Hypothyroid

[hannahsue01]

I have most all of the sypmtoms of having hypothyroid and have for a number of years including the low temp. After being out and active my temp was at 98.1 at the doctors office....she said that is just normal for some people....she said my thyroid didn't seem to be inlarged and todays test is sensitive and didn't think I needed any further testing. I am always cold even in the summer and my teeth even chatter (litterly) at times when my husband is sitting there in shorts and no shirt! What do you guys think?

[2kids4me]

todays test is sensitive

Does this mean he has tested your TSH ?

There are other causes for feeling cold and tired. (low B12, hypothyroid, adrenal problems, reproductive hormone imbalance - "perimenopause")For myself, I am hypothryoid and on meds. I feel absolutely frozen during PMS time and walk around bundled up, then once hormones settle - I am fine, but then tired for a bit. I notice it most when I getting near the time for B 12 injections - I now do them very 2 weeks and that helped.

There is a normal range of temperature for humans and animals.

What the doctor is NOT hearing you say is - OK, so if 97 or 98 is the persons "normal temperature" then they would FEEL fine. The difference is you do NOT feel fine and have other symptoms [most all of the sypmtoms of having hypothyroid ] It sounds like he is not going to investigate your symptoms.

A lot of doctors put up mental barriers as soon as a patient suggests an illness they should check for - as in " I think I am hypothyroid"... then the doc lauches into an explantion of why that cant be..

I found the way around that frustration is to list the symptoms that are bothering me, and say:

I dont feel well, what possible causes are there for these symptoms? If they try and dismiss me, I insist: "Please just check of the common causes and then I will know what's behind my symptoms"

Second opinions are somtimes needed. The thyroid does not have to be swollen to be "sick", in fact it takes a skilled hand to feel the thyroid at all.

Sandy

[hannahsue01]

Does this mean he has tested your TSH ?

There are other causes for feeling cold and tired. (low B12, hypothyroid, adrenal problems, reproductive hormone imbalance - "perimenopause")For myself, I am hypothryoid and on meds. I feel absolutely frozen during PMS time and walk around bundled up, then once hormones settle - I am fine, but then tired for a bit. I notice it most when I getting near the time for B 12 injections - I now do them very 2 weeks and that helped.

There is a normal range of temperature for humans and animals.

What the doctor is NOT hearing you say is - OK, so if 97 or 98 is the persons "normal temperature" then they would FEEL fine. The difference is you do NOT feel fine and have other symptoms [most all of the sypmtoms of having hypothyroid ] It sounds like he is not going to investigate your symptoms.

A lot of doctors put up mental barriers as soon as a patient suggests an illness they should check for - as in " I think I am hypothyroid"... then the doc lauches into an explantion of why that cant be..

I found the way around that frustration is to list the symptoms that are bothering me, and say:

I dont feel well, what possible causes are there for these symptoms? If they try and dismiss me, I insist: "Please just check of the common causes and then I will know what's behind my symptoms"

Second opinions are somtimes needed. The thyroid does not have to be swollen to be "sick", in fact it takes a skilled hand to feel the thyroid at all.

Sandy

I did have the TSH tested and it was close to 2 but not quite. Thanks for your input.

[mamaw]

Doctors alway qoute what is the norm but there are some of us out living in this norm world that don't fit in the norm box.My most recent doctor said (I think) the level that is norm is 3 but for a person such as myself that 3.5 is norm for me. And after I got to there I felt like a new woman.......Not everyone fits in the majority that becomes the rule of thumb.I agree with the other poster , if you don't feel well further testing should be done...I have hardly ever fit in that norm bracket when it comes to my health.

Keep on him for more testing...

good luck

mamaw

[georgie]

TSH is a lousy test for Thyroid. You can have a normal TSH and still be Hypo. And the range has changed in the last few years anyway and many Drs and labs are not using the new range. Any TSH>2 is considered Hypo by astute Drs. The best tests for Thyroid are FREE T4, and FREE T3 ( which should both sit mid range or high range normal) and ANTIBODIES ( which work out if you have an Autoimmune disease.) If you have one autoimmune disease you are inclined to have others including Thyroid so your Dr should always test Antibodies.

And if you have Antibodies then the TSH test is useless as with autoimmune Thyroid your levels jump up and back all the time anyway. As the attack on your Thyroid happens - the levels change. These attacks can come every few weeks or months or years. So you may feel hyper one month and hypo the next etc. But all these attacks are killing off your Thyroid and unless that is stopped - will 'kill' it.

Bottom line is that blood tests don't tell the whole picture with Thyroid and that symptoms are probably more important. And if you take synthetic Thyroid hormones and still have symptoms ...then you are on the wrong type of meds and need to switch to a Dr that uses and understands Armour. stopthethyrodmadness has all that info and Thyroid yahoo groups.

Saliva testing for adrenal fatigue as Adrenal Fatigue happens a lot with Hypo Thyroid.

[CarlaB]

Since your middle of the day temp. is lowish, I'd bet anything the first thing in the morning temp. would be even lower!

I take my temp. every morning for natural family planning, and when I noticed they were low I bought a glandular thyroid at the health food store and the temps. came up to where they should be. Take your waking temp. before you get out of bed, and in the first two weeks of your cycle (after ovulation it will go up .4 of a degree).

Search for Dr. Broda Barnes and you will learn a lot. Dr. Barnes says the waking temp. should be 97.8, but in 7 years of teaching nfp, I found women weren't uncomfortable unless it's under 97.6. I definately feel better when my own is at least 97.6.

Taking your temp. regularly helps monitor it, too.

[Ksmith]

I take my temp. every morning for natural family planning, and when I noticed they were low I bought a glandular thyroid at the health food store and the temps. came up to where they should be. Take your waking temp. before you get out of bed, and in the first two weeks of your cycle (after ovulation it will go up .4 of a degree).

What kind of grandular thyroid med. did you buy? Thanks!

[dionnek]

From the research I've done (and I've done a lot - I had hypothyroid that switched to hyper when I went gluten-free and then back to hypo b/c I developed a goiter), you definitely need the T3 and T4 tested along with TSH - TSH alone, like the other poster said, just does not do any good. I'd find a new dr

[loraleena]

Georgie is right. TSH is useless. You have to get the Thyroid Peroxidase antibodies checked. This will show is you Have Hashimotos hypothyroidism. Get this along with the others she suggested. Your antibody levels should be below 20, though my docs believe they should be below 2. My antibodies were 799 and I had a normal TSH.

[Nancym]

Just an FYI. I went around chasing hypothyroid symptoms for a long time. Agitated to be put on Armour thyroid, etc, etc. It didn't really help me out. It made me feel tired and wired. I still couldn't lose weight. What finally resolved the symptoms for me was getting off gluten and dairy and taking lots of vitamins that I suspected were low: B-12, B-complex, Vitamin D being the major ones, really fixing up the diet and getting some vigorous exercise on occassion. My brain is back online, I'm not cold all the time and I don't feel tired and sleepy all the time.

I think the majority of improvement came from getting rid of grains/dairy from the diet but my most recent discovery is that I must have vigorous exercise every couple days (doesn't have to be a lot, 15-20 minutes seems to do the trick) or I turn into a human shaped slug; I feel tired (sleepy) and unwilling to do anything.

Sometimes its just easier to take a pill and hope it fixes things, but in my case it didn't work.

Oh yes, I also think that drinking Kefir (I make it myself) may be helping too. It is making the bacteria in my intestines be the right sort.

[2kids4me]

Any thyroid test on its own is useless.

TSH

Free T4

T3

thyroid binding globulin (TBG).

Thyroid Peroxidase antibodies

Interpretations of the TSH level depends upon the level of thyroid hormone; therefore, the TSH is usually used in combination with other thyroid tests such as the T4 RIA and T3 RIA.

RIA = radioimmunoassay

The finding of a high level of thyroid antibodies is strong evidence of Hashimotos. Occasionally, low levels of thyroid antibodies are found with other types of thyroid disease. When Hashimoto's thyroiditis presents as a thyroid nodule rather than a diffuse goiter, the thyroid antibodies may not be present.

For many tests, there is no single reference range that applies to everyone because the tests performed may be affected by the age and sex of the patient, as well as many other considerations.

Thyroid function varies through the day as well - for my daughter (hypothyroid since age 4 (TSH was 986 and T4 was 5.2).. we have always tested at the same lab and approximately 11 - 11:30 a.m. 2 hours after a meal and 4 hours after her meds.

Ask some more questions of your doctor and question what time of day will yield the most accurate information re: thyroid function.

Good Luck, its yucky when you feel cold and blah and tired.

Sandy

[georgie]

Georgie is right. TSH is useless. You have to get the Thyroid Peroxidase antibodies checked. This will show is you Have Hashimotos hypothyroidism. Get this along with the others she suggested. Your antibody levels should be below 20, though my docs believe they should be below 2. My antibodies were 799 and I had a normal TSH.

My TSH was 1.1 and Drs kept saying it was normal. My Goitre grew so rapidly that I couldn't swallow food so I knew there was something wrong and refused to listen to those Drs and kept searching. That's when I found STTM and found that my Drs - by just testing my TSH alone - had robbed me of 30 years of healthy life. I don't look back as its too upsetting.

When my new Dr finally tested me - my Goitre was FULL of nodules, and Antibodies were 35. I was late stage Hashimotos. The Antibody # doesn't reflect a lot but just tells you - you have Hashis.You have an Autoimmune diseased Thyroid.

Any thyroid test on its own is useless.

TSH

Free T4

T3

thyroid binding globulin (TBG).

Thyroid Peroxidase antibodies

Make sure its FREE T3 as well.

Sometimes its just easier to take a pill and hope it fixes things, but in my case it didn't work

You should only take Armour Thyroid if you need it - and have a Dr that understands how to titrate the dose

and test for adrenal fatigue.Used incorrectly it could be dangerous - as many meds are.

This is a good site. Sounds like lots of HypoThyroids are still not getting diagnosed.

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