i have been trying to get a diagnosis about my thyroid for 2 years. i have adrenal failure and am on a maintenance life dose of 6mg prednisolone for my breathing. This is now 25 years.. an adrenal stress crisis 5 years ago left me bed bound for a year and house bound for 2 years. now able to get out and about a bit more and enjoying it . I usually increase prednisolone in times of stress i.e.exerted energy. However i am wondering if there could be room for more improvement with regards to air hunger and palpitations on standing... Its been 2 years since i first mentioned it to my gp and he dissmissed me . finally through my endroconologist i got my thyroid tests i need... Now armed with results i have an appointment to see him on tuesday. Can anyone help me with regards to stuff i should be mentioning. I dont know wether to say i think i have hashimotoes, or i am hypothyroid, or let him suggest what might be hindering my recovery based on my results. can anyone read my notes i have jotted down and suggest anything else.
a normal person produces rt3 in times of stress..With emotional stress the pituarity t3 levels do not convert into ths correctly. So, if i have had problems with pituitry in past (High prolactin) then hypthyroid/hashimotos along with adrenal faitigue is worth looking into.
Tsh 0.52 MLu/l 0.4 -4.00
my free t3 reading was 3 . pmol/L 2.80 -7.0
free t4 11.1 pmol/L 10.0 - 25.0
MY oxometer varies drasticaly depending on prednisolone.its averaging 92..and 88 over night and went up to 99 one day last week when i upped my steriod intake.
my symptoms are high cholesterol, depite being vegan, high b.p. fatigue, air hunger, low pottassium, palpitations on standing, coldness, very thin frame but huge tummy, cant lose it. dry skin, no body hair, no libido, stomich acid, itching, inward shivering if i talk to much.
an interesting fact is, an alchaholic drink takes off the air hunger. but i cant keep doing that..
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elvera111
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For you to have a diagnosis of hashimotos (Autoimmune Thyroid Disease) you would have to have your antibodies tested.
Your symptoms do sound hypothyroidism although your TSH is very low as is your FT3 and FT4 are extremely low. This is a copy of the suggestion Clutter made the other day and I think it would be wise to follow or mention this to the Endo:-
'Clutter Administrator
Elvera111,
Ferritin is optimal halfway through range. You don't need more iron and should probably reduce the dose you are currently taking.
TSH is low-normal but FT4 and FT3 are very low, almost bottom of their respective ranges. In primary hypothyroidism one would expect TSH to rise with such low FT4 and FT3. It may be worth asking your GP to investigate secondary hypothyroidism or isolated TSH deficiency.
thank you very much,you have been a great help. i was wondering if you could resend your mail so i could print it off for my g.p..
If possible could you add a few bits. Firstly address it to Maria. Add the bits you mentioned about Hashimotoes and antibodies .then add clutters response. should the fact that my oxometer readings go from 92 - 99 on raising prednisolone be mentioned or is that nothing to do wit thyroid.
I don't think I'd be able to do it due to the fact that I'm an Administrator and have no medical knowledge. I usually only refer to links etc.
What you could do is copy and paste into a word document if that would be suitable for your GP. and tell him you are a member of Healthunlocked Thyroiduk.org.uk and have received information which you think will be helpful and taking your clinical symptoms into consideration, especially 'air hunger' (last link).
thats a good help thanks..i am just wondering if my tsh is getting worse.as my last result 3 weeks ago was 0.52 miu/l 0.4 - 4.00..but last year it was 0.84. also, if he does not want to test the thyroid any further should i ask him if he would monitor me afterwards if i scourced my own NDT
Hi Elvera, You certainly don't need more stress. Your poor adrenals. Your very low hormone output may be adding more stress to the adrenals. Sometimes straight T3 is used in small doses and yours is so low, it might help. This man has a good knowledge of both adrenals and thyroid.
seeing doc today..bearing in mind i will be allotted a ten minute appointment,i need to grab his attention immediatly instead of waffling on about the past.
i first asked about thyroid 2 years ago,and it has taken this long to get tested just to be told i was in the normal range.
what should my first sentence be...
1. I have been complaining about air hunger for 25 years and been diagosed with asthma. now they say its c o p d..i have never had an asthma attack, or been hospitalized because of it. (I DO HAVE ALLERGIES).I have never smoked or worked in an enviroment that would cause c o p d.
2. i am so thin i am worried about depleted nutrients due to constant dieting,hair falling out.. .being vegetatrian doesnt help. but getting upset with people constantly asking me when is the baby due because of my huge tummy.
3. cant get my cholesterol/blood pressure down. heart beats fast on standing up. really cold all the time .
4. my t3 and t4 are low so could we just try something for a month it cant do any harm can it
5. here is a list of symptoms what do you think my problem is
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