Need Advice for Dr Appt

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-01-2004
Need Advice for Dr Appt
14
Tue, 07-06-2004 - 4:27pm
Hi,

I am looking for any advice that I can get for my next Dr appt.

I have been going for the past year and I beleive from what I've

been reading that I may have hypothyroidism. My Dr, however seems

to think that since mt TSH came back at 2.1 that I am fine. I have

all of the classic symptoms but have been told its not my thyroid.

First it was anemia, then depression, then I was told that it was

probably 'hormonal'. I was told to stop taking birth control pills

and best of all, that I just needed to diet and excercise.

I have an appt with my GP coming up and she is having my TSH tested

again and also my iron. Does anyone have any advice, or does it sound

like I just need a different Dr? I have the name of an endo. in my

area that is supposed to be pretty good, should that be my next step?

I welcome any and all advice....I am at my wits end!

Thanks!!!!

Shelly

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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2001
Tue, 07-06-2004 - 5:45pm
Hi and welcome! Your tsh level at 2.1 is pretty much "normal" but what would make a difference is what symtoms you have that leads you to believe you may be hypothyroid. And if, at 2.1, you have a lot of symptoms, you might have what's called subclinical hypothyroidism, which is just below the range of what is usually diagnosed hypothyroidism. Some doctors will treat subclinical hypothyroidism, most doctors won't.

What types of symptoms do you have? Cathy :)

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-01-2004
Wed, 07-07-2004 - 9:18am
HI Cathy,

Thanks for the response. When I originally went to the Dr last year, my symptoms were

headaches, fatigue, feeling of being cold, dry hair and skin, irritability, weight gain,

achiness, cloudy thinking and mild depression. At that time, my TSH was tested and my

iron. TSH came back normal, iron was low. So I was put on 3 iron pills/day and 100mg of

Zoloft. The iron seemed to help the headaches and some of the tiredness. The zoloft made

me feel terrible. At my next visit, I was told to continue iron and switched from zoloft to lexapro. In the mean time, my periods became irregular, Dr did a pregnancy test and that was negative. Was told not to worry about it, if I was still concerned go see my ob/gyn. So, I did, she recommended that I stop taking the pill and see if that made a difference in the way I felt. I've been off that for a little over a month, my last period was normal and pms symptoms were almost completely gone. Still, I am tired all the time, I feel like I could sleep all day. The lexapro has helped with the depression but there is still the weight issue, I can't seem to lose any and I try to walk and get excercise but its hard when I am so tired and achy. My fingers, wrists,and knees are swollen, my hands and feet and lower back ache everyday.

My Dr seems to think that I am just depressed and that if I diet and excercise everything will be ok. I am only 32 and I don't think that its normal to have this many aches and pains! I used to be able to walk for miles and play with my boys but now I can barely do the things I have to do.

Thanks for listening...

Shelly

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2001
Wed, 07-07-2004 - 4:22pm
Hi Shelly - You poor thing! You have all the classic hypothyroid symptoms. I think it's time for you to find a new doctor. Someone who is willing to treat your symptoms!! There's no reason for you to suffer this way and it's just awful that your doctor will allow you to continue to feel so bad. It just upsets me so much when doctors don't listen to how their patients are feeling!! Do you think you can try to find a new doctor or would it make more sense for you to sit down and try to discuss this with your current one? Cathy
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-01-2004
Thu, 07-08-2004 - 9:31am
Cathy,

It is so nice to actually have someone listen and not think that I am just crazy!

I have an appt with my current Dr on the 20th, so I guess I will see what she says.

The last time I was there, I mentioned to her that I had read about Dr's that try their patients on a low dose of thyroid meds to see if it helps but she was not willing to do that. When I went to my ob/gyn and was telling her about everything, she suggested trying the meds but said that my gp would have to prescribe it. So that put me back to square one. I found the name of another GP that is supposed to be good with thyroid, I also have the name of an endo. that my sister in law gave me (she had some pituitary problems).

Do you think it would be better for me to see another GP or go to the endo?

These Dr's are making me feel like I just want something to be wrong with me!

I don't understand why they can't see that I was quite happy weighing 60 pounds

less, feeling good and having lots of energy!

I'm not crazy about the idea of taking the lexapro, but right now I feel like its

all I have. It doesn't make anything better, but it does keep me from being so

depressed about the whole thing.

Shelly

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2001
Thu, 07-08-2004 - 11:23am
Hi Shelly - I think your best bet is to go to whichever doctor will treat you!! I'm not kidding. I've been to 2 endos and one NP that had no idea what they were doing. Now I finally have an endo that knows what's going on and he's wonderful. But it wouldn't have mattered to me if he was an endo, GP or any other thing! As long as he knew how to treat me. And for goodness sake - your ob/gyn could have prescribed the medication!! It's amazing what doctors don't know!! I wish they could be better educated about all of this. If I had nothing else to do right now, I'd make that my mission in life, to better educate doctors on thyroid conditions. But ..... I don't have time to add that in! :)

I know when I was first treated, and before the medication really kicked in, I used to wonder if it was all in my head. Then once I was regulated, my tsh levels started increasing a little at a time but I was really feeling it badly. I couldn't get either of my doctors to treat me! I had to "crash" before my endo finally increased my medication and even then, she only did so because I was like a raving lunatic on the phone, demanding to be treated!! LOL! And I used to question myself then, too, wondering if I was making up the pains and the fatigue. But of course, I wasn't. So you aren't alone here!! It's a very strange condition, in how you are misdiagnosed, diagnosed, mistreated and undertreated. I just don't get it myself.

If taking the lexapro helps right now, I wouldn't feel bad about taking it. Depression is often a symptom of hypthyroidism and can sometimes be treated on its own. But it shouldn't be treated at the expense of NOT treating the thyroid. So perhaps once you're on thyroid medication, you can let this one go and see how you feel. Cathy :)

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-01-2004
Thu, 07-08-2004 - 12:48pm
I think that I will keep my appt on the 20th with this Dr and let her know that I have tried to diet and excercise and still can't lose weight. I am taking the Lexapro and still not feeling any better and I did see my ob/gyn and stopped taking the bc pill and

still don't feel better. And if she's not willing at that time to treat me, then I will call the endo and make an appt with her. I have a follow up appt with my ob/gyn in Sept but I just hate to keep waiting and waiting.

At one of these appts, the dr suggested that I get tested for fibromyaliga, lupus, lyme disease, and arthritis. So, I went on the web and looked at the symptoms of each of these and none of them fit me like hypothyroidism. I don't understand why they can't just treat the symptoms that I have and admit that the TSH test is not always 100% acurate! Even my ob/gyn said that just because its in the 'normal' range, that doesn't always mean that's what is 'normal' for my body. I think of all the Dr's that I have seen so far, she's the only one that actually listens to me!

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2001
Thu, 07-08-2004 - 3:27pm
You might want to call your ob/gyn and talk to her again about all of your symptoms, tell her you thing it might be helpful if you were treated with Synthroid or some other thyroid replacement hormone just to see if it helps. Then perhaps she can call your doctor in time for your appointment on the 20th. Just an idea. Also, if you are thinking of seeing an endo, you might want tomake the appt now because it can take a really long time to get in to see one. I had to wait 6 months to see mine! It might be a good back up plan. In the meantime, there's a list of supplements I posted here that I had been taking when I couldn't get my doctors to increase my medication. They helped relieve some of my symptoms. You might want to try it. I'm copying the old post here. Here's the list:

"This is from Dr. Perricone's book, The Perricone Prescription. He calls it his "fat burning" formula. (That's a great book, by the way. )

Here it is:

CLA: 1000 mg - 3 to 4 times daily

ALA: 250-500 mg

Q10: 60 to 120 mg

DMAE: 75 mg two times a day (I haven't been taking these - they're expensive)

L-tyrosine - 500 mg 3 times a day

GLA/Evening primrose oil: 1000 mg

Omega 3 fatty acids: 500 mg 2 times a day (I'm taking one with omega 3 and 6)

Vitamin E: 200 to 400 mg

Vitamin C: 500 to 1000 mg

He breaks it down for breakfast and lunch.

Here's breakfast: Vitamin C, Vitamin E, ALA, Q10, Omega 3 and GLA, CLA

Lunch: Vitamin C, ALA, Q10, Omega 3, GLA, CLA (I add folic acid)

And I take another CLA before dinner."

Me again - This list is from a post I posted back in March. Since then, I've stopped taking the CLA and DMAE and L-tyrosine because I want to give my new thyroid medication a chance to work on its own. I also tak a b-complex, zinc, calcium/magnesium, and a complete Omega 3,6, and 9 fatty acid supplement. But the supplements on this list helped relieve my fatigue and many of my aches and pains. It also helpled with everyday bloating, which I have a big problem with. It's just something to think about. I never used to like to take pills but I didn't mind doing this. Cathy :)













iVillage Member
Registered: 04-01-2004
Thu, 07-08-2004 - 4:12pm
Cathy,

Thanks for the advice. That's a great idea about calling my ob/gyn and also to go ahead and schedule the appt with the endo. If things would happen to work out, I can always cancel that appt if I dont need it, and if it turns out that I do, I will be one step ahead of the game.

It's getting a little late to call my ob/gyn today so I will do that tomorrow. And I will call the endo too.

I will let you know what I find out...

Oh and thanks for the list of supplements, I will see what I can find.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
Thu, 07-08-2004 - 6:55pm
Hi shelly. Cathy's right, you need a doc who will listen to you and believe you. Also, a second opinion couldn't hurt. Plus if you can get a referral for the endocrinologist do it!

I had mono last spring 2003, and felt sick for months. aches, pains, no energy, and for a long time all with a goiter (swollen thyroid) But besides that, I started to feel bad like that again and went to a new doc who did bloodwork, come to find out I have an autoimmune thyroid condition. That would explain your aches and pains and lack of energy. That's all considered super symptoms of autoimmune diseases. try mary shoman's website about autoimmune conditions + thyroid, http://thyroid.about.com/od/endocrineautoimmune1/ Here's a link to 7 things you may not know about your thyroid too.

http://thyroid.about.com/od/gettestedanddiagnosed/a/7things.htm

I would seek out another opinion. It took me about a year, and i wish I would have done it sooner. I've done a lot of research on my own, and even though my condition can't be treated with medicine (at least not yet) I have found lots of info on herbs and vitamins that have helped.

Good luck. --Lisa
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-01-2004
Fri, 07-09-2004 - 8:44am
Hi Lisa,

Thanks for your response. I checked out those links, briefly. There is alot of interesting things on there, I will definitely go back to them when I have more

time.

If you don't mind my asking, what sort of bloodwork did the Dr do that showed

your autoimmune thyroid condition? The reason I'm asking, I have only ever

had the TSH tested and since that came back 'normal' they didn't bother to

check anything else.

I found the name of a Dr in my area on a list of top thyroid doctors. So I think

that's who I may try before going to the endo. One good thing about my insurance

is that I don't need any referrals, so I can pretty much see whoever I want.

Shelly

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