Thyroid numbers .. what do you think?

[GCC]

Sherri, did you get my message?
I am not familiar with these boards & hope I sent it correctly.

[Lyndyn]

Originally Posted by michelle23464

Ok.. got my thyroid checked because of serve dry skin.

My TSH is 3.86
My T4 is 1.1

Doctor said that all is normal.

Michelle,

Based on my personal experience (and a whole lot of research,) I would say that it is unlikely that your thyroid is "normal." At its highest, my TSH was only 3.56, but I had raging hypo symptoms. Nevertheless, 3 different endos dismissed me over about 10 years - and I kept getting worse and worse. I finally had ballooned to over 300 lbs. The worst part, though was that I felt like I was developing some sort of early onset Alzheimer's!

Finally, I got mad - and started to do my own research. I discovered, as you have, that many doctors and labs are still using the old "normal" range for TSH. I went to a website created by Mary Shomon - if you google her - you will find it, if you haven't already. On this site, was a lot of information as well as a source for doctors who were thyroid savvy.

I found a doctor through this site who gave me all the usual range of Thyroid tests that I had had a dozen times before - but this time, she added a test for thyroid antibodies.

When she called to tell me that I had the antibodies - which means that I have Hashimoto's thyroiditis - I whooped! I was so happy! She was surprised at my response to say the least and I explained that she was the first person who hadn't told me to go away, eat right, exercise, and maybe get my stomach bypassed!

That was two years ago. We are still working on getting my TSH down under 1, but I feel a MILLION times better and have lost a lot of weight. I started out as a size 30/32 and am now down to an 18/20 and still working on it.

The weightloss is what other people see and tend to focus on, but, honestly - it was the least of it. The cognitive problems, the joint pain - all of that was the worst part. Not to mention the low level depression that I didn't even know I had till it lifted after being on the thyroid meds for about 8 days. It was like someone had turned on the lights!

GOOD LUCK to you. Don't give up till you find someone that can make you feel better. I wish that I had not meekly gone away feeling like a loser after all those other doctors patted me on the head and sent me away telling me that I was "fine." I feel like I was in a waking coma for most of the last decade.

Do not give up. Get copies of your test results. Make sure that you get an antibodies test. Hashi's sounds like it must be some rare exotic disease, but it is actually a very common cause of hypothyroidism in the US.

Best of luck!

PS: I was also diagnosed with Insulin resistance and PCOS and given metformin for this. Atkins is perfect for this.