Proud owner of a crapped out thyroid!

[eorhythm]

Hi, guys! I actually had to do a rather extensive search to find this forum via Google; I've been meaning to join a forum for thyroid problems for a while, but it took my recent thyroid crash to nudge me into finally doing it.

I'm 29 years young, with "mitral valve prolapse syndrome," regurgitating (ew) mitral valve, genetic factor V Leiden thrombophilia (blood clotting disorder), "Marfanoid habitus" (body shape of Marfan syndrome without the actual syndrome), and a suspected Hashimoto's. It sounds like a lot but it's not usually as bad as it sounds. I was barely hypothyroid by the time I was diagnosed and signed up for the medication, I think I've been having repeated flare-ups for many years. I actually knew a few years in advance of diagnosis that I was hypothyroid, but I didn't feel it was bad enough for treatment. I have had a couple very bad flares prior to diagnosis, though. Oddly, I never test positive for the antibodies, and I suspect mold is the biggest trigger for my thyroid crashes. Incidentally, I currently happen to live in a very old casita with a very bad mold problem.

I haven't gotten my recent results back yet, but I've been feeling unusually weak as of late, and I'm now experiencing central sleep apnea, of all the damnedest things. Furthermore, in just two weeks my resting heart rate has gone from 70 to 50, sometimes 45, and even as low as 38 while asleep. My appetite has diminished a lot, and my throat not only burns, but I occasionally get a lumpy, restricted feeling in the area of my thyroid (no surprise there). I'm also putting on water weight gain like a fiend every time I eat salt, bumping my usual weight of 123/124 up to 130-132. God, it's so fun!

That's my story so far. I'm so glad forums like this exist, especially for those of us diagnosed at the early stages who can benefit from discussion of medication adjustments to avoid future health problems.

P.S. explode ← This is one of the most disturbing emoticon graphics I've seen on a forum — serious kudos! :D Also, are we not able to change our icons on here? [poking at thyroid icon]

[desrtbloom]

Hi and Welcome!

Sounds like you have gone through a lot. I feel for you. I love this site. It is wonderful for support and information. There are some seriously informed folks on here.

Best Regards,
Patti

[Andros]

Hi, guys! I actually had to do a rather extensive search to find this forum via Google; I've been meaning to join a forum for thyroid problems for a while, but it took my recent thyroid crash to nudge me into finally doing it.

I'm 29 years young, with "mitral valve prolapse syndrome," regurgitating (ew) mitral valve, genetic factor V Leiden thrombophilia (blood clotting disorder), "Marfanoid habitus" (body shape of Marfan syndrome without the actual syndrome), and a suspected Hashimoto's. It sounds like a lot but it's not usually as bad as it sounds. I was barely hypothyroid by the time I was diagnosed and signed up for the medication, I think I've been having repeated flare-ups for many years. I actually knew a few years in advance of diagnosis that I was hypothyroid, but I didn't feel it was bad enough for treatment. I have had a couple very bad flares prior to diagnosis, though. Oddly, I never test positive for the antibodies, and I suspect mold is the biggest trigger for my thyroid crashes. Incidentally, I currently happen to live in a very old casita with a very bad mold problem.

I haven't gotten my recent results back yet, but I've been feeling unusually weak as of late, and I'm now experiencing central sleep apnea, of all the damnedest things. Furthermore, in just two weeks my resting heart rate has gone from 70 to 50, sometimes 45, and even as low as 38 while asleep. My appetite has diminished a lot, and my throat not only burns, but I occasionally get a lumpy, restricted feeling in the area of my thyroid (no surprise there). I'm also putting on water weight gain like a fiend every time I eat salt, bumping my usual weight of 123/124 up to 130-132. God, it's so fun!

That's my story so far. I'm so glad forums like this exist, especially for those of us diagnosed at the early stages who can benefit from discussion of medication adjustments to avoid future health problems.

P.S. explode ← This is one of the most disturbing emoticon graphics I've seen on a forum — serious kudos! :D Also, are we not able to change our icons on here? [poking at thyroid icon]

Welcome to our board. Well, we will have to get you sorted out here. You certainly sound symptomatic for thyroid disease.

Have you had any of the listed tests?

TSI (thyroid stimulating immunoglobulin),TPO (antimicrosomal antibodies) TBII (thyrotropin-binding inhibitory immunoglobulin), Thyroglobulin Ab, ANA (antinuclear antibodies), (thyroid hormone panel) TSH, Free T3, Free T4.

You can look this stuff up here and more.........
http://www.labtestsonline.org/unders...s/thyroid.html

If not, what tests have you had and what are the results. We also need ranges as different labs use different ranges.

[eorhythm]

Thanks, Patti! :D

Andros -- Thanks so much for the help, it means a lot. Here's the story, in numbers:

1984 onward - I've suffered from "chronic fatigue syndrome" and "fibromyalgia syndome"-like symptoms my whole life. I also had a couple very strange "strokes" when I was 14, and when I was evaluated with EEG and MRI nothing showed up. When I read about Hashimoto's encephalopathy now, it sounds exactly like what I was experiencing. Luckily, the episodes were very short-lived, however terrifying they were.

2002 - A routine screening showed a TSH of 1.9. At the time I did have some symptoms, but not all that many.

2004 - Without medical insurance, there wasn't much I could do, but I suspected that I was having bouts of hypothyroid, mixed with hyperthyroid. I was self educated, and having had a background of parents with medical issues left me with a good lot of memorized information. I thought at the time it probably wasn't bad enough to do much about yet, anyway.

2005 - Severe bout of "something" that lasted two months. It started with constipation and quickly escalated to extreme fatigue and weakness, constant yawning and stretching, chest pains, torpor, and cold intolerance. Mind you, I was living in Houston at the time, and this was in June! :( Cold does not happen in Houston in June. I recovered fully afterward....for a while.

2006 - It started to hit again, but much slower. I got my TSH tested as follows:

11/07/2006:
~TSH 3.75 (range listed is old -- 0.350-5.500 uIU/mL)

11/12/2006:
~TSH 3.419 (range above)
~T4 7.9 (range listed -- 4.5-12.0 ug/dL)
~T3 uptake -- 31 (range listed -- 24-39 %?)
~Free T4 -- 2.4 (range listed -- 1.2-4.9)
~Free T3 -- 114 (85-205 ng/dL)

At this point, no doctor was really willing to outright diagnose me hypothyroid, so I diagnosed myself and asked for a referral to an endrocrinologist, with whom I was able to snag a final diagnosis of "suspected autoimmune hypothyroidism". At the time I was also having the usual bouts of hyperthyroidism, as well, though never during actual testing.

03/06/2007:

~TSH 5.25 (listed range -- 0.40-4.00 uIU/mL)
~Free T4 1.53 (listed range -- 0.80-1.90 ng/dL)
~Free T3 3.04 (listed range -- 1.80-4.20 pg/mL)
~TPO <10 (listed range -- 0-34 IU/mL)

09/02/2007:Another random TSH check after I started on 30mg Nature-throid:

~TSH 0.49

1/11/2008:

~TSH 1.815 (old range listed from above)

6/10/2008:

~TSH 1.010
~Free T4 10.0 (listed range -- 4.7-11.0 ug/dL)

After this point there was The Great Desiccated Pig Thyroid Famine of 2009, so my TSH shot up to 4.5 (I don't have the results here, though), and I'm currently awaiting results on my TSH, free T4 and T3, just for starters. I need to get back on the pig thyroid because all my symptoms have started after nearly a year of T4 only. I'm actually hoping my symptoms can be chalked up to that. I'm feeling terrible as of late.

I can't thank you enough for looking it over and giving me more advice. :D I'd hate to have to carry this much further with as low as my numbers were, but I'll do it if necessary.

By the way, this is important -- I have noticed that my thyroid seems to crash specifically when I live in places with mold. Growing up in Minnesota, my symptoms were atrocious in the winter, and of course, there are few places you can live there that aren't packed with mold (yay, post-flood basements). Does anyone know of correlations between the two?

[McKenna]

The Great Desiccated Pig Thyroid Famine of 2009

LOL!

I hope you can get back on the pig thyroid too.

Welcome to the forum!

[eorhythm]

Hahah, thank you, McKenna. :D I apparently like me some pork hormones.

explode

[Andros]

Hahah, thank you, McKenna. :D I apparently like me some pork hormones.

explode

<giggles!> Too funny and too true.

[lavender]

Oink! Oink!