Hypothyroid with normal TSH?

Posted , 7 users are following.

Hi;

I'm a 54 year old woman and have recently been to my gp with symptoms of menopause; night sweats,insomnia,loss of libido etc. but I am now coming to the conclusion that it could be hypothyroidism but I have had a lot of standard blood tests including tsh (1.68) and they have all come back normal except for low white blood cell count and high cholesterol, but both good and bad are high and the gp isn't worried about any of these results.

So why do I think it's hypothyroid? I've started to get extreme muscle weakness in my legs and the feeling that I'm going to fall over.I'm ok pottering around a bit but if I try to do too much I "crash".I've had this before but this time it's much worse and going on longer.I know that these are symptoms of other things like depression and cfs and ibs and I'm sure that I get all of these things but that they are symptoms! In addition, my eyebrows are disappearing,my sense of taste has changed, my eyes are gritty and weepy and I look like a ghost, I'm so pale..but tests say I'm not anaemic or vitamin deficient.

14 years ago I had hyperthyroid and took tablets for 6 months, I have raynards syndrome and vitiligo and am allergic to too much sunlight (like bad prickly heat), certain cosmetics and some hayfever.

My mother had really bad hyperthyroidism, my sister has had nodules on her thyroid and another sister is borderline hypothyroid.When my mother was about my age she stopped using escalators going downstairs, which sounds weird but I'm wondering if she'd flipped from hyper to hypo but never got treated and I'm going the same way.

My gp has agreed to refer me to an endocrinologist ,his letter has said that "I am a well read woman" which could be interpreted as "a bit of a pain who's looked up too much of the internet for her own good" but if it gets me the tests to rule out hypothyroid and gets me up and out again, I'll live with that!

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  • Posted

    Hello Liauq

    Firstly may I congratulate you on putting into words how I feel and what I have been thru and actually still going through.

    Today has been a terrible day. You have cheered me up.

    It is easy to get despondent with this horrible condition.

    On May 4 2015 my TsH was 0.17. T4 16.5. TPOAs less than 33. On June 30 2015 uss showed twenty nodules on the thyroid.

    No biopsy done, nothing.

    Jeanx

    • Posted

      Hi, Jean;

      was not easy to put it into words as my brain has gone on holiday, forget what I want to say, go to do something, forget and do something else and sound drunk when I'm not..cheap date.

      another strange side-effect is a recent refusal to wear any shoes except flats.

      so sad to read your results and no action..can you print out some facts to reinforce your needs or see another gp.at least my gp seems to want tohelp, once you get him past the urge to prescribe anti-depressants that they all seem to have.

      good luck.

    • Posted

      Hi Liauq,

                    Thank you for that reply to Jean that made me smile, I sometimes have the same effects and cannot get my words out, its strange and so frustrating. I have recently been prescribed veno for under active thyroid and after being on the medication for a week I feel as though the fog has been lifted taking the medication in the morning, however around tea time my legs below the knee hurt and my feet are freezing !! ...the speech goes but I suppose it will take more time to level out.

      I feel disappointed that Gp's are very quick to offer anti depressants for this condition and that the thyroid can sometimes be borderline posing as depressed symptoms. I feel as though I have had to prescribe myself after insisiting that my symptoms were physical not mental !! Even border line bloods can pose thyroidism. 

      Best wishes 

      Dawn x

    • Posted

      Hi again Liauq

      Thank you for your response.

      When you say another side effect is a recent refusal to wear any shoes except flats what do you mean? Are you saying that it is too painful to wear shoes, that your feet , legs, ankles are swollen or perhaps you have plantar faciitis?

      Have you been taking any other mediction? For example antibiotics? If so which ones?

      Sorry about asking all these questions. 

      Kind regards

      Jean 

    • Posted

      Hi,Jean; I don't like wearing heels because of the feeling of losing my balance,just feel a bit wobbly.

      ironically have just startedhrt to try to cut down night sweats on the first anniversary of giving up the mini-pill; which had some horrible side-effects for a month as my body withdrew from the hormones.hadn't had a period since I was swopped from the combined pill to the mini-pill when I was 40; thought it was a side-effect of the pill but have now read that irregular periods can be linked to hypothyroid.

  • Posted

    Has your gp run a B12 bloods?

    has hormone balance been considered?

    i have been going through similar symptoms and diagnosed b12 deficient but oestrogene may be an issue too.

    i can understand your hypo theory but as so many things have overlap symptoms it can be so hard to pin a firm diagnosis.

    with regard to the 'well read' comment- we have to be! Lets face it most of us dont really want to have to go to a gp( if we can get an appt that is)

    • Posted

      Ha , ha. Like your comment about 'well read' . We have to be!!

      A low calcium can cause a lot of nasty signs and symptoms too.

       

    • Posted

      Hi, Lisahelen;

      you can scare yourself silly if you're not careful because of all the symptom-matches!

      my gp has tested for b12, iron,vit. d. amongst loads of others, all negative including blood-sugar, as we also have diabetes rife in our family.

      I'm not ruling out the stress/depression route entirely but want to rule out hypothyroid first although at the moment any pill that gets me up and able to iron again will do.

      As an aside, I mentioned that my sense of taste has gone a bit weird; to demonstrate to my husband, I've just eaten a spoonful of horseradish sauce with no tears!

    • Posted

      hi,Jean;

      just had a read about calcium deficiency..very similar symptoms, I want to be unique...then maybe I can get a diagnosis!

      perhaps we'll all have to tell Father Xmas that we've all been good boys and girls and we might get some answers.

      cheers.

  • Posted

    Hello Liauq:

    My name is  Shelly and I am a nurse in the USA.  I am the same age as you.  I have Hashimoto's Thyroid Disease and it make sme Hypothyroid.  I have had it since 1987.

    Having thyroid disease can run in families. It can be passed down in the DNA.  Some people can go from having Hyper symptoms  and being Hyperthyroid, to being Hypothyroid.

    Having Hypothyroid you may have, Dry skin, brittle nails, weight gain, feeling depressed, loss of hair, muscle aches and pains, and there are more but these are common.

    Many people our age are low in Vitamin D and thyroid patients have a special linkage to it.   So please ask for it to be done.  You can have bad muscle pains and brittle bones from low Vit D.

    I would ask the  Endocrinologist  to check your TSH level, free T3 & free T4 and mineral panel, to include sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium, iron and ferritin levels.  A special blood test for Vit D. also.  It takes a  week for that test.

    Raynauds Disease can make you pale.  You will have blue finger tips when in cold weather.

    So let us know what your Thyroid level comes back as so we can know where to go from here.

    Stay well, Shelly

    • Posted

      Hi, Shelly;

      thanks for the info.

      gp has done blood tests for ferrin and vit. d but will ask about calcium..so far the only abnormal blood test I've got is low white blood cell count; about 1.7, but it appears to be stable and he's not worried about it.

      Eyes very bleary and runny this morning and I want to scratch my scalp off..as well as the muscle weakness and fuzziness.

      Thinking back, I've had bouts of "not quite flu" where I've had to go to bed until it passes for quite a few years now; is this kind of "flare up" common?  wondering if my thyroid hadn't actually rectified from over-active but gone into a different phase, definitely want hashimoto's ruled out!

      thanks to everyone for their advice, nice to know.  x

    • Posted

      Do get a printout of your blood tests. Thay way you will be able to see for yourself wheteabouts in the normal range you come. Some people get symptoms if they are at the low end of the normal range.
    • Posted

      Hello Liauq:

      If your WBC (White Blood cells) are low you may also need to have TPOA (antibodies test ) to see if you have Hashi's.  Some people swing back and forth between Hyper and Hypo. Being tired all the time and brain foggy is symptoms of Hypothyroid.  Best to test for it.

      Let us know how you do and the lab results.

      Shelly

    • Posted

      Hi Liauq

      Can you get a test to exclude Sjogrens syndrome? I am concerned because of your eye symptoms.

      Jean

    • Posted

      Hi, Jean;

      will ask about my eyes, thought it might be "red eye" until I read about the symptoms of hypothyroid.

      wondering if I'm feeling particularly naff at the moment as I went on holiday recently and was eating a lot of bread, which I don't normally do, did enjoy it at the time,though!

    • Posted

      Hi Liauq

      Please google the Gluten syndrome and gluten ataxia .

      Also Sjogrens syndrome and the thyroid eye. Have you got a Vitamin D deficiency?

      Keep off or try toreduce the bread though. Have you had a food intolerance test done at all?

    • Posted

      Hi, Jean;

      back on the quaker oats now instead of jam on toast!

      don't have vit.d deficiency according to blood tests but can't remember if b12 has been tested, will check with gp on monday.

      haven't had any food intolerence tests.

      usually better by now but this time I seem to be staying down, going to ask my gp if he'll send the tests off anyway.

      what did they do before the sainted tsh test?

      cheers.

    • Posted

      You wrote...what did they do before the sainted tsh test?lol

      Ha, ha LOL

      Takes them all their time to do it nowsad

      If you google the Gluten syndrome u will see the link between glutn and the thyroid.

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