Lyme disease, no thyroid diagnosis, but I think something else is wrong
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Hi guys! After a nearly year-long process of being turned away by doctors who dismissed my symptoms as just stress or hormones, I finally got a diagnosis last week of Lyme disease and have been on doxycycline the past 6 days. However, both my primary care doctor and my endocrinologist don't believe all my symptoms are related to Lyme.
While I was trying to get a diagnosis, I got my thyroid tested multiple times. Hypothyroidism runs in my family, and I was/still am experiencing many of the symptoms. My free T4 and T3 levels are in the normal range (though the free T4 is on the low side of normal), but my TSH increased from 3.5 to 4.6 in a period of 4 weeks. These numbers were below the reference ranges my PCP uses (max 4.68), and my endocrinologist won't even tell me what reference ranges he uses. He barely glanced at the numbers and said that was fine, but it doesn't feel fine to me, and I know Lyme can affect the thyroid. But with no doctors prescribing anything for me, I'm not sure where to turn.
In a week, I move across the country after graduating from college, but I will probably have to wait two to three months before getting a new doctor while I wait for my new insurance to start. I will have them recheck my thyroid and check to make sure the Lyme was eradicated, but in the meantime, what should I do? I've gained a ton of weight, lost all muscle mass, my face/feet are swollen, and I'm fatigued beyond belief. Are there any thyroid supplements you would recommend that don't require a prescription? Am I obsessing over this too much? Getting the Lyme diagnosis was a relief, but I still feel like something is wrong, and I feel essentially abandoned by all my doctors here who keep taking a "wait and see" approach and telling me to just recheck the numbers in a couple months. With how I'm feeling, I don't see how I can wait that long, so any advice/recommendations are very much appreciated!
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mar75090 Ranza123
Posted
I've read that Lyme and hypothyroid have very similar symptoms. Your TSH is little on the high side but your doctors probably want to wait and see how you are doing after treatment. You must feel really awful if you do.have BOTH. If they do the antibody tests TPO AB and Tg AB....then that will give them a better picture of your thyroid status. FreeT3 and FreeT4 would also be very helpful. Meantime the antibiotic is doing a number on your good gut bacteria, so if you haven't already pickup a good probiotic and continue after treatment. You can pickup a thyroid support supplement too. Bcomplex B12 Folate. B6. Vit D3 K2 A. Vit C. Zinc selenium magn iron to support thyroid gland. Hope you start feeling better...and hope they find a great and easy cure for Lyme very soon. Ps BIOTIN Vit B7 is used in lab testing so don't take any Bcomplex or Biotin 24 hrs before blood draw. It can LOWER antibodies and NOT just thyroid antibodies. It can lower TSH so can mask hypothyroidism. Seems like the labs don't want to stop using Biotin bc it's fairly cheap and easy but so many ppl are taking it for hair and skin.that false results can be life-threatening esp ppl w heart attacks in ER.