# Normal Lab Results But I Feel Horrible



## Mariyan (Oct 3, 2017)

Hi.

I've been feeling like there's something seriously wrong inside my body for years now. I've been suspecting it might be because of thyroid problems because my mom, an aunt, and an uncle all had thyroid issues, so I guess there's a good chance that I might end up having some too. I had a TSH + T3 + T4 and Anti-TPO test to see if there's any problem that I should be worried about and the following results came back:

Free T3 - 5.8 (Reference Range: 3.1 - 6.8)

Free T4 - 21.3 (Reference Range: 12.0 - 22.0)

TSH - 0.890 (Reference Range: 0.270 - 4.200

Anti TPO Test

6.55 (Reference Range: 0-34)

The numbers are all within the normal range, so I guess my body's supposed to be normal, but it's odd how I feel so awful most of the time.

To illustrate, I experience / exhibit the following symptoms on an almost daily basis (literally).


cold sweat (especially on the hands and feet)
weakness (to the point that my leggs feel like they will give way at any time. Sometimes when I'm sitting and I relax my posture, I will fall sideways or backward)
cold sensitivity (I feel chilly at around 22 degrees Celsius and start shivering at around 16 degrees)
rapid heartbeat, shallow breathing (I often find myself gasping for air)
heat intolerance (I get micro-blackouts if I walked under the heat of the sun without any protection for 15 minutes or more)
micro blackouts when I suddenly get up or had to do a lot of turning around (like when I'm multitasking).
lightheadedness (like I'm about to pass out anytime soon).
pins and needles (I will feel this all over my body, not just my limbs)
brain fog (this is my main issue. sometimes, it gets so severe that I cannot absorb or remember a lot of information that I normally can).
fatigue (I'm chronically fatigued. I always run out of energy faster than almost all of the people I know on a regular basis, but during my worse episodes, I will feel tired enough that talking at a regular speed alone will leave me gasping for air and my speech will naturally slow down)
sluggish (I often find myself dragging my feet around even when I don't intend to do so).
vomiting (I vomit when I go for hours without having a meal, so this happens practically every morning and sometimes when I forgot to eat my lunch. I usually vomit pure saliva, but I occasionally throw up bile).

I usually experience all of the above one after the other whenever I haven't had any heavy meal in 3 or four hours -- at least that was the case years ago. Lately, it will happen when I haven't had any in 2 hours. Occasionally, it will happen 30 minutes after having a heavy meal. I can often remedy it by loading up on carbs (usually rice) and the problem will usually go away 30 -60 minutes after consumption; however, lately, it feels like it takes my body forever to detect the introduction of food because it now takes my body 3-4 hours to go back to normal after an episode.

Aside from the abovementioned symptoms I also have / experience the following:


Low blood pressure (my average BP is 90/70. When I haven't had much sleep, it can go down to 70/40)
I'm constantly anemic (My lips and the area covered by my lower eyelid are often pretty pale).
Hair fall (My hair is constantly falling and I get clumps of them when I brush my hair). My hair is also pretty dry and coarse.
Thinning of the outer edge of the eyebrows
Regularly constipated.
Dry skin
Cystic acne
Keratosis Pilaris (chicken skin)
Aquagenic urticaria (I break out in hives when I come into contact with water. I had it for years until it eventually went away on its own)
Random muscle twitches (not severe, but it happens every now and then)
Endometriosis
Abnormal menstrual cycles (sometimes they're short, sometimes they're long, sometimes I will have my period twice in a month, sometimes it will skip 1 month)
Terribly sleepy and for the most part of the day, especially in the afternoon, but will be surprisingly alert and energetic as soon as midnight approaches. 
Insomnia (when I have another bout, I don't feel sleepy until 7 AM. Sometimes, I can go 36 -40 hours without any sleep though it's sometimes supported by coffee when I need to work).
Irritability (I've never been the calmest person, but I've never been this easily irritated ten years ago. It's like the smallest things upset me, and once it did, I feel like my adrenaline will shoot through the roof and it will stay stuck for 2-4 hours. While this is going on, I will be extremely agitated and hyperactive. It feels very much like a flight or fight reaction (I've experienced it before), but it doesn't feel normal at all because they used to happen only when I was in a potentially life-threatening situation, but lately, it feels like it becomes triggered by the smallest things. After the episode has passed, I will feel extremely drained like I just ran up and down a flight of stairs several times.)
Depression (It's a long and complicated story, but in essence, I will have sometimes depressive episodes for three days, sometimes they go on for months).
Weak immune system. I immediately (literally) become infected when I get exposed to people with flu. It's also easy for me to come down with a fever, and lately, I've been noticing that this happens when I'm going through a stressful period or after I I did a lot of walking and running around. I find this weird because while I've always had a relatively poor immune system, my fevers when I was a child were almost always due to colds, never as a result of physical or mental exhaustion).
Sharp, stabbing chest pains (sometimes happen when I breathe. They usually last for 2-3 seconds. During that time, any attempt to breathe will increase the pain so I just end up holding my breath until the episode passes).
Heartburn
Loss of appetite (I used to have a really big appetite, but lately I mostly have to convince myself to eat because I don't feel inclined to eat at all. I occasionally get food cravings -- usually around midnight -- but that's mostly it.
Excessive sweating
Hand tremors (not particularly bad, but I can see the spoon shaking when I hold it.
Thin skin (My skin breaks at the slightest friction or bump).
Vertigo

I realize that the list has an awful lot of items (sorry about that), but I wanted to show why it makes me wonder why my lab results are coming back normal when my body is obviously not functioning the way it's supposed to. I am not doubting the accuracy of the lab tests, but I was wondering if there could be another thing that's been causing all these symptoms that I need to look into (aside from thyroid issues). I stumbled upon an article about adrenal fatigue while researching about hypo and hyperthyroidism and a lot of my symptoms are also listed in there, but I would like to get some input from people who might have been diagnosed with it before I jump into any conclusions.

Tips and advice will be much appreciated.

Additional info: 
Asian, Female, Early 30's. Almost all of my symptoms didn't begin showing up until I was in my early to mid-twenties.


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## creepingdeath (Apr 6, 2014)

ANXIETY .....................................


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

How long ago were those labs done? Honestly, they don't look really bad at all to me so I would think thyroid issues wouldn't be the cause. However, had you ever had a TSI or Trab test to complete your thyroid antibody panel? Have you ever had a Vitamin D or B12 test or a saliva cortisol test? A lot of things can mimic thyroid symptoms so there are more things to look into.


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

> Free T3 - 5.8 (Reference Range: 3.1 - 6.8)
> 
> Free T4 - 21.3 (Reference Range: 12.0 - 22.0)


Your labs are above 3/4 of the ranges. If my labs were this high I would feel a bit hyper.

Have you ever had a TSI test?

What medications supplements do you take?


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## Mariyan (Oct 3, 2017)

jenny v said:


> How long ago were those labs done? Honestly, they don't look really bad at all to me so I would think thyroid issues wouldn't be the cause. However, had you ever had a TSI or Trab test to complete your thyroid antibody panel? Have you ever had a Vitamin D or B12 test or a saliva cortisol test? A lot of things can mimic thyroid symptoms so there are more things to look into.


Thank you for taking the time to respond!

The T3+T4+TSH Test was done about three months ago. The Anti TPO test was done 3 days ago.

No, I haven't. This is my first time hearing of a TSI or a Trab test so I will try to look into it. Is a cortisol test different from a B12 test? I haven't had any of those 3 either. This is also my first time hearing about them. I was reading about cortisol awhile ago because I feel like my stress response is out of whack, but I wasn't sure what tests to get.

Is there a lab test that will offer me as much insight as what's going on inside my body as possible? Lab tests can get expensive here, so I was wondering if there are tests that come in packages like the way they do in a Complete Blood Count, for example?


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## Mariyan (Oct 3, 2017)

Lovlkn said:


> Your labs are above 3/4 of the ranges. If my labs were this high I would feel a bit hyper.
> 
> Have you ever had a TSI test?
> 
> What medications supplements do you take?


Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Nope, I haven't. This is my first time hearing about them. 
I've only taken Iron supplements on its own, and I only took them when I was feeling particularly anemic because they make me constipated. I'm currently not taking them. I also took some multivitamins that I think was supposed to contain iron, Vitamin C, and Zinc (I can't remember for sure), but I stopped taking them after about 2 weeks because they left me weak and sluggish to the point that I would feel feverish.


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## Mariyan (Oct 3, 2017)

creepingdeath said:


> ANXIETY .....................................


Thanks for taking the time to respond. It's probably part of it, but I was wondering what could be causing it.


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

Regarding your comment about tests being expensive - Where are you located?

In the USA , you can order the tests online.


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

You can also order the cortisol saliva tests yourself, too, if a doctor won't (if you're in the US).


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