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I am a 20 year old caucasian female. During my last visit with my gynocologist in late December, I had blood drawn since I do not currently have a primary phycisian. A week later, they called and said that my blood lab showed low thyroid hormone levels, which indicated hypothyroidism. They advised me to see an endocrinologist, which I saw last Friday. The endocrinologist took my blood and called me today to say that all of my results were normal.
I read about hypothyroidism and a large amount of the symptoms apply to me such as fatigue, excessive coldness, mild depression, brittle nails, constipation, some mild weight gain (was 120 last year, now 135), irregular periods, etc.
My mom's mom had hypothyroidism and my mom has an autoimmune disease (Scoriasis).
I also read that hypothyroidism is one of the most misdiagnosed diseases because doctors rely so heavily on TSH levels and not symptoms or family history.
I am going to seek a second opinion from a different doctor because at the moment, I have had 2 blood tests that had opposite results.
Does anyone have any opinions/comments/suggestions for me? Anything would be helpful since I am in college and seeking help on my own.
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tereseV lucy08363
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I have a few tips for you. Some may seem like no-brainers, but I'll put those just in case.
1-get and keep for yourself copies of previous lab results (so you know what's going on and you can show to future docs and keep track)
2-You can also YouTube "synthroid vs. Armour" and watch YouTubes of doctors (try to stick to the doctors) who explain to you the difference. I cannot stress enough the importance of bioidentical over synthetic thyroid replacement.
(I wish I had the internet 30 years ago when I started down this rabbit hole of autoimmune hypothyoidsim. I say that because it has taken me this long to find a good doctor.)
3-find a good...this one was really hard....a good doctor who listens to you and takes a thorough history.
My guidelines are the doc must be board certifed and I have come to like DOs over MDs because DOs treat the body as a whole and start with things like making sure you're not vitamin deficient and things like that where MDs tend to focus on your main complaints or just one complaint and throw a pill at you for that one complaint...... and with us, that is not how it works.
4-if you have autoimmune disorders in your family, chances are you will be on that party bus and you should start eliminating gluten completely from your diet. I did it for a month and noticed a huge difference. I suffer when I eat gluten, but I am significantly older than you, so you may not notice the difference for 30 years. However, if they are right about it, you may be able to avoid a lot of autoimmune disorders in your future if you quit it now. I was at a party and met two women also going gluten free at their doctors' behest, one recovering from breast cancer and another with MS. They are learning a lot about gluten these days and I read that they're linking it to bipolar disorder, as well.
I also do not intake any soy or artificial sweetners, I avoid GMOs. I am also now eliminating red wine (very upset about THAT ONE) I think the sulfites are now a problem for me.
My doc told me she wants my Vitamin D to be between 60-100 (I was 28)
She had me quit gluten
She wants my TSH between .20-2.0. that's where I am now and I feel great. She likes Armour, as do I. This DO is the first one who has ever admitted liking it better than the synthetic replacements. (I can give you a 30-min dissertation on that alone, but I'll spare you...you can also watch the doc YouTubes for that info)
You mentioned about opposing results. From what I have read, depending on the person (everyone is different) your blood results can vary from hour to hour based on your body temperature, so keep getting a second opinion or third or fourth and don't stop until you feel good and are happy with the results. Also with opposite blood results, a friend was at her cardiologist and he gave her her lab results and sent her to an oncologist because the labwork came back implying cancer. Come to find out the lab messed up and they were someone else's results!
so...TSH below 2.0
Free T4 should be in he top half of hte reference range
Free T3 should be in the top half - top 25 percentile
Reverse T3 - low end of normal range
Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies - within reference range
Vitamin D - above 60
Ferritin - above 60 if you're experiencing hair loss
sorry for any misspellings...I started hurring in the end.
good luck
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tereseV lucy08363
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