Re: If your thyroid is in the normal range has anyone still felt non-energetic and un
"In the normal range" isn't good enough if it's not YOUR normal. Many doctors fail to realize this, unfortunately.
Yet, I have read several books (all written by endos) and they "get it"....and these doctors adjust meds with the goal of complete thyroid symptom elimination.
I'm not sure if you're in the habit of looking at your labs but, if you do, you might want to look at them more closely.
Hopefully, your doctor is running the FreeT4 and FreeT3 thyroid hormone levels....if he/she is only running TSH (pituitary hormone), that alone is a problem.
Now, most of us feel/function best with FreeT4/FreeT3 towards the high end of the range and definitely not below mid-range.
How do yours look?
__________________
Dx'd Graves' June 2007..used ATD's, achieved remission Nov '09....went hypo Mar '10
Re: If your thyroid is in the normal range has anyone still felt non-energetic and un
I was diagnosed yesterday with thyroids, on not knowing much about this I had to look it up. I have the underactive one. The doc put me on Levothyroxine and said to go back in 6wks for another blood test.
Re: If your thyroid is in the normal range has anyone still felt non-energetic and un
he started me on 25mcg a day, dunno if thats cos of my blood pressure meds that I have to take as well or what, I read about this T4 and T3, how would I know if I am on this or not? Or is this a separate thing to the tabs which are levothroxine, bare with me as said, I only started this yesterday and knew nothing about this illness only what I read tonight on line and on this site. so its all new to me.
Re: If your thyroid is in the normal range has anyone still felt non-energetic and un
levothyroxine is a synthetic T4 med.....most people start out on this.
T4 is our storage hormone and our body converts it to T3, the active hormone - the one we feel.
Sometimes, people develop conversion problems (most often if they don't have a thyroid or they have Hashimoto's which is autoimmune hypothyroidism and eventually results in thyroid destruction)
Anyhooo, your labs would tell you if you had a conversion problem and would then benefit from a T3 med.
Right now, you'll just want to take the levo to get your T4 level up....good chance your T3 level will follow suit.
I highly recommended the following books for the newly-diagnosed:
"Thyroid for Dummies" by endo Dr. Alan Rubin
"The Thyroid Solution" by endo Dr. Ridha Arem
"What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Hypothyroidism" by endo Dr. Ken Blanchard
Best of luck moving forward - you came to the right place for guidance.
__________________
Dx'd Graves' June 2007..used ATD's, achieved remission Nov '09....went hypo Mar '10
The Following User Says Thank You to cd37 For This Useful Post: LadyWriter1968 (02-11-2011)
Re: If your thyroid is in the normal range has anyone still felt non-energetic and un
thanks for your info, I was only told other day about my thyroid, I was quite upset to be honest about it, having hypertension as well for a few years, but I guess I will have to learn to just live with it and get on with it.
Re: If your thyroid is in the normal range has anyone still felt non-energetic and un
Many people are hypothyroid for a long while before being diagnosed....sometimes, they develop other health issues during this time.
Hypothyroidism can cause hypertension.....you just might be pleasantly surprised to see an improvement in your hypertension once your hypothyroidism is adequately treated.
It would be to your benefit to learn as much as possible about hypothyroidism so you can work with your doctor to maximize your health. Many doctors are all-too-happy to get your levels in the "normal" range rather than work to help you establish YOUR normal within the ranges of normal.
An educated patient can result in a healthier patient (and, sometimes, be challenging to a less-knowledgeable doctor - lol)
__________________
Dx'd Graves' June 2007..used ATD's, achieved remission Nov '09....went hypo Mar '10
The Following User Says Thank You to cd37 For This Useful Post: LadyWriter1968 (02-11-2011)
Re: If your thyroid is in the normal range has anyone still felt non-energetic and un
Quote:
Originally Posted by cd37
Many people are hypothyroid for a long while before being diagnosed....sometimes, they develop other health issues during this time.
Hypothyroidism can cause hypertension.....you just might be pleasantly surprised to see an improvement in your hypertension once your hypothyroidism is adequately treated.
It would be to your benefit to learn as much as possible about hypothyroidism so you can work with your doctor to maximize your health. Many doctors are all-too-happy to get your levels in the "normal" range rather than work to help you establish YOUR normal within the ranges of normal.
An educated patient can result in a healthier patient (and, sometimes, be challenging to a less-knowledgeable doctor - lol)
I was diagnosed with hypertension age 35 and put on tabs, but was only diagnosed with thyroid the other day, I am now 42. I was having blood test every year and also on thyroid every year and was fine until this year.
Last edited by LadyWriter1968; 02-10-2011 at 06:54 AM.
Re: If your thyroid is in the normal range has anyone still felt non-energetic and un
Quote:
Originally Posted by LadyWriter1968
I was diagnosed with hypertension age 35 and put on tabs, but was only diagnosed with thyroid the other day, I am now 42. I was having blood test every year and also on thyroid every year and was fine until this year.
Hate to tell you this but, if your doctor was only running TSH to test your thyroid, the TSH is the last to reflect hypothyroidism.
And, even if your doctor was running the "right" labs (FT4, FT3 and TSH), he/she might not have recognized hypothyroidism as soon as it was truly evident.
For example, when I saw my GP in September '09 for my annual physical, I knew I was hypo. But, all of my thyroid levels were in-range....he couldn't understand my symptoms because my levels were "normal". (my levels weren't MY normal - my FT4/FT3 were lower in the range and I had hypo symptoms)
My new doctor (as of Nov. '09) recognized my symptoms as hypo and Rx'd the levothyroxine I desperately needed (and ultimately added Cytomel most recently when the need for that became evident).
This is why I say we need to be proactive with our care. But, if you didn't even know this stuff about hypothyroidism, it makes sense you wouldn't even know to start looking. Unfortunately, that's the way many "health-things" go.
I learned the hard way that thyroid function is grossly misunderstood by a large percentage of the medical profession.
__________________
Dx'd Graves' June 2007..used ATD's, achieved remission Nov '09....went hypo Mar '10
Last edited by cd37; 02-10-2011 at 07:00 AM.
Reason: typos
The Following User Says Thank You to cd37 For This Useful Post: LadyWriter1968 (02-11-2011)
Re: If your thyroid is in the normal range has anyone still felt non-energetic and un
thanks so much for the help here,
before I was diagnosed with this, I new nothing about it, until the other day, I didn't even know where the thyroid was in the body, only when I looked it up one day out of curiosity before I knew I had it myself, cos if you don't have a condition you tend not to read about it, unless you have an interest in this stuff or want to become a doctor or nurse profession, otherwise we would all be medical geniuses and know about everything and not need the doctor.LOL.
I did not even know what TSH levels meant but just starting to learn now and finding it a lot to take in, T3 and T4 trying to take all them in to, its like learning a new language. So what you are saying is, that I could have had this condition for years and it was not seen by the doctors previously
Last edited by LadyWriter1968; 02-10-2011 at 07:26 AM.
Re: If your thyroid is in the normal range has anyone still felt non-energetic and un
Quote:
Originally Posted by LadyWriter1968
thanks so much for the help here,
before I was diagnosed with this, I new nothing about it, until the other day, I didn't even know where the thyroid was in the body, only when I looked it up one day out of curiosity before I knew I had it myself, cos if you don't have a condition you tend not to read about it, unless you have an interest in this stuff or want to become a doctor or nurse profession, otherwise we would all be medical geniuses and know about everything and not need the doctor.LOL.
I did not even know what TSH levels meant but just starting to learn now and finding it a lot to take in, T3 and T4 trying to take all them in to, its like learning a new language. So what you are saying is, that I could have had this condition for years and it was not seen by the doctors previously
I had "heard" of the thyroid before but, like you, knew nothing about it. And, I had NO idea of the "whole-body effect" the thyroid has. It is truly the master regulator of the body and an "out-of-whack" thyroid can bring on a myriad of symptoms.
Unfortunately, for many people, they get shuffled from doctor to doctor when they present with symptoms that wind up being unrecognized thyroid symptoms. Many doctors do not think to check the thyroid and, those that do often misinterpret the results. Some people have been treated for diseases they didn't really have as a result of this. Sadly, I've read countless stories on this forum and many others that tell this same story.
So, yes, there is a possibility you have had this condition for years....looking at your prior thyroid lab results would give some indication along these lines.
As far as I'm concerned, the past is the past - the most important thing moving forward is to understand thyroid function and work to find YOUR normal FT4/FT3 levels within the ranges of normal. When you achieve this, you should be without symptoms.
Those books I recommended will help a lot.....so will keeping records of labs/meds doses/symptoms....and asking lots of questions here.
__________________
Dx'd Graves' June 2007..used ATD's, achieved remission Nov '09....went hypo Mar '10
The Following User Says Thank You to cd37 For This Useful Post: LadyWriter1968 (02-11-2011)
Re: If your thyroid is in the normal range has anyone still felt non-energetic and un
funny you say that I just thought, We have 3 doctors at our surgery, one of them I dont like, dont think he very good, my husband dont like him either nor my sister in law, cos her mums legs were swollen and he did nothing to help her. Last year I had my routine blood test for hypertension and saw the doctor I dont like, he said all was fine, but then I was still battling to lose weight, gaining which was strange. Then this year I saw the other doctor instead and he is the one who picked it up. So now I think the other doctor either could not be bothered or missed it.
Re: If your thyroid is in the normal range has anyone still felt non-energetic and un
Quote:
Originally Posted by LadyWriter1968
funny you say that I just thought, We have 3 doctors at our surgery, one of them I dont like, dont think he very good, my husband dont like him either nor my sister in law, cos her mums legs were swollen and he did nothing to help her. Last year I had my routine blood test for hypertension and saw the doctor I dont like, he said all was fine, but then I was still battling to lose weight, gaining which was strange. Then this year I saw the other doctor instead and he is the one who picked it up. So now I think the other doctor either could not be bothered or missed it.
I like to go with the "missed it" concept because I do believe most doctors care (as in my GP) and just aren't "with it" in regards to thyroid function.
Hmmm...strange weight gain/inability to lose weight is a hypo symptom. If you Google hypothyroidism symptoms, you'd be amazed at the number of symptoms on the various "lists" - I've counted more than 60!!! (this all goes along with the "whole-body effect" of the thyroid)
__________________
Dx'd Graves' June 2007..used ATD's, achieved remission Nov '09....went hypo Mar '10
Re: If your thyroid is in the normal range has anyone still felt non-energetic and un
Have you had a full panel of bloodwork done? Perhaps there is something else going on. For instance, anemia can cause fatigue. Several years ago, I had a bad case of anemia and was extremely exhausted.
Last edited by Administrator; 07-30-2012 at 07:39 PM.
Re: If your thyroid is in the normal range has anyone still felt non-energetic and un
Most definitely, a full panel of blood work benefits everyone. I will say this much, though, anemia can develop as a result of having thyroid hormone levels that are too low for the body's needs....yes, those levels might be in the normal range but, if they are not YOUR normal, you can have problems.
__________________
Dx'd Graves' June 2007..used ATD's, achieved remission Nov '09....went hypo Mar '10
Re: If your thyroid is in the normal range has anyone still felt non-energetic and un
I dont know about if I had the full blood work done or not,
what is that exactly? and if I wanted this what do I ask the doctor for exactly? I am not up on all this stuff to be honest. I have been checked for the hypertension stuff, you know, kidneys and liver functions to do with my hypertension and the thyroid and sugar levels, glucose, cos when he ticked boxes on the blood sheet I looked them all up to see what they were, cause you know those boxes are all these strange numbers and unless you look them up you dont know what they mean anyway.
Last edited by LadyWriter1968; 02-11-2011 at 05:34 AM.
Re: If your thyroid is in the normal range has anyone still felt non-energetic and un
It seems to me that if we dont know ourselves then the doctors dont bother. The docs should really be telling me all this stuff. I didnt even know that thyroids caused anaemia until you just told me on here. I think docs should spend more time with their patients not just 2-5mins per person. I do get very tired but I put that down to going to bed to late to be honest and getting up early. I have been tested for anaemia in the past and it was fine. I didnt think you could take iron tabs with hypertension anyway
Re: If your thyroid is in the normal range has anyone still felt non-energetic and un
Quote:
Originally Posted by LadyWriter1968
I dont know about if I had the full blood work done or not,
what is that exactly? and if I wanted this what do I ask the doctor for exactly? I am not up on all this stuff to be honest. I have been checked for the hypertension stuff, you know, kidneys and liver functions to do with my hypertension and the thyroid and sugar levels, glucose, cos when he ticked boxes on the blood sheet I looked them all up to see what they were, cause you know those boxes are all these strange numbers and unless you look them up you dont know what they mean anyway.
The reference to full blood work basically covers all aspects of blood levels (white blood cell count, red blood cell count and a bunch of other stuff), glucose, sodium - usually there's a long list. It sounds like you are covered.
__________________
Dx'd Graves' June 2007..used ATD's, achieved remission Nov '09....went hypo Mar '10
Last edited by Administrator; 07-30-2012 at 07:40 PM.
The Following User Says Thank You to cd37 For This Useful Post: LadyWriter1968 (02-12-2011)
Re: If your thyroid is in the normal range has anyone still felt non-energetic and un
Quote:
Originally Posted by LadyWriter1968
It seems to me that if we dont know ourselves then the doctors dont bother. The docs should really be telling me all this stuff. I didnt even know that thyroids caused anaemia until you just told me on here. I think docs should spend more time with their patients not just 2-5mins per person. I do get very tired but I put that down to going to bed to late to be honest and getting up early. I have been tested for anaemia in the past and it was fine. I didnt think you could take iron tabs with hypertension anyway
I think doctors have a standard method of dealing with patients. My mother has several health issues and, while she keeps copies of all her medical records, she has no idea what tests were done for what....or what the results mean. And, she doesn't care. She just wants her doctor to take care of things for her. I suspect she's very typical.
Since the thyroid has a "whole-body" effect, it does make sense that an "out-of-whack" thyroid can cause issues in virtually every body system.
__________________
Dx'd Graves' June 2007..used ATD's, achieved remission Nov '09....went hypo Mar '10
Re: If your thyroid is in the normal range has anyone still felt non-energetic and un
I know what you mean about a standard thing, but not everyone has the internet to look up all this stuff do they? and if the doctor does not tell them or hasnt got the time, then the person does not know themselves whats going on with their own bodies. If a person is not interested really then its their choice. But doctors spend so little time now with each patient and it seems like a meat market really, next one in, next one out. If you dont ask you dont get. Years ago my old doc in the older days was very good, he would tell me everything. I have registered with various docs after he left his practise and none of them have ever been like him. When you go in now to see the doc they have to keep looking you up all the time on the computer to see who you are, rather then knowing you by face and saying Hi so and so come in. Its like they have so many patients now
