# New diagnosis- confused



## Misguidedsecret (Jan 11, 2016)

Hi all!

Was diagnosed with Hashimotos two weeks ago and have been reading up. My doctor had the nurse call to tell me, gave me a rx, and mailed me the test results and a one page sheet. I've got a followup appt in a month and a half. Until then I have lots of questions.

1) is an endocrinologist needed? My doc never mentioned it.

2) my tsh levels were only on the high side of normal (which is why I guess it's taken quite a few years to get an actual diagnosis) but the antibodies showed hashimotos. The doctor only prescribed ldn and no thyroid medication, is this common? Or do I not need Need the sythroid (my dad is on that) because my thyroid levels are normal?

3) people have mentioned ultrasounds- is that needed if your thyroid doesn't seem enlarged?
Same for lupus and adrenal testing- is that something else that I should get tested? My grandfather died from complications of lupus. And my aunt has cushings and adrenal cancer. Both my grandfather and aunt are all on
My dads side.

4) this past week I developed a rash on my arms and chest followed by joint pain in my hands, feet and elbows. Are those symptoms other people get or is that unrelated?

Thanks!


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

Could you post the results, with ranges, that the doctor mailed you?

LDN is supposed to help calm the immune system down (I'm on it), but most people still need thyroid medication while on it. It's not a 'one pill solves it all' kind of drug.


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## Misguidedsecret (Jan 11, 2016)

Sure:

TSH- 3.00 (range: .40-4.00 uIU/ml)

Free T3: 345 (range: 230-420 pg/dl)

Free T4: 1.04 (range: 0.70-1.80 ng/dL

Antithyroglobulin AB: 70 (range: <60 U/ml)

Thyroid perox. AB: 254 (range: <60 U/mL)

They also ran a bunch of other tests if those are helpful let me know - CBC, folate, vitamin b12, magnesium, iodine, zinc, DHEAS, methylmalonic acid, and insulin GF1. As well as food allergy panels but still waiting on those. They were trying to figure out the extreme fatigue and constipation.

The LDN just came in the mail today! Do you know if the no alcohol is necessary? like would a glass of wine be bad?

Thanks again!


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

You've got antibodies at play here, I would push for an ultrasound to see if you've got any suspicious nodules.

How many mg is your LDN? It's recommended to start slowly and titrate up to around 4.5mg (that's where most autoimmune people end up). I would stay away from alcohol and narcotics for a while until you've adjusted to it. If you are going to have surgery or be on any kind of pain killers, you need to stop the LDN at least 7 days before--LDN can block narcotics and prevent them from working.


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## Misguidedsecret (Jan 11, 2016)

jenny v said:


> You've got antibodies at play here, I would push for an ultrasound to see if you've got any suspicious nodules.
> 
> How many mg is your LDN? It's recommended to start slowly and titrate up to around 4.5mg (that's where most autoimmune people end up). I would stay away from alcohol and narcotics for a while until you've adjusted to it. If you are going to have surgery or be on any kind of pain killers, you need to stop the LDN at least 7 days before--LDN can block narcotics and prevent them from working.


My LDN right now is 1.5mg. Both the pharmacist and the nurse said no narcotics but neither had mentioned the alcohol, just the prescription info did, but yeah it makes sense to wait awhile before any alcohol. I don't have a followup appointment with the holistic doctor that diagnosed it though until mid-march, so I guess the dose will stay at 1.5mg until then. Debating whether I should go back to my primary care with the lab results and see what they say, though they didn't do any further testing on the thyroid other than TSH because that was in range.

Also, is it common to have a higher IGF-1 with Hashimoto's? It looked like most of the things online have said lower.


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