Rambling about health

[geekchick]

So at my physical, my lab results returned a TSH result of something north of 5. My NP says "that looks like early hypothyroidism, you should go get a second lab done in a month to double-check". (To me, TSH of 5+ seems pretty straightforward hypothyroidism, but what do I know?) So okay, I went back last week and got another blood draw. Today's email brought a "your thyroid test was normal, recheck in a year"; the number they gave me this time was 2.72. (Is that significant a drop without any treatment likely? I honestly don't know.)

See, the thing is, the diagnosis of possible hypothyroidism was kind of reassuring. In the last several months, I've been noticing that I am having a very hard time remembering things. As just one example, I had a dental appointment on March 1 to get my permanent crowns installed. I forgot completely and entirely about it until I found the appointment card more than a week later. (For some reason they started calling my house instead of my cell phone, and I never got the confirmation voice mails.) I forget tasks unless I write them down on a notepad that's hanging in front of my face. I can't remember if I took medications, I forget directions, I forget random things that there's no reason I shouldn't know off the top of my head. I also forgot about the rescheduled multi-hour dental appointment I had today until I saw a note on my calendar at home, and then I couldn't remember whether the time had changed since the original appointment until they called on Saturday.

On top of all that, I've been feeling like I'm noticeably stupider than I was, oh, even less than a year ago. In addition to the faulty memory, I'm feeling like my brain is getting sluggish and foggy more often than not. Okay, maybe some of that is a result of getting older, but I don't think that's all of it. There are also a few other possible physical symptoms that seem to match up with things I've noticed in the last few months.

I need to make an appointment to talk to Marie about these labs. Because frankly, if the problem isn't hypothyroidism, the mental issues scare me.

Comments

[epilady.livejournal.com]

Join the LJ thyroid community and post this there.

A LOT of doctors are using old protocol. My labs were "low side of normal" to one doctor, but then I went to an osteopath, she was like AUGH HYPO and put me on synthroid. Like magic, my hair started growing back and I had enough energy to get off the couch. I'm now deeply mistrustful of most doctors.

[geminigirl]

Agreed. If all that was looked at was TSH, you may want to see about having a full thyroid panel done. FWIW, I was at about 2.75 when we started treatment and it made worlds of difference.

[geekchick]

I'd have to look at my initial results again to see what was originally done, but the retest order was for TSH - 3RD GENERATION ASSAY.

[geminigirl]

I was at 2.75 and symptomatic. I think if I'd have been at that point and not symptomatic, the endo would have left things alone.

Mary Shoman's got a lot of stuff about sub-clincal hypothyroidism, if you want to read a little before you see your NP.

[geekchick]

Join the LJ thyroid community and post this there.

Yeah, probably not a bad idea.

My NP is normally pretty good about stuff, so I don't know why the first reaction here wasn't "treat this" but "go get another test". I want to sit down with her and talk about the stuff I'm experiencing and see what she says; if she's stuck on treating the numbers and not the symptoms, I think I'm going to go elsewhere.

[epilady.livejournal.com]

For one, many folks still think that bald, fat, depressed and stupid is a normal aspect of middle age. It totally doesn't have to be.

For another, understandably, they're worried. Once you're on thyroid meds, most people are on it for life (unless the other imbalances are corrected), and thyroid meds at the wrong dose can cause all kinds of drama, up to heart problems. So I see why they are overly cautious. But it really doesn't jibe with current research and protocol.

[epilady.livejournal.com]

I also strongly feel like any doctor who sees your particular symptoms and won't also order a comprehensive hormone workup (adrenal, thyroid, estrogen, androgen, testosterone, etc.) AND a heavy metal toxicity panel is living in the 1950s. Candida and some food intolerance can also be in play, there, with the brain fog.

Everything all works together – often just throwing synthroid at the problem helps some of the symptoms but won't actually fix the underlying imbalances, and can lead to further imbalance.

[tenacious-snail.livejournal.com]

I am in a year of Ever Changing Thyroid Meds, because my TSH needs to be between 0.4 and 2.0 in order for me to function well.

I have no idea what would cause that great of a drop in your TSH without meds, and I'd be inclined to get a third test just to see what is going on. And monitor it.

OOC, how are you doing with regards to dry skin/constipation/other sorts of wetness/dryness issues? This is my one, sure, go-to, this-isn't-depression symptom.

[geekchick]

I saw your mention elsewhere of the frequent adjustments; that sounds remarkably unpleasant to have to deal with, I'm sorry. :(

I think I'm generally okay, although I have no idea if my current dry skin is possibly thyroid-related or because there's been insufficient humidity in the house over the winter. It's also pretty easy to just assume that a lot of this stuff is simply par for the SAD-having winter course.

[points.livejournal.com]

Just for another opinion entirely - I get this way occasionally when dealing with heavy stress and lack of sleep for a few days in a row - and the effects can stick with me for a bit before I get on top of my game again. *hug*

[free-of-whip.livejournal.com]

My TSH was at 2.65 when my psychiatrist put me on Synthroid. She tells me that she routinely finds that patients do best with a TSH between 1 and 2. However, endocrinologists (who tend to look only at physical symptoms) will typically treat TSH levels much higher than 2 as normal. So yes, your thyroid levels could be causing mental changes at a time when your TSH levels are within "normal" on standard tests.

[plaidsheep.livejournal.com]

OMFG... why is it so bloody difficult to get doctors to actually help you figure out what's going on. Could be depression, could be hormonal imbalance, could be exhaustion.. but that's what we pay them for right?
I've suspected that I have some sort of adrenal fatigue going on, would not be surprising given the lack of regular sleep and high stress life I had over the past several years.
Bottom line, I started to feel slightly better when I started using natural progesterone cream (ProGest) as I had been having mental fog, night sweats, and overall poor energy. I don't even get a copy of my blood work anymore - the doctor just sends a note saying test results are "normal" - only when my Vitamin D levels were super low did I get any idea about what was going on (yeah, I had super low Vit D as well but that's better now after getting better about taking supplements)

So yeah, I'd say if you still have issues with the brain fog, look into getting a full hormone workup done. Could be any number of things (including low vitamin D levels) that can cause your symptoms.