Help?!?

Hi Kellie  welcome to the group.  I too have Vitamin D deficiency and found taking mega doses was very useful.  I was taking 6 x 800g of VitD daily and found it to be very effective with low mood.  I have copied and pasted from the ThyroidUK website what they believe are normal ranges for blood tests.  Here they are:

TSH, TT4 AND FT4

There is a range, which is used for the tests. These vary sometimes which is why you must always ask what the range is, so that you can see where you are in the range.

TSH = THYROID STIMULATING HORMONE

This hormone comes from the pituitary to stimulate the thyroid gland into making more hormone. TSH rises when the thyroid is struggling.

The approx. reference range for this test is 0.4 to 4.5.

TT4 = TOTAL T4

Thyroid hormones bound to proteins. TT4 lowers when the thyroid is struggling.

The approx. reference range for this test is 50 to 160.

FT4 = FREE T4

Thyroid hormones not bound to proteins. FT4 lowers when the thyroid is struggling.

The approx. reference range for this test is 10 to 24

FT3 = FREE T3

T4 converts to T3 and is the only thyroid hormone actually used by the body's cells.

The approx. reference range for Free T3 is 4 to 8.3

I trust this helps.  I also suffer with bloating in the face as well as sweats, aches and pains, non-specific anxiety symptoms, chronic allergies (sneezing, rhinitis, itchy face and hands) and what amounts to year round cold symptoms.  I am taking 175mcg of thyroxine, 2400mcg of VitD and T3 which I was able to take because I found a consultant called Dr Bangar, Calderdale Royal Hospital, Halifax who was willing to prescribe it.  I will be honest that with all this medication I can't say I feel any better.  I think you will find that some people, and me, believe that the thyroxine helps the chemistry, e.g. it helps get the thyroid tests in the normal range but it does nothing, or very little for the symptoms, especially if you are underactive.  I am therefore going to try to get the non-synthetic variety of thyroid medication, sometimes known as Armour or ThyroidGold which I believe has fewer side effects (because its not synthetic but animal derived) and can alleviate the allergy symptoms.  I think it would be worth seeing a consultant who sees outside the box, someone who appreciates that it's worth medicating the T3 issues and is prepared to prescribe liothyronine.  Not many do!!  Also, ask ThyroidUK Association to give you details of the Endocrinologists who do are willing to do this.  Good luck.  Come back if you have more questions.

Kellie, by your thyroid cyst/nodule, and your extremely elevated TSH, and Doctor with a brain would diagnose you as hypothyroid. 

Your TSH is extremely high. Find an endocrinologist who takes this seriously and will treat you. Untreated low thyroid is one of the worst health problems because the result is slow metabolism, resulting in rapid aging, and a myriad of other symptoms.

Hypothyroidism untreated is nearly impossible bc eventually, the there are fewer indicators, and as other parts of the body shut down, you wind up with a million nonspecific symptoms, unable to find the cause.

i don't recommend levo, as everything I've seen is that it only "works" for people who are a symptomatic on the lowest dose.

get yourself some good books on thyroid disease because there are things you can do to slow the progression of the disease and even reverse it: gluten-free organic diet, thyroid supplements of kelp and herbs. You can get prescription natural dessicated thyroid (NDT) but this is made from pigs and is not quite the same as human, so works better in smaller doses or or people with intestinal problems.

Many on this site have found the bovine non prescription dessicated thyroid to work best. The he problem is that you still need a good endocrinologist to help you with blood levels. You'll need to get a full thyroid panel every three months. It takes three months for the meds to level out, so if you test early, you generally get false spiked levels.

acupuncture with someone trained in traditional Chinese medicine will do wonders for getting your system back on track. 

Also, if you've had untreated thyroid disease for a while, the rest of the hormonal system will be out of whack: low progesterone, adrenal exhaustion, etc. There are simple herbs for these to help get your endocrine system functioning normally again.

Hope that helps.

Good luck!

Catherine

 

Thank you for your replies! I would also like to add that I do have so many hypo symptoms. I have anxiety disorder, exhaustion to the point of struggling to keep up with my responsibilities as a mom/wife/business owner. I have gallstones, dry skin, nails and hair. Also a feeling of sadness without a cause.

I can tell you that you absolutely should take this seriously and if that entail meds then do it. I had a thyroid that tested clinically in all the normal ranges but was feeling sluggish all the time. I chalked it up to eating poorly, weight gain, not exercising like I used to, depression, and getting older. About 3 years ago my dr said my thyroid felt globular and I ignored her because I couldn't feel want she felt. My blood work was also normal. Last November I saw a lump near my throat, my thyroid was super enlarged. I had issues swallowing and breathing but didn't notice it before because I have allergies and asthma and just assumed it was those two things getting worse. Anyway, because my blood work was normal I thought it had to be cancer. After my thyroidectomy I learned it wasn't cancer either. Still don't know what caused it. And from a clinical standpoint I'm fine and if it hadn't been for the size of it I would have been sent on my way without anyone looking any further.

My point in telling you this is that it took giant nodules to make the dr's pay attention. Clinically I was normal. But I felt like crap. I feel worse having my thyroid removed mostly because it takes months to get your meds right. Do not give up or you will end up like me, having to have your thyroid removed when your nodule gets bigger or you develop more. And then you're really going to struggle while you get your medications straight. Stay on it and fix the issue now before it gets to that point.

Also, there's more tests they can run besides the free T4 and TSH. Not to mention something is causing the nodule that they shouldn't overlook. May not be a thyroid issue in so much as a pituitary problem or maybe the liver isn't converting properly or maybe it's simply a diet thing where you're not getting enough iodine or other minerals that aid in absorbing iodine and hormones. There's a host of things that could be causing this issue. And unfortunately the thyroid and the endo system is one that dr's just still don't know that much about.

A lot of people pay out of pocket to go see a integrative medicine dr or one that looks at the whole picture and treats the whole body. Those are usually the ones that look at everything and will use your symptoms as a guide along with modern medicine. Unfortunately most of those don't accept insurance so you will pay out of pocket. But I hear good things from those who do it. They can also prescribe thyroid hormones you may be lacking. Like natural hormones, not the synthetic T4 your dr wants to prescribe. And they would know which dose to give you.

I'm self treating because I don't have the money to go to one of those dr's as much as I'd like to. But I also do not have a thyroid. At your stage I wouldn't recommend self treating as you could do more harm than good. And by self treating I mean, I buy my own natural hormones. But their smallest dose could very well be too much for you since you have a thyroid. For me Levo wasn't working and neither was synthroid. My liver enzymes were elevated but being on that stuff. And there's side effects to being on Levo long term. So natural would be the way to go if you can find a dr or afford a dr that will prescribe it.