I have been stalking these threads for a while but i think I need some guidance. I gave birth 4 years ago to my daughter and about two months postpartum my milk dried up and I started to feel terrible. I was So weak I couldn't hold my daughter anymore, or hardley get off the couch. I did have low iron which I have addressed, I have treated my adrenals for the last 4 years and I had no progesterone which I have also addressed, and I feel that has gotten better. I had my thyroid tested at least 6 times in the last 4 years with every doctor telling me it was fine, and I was just depressed. Which is bull?!&@. I finally started looking at my blood work myself and my tsh always seems to fluctuate to low/maybe 1.3 at the highest.. my free t3 is always upper range with my ft4 at the very bottom of the range. I have been tracking my temperature which has been about 95/96 maybe 97 at night. I bought the nutri med bovine thyroid and it has been about a month on that which has seemed to stabilize my temp to where it is now consistently 96.7 but I still have terrible fatigue and muscle weakness and this terrible feeling of a lump in my throw. I have felt so terrible for so long that now I actually feel depressed. And maybe my family would be happier if their sick mom just keeled over already. I'm just so confused and have wasted So much money trying to figure this out. I feel jittery and my heart feels like it's all over the place. But my temp is still so low so I can't by hyper? I don't know what to do anymore and feel so hopeless. Thanks in advance if anyone responds.
Ps I'm not an md just my innitials.
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KateMD
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Welcome to our forum and am very sorry that you have had problems since the birth of your baby and I doubt you knew what was happening. I shall give you a link and it can be that some women, postpartum, can develop hypthyroidism. Even if your inititals are md, you'll soon know more than most doctors I believe
The first thing to learn, with regard to blood tests for thyroid hormones, is never to accept 'normal', 'fine', o.k. what you have to do is get a print-out of your results with the ranges for your own records and post if you have a query for every blood test.
First, all blood tests have to be at the very earliest time available, fasting, and allow 24 hours gap between your last dose of hormones and the test and take afterwards.
Also ask for B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate to be tested if you haven't had these already.
If we have to get well, we have to 'do it ourselves' and read, learn and you will soon be able to get back to being able to enjoy your little girl.
Our TSH should be 1 or lower not higher. our Free T3 and Free T4 should be towards the upper part of the range. The reason we recommend early testing is that the TSH is highest very early a.m. and drops throughout the day and may mean the difference of being diagnosed or not, and also prevent adjustments to hormones unnecessarily.
In all honesty, your thyroid blood results looked pretty normal for someone not on thyroid hormones. Not saying it isn't your thyroid - but it wasn't *obviously* the case.
So, some other things to think about.
What are your B12 levels?
What are your iron levels (including ferritin levels)? Did you lose much blood during the birth? Was it a Caesarean by any chance?
Thank you both for replying. I thought at first is was low b12 (my mother has pernicious anemia and hypothyroidism) and I have been doing weekly shots of methyl b12 for at least a year with no improvement. I did lose a lot of blood (was a vag birth) but had an iron infusion, and regularly take iron. My ferritin I have also raised to around 70, also I did have low vit d a year ago (about 21) but have since raised it to 60. I had the MFTHR mutation tested and that was negative. I have been taking iodine, and selenium but my thyroid has become more swollen on both which makes me think i have hashimotos. I have had instances of tachycardia off and on since I was 17 (am now 29) which seems to have gone away with my progesterone use. I just can't seem to get any help from doctors so I have tried to self treat for so long.
That is very interesting. I had never heard of it before. I know there are pituitary grandulars.. I wonder if those would be of any benefit. My only thought is, would that be causing my enflamed thyroid? So confusing. Thank you again for your insight.
Could be that iodine causing the inflammation. Iodine and Hashis really don't mix, and it's nota good idea to take iodine when yyou're hypo, anyway.
Hi so sorry you feel so rubbish. I went through similar and its so frustrating. Do you know if your mums antibodies have been checked? I am asking as I don't think gps ever check this and your mum could be autoimmune and not know it and you could be in the process of getting it as it seems there is a genetic connection. Apparently it can take years for antibodies to rise for some(well enough for them to really effect the thyroid to knock levels out of range). I am wondering myself about my family members as I don't think they have ever had antibodies checked and my own are slowly rising. But I have no idea what mine were when I was really hypo. I found this article earlier which may help. I self medicate and had to eventually but I would consider it if you have felt so bad for such a long time. I gave up trying to get doctors to help.
I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this forum. Thank you all for answering. I may not be in the UK but this has to be the most supportive, knowledgeable forum I have come across.
To answer your question, I don't think my mother has ever had antibodies tested. It makes me so frustrated because she sees a "natural" doctor, and even he didn't think of testing her and none of the 9 doctors I've seen thought of it either. I'm on my way to finding a doctor in my area willing to do some blood work for me. Thank you again.
We can have 'normal' blood tests but if antibodies are present the person should be started on levothyroxine as the antibodies attack the thyroid gland until person is hypothyroid. Going gluten-free can help reduce them as the wax and wane until hypo and sometimes the person feels 'hyper' (i.e. too much I don't mean hyperthyroid) and at other times they're lower.
I had post partum thyroid problems and it was an utter nightmare. That was 35 years ago now and in those days nobody had any ideas on what was the matter with me except myxoedema / hypothyroid. No vitamin or mineral tests. I was put onto levothyroxine (T4) and for 14 years felt worse. Like me, you could have a conversion problem (usually genetic). Not sure if you are currently taking any thyroid hormone tablets. My thyroid blood tests were returning as ok whilst I was taking T4, but it obviously was not getting into the cells but was in the blood. I needed to take Liothyronine (T3). The body is meant to convert the T4 into the usable thyroid hormone T3. If your doctor is not willing to try you on it, many people on this forum buy it themselves. If you want to try some T3 along with your T4, put a new post asking where to buy it from. Good luck x
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