bjm2363
September 6th, 2010, 12:48 PM
Ok here goes..sorry this is so long, but it is good to have background.
2001 symptoms:
Depression in the past--took lexapro
Heart pounding (consistent in the last year)
a few hairs intermittently growing in weird places
no sex drive
cold extremities
fatigue cycling with feeling keyed up
Difficulty concentrating/attention/brain fog
infrequent periods (every 3 months)
occasionally feeling of a lump in my throat
Periods of throat being sore
breast discharge (milk)
Dry skin, hair, and brittle eye lashes
Shakiness/jittery? (especially in the am)
Difficulty sleeping (take Trazodone)
Periods of heat flashes(not anymore)and coldness (more current)
Chronic constipation (daily)
Neck, Backaches and joint pain(knuckles)
Eye bags/dark circles/right lid looks droopier than left.
Tested for a pituitary tumor (MRI several years ago), menopause (was told levels were post-menopausal in 2001--I was 38!) and more recently hypoglycemia--nothing was found.
1/30/06: referred to an Endo in Hershey for Galactorrhea and missed periods.
TSH…1.19 (only thing tested) estrogen, progesterone, and prolactin were normal based on previous labs. I was to return in 6 mos and chose not to because he did nothing, except put me on birth control and said it was menopause!
A month later I started getting the heart pounding and jittery symptoms to the point that I changed jobs over the summer thinking it was stress.
11/06: The symptoms persisted even with the job change, so I went back to my PCP and he retested me.
TSH... .6 I was told it was normal and my estrogen and progesterone were also normal..
1/07:symptoms persisted so went back into my family practice for Dysphasia and wast sent to a gastroentrologist. Gastro said it was likely reflux, put me on prevacid and scheduled an endoscopy. The throat symptoms went away in about a month so I cancelled the endoscopy.
Symptoms of jitteriness, feeling of my heart beating stronger, fatigue, and depression was making it so hard to get to work so on February 27th, I went back to Hershey to see a female endo and she suspected hypoglycemia and ordered tests.
2/27/07:
Cortisol Random..8.54
C-Peptide...1.54 (.8-3.1)
Insulin Fasting...3 (<17)
Prolactin...21 (1.9-25)
FreeT4...1.16 (.75-2.0)
Ultra Sen TSH....91 (.47-6.9)
Fasting Glucose...89 (70-110)
Glucose 1 hr....126
Glucose 2 hr...103
4/03/07: Went to a new doctor in my PCP office. Change my Lexapro to Effexor CR since I've been taking it for the past year and am still symptomatic. Recommended a stool softener for severe constipation..said we would tackle my list of symptoms together…but is treating me for depression <sigh>
4/26/07: I ordered my own antibodies testing online.
TPO: <10 range: 0-34
Antithyroglobulin: <20 range: 0-40
5/07/07: returned to new PCP..He increased the Effexor CR and put me on prescription meds for severe constipation. I didn’t have the antibody results so didn’t mention them. The PCP wants my Gyno to handle the lack of periods, etc. I plan on asking my Gyno why he thinks I’m not in menopause. He did his own labs back in Dec. and said my ovaries are functioning??
Fast forward to the present:
3/30/10: Hysterectomy
This summer I have been having hyper symptoms: racing heartbeat, palpitations, slightly higher blood pressure, feeling warm ALL the time and very nauseous when I get heat flashes on top of it. I asked my gyno about the symptoms since my older sister is being treated for hyperthyroidism (my Grandma had a goiter and my father takes synthroid for some type of thyroid issue) both parents also are diabetic. My Gyno ran blood work and I found out I have a low TSH .12 (ref .38 - 4.70) and the FT4 was .96 (range .7-1.76). I was immediately sent to my family doctor and he said he suspects thyroiditis. He checked my FT3 and Sed rate. FT3= 383 (ref 230-420) SED rate 6 (ref <20). Thank goodness he put me on a Beta Blocker to ease the symptoms and then referred me to an Endo. My family doctor kept commenting on the fact that my TSH was 1.4 in April.
I went for an uptake and scan last Thursday and Friday:
Ultra-sensitive TSH: .10
Free T4: .87
Free T3: 2.4
4 hour : 4.2%
24 hours: 3.7%
Radiologist said I am a very interesting case because the results were inconsistent. My thyroid scan was showing that the entire gland appeared overactive, but the uptake values were low. There were no visible nodules and it wasn't really enlarged. He said he definitely does NOT think it is acute thyroiditis. So he thinks it is likely early Graves disease and that my Free T's are just not elevated yet. He also said that it could be something wrong with my pituitary or that the T4 or T3 is not converting ? I asked what the treatment is for a conversion problem and he really didn't answer me.
So after all these years I am still waiting for a diagnosis and hope to get one soon so I can get treatment :-)
2001 symptoms:
Depression in the past--took lexapro
Heart pounding (consistent in the last year)
a few hairs intermittently growing in weird places
no sex drive
cold extremities
fatigue cycling with feeling keyed up
Difficulty concentrating/attention/brain fog
infrequent periods (every 3 months)
occasionally feeling of a lump in my throat
Periods of throat being sore
breast discharge (milk)
Dry skin, hair, and brittle eye lashes
Shakiness/jittery? (especially in the am)
Difficulty sleeping (take Trazodone)
Periods of heat flashes(not anymore)and coldness (more current)
Chronic constipation (daily)
Neck, Backaches and joint pain(knuckles)
Eye bags/dark circles/right lid looks droopier than left.
Tested for a pituitary tumor (MRI several years ago), menopause (was told levels were post-menopausal in 2001--I was 38!) and more recently hypoglycemia--nothing was found.
1/30/06: referred to an Endo in Hershey for Galactorrhea and missed periods.
TSH…1.19 (only thing tested) estrogen, progesterone, and prolactin were normal based on previous labs. I was to return in 6 mos and chose not to because he did nothing, except put me on birth control and said it was menopause!
A month later I started getting the heart pounding and jittery symptoms to the point that I changed jobs over the summer thinking it was stress.
11/06: The symptoms persisted even with the job change, so I went back to my PCP and he retested me.
TSH... .6 I was told it was normal and my estrogen and progesterone were also normal..
1/07:symptoms persisted so went back into my family practice for Dysphasia and wast sent to a gastroentrologist. Gastro said it was likely reflux, put me on prevacid and scheduled an endoscopy. The throat symptoms went away in about a month so I cancelled the endoscopy.
Symptoms of jitteriness, feeling of my heart beating stronger, fatigue, and depression was making it so hard to get to work so on February 27th, I went back to Hershey to see a female endo and she suspected hypoglycemia and ordered tests.
2/27/07:
Cortisol Random..8.54
C-Peptide...1.54 (.8-3.1)
Insulin Fasting...3 (<17)
Prolactin...21 (1.9-25)
FreeT4...1.16 (.75-2.0)
Ultra Sen TSH....91 (.47-6.9)
Fasting Glucose...89 (70-110)
Glucose 1 hr....126
Glucose 2 hr...103
4/03/07: Went to a new doctor in my PCP office. Change my Lexapro to Effexor CR since I've been taking it for the past year and am still symptomatic. Recommended a stool softener for severe constipation..said we would tackle my list of symptoms together…but is treating me for depression <sigh>
4/26/07: I ordered my own antibodies testing online.
TPO: <10 range: 0-34
Antithyroglobulin: <20 range: 0-40
5/07/07: returned to new PCP..He increased the Effexor CR and put me on prescription meds for severe constipation. I didn’t have the antibody results so didn’t mention them. The PCP wants my Gyno to handle the lack of periods, etc. I plan on asking my Gyno why he thinks I’m not in menopause. He did his own labs back in Dec. and said my ovaries are functioning??
Fast forward to the present:
3/30/10: Hysterectomy
This summer I have been having hyper symptoms: racing heartbeat, palpitations, slightly higher blood pressure, feeling warm ALL the time and very nauseous when I get heat flashes on top of it. I asked my gyno about the symptoms since my older sister is being treated for hyperthyroidism (my Grandma had a goiter and my father takes synthroid for some type of thyroid issue) both parents also are diabetic. My Gyno ran blood work and I found out I have a low TSH .12 (ref .38 - 4.70) and the FT4 was .96 (range .7-1.76). I was immediately sent to my family doctor and he said he suspects thyroiditis. He checked my FT3 and Sed rate. FT3= 383 (ref 230-420) SED rate 6 (ref <20). Thank goodness he put me on a Beta Blocker to ease the symptoms and then referred me to an Endo. My family doctor kept commenting on the fact that my TSH was 1.4 in April.
I went for an uptake and scan last Thursday and Friday:
Ultra-sensitive TSH: .10
Free T4: .87
Free T3: 2.4
4 hour : 4.2%
24 hours: 3.7%
Radiologist said I am a very interesting case because the results were inconsistent. My thyroid scan was showing that the entire gland appeared overactive, but the uptake values were low. There were no visible nodules and it wasn't really enlarged. He said he definitely does NOT think it is acute thyroiditis. So he thinks it is likely early Graves disease and that my Free T's are just not elevated yet. He also said that it could be something wrong with my pituitary or that the T4 or T3 is not converting ? I asked what the treatment is for a conversion problem and he really didn't answer me.
So after all these years I am still waiting for a diagnosis and hope to get one soon so I can get treatment :-)