Well, I got up the nerve to get a blood test. I went thru a lab that doesn't require a doctor, ordered it online.
Anyways, here are my results
TSH 1.069 (0.450-4.500)
Free T3 3.3 (2.3-4.2)
Free T 4 1.51 (0.61-1.76)
I can't believe that it looks like I don't have hyperthyroidism...I have SO many of the symptoms. Now I don"t know what to do. I know it sounds bad, but I was wishing that was what was wrong with me, now I am more afraid than before.
Any advise, or thoughts would be really appreciated!
You're right, your numbers don't look too bad (T3 @52% of range, T4 @ 78%). But many of us don't feel well unless our T3 is up around 75% or even up to the top of range.
Did you test your thyroid antibodies? If you have Hashi's the labs can be misleading. You can order the TPO-Ab and TG-Ab labs online too, just to be completely sure. If you think your symptoms seem to be thyroid I would do that.
You might be able to find an alternative doc to give you a small trial of T3 just to see if it helps. But trying to find a mainstream doc to treat with those numbers might be a tad difficult.
If it were me, I'd test. Otherwise you'll never know for sure. Of course the antibody tests aren't failsafe either, but if they do come back positive it gives you much more information and ammunition to take to a doctor for treatment. What are your symptoms? Have you tested your vitamin D and B12 and ferritin? Low levels can cause similar symptoms as well.
Just to let you know (I don't know if you ready my other posts), I don't have medical insurance, and am EXTREMELY phobic of all this stuff, so for me to even have the blood draw was a BIG thing.
I have alot of the "typical" symptoms
loss of weight
feeling like I can't breathe sometimes
my throat feeling weird, like I can't stand to have anything touch it
bloodshot, dry eyes
seems like I am losing a lot of hair
occasional ringing in ears
seems like I am sweating more, not pouring off of me, but like my deordorant
doesn't seem as effective
increase in bowel movements
sleep problems, waking up and not being able to get back to sleep
periods are a few days off now, not by much
fast pulse, usually in the 90's
hoarse at times
weakness in legs
uncontrollable shaking of right leg, I can not stop it at times, then it
leaves me even more weak.
Anxiety
oh. forgot too, I have an annoying twitch in my right eye, can't seem to concentrate on anything, and feel like I am in fast motion, like I can't sit still, but in a bad way, cause then I feel all anxious.
There are times when I am really hot, but sometimes, my feet are FREEZING.
Maybe this is all in my head, or just plain anxiety. I am 45 (well, in 2 weeks)
could this all be the start of menopause????
I hope the blood draw wasn't horrible for you. I'm glad you bit the bullet and did it!
I don't see much amiss with your labs and would have a hard time saying you have thyroid disease, let alone hyperT per se. The free Ts are a very accurate way of determining if you have the right amount of circulating thyroid hormone. You would have a very hard time getting a mainstream MD to do more thyroid tests. It would just cost you more money you may not have, and my best guess is they wouldn't look abnormal, either.
IMO, you should pursue other causes for your symptoms. Anxiety seems very possible; it can cause all of those problems and more.
Whatever it is, I hope you get some relief very soon.
I know how hard this was for you and I commend you on getting this much done. I really would recommend you try to steel yourself a little more and at least get your Vitamin D, B12, and ferritin tested though. A lot of these symptoms could be related to vitamin deficiencies. Your Free T3 levels aren't optimal and if you want to pursue that angle you might try to find a naturopath doc to see if he/she will treat.
How long have you had your symptoms? I am questioning whether you are having a thyroiditis. I went through the same thing...was sure I was hyper. It was BAD.....was told 8 months after the fact that it was probably a thyroiditis.
I have been feeling this way for about 6-7 weeks. This morning I feel really jittery, like I am shaking on the inside and can't stop. I woke up every hour last night, but I can't go back to sleep. My heart rate is about 100. I feel hot, but my temp is normal.
Could I be having a thyroitis attack even though my TSH, Free T3 and FreeT4 were all normal?
Thanks for the advise
I think you probably need to have at the very least a manual examination of your thyroid. The MD should be able to tell if it is inflamed, enlarged, has nodules, etc. When I was experiencing my symptoms, I was put in touch with someone who had the same symptoms as mine and yours. She had all kinds of thyroid tests done, all came back within normal limits except for the antibodies. She was also found to have several nodules on her thyroid. Believe me, I totally understand where you are coming from with your phobia but you don't want to be feeling like this forever. Find either an endocrinologist, D.O., or perhaps others can chime in as far as what type of physician to see. Something tells me you have something going on with the actual structure of your thyroid gland.
Sparkie,
thanks for getting back to me. I know I need to see someone. I did find on another forum that their is a belief that you can have symptoms if you test positive for antibodies, and have otherwise normal levels, so maybe I am not crazy.
I'm just scared out of my mind, mostly I guess that it's something even more serious. I don't know why I am this way, have been my whole life. I so want to be like a normal person, and just go to the dr. when I don't feel good, but this absolute fear inside me just stops me in my tracks.
thanks for listening.
Given your phobia issue I would suggest you look into treatment for that as well. There are some excellent courses of treatment by experienced mental health people to work on overcoming phobias. This is seriously impacting your life and health and I would give it a major priority to get treated if at all possible.
