Ok so I know I have low cortisol and I’m supplementing all my bits and mins (ferritin is still low but “within range”!) everything else is ok but not great. My hormone levels were tested earlier in the year and I was told they were fine (this is the only thing I don’t have copies of the results for).
My question is does anyone else find their symptoms are cyclical in nature? For example, for the last 2 weeks of my cycle and usually the first 3-4 days of my period, I feel great. In fact for the last 3 months or so I’d go so far as to say I’ve felt totally ‘normal’ at these times. But come day 5/6 if my period and for the two weeks after, almost all of my symptoms return - very heavy limbed, very fatigued, headaches, dizziness, pressure in my head/neck and the occasional other thing like odd pains or tingling.
I can’t decide what to do about it, other than keep up with all the supplementation. I just wondered if anyone else had noticed this pattern, or had thoughts as to what might cause it?
TIA as always 😊
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Murphysmum
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Thank you very much for the background history on your Profile. It was very informative.
I notice you were diagnosed with CFS .
I would suggest you get another blood test. It should be at the very earliest possible, fasting (you can drink water) and if you were taking thyroid hormone replacements you#d allow a gap of 24 hours between last dose and test and take afterwards.
I shall give you a list of clinicial symptoms and tick the ones you have and I think you'll have more than a few.
You state above " My hormone levels were tested earlier in the year and I was told they were fine". Fine, normal or o.k. is not satisfactory. Only 'optimal' is but doctors rarely make sure we are on optimal hormones. The FT4 and FT3 are very important as they give more information to members so that they can respond. If on an optimum dose both should be nearer the top of the range.
You need a TSH, T4, T3, Free T4, Free T3 and thyroid antibodies. If your GP wont do all of them, we have two labs which will do so and make sure you are well-hydrated for blood draw - following advice above. The are home pin-prick tests.
GP should also test B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate. Everything has to be optimal in order for thyroid hormones to work well.
Blue Horizon and Medichecks do home pin-prick tests and Medichecks have a 'special offer' every Thursday, of some sort.
I have read that CFS, Fibro and ME were only named about ten years after the introduction of thyroid hormone blood tests. Before that we were diagnosed upon clinical symptoms alone and given a trial of NDT. Natural Dessicated Thyroid hormones. My own view is that because the numbers in the blood test didn't correspond, they did not diagnose patients but chose to make another three 'names'.
Always get a print-out of your results with the ranges. Ranges are most important to allow members to respond to question.
Sorry, it was a rushed post so I didn’t post results of all of the blood tests you mention. They’re in a previous post but I’m not sure how I can link it?
I know that a lot of my levels aren’t optimal (although hopefully they are increasing now) but none were ever so bad that they fell below range.
I do wonder about my ferritin and as such to see if this has increased or not, as it hadn’t last time I checked.
My question is more if anyone could explain the cyclical nature of the symptoms? I don’t know what to try to address next because I don’t understand why this happens. 😊
I have no idea about the cyclical nature of symptoms but below is a list of clinical symptoms. As far as I know as dose of hormones is slowly increased then symptoms should begin to resolve.
Thanks shaws . I read that this morning, v interesting.
I think I’m going to push my gp for a trial of T3. I had thought I was getting steadily better (and I am in comparison to months ago) but going back a step every month like this is very depressing!
I can still tick off most of the symptoms on the TUK list when I’m at this stage and I don’t intend on experiencing them every month forever!
I shall give you three links which might be helpful for self-medicating. Copy and paste the tinyurls onto a new page and read the hormonerestoration ones.
I don't have an answer for you. I just wanted to say that I have also noticed cyclical patterns. My hormones are around the range they should be but slightly out. I haven't got any evidence but I am assuming that a decrease or increase in a specific hormone level at that point in my cycle is acting as a trigger for something else. Similarly I have a lot of what doctors call "non-descript" symptoms. For me this has been going on 5 years and has only really improved significantly during the later half of pregnancy.
I experience exactly the same. I feel fine two weeks before then around day 4 of my cycle my rhr drops and all my hypo symptoms return for about 2 weeks.
My only theory is that unopposed estrogen raises TBG during that time and keeps thyroid hormones bound.
Also I just receive the results of my blue horizon thyroid DNA profile and I have a polymorphism of the COMT gene snp rs4680 which means I have poor clearance of estrogen and cortisol
I didn’t really experience any symptoms of excessive estrogen until I entered peri-menopause about 4 years ago. And I wonder if this triggered my hashimoto as that was also around the time I started getting hypo symptoms.
At the moment I am experimenting with large doses of magnesium to balance my estrogen and cortisol. Which is recommended if you have the COMT gene problem.
Hi. I know that this is an older thread but I was wondering if you have had any insight into this, or luck treating it. My symptoms have hit with a vengeance the last three months and, like you, I'm finding them to be cyclical. I seem to have every symptom you described. I'm not on any treatment as yet but am due to start a trial on Monday.
I hope that you are feeling better and have found some answers.
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