Is it possible I have a problem with my thyroid? (x-posted in Health & Healing)

[quelindo]

I had a thyroid panel done a little over a year ago when I went into my FP's office with symptoms of weakness, exhaustion, light-headedness and body aches. The tests all came back in the "normal" range and the antibody tests were normal, too.

But I wonder...my sister and Mom were both diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I have infertility issues -- essentially I don't really get a period. We had to do IVF for me to get pregnant with my son, and my RE just said I had a "PCOS-variant." (She wasn't really interested in figuring out WHY I wasn't ovulating.)

I get cold easily, and although I'm not sick often I always feel sort of run-down, like I just don't have that strong of a constitution, if that makes sense. My naturopath had me do the saliva test for adrenal fatigue, and it showed that I did indeed have that.

Anyway, I feel better than I did when I first went to my FP a year ago, but still not great. And I'd really love to have another baby, but we can't afford IVF again. So I dug up my test results, and everything is on the end of the range that points to hypothyroidism. Within the normal range, mind you, but on the abnormal end. I can post numbers if anyone wants.

Also, my ferritin is very low, and I just read that ideally women are between 70 and 90. My FP never even mentioned this. And I know many people with hypothyroidism have low iron as well.

I'd LOVE to try Armour but I can't get into the specialist who finally diagnosed my sister and mom without a referral. I just switched FP's (and I don't like the new one, either) and I do not want to dink around having them run labs again only to tell me, AGAIN, that I'm normal. I don't even know if the FP or the specialist would take me seriously if I'm within the normal range.

Can anyone identify with this? Could I be hypothyroid? I mean, SOMETHING is wrong here.

[zech13_9_goforgold]

Keep bugging your doctors. You know that something is wrong. That should be enough for them. PCOS is also a posibilty; they need to find out if you're even ovulating.

Good luck at finding the answer. Keep trying different doctors until you find one who will answer you.

[LisaG]

I'd ask for your lab results so you can see what the numbers are. Normal range can be anywhere from .5 to 5. I think some labs recently lowered it from 5 to 3.5. Information that I've read said that TSH levels for optimal fertility are around 1. An excellent resource on thyroid/pregnancy/infertility can be found here.

Adrenal fatigue can play a big role with hypothyroidism so that's great you figured out that piece of it.

They armourthyroid website has a physician locator section. Maybe you can find a doc that doesn't require a referral on it. Good luck!

[kiwiva]

[QUOTE=LisaG;12397199]I'd ask for your lab results so you can see what the numbers are. Normal range can be anywhere from .5 to 5. I think some labs recently lowered it from 5 to 3.5. Information that I've read said that TSH levels for optimal fertility are around 1. An excellent resource on thyroid/pregnancy/infertility can be found here.

QUOTE]

ITA! Get a copy of your labs. Lots of docs really don't take thyroid seriously and are working with the old recommendations for normal. Have your labs done again and make sure in addition to the TSH they test your free T4 at least. Also, are you tracking your temps? Although my cycles were very regular, I realized I was NOT ovulating until I got my thryoid under control.

And I also had low ferritin. Get your iron stores up, that can make a huge difference! Especially with thyroid probs, keep looking until you find a doc who will take your concerns seriously.

[Masel]

My GP was on me about my weight again a few years ago. This was just after working my ass off excercising for a year, not losing any weight, and then hurting my feet. I broke down in her office crying saying "something else is going on!" She finally referred me to a endocrinologist (and a therapist but I didn't take her up on that.) Going on thyroid and metphormin has changed my life! I have cycles now. My waking temps had been so low the commercial charts did have space for them. They are fine now.

Weight may have been the catalyst in my situration. I was not TTC at that time. I didn't appreciate at first how much my quality of life changed after that.

When you do get some thyroid medication don't take it at the same time as a calcium supplement (or any milk really). It works so much better that way.

[ErikaG]

It's totally possible to have numbers within the normal range but still be symptomatic...especially if your doctor or lab are using old, outdated lab values. The current range for "normal" is .3-3.04-the previous values were something like .5-5.0, and if you're in that range between 3 and 5, a lot of doctors will look at you and say "normal" when really, you're not. And for many people, if you're hovering around the 3 mark, you may still be symptomatic and feel better with treatment-this is actually my situation...untreated, my TSH hovers near 3, but I end up very symptomatic, and I feel so very much better when I take thyroid replacement.

I don't think I'd have gotten pregnant with my daughter if we hadn't begun treating my thyroid. It was one step in the process of figuring out what was going on and helping me to get and stay pregnant.

[firewoman]

I have suffered from hypothyroidism for 7 years now and it has been a roller coaster ride. I recommend you read info by Dr. Mark Hyman on his site. He has a special 50 page PDF about thyroid disfunction and what can be done about it. Everyone here is right if your TSH is 5 or below, but you are still symptomatic, you need the TSH to be lower. I feel best when it is are 0.8. I finally have gotten there. You may need to be insistant that you still don't feel well to get them to listen. An endo would be better than a GP, because they understand the ins and outs better. I encourage you to learn about what foods are good and which are bad for thyroid function, too, as that plays a major roll. Dr. Hyman talks about that. There is another thread going right now about the use of maca root and hypothyroidism. You should read this one, too!

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=984507