More confused than before

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
More confused than before
1
Mon, 10-25-2004 - 5:52pm
I posted here recently when my goiter first appeared. Thank you for your answer and I did speak to my ob/gyn and she assured me my birth control should still be working.

Just a quick refresher, I noticed a very visible goiter a couple of weeks ago. First, I went to the only Dr I had, my ob/gyn and she ran a full thyroid panel. Well, I found a family practice dr I could afford (no insurance). The thyroid panel results came back normal. (TSH = 2.319 T4=7.5 T3 Uptake 29% Triiodothyronine = 127 and Free T4 Index 2.2) Besides the goiter, I have a high heart rate (normal for me though), my blood pressure is high for me (like 140 when I am normally 105), no real weight change or change in eating habits, no hair changes, but when you put a piece of paper on the back of my hand you can see a slight tremble. My family dr put me on 50mcg of synthroid and said he thinks it is Subclinical Hyperthyroidism. He is sending me to an endo, but that will take a while to get into see him/her. Anyone else here with this? I have read up on it a bit on the web, and it almost seems like a "pretend" diagnosis. You know. like the dr's don't know what is wrong so they make up a name like that solves anything. Am I wrong? Any tips or suggestions?

Thanks for listening,

Suzie

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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2001
Mon, 10-25-2004 - 8:16pm
Hi Suzie - No, actually, it sounds as if you have a great doctor. Many doctors are reluctant to diagnosis subclinical hypo or hyperthyroidism, much less treat it! So that's actually excellent for you. It will give you a chance to see if the medication helps your symptoms - are you sure he said Hyperthyroidism?? Not Hypo? Because synthroid is hypo medication, which will be putting more thyroid hormone into your system. The goiter, high blood pressure, and high heart rate can be symptoms of either one. The good news in your case is that if it's true that you are subclinical, you won't have to wait until you have the most severe symptoms before getting treatment. This will save you from that - which can be an awful experience. Does anyone in your family have a thyroid condition? Cathy :)