have you checked your thyroid?

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Danilynn1975
Danilynn1975 Posts: 294 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Are you cold?
are you losing hair, fingernail changes?
Are you so tired you could sleep as an Olympic event?
are your eyelashes falling out, weird bloating?

do you have a lump in your throat?

and most importantly, have you hit some wall where no matter how hard you log, weigh and measure, work out through pain, tired, and exhaustion can't lose weight?

Go check your thyroid. Don't wait. Don't settle for living a half life of hell.

I have been unable to lose weight past where I am for 2 years. I log so faithfully it is unreal. exercise is a ritual. nothing worked, so I called it done, and have been maintaining/gaining/ping pong bounce with no change in diet between 153 and 164 for that same 2 years.

A lump in my throat as I type this could very well be cancer. They don't know, all they do know right now is it is on my right lobe of my thyroid which is swollen to nearly double it's size with a "normal TSH", which is only 1 test of about 7 for a thyroid panel. You have to fight to get the rest done.

At best right now they suspect I could have an auto-immune disorder called Hashimoto's as my weird stuff is a mix of both Hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism.

Check your throat if any of this sounds like you. Plateaus that won't break? despite what you may read in these forums, it may not be your "failure to accurately log" your "weak exercise routine".

Please don't settle for faux science and get yourself checked out.

So, in the next few weeks, I get to be even more of a pincushion for the medical field, I'm going to drink gross stuff to light up my throat for scans and at some point have needles shoved into that growth to find out. Don't wait thinking it's you and "crap logging" that is causing this. It may just be your thyroid. a few blood tests beat the heck out of being told 1 day before your 40th birthday you might have cancer.

Replies

  • Danilynn1975
    Danilynn1975 Posts: 294 Member
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    bump
  • mlyn627
    mlyn627 Posts: 104 Member
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    I am going through the same thing right now. I just had my blood work done and go for an ultrasound on my thyroid next week. :neutral_face: I need an answer
  • jkoch6599
    jkoch6599 Posts: 30 Member
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    I'm sure they told you this already, but thyroid cancer is very treatable and very rarely fatal, so don't spend your bday worrying.
  • Danilynn1975
    Danilynn1975 Posts: 294 Member
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    mlyn627 wrote: »
    I am going through the same thing right now. I just had my blood work done and go for an ultrasound on my thyroid next week. :neutral_face: I need an answer

    The ultrasound really doesn't hurt. your growth may feel tender the next day. Mine did.

    The doctors really aren't all that helpful or compassionate from what I am finding. I wish you peace and healing.

    as for my birthday it sucked. I had no energy and hurt all day.
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,301 Member
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    You can check your thyroid by taking your basal body temp in the AM. Ten days for 10 minutes, if it consistently is below 97.6 your thyroid isn't functioning properly. It is simple.
  • Danilynn1975
    Danilynn1975 Posts: 294 Member
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    _Terrapin_ wrote: »
    You can check your thyroid by taking your basal body temp in the AM. Ten days for 10 minutes, if it consistently is below 97.6 your thyroid isn't functioning properly. It is simple.

    normal for me is 95.9
  • leahjschmidt
    leahjschmidt Posts: 1
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    I just went for my first blood test today, have all the symptoms and it runs in my family. The doctor acted as if I was making this stuff up, didn't seem to care and told me it was probably my diet. I have done so much research and read how this is so common with lots of thyroid patients, their doctors are not involved and don't seem to care about finding out what's wrong, I'm trying to be optimistic but having a hard time believing this will be an easy journey I'm about to go on.
    Should I be going to an endocrinologist and not just my family doctor, do they care more?
  • Danilynn1975
    Danilynn1975 Posts: 294 Member
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    I don't think any of them care.

    I had to go 3 hours drive away. pay out of pocket for a doctor willing to authorize some labs to be done above what my insurance would test. Then pay out of pocket for the labs that proved I was right in what I suspected to get the ultrasound from my PCP with my insurance agreeing to pay for it, authorized only after seeing those blood tests I drove 3 hours and paid for.

    I have been referred and am waiting for an endocrinologist appointment still way far out.

    I'm not sure what happens now to be honest. It seems like a journey that will be expensive and filled with more obstacles than any course I trained on in boot camp.

  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
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    _Terrapin_ wrote: »
    You can check your thyroid by taking your basal body temp in the AM. Ten days for 10 minutes, if it consistently is below 97.6 your thyroid isn't functioning properly. It is simple.

    In all my years of seeing docs/endocrinologists for my thyroid, I've never had any of them take or mention my temperature. Blood tests that measure TSH, Free T3 and Free T4 are critical for detecting and then treating hypo or hyper-thyroidism.

    Endocrinology is a specialty which means focus and training in a given medical area, though many endos are more specialized in diabetes than hypothyroidism. If you feel your GP is listening to you and responding to your concerns, then stick with her/him. My old doc was a GP and was awesome! Now I see an endo because I moved and my new primary care doc didn't see the need to refill one of my thyroid meds. Yeah ... NEXT! (I'm lucky to have good insurance.)

    If your doc is saying it's all in your head, then it's time to find a new doc. No one should dismiss your symptoms. Part of treating hypothyroidism is addressing quality of life issues.

    Always make sure you know your numbers, not just the label of "normal" or "not normal." Always know what levels they're using to diagnose (they changed years ago and the standard for hypothyroidism is now lower (3), but many docs/labs are still using the old, higher standard (5) meaning people who should be diagnosed aren't. Some places are using something in-between (4)--like my insurance). If they're only measuring TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) they're only getting part of the picture. Free T3 and Free T4 are also critical for fully treating a malfunctioning thyroid.

    The good news is the generic drugs are cheap. The bad news is it takes the T4 8 weeks to fully integrate into your system. Then you get tested. Then meds are adjusted. Then another 8 weeks ... And if you're me, it takes several years for things to settle down.

    But they do. And then there's a new "normal."

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