Is this good? Am I getting anywhere?

[Anuba]

I feel like this house just now.....mentally and physically hehe

I went to the doctor today and had my prolactin retested for the third time. I told her my suspicions about my thyroid and my symtoms inc temp weight etc and she never really protested it. I also mentioned my fibromyalgia and how it can be connected to thyroid. She did thyroid tests again as my TSH was 4.1 etc. and said that if my prolactin still high she would be sending me to an endocrinologist who would deal with my thyroid also if it was a problem. I said would she take antibodies tests and she said an endocrinologist would do that if I was referred. I said that yes you can have a tsh in range but still have antibodies but that is what she was sticking with and she also said she would not be trying any treatment for thyroid out on me as she wanted the endo to see me without it if he had to....so I dunno good and bad maybe.....I get both results next week some time...guess Ill have to wait.....thanks for reading.

[rosetrees]

I guess she's passing the buck rather than going into flat-out denial. Let's hope the endo is helpful.

[Anuba in reply to rosetrees]

yes I thought she just passing it on too....we will see if I even get referred. As I may not if my results are in range....but I suspect my prolactin will be high again.

[Anuba in reply to rosetrees]

Ill maybe have to go private if nothing comes of this.

[vajra]

Hi A. I know nothing on the topic, but a quick dig brought up the following posted elsewhere by a trainee doc:

'Your pituitary gland (at the base of your brain), produces Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH), which stimulates your thyroid gland to produce thyroid hormones. TSH also acts back on the pituitary gland and stimulates it to produce prolactin. So if you have high TSH, you'll have high Prolactin, and vice versa.'

It seems that prolactin levels basically are determined by TSH levels. So that if TSH is high (because the body/brain thinks we're hypothyroid) then prolactin will tend to be high too - and all else being equal (e.g. not pregnant or anything) vice versa.

Proper treatment/replacement to eliminate the hypothyroidism seems like it should in that case restore normal prolactin levels.

One result of this linkage might be that raised prolactin levels can shut down the sex hormone/reproductive side of the house (including cause miscarriage) if we're hypothyroid - which sounds sensible.

Another very much less common cause of high prolactin seems to be the possibility of some sort of pituitary abnormality or growth: thyroid.about.com/library/e...

Hope that helped. Good luck with the endo - it sounds like your suspicion of hypothyroidism could well be correct, and that barring other factors in play it could well be the cause of the high prolactin...

ian

[Anuba in reply to vajra]

Thankyou very much for your detailed and informative reply....makes me feel more determined in this to get my life back a bit more.....