# Think I have Hashimoto's?



## nichristeve (Sep 7, 2012)

Morning everyone.

Well, My thyroid adventure continues. My Background....had partial thyroidectomy on 8/29...papillary carcinoma. Still trying to figure out if I should have other side of my thyroid removed. My ENT says no because it is Microcarcinoma. Went to an endo...he concurred. I liked the endo at first...but then I had labs drawn by him, and getting him to call me with the results was ridiculous! 3 phone calls later, my husband went to the docs office (he works in the same building) and got my results and an RX. Crazy!
So.... I got new labs with an endo. and as you see I did not speak to the endo, but did research and I feel I have Hashi's. Prior to my thyroidectomy my TSH was 0.04. The endo had said during my appt. that he felt I had a thyroiditis as my initial symptoms that sent me to an ENT was a sore throat in the front of my throat for one month. He said that with low tsh indicates a thyroiditis, plus my thryroglobulin level was high at 223. I had not had a AB TPO at that time. 
New labs are:
TSH 4.85 (.34 - 4.82)
Free T3 2.65 (2.3 - 4.2)
Free T4 0.87 (0.7 - 1.8)
AB anti-thyroglobulin < 20 (0.0 - 40.0)
AB TPO 38.7 (0.0 - 35.0)

wondering if you think I have hashimoto's or if the partial sent me into a bit of hypo. But the AB TPO is an indicator of Hashi's, right? 
Thanks so much for your help!

BTW...going to a new endo on the 18th for another opinion. The journey continues! LOL


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## surge (Aug 15, 2012)

I'm a little slow today so I'm going to be dense here, sorry: You say you have a low tsh, but it's high (or higher than it was, right?)-- you mean high tsh indicating low function? Just to clarify. And the PT was in August? The sore throat wasn't from the procedure but developed after? Or is this something you're following up on from before surgery-- you mention this is originally what sent you into the ENT, so how they found the cancer?

Your TPOab is borderline, the test is indicative that you could be developing hashis, but wouldn't be conclusive. Still, this with the 200+ AB result does indicate that something's going on, and since the most common reason people go hypo is because of hashis, smart money is still probably on hashis. I would be curious about how the recent surgery complicates the picture; maybe others here will have some ideas about those interactions.

Do you have symptoms other than the sore throat? Pretty classic hypo symptoms or something different?


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

nichristeve said:


> Morning everyone.
> 
> Well, My thyroid adventure continues. My Background....had partial thyroidectomy on 8/29...papillary carcinoma. Still trying to figure out if I should have other side of my thyroid removed. My ENT says no because it is Microcarcinoma. Went to an endo...he concurred. I liked the endo at first...but then I had labs drawn by him, and getting him to call me with the results was ridiculous! 3 phone calls later, my husband went to the docs office (he works in the same building) and got my results and an RX. Crazy!
> So.... I got new labs with an endo. and as you see I did not speak to the endo, but did research and I feel I have Hashi's. Prior to my thyroidectomy my TSH was 0.04. The endo had said during my appt. that he felt I had a thyroiditis as my initial symptoms that sent me to an ENT was a sore throat in the front of my throat for one month. He said that with low tsh indicates a thyroiditis, plus my thryroglobulin level was high at 223. I had not had a AB TPO at that time.
> ...


TPO Ab is "suggestive" of Hashi's only because it is often found to be high in such patients. I will always wonder about that because high TPO Ab is also suggestive of cancer. And a myriad of other things as well.

cancer TPO and thyroglobulin
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1699-0463.1994.tb04888.x/abstract
http://www.wikigenes.org/e/gene/e/7173.html


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Andros said:


> TPO Ab is "suggestive" of Hashi's only because it is often found to be high in such patients. I will always wonder about that because high TPO Ab is also suggestive of cancer. And a myriad of other things as well.
> 
> cancer TPO and thyroglobulin
> http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1699-0463.1994.tb04888.x/abstract
> http://www.wikigenes.org/e/gene/e/7173.html


Let us know what the new endo has to say. Hope he/she is a "keeper!"


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## nichristeve (Sep 7, 2012)

Good morning all....sorry it took me so long to reply. I do so appreciate all of your input and help! 
Surge~~ My tsh was low prior to my PT in August. Now it is a little on the high side. 
The sore throat was my symptom that sent me to the doctor back in June. That is how the goiter and nodules were discovered. FNA was inconclusive. Pathology after PT was follicular variant of papillary carcinoma. I do have many hypo symptoms. Have had them for years, but just disregarded them as part of aging. Plus I have moderate osteoarthritis which gives me a bunch of aches and pains too! But it do have chronic constipation, leg swelling, fatigue, dry skin, muscle aches and pains. Occasionally, I would get this very, very strange sensation that would start in my shoulders and travel down my arms. It felt like my arms weighed a ton and I could not move them for that few seconds. scary and weird. I was thinking Hashi's because the endo feels that my initial sore throat was a thyroiditis. and now my AB TPO is slightly elevated. but I did not have this test prior to my PT.

Andros~~ Thank you so much for the information on labs. I did have papillary carcinoma, so maybe that is why my AB TPO is a bit elevated. I see the new endo next week and I hope to find some answers. She comes highly recommended by 3 of my colleagues so I am cautiously hopeful. I really want another opinion from her as to if I should have the other side removed. It is full of nodules and I fear cancer is brewing in there also. I know it is slow growing...but do I really want to be it's incubator?


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Pathology from the surgery should be able to confirm for you if you have Hashi's. See if you can get a copy of the path report.

Are you on any replacement meds?


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

nichristeve said:


> Good morning all....sorry it took me so long to reply. I do so appreciate all of your input and help!
> Surge~~ My tsh was low prior to my PT in August. Now it is a little on the high side.
> The sore throat was my symptom that sent me to the doctor back in June. That is how the goiter and nodules were discovered. FNA was inconclusive. Pathology after PT was follicular variant of papillary carcinoma. I do have many hypo symptoms. Have had them for years, but just disregarded them as part of aging. Plus I have moderate osteoarthritis which gives me a bunch of aches and pains too! But it do have chronic constipation, leg swelling, fatigue, dry skin, muscle aches and pains. Occasionally, I would get this very, very strange sensation that would start in my shoulders and travel down my arms. It felt like my arms weighed a ton and I could not move them for that few seconds. scary and weird. I was thinking Hashi's because the endo feels that my initial sore throat was a thyroiditis. and now my AB TPO is slightly elevated. but I did not have this test prior to my PT.
> 
> Andros~~ Thank you so much for the information on labs. I did have papillary carcinoma, so maybe that is why my AB TPO is a bit elevated. I see the new endo next week and I hope to find some answers. She comes highly recommended by 3 of my colleagues so I am cautiously hopeful. I really want another opinion from her as to if I should have the other side removed. It is full of nodules and I fear cancer is brewing in there also. I know it is slow growing...but do I really want to be it's incubator?


I agree. Always listen to your instincts and fears. Your body is "talking" to you. I personally hope you just go ahead and have the remaining thyroid out. It is much easier to do your thyroxine replacement also.

You are very welcome and it is good to hear from you. We all hate to hear about your troubles but I think that you will emerge from all of this in good stead.


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