| Hashimotos? Positive DNA DS ABS? Lupus?
Hi All,
This is my first posting on the thyroid board. Am hoping that somebody has a similar story and can give me some advice. Or maybe even just recommend a great endo in New York City.
In brief: I was diagnosed with hashimotos as a kid due to an enlarged goiter. Was on and off synthroid for years. Since I was told I didn't really have any major clinical symptoms, I never associated any of my symptoms (e.g., intolerance to cold/heat, neuropathy in my hands and feet, overall discomfort, low energy levels, etc.) with my thyroid. I am currently back on Levoxyl. My TSH is normal, but I still have most of the symptoms, thought not nearly as severe as others, from what I've been reading.
Had acupuncture for the neuropathy (really worked!) but decided to visit a neurologist just to be sure. She took lots of blood tests to rule out anything systemic, and the Smith antibody test (Lupus) came back positive. I next visited a rheumatologist. He reperformed the test, which came back negative. But he also performed other tests, which were conflicting: negative ana, but positive DNA (DS) antibodies. He told me that I did not have lupus, but that I should come back in six months. (I had also just gone off antibiotics, which I had been taking for mild to moderate acne for years. He thought that might have been a factor, even though the specific blood test he performed for drug-induced lupus came back negative.)
So . . . what to do now? Wait? Make myself crazy by reading the boards? Think the next step is to find a really good endo and have Free T3 and T4 checked.
Lastly, does anyone understand the hypothyroid-acne-iodine connection? If my iodine is low, that's bad, but foods with acne apparently aggravate my acne?
Thanks for reading and any advice/info would be greatly appreciated.
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Diana
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