattered all the time. I also gain weight very easily although i can lose it on about 1300 calories. I weight train and work out 2 hours a day but i drag myself there and make myself do it. I just hope my doctor finds out whats wrong, we dont have Endocrinologists here in the Uk unless youe doctor refers you to one
This sounds like a potential thyroid issue to me, especially with the irregular heart beats and the tightness in your throat. Do you know if your doctor just test TSH, or did they also test your free T3 and free T4?
I would get an actual copy of your test results, because "normal" is most definitely subject to interpretation. If they only tested TSH, and it was over 2.0, I would STRONGLY recommend getting your free T3 and free T4 tested.
I hear thyroid care in the UK is dismal, I hope you are able to get the testing you need to confirm.
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i am anemic on top of thyroid issues and found the pills didn't help for the b12. once i started on the injections i saw a difference.
Iron is essential for converting the storage thyroid hormone T4 into the "active" thyroid hormone T3. I could absolutely see anemia having a huge impact on your thyroid issues!!0 -
Thyroid meds or surgery is not going to change much for your weight loss if you have always been heavy or overweight or 'thick'. Thyroid disorders are a cause of weight problems for very few people and once treated there is little evidence of the problem.
I had a complete thyroidectomy in 1998 and have been on meds ever since. I know lots of women and a few men who have had hypo or hyper and have continued to struggle with weight loss/gain.
Get a second opinion if you must, but don't hang your weight loss dreams on a thyroid problem.
Riiiiight, but the point is that the OP hasn't been treated, so your first paragraph doesn't really make sense. Though I DO agree that some people think that fixing their thyroid will result in the weight just magically melting off, which is obviously not the case. It would just put them in the same class as everyone else, hopefully seeing results from proper dietary intake and exercise (which I think was your point).
For those who are hypo and still struggle, especially after thyroidectomy, it's likely that they're either on the wrong meds or on the wrong dose. If you had a thyroidectomy and are on a T4-only med like synthroid or levothyroxine, and are still struggling with hypothyroid symptoms, I would strongly urge you to get your free T3 levels tested.0 -
If your TSH was 3.63 and you were not having any symptoms, I can see why the doctor might want to take a wait and see approach. However, you are having symptoms and are above the new normal range, so treatment might be in order. As others have said, you should have the full thyroid panel to get a better picture of what is going on.
I've taken Synthroid for about 15 years. My old doctor would see TSH values in the 3-5 range and say I was fine and not change my dose unless I insisted because of bothersome symptoms, which for me were extreme fatigue, stupid brain, and hair loss. My new doctor keeps his patients on Synthroid below 2.0, which I think is common practice now. Every doc is different - even though they changed the recommended normal range several years ago, many have not caught on yet.0 -
Looks like I started a debate here. :-) nonetheless I'd like to thank everyone for their valuable opinions/advice. Most people are insisting I get a second opinion, so I will!
Does anyone have any advice on finding a good endocrinologist? Im nervous I will find someone not thorough enough. Im simply tired of expending so much effort for nothing! Whatever someone tells me to do, I will do it! Im just tired of this!0 -
Looks like I started a debate here. :-) nonetheless I'd like to thank everyone for their valuable opinions/advice. Most people are insisting I get a second opinion, so I will!
Does anyone have any advice on finding a good endocrinologist? Im nervous I will find someone not thorough enough. Im simply tired of expending so much effort for nothing! Whatever someone tells me to do, I will do it! Im just tired of this!
I would ask if they test free T3 and free T4, and if they base dosage on the free T results (and not just on TSH results). You may have to just call around.
Another thing you can do is ask your pharmacist which doctors/endos in the area prescribe dessicated thyroid meds. If they're open to dessicated meds (instead of just synthetic) they are more likely to be better educated in thyroid management.0 -
OP- your situation sounds like mine.. I did have my Thryoid tested a few yrs ago and it was ok.. I know that most of my weight issues is self-inflicted but I am really starting to think in my case part of the equation is hormones. I am planning an annual soon and want to get retested and also get my hormone levels tested.0
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these are the exact same symptoms i have. Only additional symptom i have is the feeling of a permanent lump in my throat and my chest tightens up a lot when i exercise. My doctor did bloods just before christmas and my thyroid came out normal. I went back two weeks ago and told her if anything i feel worse and she is sending me for a treadmill stress test to see whats going on as i also have irregular heartbeats every so often. I take vitamins and supplements by the handful in an effort to 'wake me up' since i feel sluggish and foggy and shattered all the time. I also gain weight very easily although i can lose it on about 1300 calories. I weight train and work out 2 hours a day but i drag myself there and make myself do it. I just hope my doctor finds out whats wrong, we dont have Endocrinologists here in the Uk unless youe doctor refers you to one
This sounds like a potential thyroid issue to me, especially with the irregular heart beats and the tightness in your throat. Do you know if your doctor just test TSH, or did they also test your free T3 and free T4?
I would get an actual copy of your test results, because "normal" is most definitely subject to interpretation. If they only tested TSH, and it was over 2.0, I would STRONGLY recommend getting your free T3 and free T4 tested.
I hear thyroid care in the UK is dismal, I hope you are able to get the testing you need to confirm.
it doesnt work like that in the UK. I had a fasting blood test and was told to call back for results in a week. I called up and the receptionist said.....''oh your thyroid function, liver function and cholesterol are all fine'' and that was it. I went back to my doctor last week and she's sending me for a treadmill stress test at the hospital and she gave me ibuprofen anti inflamatory pain killers because she said the tightness in my chest might be Costochondritis but these had no effect. I feel like im on drugs or something (not that ive ever taken any) but i wake up shattered, groggy, wooly headed and often nauseous and i have a feeling like i swallowed a golf ball all the time. Sometimes its quite painful but i dont have a red or infected throat. yet apparently my thyroid is fine0 -
People need to do their research. Many labs/doctors are using old levels to flag hypothyroidism. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinoligsts said in 2002 that anything above 3.0 TSH needs to be treated with medication if the person has most of the symptoms of hypothyroidism. A major problem is that most labs/doctors are using pre-2002 ranges to determine the condition, and the FDA allows them to use ranges as high as 5.7 TSH.
To put it simply, you can have hypothyroidsm across the street at one medical center, and then be told that you do not have it across the street at another medical center. This isn't right, and the FDA needs to make labs/doctors use one range; not allow so many different ranges that cause one person to get treatment early, and one person to be denied treatment until their doctor gives the OK.
I know all about this. I have had hyperthyroidism and currently have hypothyroidism. The treatment that they give you to end hyperthyroidism can cause hypothyroidism within 10 years.
I am all but dead because my doctor did not consider hypothyroidism to be anything under 5.7 TSH level. I developed 10 of the symptoms for it when my TSH level was in the 3.0 range, but she ignored this because to her those were good numbers; she was taught the old-school methods. I was poor, and could not afford a specialist anywhere else. Thanks to the delay in treatment, I have heart problems that may never go away, I can't even turn over in bed without nearly going into cardiac arrest. I gained wait just smelling food. I lost my hair and developed severe Uterine dysfunctional bleeding, and have to take birth control pills. My TSH level is currently 9.0 with medication, I'm on a low dose because the medication speeds the pulse, and I now have heart conditions from going untreated so long, of course, the low dose does not work!
Untreated thyroid conditions can destroy your heart, so please take this seriously people, and pray that it is never you, because you too can fall victim to the fight on what normal thyroid function is.
To those people who think some overweight people use thyroid condition as an excuse, or think that it's some kind of joke, you likely have many years to develop the condition. Maybe you need to see for yourself what it is like...I promise you, if you get it, you will make no more snide comments.0 -
I've been tested since I was 15...all normal. Even the 3 biopsies of nodules (goiters) came back normal. No meds for years, felt like what you've described for years. Endos, GYN, general practitioners couldn't help me. My thyroid kept growing and I finally had it removed. It weighed a pound, was full of cancer, and had so many engorged blood vessels I'm told it was a mess. I now take meds for life and last lab results came back as (normal functioning thyroid) panel even though I don't have one. Ha! However, the fog is gone, the other symptoms are gone and the losing weight is still an issue. Don't stop searching until you get your answer. Oxypro elite or oxyelite pro I forget worked awesome and helped me lose 20 lbs last year before I had to stop taking it. My endo has now recommened Alli and I may give that a go after my hubby finishes off the other one. Good luck and it's not all in your headI don't mean to hijack this thread but you all seem so knowledgable about this.
Can stress of a blood test cause a high reading? I am having surgery soon and had to get all kinds of blood work done (and totally freaking out). Everything came back fine except for thyroid (came in at 5.30). Doctor called, sent me for another test called TSH with reflex to free T4. New results were 3.80, so significantly less than the original.
I have no symptoms of a thyroid problem and have lost over 90lbs since last summer on a LCD (medically monitored).
My doctor doesn't seem concerned but I will ask about it at my next visit.
You know what's funny is I had a thyroid test taken a number of years back and it came back above high, they told me I had an underactive thyroid...then they wanted to send in for another test to make sure and it came back normal. That is so weird? I wonder what it means...0 -
Thank you everyone! Has anyone had any success with natural supplements? Like Sea Kelp? I tried it...didn't seem to have any affect on me.
I have hashimoto's and my endo suggested I take Kelp and Selinium - I took it and my antibodies leveled out.... I stopped taking it thinking I didn't need and and my antibodies went up 200 points in 2 months... I started taking it again and they went back down. So for me they seem to work.0 -
Thank you everyone! Has anyone had any success with natural supplements? Like Sea Kelp? I tried it...didn't seem to have any affect on me.
I have hashimoto's and my endo suggested I take Kelp and Selinium - I took it and my antibodies leveled out.... I stopped taking it thinking I didn't need and and my antibodies went up 200 points in 2 months... I started taking it again and they went back down. So for me they seem to work.
I've heard the same regarding selenium, that it can help calm down antibodies. Hadn't heard the same about iodine (sea kelp) though.0
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