# Help Please



## mitziannt (Mar 28, 2010)

Trip to ER in the last week with palps and extreme anxiety. Also had bout of high blood pressure. Felt like I had way too much adrenaline in my body.

Have Hashimoto's with elevated tpo and thyroglobulin but also high TSI 140. Is there any way to treat this before having sucker either zapped or surgically removed.

At ER TSH 2.73 Free t4 .73 low Free t3 3.2 blood sugar elevated
slight fever and trouble urinating (urine clear) also slight diarrhea and I am always constipated

two days laters at PCP office TSH 1.2 Free t4 1.48 didn't do free 
t3

Seems like it is jumping around a lot to me I am so tired of this.

Panic, anxiety, insomnia, joint and muscle pain, low vitamin d, hair falling out, and I feel 100 years old. Too many symptoms to list them all.

Have ENT that says he will remove it if I want him to. ??? Scared to and scared not to. Just wondering if any way to treat this thing. Do I have Graves. On no meds now except inderal and xanax. Would meds help with nodules and swelling, or make anxiety worse.

sick and tired and have to work


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## chopper (Mar 4, 2007)

Im wondering how long you've had this anxiety and have you ever had problems before?

Your numbers are somewhat similar to mine except my TSH is higher. I almost always have low Free T4, perfectly normal Free T3 and a TSH that goes between 6 and 20. I also have high TSI (175) AND TG antibodies AND TPO antibodies. I too went to the ER about 6 or 7 years ago for what I thought was a heart attack but it was just anxiety or a "thyroid dumping" episode. My Free T3 was a little on the high side at the time.

Fast forward 7 or 8 years of hell and Im just about ready to finally get rid of my thyroid once and for all. I've had way too many problems.

Sounds like it's the start of something for you - either Graves, Hashitoxicosis or a bad case of Hashimotos. Not fun.

If I had to do it all over again I would get back the 8 years I wasted and just remove my thyroid but that's a personal decision. You have to weigh all the options.

Welcome to the boards by the way!


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## mitziannt (Mar 28, 2010)

Mine been going on of and on for about 20 years with a case of Postpartum thyroiditis (that is when anxiety started). Fast forward 10 years bad case of mono and subacute thyroiditis and now about 4 years ago nodules discoverd and high antibodies, with TSI. I too am seriously considering surgery. I will ask for another ultrasound to evaluate nodules. This last episode real bad.
Thanks for the reply.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

mitziannt said:


> Trip to ER in the last week with palps and extreme anxiety. Also had bout of high blood pressure. Felt like I had way too much adrenaline in my body.
> 
> Have Hashimoto's with elevated tpo and thyroglobulin but also high TSI 140. Is there any way to treat this before having sucker either zapped or surgically removed.
> 
> ...


Welcome and I am sorry you are so ill. How do you know you have Hashimoto's? Have you ever had FNA (fine needle aspiration) of a thyroid nodule? Have you ever had a radioactive uptake scan?

Is there any way you can get the ranges to go with your lab results? Different labs use different ranges. When it comes to your health, I prefer to not guess and I know you would prefer that also.

TSI (thyroid stimulating immunoglobulin) is only present when the patient is hyperthyroid. So,we know you are hyperthyroid. However, the criteria for Graves' as per Dr. Robert Graves' is 3 out of the following 4 clinical presentations..........

Exophthalmos, goiter, pretibial myxedema and thryotoxicosis.


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## mitziannt (Mar 28, 2010)

The only thing I was told was that Free t4 was low, which does not make much sense since Free t3 was normal (higher that it has been for a long time) usually low with high free t4. I have had a rough few years and just want my life back. High normal for TSH was 4.7 something and Free t4 .78.

Endo told me I had Hashi's but I have always seemed more hyper even with TSH at 2.7 and look hypo. Short and fat. Ha


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## mitziannt (Mar 28, 2010)

I had RAI done twice, with subacute - absolutely no uptake and about a year ago 6hr was 8.7%. Report said slightly low uptake. I am just a mess - from one to another. I was on cytomel for a while and I could tell very little if any difference, may have felt worse.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

mitziannt said:


> The only thing I was told was that Free t4 was low, which does not make much sense since Free t3 was normal (higher that it has been for a long time) usually low with high free t4. I have had a rough few years and just want my life back. High normal for TSH was 4.7 something and Free t4 .78.
> 
> Endo told me I had Hashi's but I have always seemed more hyper even with TSH at 2.7 and look hypo. Short and fat. Ha


Not all symptoms hold true and many of us have gained weight while hyperthyroid, myself included.

FT4 converts to FT3 so it does make sense. You are in hyperthyroid state and the conversion process is too fast for the pituitary to keep on sending signals to the thyroid for more TSH. That is why the TSH does not necessarily reflect what is going on. It is in normal range because it is very confused right now.

So, you had radioactive iodine (RAI) treatments twice to zap out your thyroid? And then you had the RAIU (radioactive iodine uptake) and there was uptake which is evidence of thyroid tissue remaining?

Just want to be sure I have the facts straight here.


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## mitziannt (Mar 28, 2010)

No I am sorry for confusion. I have had TSI antibodies for about, well for many years in the 100 level, then to 140. Thyroid never been ablated. RAI was diagnostic only. Done 2X once in 2004, slightly elevated and again last year with uptake at 8.7% at 6 hours. I have always had anxiety, panic, insomnia, and more hyper than hypo symptoms except weight. Palpatations is what sent me to ER with fever and urinary retention. Free t4 low and free t3 normal at 3.2. Still did not sleep for 5 days after and TSH came down quickly like in 3 days to 1.2 from 2.7. Although both of these normal. Lots of anxiety with last episode, nothing would touch it. Given beta blockers at ER, and it did slow heart rate. Meter at home blew out 3 times and would not measure, just said error. Heart beat so irregular. When symptoms finally stopped it was like - wham - and I slept for 12 hours. This was 5 days later.

I do have 2 solid nodules and some smaller cyst type. Thyroid enlarged slightly and can be painful at times. Diagnosed sub clinical hyper in 2001 that turned out to be subacute. Thyroid been playing all kinds of games since then, especially after case of mono. Every time I have a virus it goes crazy.

Thanks


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

mitziannt said:


> No I am sorry for confusion. I have had TSI antibodies for about, well for many years in the 100 level, then to 140. Thyroid never been ablated. RAI was diagnostic only. Done 2X once in 2004, slightly elevated and again last year with uptake at 8.7% at 6 hours. I have always had anxiety, panic, insomnia, and more hyper than hypo symptoms except weight. Palpatations is what sent me to ER with fever and urinary retention. Free t4 low and free t3 normal at 3.2. Still did not sleep for 5 days after and TSH came down quickly like in 3 days to 1.2 from 2.7. Although both of these normal. Lots of anxiety with last episode, nothing would touch it. Given beta blockers at ER, and it did slow heart rate. Meter at home blew out 3 times and would not measure, just said error. Heart beat so irregular. When symptoms finally stopped it was like - wham - and I slept for 12 hours. This was 5 days later.
> 
> I do have 2 solid nodules and some smaller cyst type. Thyroid enlarged slightly and can be painful at times. Diagnosed sub clinical hyper in 2001 that turned out to be subacute. Thyroid been playing all kinds of games since then, especially after case of mono. Every time I have a virus it goes crazy.
> 
> Thanks


Okay, you had RAIU, which is radioactive uptake. RAI is where they zap your thyroid.

Here is what I think; solid nodules can be cancerous and often times, thyroid cancer can be associated with hyperthyoid. You do have hyperthyroid as evidenced by the presence of TSI (thyroid stimulating immunoglobulin) so I seriously believe that you should have FNA (fine needle aspiration) of those solid nodules. I "really" do.

Here is info............

Partially fluid-filled and solid nodules have a higher chance of being cancerous. But the vast majority of nodules are not cancerous. Blood tests are performed to determine whether hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism is present, but usually the person has normal thyroid function.
http://www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual_ha/sec3/ch33/ch33d.html

And here is another really good source of info........
http://www.aafp.org/afp/2003/0201/p559.html


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## mitziannt (Mar 28, 2010)

Thanks I will push for this. I have an appointment with ENT on April 9 and will discuss it then. The nodules are hypoechoic and ill defined which is a red flag to me. I have been told "you don't have cancer", but they really can't be sure unless biopsy done if I am correct on this.

Thanks for you information. I too have wondered about this.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

mitziannt said:


> Thanks I will push for this. I have an appointment with ENT on April 9 and will discuss it then. The nodules are hypoechoic and ill defined which is a red flag to me. I have been told "you don't have cancer", but they really can't be sure unless biopsy done if I am correct on this.
> 
> Thanks for you information. I too have wondered about this.


You are 100% correct and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

We will help you push.


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