kipper

I was at the doctor's office today, again complaining about fatigue. She's ordered more bloodwork, since it's been over a year since I've last had any tests. My symptoms are:
fatigue, not being able to lose much, if any weight, even though I'm following WW, headaches, dry skin, hair loss, joint/muscle pain

I don't snore unless I'm congested, due to sinus issues, which isn't always the case. Mr. Kipper is often awake far later than me, and has never once said that it's sounded like I've stopped breathing.

FWIW, my TSH level on 9/1/11 was 2.04 and on 7/5/12, it was 3.16.

On 7/5/12, my Vitamin D level was 11, while on 10/10/12, it was 27, after a course of high dose Vitamin D.

The doctor keeps pushing, and has pushed depression since I complained about being fatigued last year. Apparently, it's abnormal for me to insist that's not it or something, because she keeps pushing that, and I keep insisting that it's not. I'm generally happy and content, but apparently, that's just wrong.

I have bloodwork scheduled for Thursday, including a Lyme test, and a follow-up scheduled on May 8th to discuss it.

Any guesses or suggestions as to what's up?

SkeptiCallie

Hypothyroidism.

I realize your last count was normal (at least I assume it was, don't recall what normal is). But things can drop off fast.

We were on our first trip to Europe when mine fell off the cliff. Every morning I had to be prodded along, feeling like some dumb cattle being beaten along. We stayed at what was then the Hilton Suffren in Paris, had a fantastic view of the Eiffel Tower, and my husband kept telling me to sit up in bed just to see how beautiful it was. (He had tried to get me to walk over there, that I couldn't do, couldn't walk to the window, didn't want even to sit up to see it.) During the day, once I got going, I could manage.

I was terribly bothered by severe left-sided head pain after that, couldn't put my head down without the pain becoming unbearable, so had to sleep sitting up--still tired when back at home, had a difficult time focusing on two things at once. The pain turned out to be a suddenly accelerated sinus allergy (black mold eating away at bone. Doctors initially thought I had a severe sinus tumor, judging by CAT scans. Anyhow, had to postpone surgery when it was discovered thyroid had nearly flat-lined.

Inability to process several items of information at one time as well, i.e., slowed thinking.

I now know that the sinus severity can be correlated sometimes with drop in thyroid. With thyroid normal now, per medicine, sinus became easier to manage. I don't recall dry skin but did look older for awhile, couldn't figure out what on earth was causing it.

All that cleared with treatment, but treatment took awhile to bring all the conditions under control. Hypothyroidism can cause heart problems too, so you don't want to neglect it.

Assuming that is what you have, of course.

kipper

Normal ranges, depending on the lab, from anywhere from .3-3.0 or .5-4.5 or 5.

To me, it sounds like my thyroid, I think it's my thyroid, but my levels were "normal" and therefore, she thinks it's not.

annerj

old age...... that's only a half joke. I find all these symptoms as I age. Blah.

On a more serious not my d was pretty low too (7) even though I'm outside a ton all year long. Vit d suppliments didn't do anything for my fatigue (I still take them daily 6k whatever unit)

If you were a guy I'd say get your T level checked....friend of mine had basically the same symptons and now gets a shot every two weeks. Helped everything but the hair loss (seems to have sped that up).

Thyroid seems like the go to guess with those symptons though

missydarlin

Did you say headaches?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaTO8_KNcuo

kipper

I didn't find that the Vitamin D did much either, but I think it pacified the doctor, because it was something.

Before we moved across the state, I had an amazing doctor who among all of his other qualities, was extremely willing to consider all possibilities, and look at symptoms, etc., not just look at lab results and say, "Well, the lab says it's normal."

Depending on what happens at my next appointment, I'm giving serious consideration to making an appointment and driving out there to consult him. I don't like the idea of having a doctor across the state, or upsetting my doctor here, but I also don't like the idea of having a lousy diagnosis crammed down my throat because my doctor figures that it must be that.
LOL, thanks for the laugh this morning!

SkeptiCallie

Some time before my hypothyroidism was discovered--I am guessing maybe six months but up to a year perhaps--I went to a doctor, told him that I was exhausted and that something was wrong. He gave me one of those knowing smiles. He did agree to run lab tests.

He later gave me the results, which were normal.

Then the outcome, per above, I was really under the weather some months later. (And the treating doctors then were very, very concerned.)

As it turns out, the first doctor hadn't run all the tests he should have run. The one(s) he did run showed current thyroid levels, but they didn't show that supplies were dwindling. Or something.

And yes, after the thyroid levels were finally brought back to normal--allowing for time for the system to restore itself to normal--the fatigue went away, along with other symptoms, and even the allergic fungal sinusitis diminished, though it never went away completely.

I wish I could remember the specifics on the first thyroid test, the one that didn't show what had to be the beginning of thyroid difficulty. Did an Internet search this a.m. but didn't find anything that jogged my memory.

kipper

Who diagnosed your thyroid issues? Your PCP, or did you see someone else?

SkeptiCallie

The first doctor, the one I saw initially for the unusual fatigue, was an internist. I didn't have a PCP or see a doctor generally back then. He was just someone I saw that one time.

Eventually, when the above happened, the head pain and the possible skull-cancer diagnosis, and I was sent to an internist prior to surgery, that internist diagnosed what had become by then an obvious and very severe thyroid problem. This was a different internist.

Thyroid is treated now by an endocrinologist.

l etoile

Keep in mind "normal" ranges on a lab test are what's "normal" for 95 percent of people. It may not be what's normal for you. I don't have a thyroid. My endo doesn't care much about my tests, he cares about how I feel.

It could be something completely unrelated to your thyroid, but I'd get referrals for a good endo - the kind that doesn't just use the test results - and make an appointment. It took one friend of mine three years to find such a person (and she also had no thyroid), but she is finally on right meds and dose for her and doing well. (Thyroid cancer bulletin boards would likely be sources for referrals in your area as these are people who must find good endos.)

My other thought is sleep. Are you getting the sleep you need? Most people don't get anywhere near what our bodies require and can certainly lead to the symptoms you describe. A sleep study and just reading up on how to encourage your body to get good sleep might be helpful.

Good luck.

kipper

LOL, I know normal ranges aren't what's normal for everyone, but apparently my doctor doesn't.

Think I should try an endo, rather than going to my old PCP?

Most nights, I'm getting between 6 and 8 hours of sleep/night, depending on how late I get to bed. Weekends, I generally get 8 or 9 hours of sleep, while Sunday--Wednesday, it's probably closer to 7 hours of sleep each night.

obscure2k

+1 for getting a work-up by an endocrinologist. Good luck.

l etoile

Interesting story (available online w/out subscription) in The New Yorker in March. Reporter went to a sleep clinic (just for purpose of reporting; not that he really thought he needed it) and turned out he woke up 115x in about six hours. Usually he woke for seconds and he was unaware of it, but it prevented him from getting into the restorative phases of sleep his body/health required. If all docs say your thyroid is ok, might be something to look at. Every symptom you have - including hair loss and muscle/joint pain - are ones also associated with sleep deprivation.

kipper

Mr. Kipper snores. I'm wondering if, at a minimum, that's causing me to not get restorative sleep.

l etoile

If nothing else, this story is interesting (picks up at page 3). One little tidbit from it was, though we tend to say we sleep better when we're not alone in bed, we actually do sleep better alone. So maybe you're on to part of it.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2...a_fact_kolbert