# Athlete recently diagnosed, looking for advice



## kristiant (Nov 15, 2014)

I am 26 and was diagnosed with Hashimotos about 6 months ago. I have been an athlete for most of my life since my late teens. A bit over a year ago I noticed a significant drop in athletic performance and endurance which I could not explain. I was eating well, sleeping well, had little stress in my life yet every training session was seeing my performance getting progressively worse.

I am now on 50mg of thyroxine, the doctors have started me on a small dosage and most of my blood tests since then have returned in normal ranges. I still continue to follow a clean athletic diet and try to follow a structured gym routine as i had to quit playing my sport. My day is fairly consistent in terms of food and activity.

I have noticed that my condition is extremely varying in how hard it impacts me, I base this statement on my performance in the gym. I still know what my personal-best gym lifts were before I was diagnosed and set that as my 100% benchmark. Over the past 6 months I find that on any given day at the gym my performance is anywhere between 40%-90% of my original performance. I find this variance extremely puzzling as my diet and daily routine is so consistent. One day I may perform at 90% of my true strength and then two days later I return to the gym and I struggle to reach 50%. I mainly use large compound movements to make these comparisons, benchpress, squats, deadlifts and chinups.

What really puzzles me is that every now and then I can perform a lift at 90-95% of my personal best, so I know that I am physically still capable of doing it, like my muscle has not deteriorated, I still have the mechanical ability to do it. However on other days when I attempt that same exercise I can barely do 50% of my personal best. Its also very difficult to describe what actually stops me. It is a fatigue that I cannot explain, feels like my life force has faded away.

Does anybody else here feel that their hashimotos is extremely up-and-down? Is there any explanation for this or anything that can be done about it?

Thanks


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Welcome to the board.

First, what method was used to diagnose Hashimoto's? Also, do you have any recent lab results for thyroid and the ranges you could post here?

Have you had any antibodies' tests for the thyroid and have you had an ultra-sound of the thyroid?

Are you still on 50 mcg. of thyroxine (it says mg, but I think mcg.?)


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## kristiant (Nov 15, 2014)

I had quite a lot of tests before I was officially diagnosed. My first blood test had quite a few abnormalities on it, the most prominent one was the TSH and thyroid levels, a few other things such as my white cell count and platelete counts were also low. Further tests were done to check for thyroid antibodies. I had an ultrasound of the thyroid. The result of the ultra sound and the blood tests in combination with the symptoms that I was describing was enough for the doctor to conclude hashimotos, however I was also given a full body CT (no-contrast and contrast) scan and an ECG to rule out tumors, cancers or pituitary gland liaisons. I feel that the process that I went through was fairly comprehensive.

I am now seeing a specialist who is checking up on me every 3 months. I had a blood test taken last week and am due to see him on Tuesday for the results so I can post the results here when I get them. I will ask for my previous blood test results as well so I can post the older records.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

I understand what you are saying, but I think what Andros is suggesting is that most of us can be most helpful if we can see that actual lab results and their reference ranges, a copy of the ultrasound report, etc etc. And, we do want to be as helpful as possible.

To get back to your original question, while I lift weights, I'm not particularly serious about it...but I do run. When I had my thyroid, I would have wild fluctuations in my running times. Sometimes I'd be able to do a particularly difficult workout with good, fast times...and then a few days later, I would barely be able to finished a run taht was not nearly as challenging. With thyroid disease, you have and antibodies. As those wax and wane, so do your symptoms and that very much include athletic performance.


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## kristiant (Nov 15, 2014)

Here are my pathology results:

********************
First complaints of symptoms to GP
********************

6 Months Ago
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*TSH: 4.35* ( 0.40 - 3.50 )
Free T3: not measured
Free T4: 12.4 ( 9.0 - 19.0 )
*Thyroglobulin Ab: 219* ( 0-40 )
*Peroxidase Ab: 68* ( 0-35 )

5 Months Ago
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*TSH: 4.57* ( 0.40 - 3.50 )
Free T3: 4.3 ( 2.6 - 6.0 ) 
Free T4: 12.7 ( 9.0 - 19.0 )
Thyroglobulin Ab: not measured
Peroxidase Ab: not measured

******************
Started taking 50mcg thyroxine 5 months ago
******************

3 Months Ago
--------------------
TSH: 2.95 ( 0.40 - 3.50 )
Free T3: 4.5 ( 2.6 - 6.0 ) 
Free T4: 15.4 ( 9.0 - 19.0 )
*Thyroglobulin Ab: 83* ( 0-40 )
Peroxidase Ab: 26 ( 0-35 )

Last week
--------------------
TSH: 2.19 ( 0.40 - 3.50 )
Free T3: 4.1 ( 2.6 - 6.0 ) 
Free T4: 14.5 ( 9.0 - 19.0 )
*Thyroglobulin Ab: 76* ( 0-40 )
Peroxidase Ab: 28 ( 0-35 )


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

Please post ranges for each of those tests, it is hard to tell anything without them.


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## kristiant (Nov 15, 2014)

Sorry that was sloppy of me not to add the ranges. I updated the post above and made bold any of the readings that were outside of the normal range.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Um.

You basic thyroid numbers (TSH, free t4 and free t3) aren't horrible awful. But, its important to note that antibodies can skew the results a bit.

More pressing, however, is your elevated thyroglobulin number. Has you doctor suggested an ultrasound of your thyroid?


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## fttfbass (Jan 8, 2014)

Your FT4 is just at the midpoint of the range. But, your FT3 isn't there yet and could stand to hit around 5.1 (3/4 of range) to feel optimal. As joplin said, antibodies can skew the results. But, it does look like they've been decreasing, which is a good thing.


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## kristiant (Nov 15, 2014)

Just checking in to post an update. It has been about 2 years since the original diagnosis and about 1.5 years since the original post in this thread. The 12 months following the opening post of this thread were quite hard and symptoms worsened. However in the past 6 months I have somehow made a sudden turnaround.

Here are my antibody (Thyroglobulin Ab) results since the opening thread:

12/11/2014

*Thyroglobulin Ab: 76* ( 0-40 )

03/03/2015

*Thyroglobulin Ab: 207* ( 0-40 )

08/07/2015

*Thyroglobulin Ab: 175* ( 0-40 )

17/01/2016

*Thyroglobulin Ab: 44* ( 0-40 )

19/03/2016

*Thyroglobulin Ab: 38* ( 0-40 ) arty0045:

My free T3 during the last reading was : 3.81 ( 2.6 - 6.0 ). I am currently taking 50 mcg of Oroxine every second day, i.e 25mcg per day.

My symptoms now are very mild, barely noticeable actually. My only real symptom that I can notice now is my feet sometimes feel a bit colder than normal. My energy levels are fairly normal for regular day to day activities. I have had to scale back my athletic training volume, however I can still output a similar level of intensity as before my diagnosis. I.e, I can lift a similar amount of weight as before and output a similar amount of power, however I cannot keep that going for as long as I used to.

Some things that I have changed in the past 6 months that may have contributed to an improvement in my conditions. NOTE: this is by no means a medical recommendation or anything along those lines, it is simply things I have changed in my life recently which coincide with the timings of my improvement. What impact they had is completely speculative.

- Changed my diet a bit. Have gone completely gluten free. Avoid sugar as much as possible, perhaps an odd small treat (which is still low in sugar) perhaps once per fortnight or less. Mainly eat cooked food that I feel is easy to digest, avoid raw and processed foods.

- Changed my athletic training to reduce my volume, giving my body a better opportunity to recover completely between training sessions

- Some of my personal and professional circumstances have changed for the better over the past 6 months, I certainly feel less stress than I did before.


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## WhatHappened (Nov 12, 2015)

Thanks for the update. Wow. Is your TSH, Free T4 and T3 equally in a good place for you as well? (seems like you have been keeping good records)


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## kristiant (Nov 15, 2014)

Yes, the THS, FT4 and FT3 are back in range.

The latest reading was 
THS: 3.8 (0.5 - 4.0)
FT4: 17 (10 - 20)
FT3: 4.3 (3.5 - 6.0)

Historically my FT4 and FT3 and been mostly within range, while my THS has gone over the normal range. The past result was the first time absolutely every reading was within the normal range. Considering I am on such a low dosage of oroxine (25mcg per day) my GP said that if my next result is equally promising that he will refer me to an endocrinologist to consider a plan to attempt rolling off the medication completely.


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## visc (Feb 22, 2014)

Were you ever sick? Sometimes you can develop thyroiditis after a flue or unrelated illness.

From what I've learned and what research seems to point to is that any human tissue that dies generates some antibodies. What it comes down to is the tendency of our bodies to maintain control and not attack itself.

Look up "dead brain cells multiple sclerosis." It's an example of what they are finding. Our dying tissue can trigger autoimmune disease of our bodies are unable to prevent it.


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## kristiant (Nov 15, 2014)

I did have a fairly bad viral infection just before I started noticing my symptoms which I later discovered to be thyroid related. Not sure if the two events were linked or if the virus was the cause of the thyroid problems. The infection kept me out of work for an entire week with a fever that took my body temperature up to 40C / 104F.

Once I had recovered from the virus, the first symptom that I saw a GP about was recurring headaches during the day. I would say this started during the same month that I had the virus. It was a strange headache that I had not experienced until that point, it had a pulsing / throbbing feel to it. The pain would start low, then gradually increase over a period of about a second. My GP at the time just dismissed it as being stress related.

Over the course of the following months I noticed the more typical symptoms of a low thyroid such as unexplainable fatigue, shortness of breath, cognitive and psychological issues as well. After repeated visits to doctors over the course of 6 months I was diagnosed with Hashimotos through the detection of thyroid antibodies in the blood work as well as an ultrasound of the thyroid.


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