# Diagnosed 5 years ago and still have so many issues!



## kismetjess (Mar 10, 2016)

Hi Everyone-

I am a 30 year old female, and have been seeing an endocrinologist for 5 years - diagnosed with Hashi's in 2011. In those 5 years, I have had 2 full-term pregnancies, and have bounced around between synthroid doses. I am so frustrated right now. I feel awful and have been bouncing around from doctor to doctor for the last 6 months - as symptoms have gotten worse.

My current dose is high, at 200 mcg of synthroid(I weigh 195lbs), which I've been on for about 3 months. My TPO hasn't been checked in quite some time, but was substantially high at over 6,000. I have yearly ultrasounds to check my nodules but have had no growth. In October of 2015, my thyroid labs were steady. In november, I started to notice a severe hormone shift. My periods suddenly got very heavy and very long. I followed up with my GYN who ruled out any gynecological issues, but did suggest I go back on the pill. In January I finally called my endo and let him know that something was definitely up. Labwork showed my TSH had jumped up to over 7, and I was anemic. So he made a few adjustments and then referred me to a hematologist.

My hematologist did 6 rounds of IV iron infusions and sent me on my way - and will be retested in April.

In february I returned back to my Endo for a routine appt. My TSH was down to .4 - and while on the low end, he was hesitant to adjust my meds because he knows I have a tendency to make drastic leaps. I have still been feeling super crappy. Definitely a low point in the last 5 years. So tired, and achey. My endo recommended I go see a rheumatologist.

So, today..I saw a Rheumatologist, who basically blamed everything on my thyroid. I don't know what to do. I'm at a point where I don't want to keep having these thyroid swings and it is true - I am on a VERY high dose of synthroid. My BP is also starting to creep up. Do I get a second opinion? Would I be better off getting my thryoid removed? When do the pros outweigh the cons? I feel very defeated and hopeless at this point. I have 2 beautiful, young daughters and zero energy to even get up off the couch some days.

My TPO hasn't been checked in some time...should I push for this? It was super high last time, so what would be done different if it continued to be high?


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

First thing to do is get paper copies of all of your labs. You keep mentioning TSH, which I hope is not the only test they're running on you. When you're on thyroid meds, you have to make sure they run Free T3 and Free T4 every single time, as those are the ones to pay attention to when dosing. If your doc is only basing your thyroid meds off of TSH, it's time to find a new doc, unfortunately.


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## BurntMarshmallow (Feb 26, 2016)

Do you know what your ferritin levels were? And what they are now?

Your ups and downs sound very familiar to me. In my experience, being anemic will drive up your TSH, and then when the anemia improves, TSH drops. Sometimes you feel hyperthyroid as anemia improves, because conversion of T4 to T3 picks up pace. But then, being hyper causes you to burn through stores of thiamine and other b vitamins. With anemia, you basically just never feel well, no matter what your thyroid is doing.

Taking a potent b-complex, with at least 100mg of thiamine, can help you tolerate the ups and downs. A recent study found hashimoto's patients improved with 600mg daily of thiamine. I take a b-complex and then with each meal I take a 100mg thiamine tablet. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24351023

The red blood cell life cycle is 4 months long. That means completely solving the anemia will take at least that long. As the anemia improves, your TSH should stabilize.

Typically, anemia that accompanies hypothyroidism requires more than just iron. Vitamin A (not beta-carotene), riboflavin, folate and B12 are all important for proper red blood cell production and maintenance. Absorption of these are compromised when thyroid function is low. So you should probably supplement. If ferritin doesn't rise, consider adding copper as well. I took iron for 4 months with no change in ferritin levels until adding vitamin A and copper. Now my ferritin is up 15 points.


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