# feeling hopeless



## ladycase (Mar 5, 2012)

I was diagnosed with Hashi's in 2009, I was told that it wasn't bad enough for meds yet, just put on extra vit D.....The past yr has been horrible, I'm not functioning well: extreme fatigue, trouble swallowing, headaches, joint pain (mostly shoulder and hip), menstrual cycles that last up to 10 days, severe constipation, strange heatbeat at times, blood pressure through the roof, neck pain and the list goes on....To sum it up "NOT NORMAL"....I just went to a new doc b/c the military has moved us and he did some blood work and here are the results (bare with me b/c I don't know what any of this means:
FT3 2.0
FT4 1.12
TSH 3.0
Peroxidase Antibodies over 1,000
Thyroglobulin 95

I was told my thyroid levels are normal but my antibodies are high and to come back in 2 months....I told them I don't think I can go another day feeling like this, I'm getting extremely depressed. So they set up an appt for this Thursday.....I don't know what I'm suppose to ask or how to go about any of this.....So PLEASE help!!!


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

Ladycase, welcome to the forum...glad you found us!

Unfortunately, I'm not much of an expert on Hashi's or antibodies, but we do have some very knowledgeable members here, who I'm sure will share their insights on this! I just wanted to welcome you. 

I'm glad you were assertive to get an appointment quicker. Good for you!


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## ladycase (Mar 5, 2012)

Thank you for the warm welcome, Octavia......I'm glad I stumbled onto this site and hope to get some helpful advice....


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

I'm sorry you feel so badly. Have you had an ultrasound of your thyroid?


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## ladycase (Mar 5, 2012)

Yes, now that you ask I do remember having an ultra sound in 2009....I was prego at the time and must have had babybrain lol....What I do remember is that he seen a growth of some sort and I had to return a short time later for a 2nd ultra sound.....He said something about whatever it was that it had shrunk so he wasn't worried about it at that time....Sorry for being so vague but like I said, its been a while and I was prego so I don't remember it that well....


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## Brucergoldberg (May 23, 2011)

your antibodies are BAD BAD BAD. You are still in the beginning stages of the destruction. You are were i was in the beginning. No one believed how i felt. If you have nodules they need to be looked at. You could be hypo thyroid but the nodules may be off doing their own thing playing tug a war. Sort of graves meets hashimotos for a tug awar.

Your labs are not horrible, but with antibodies like those, it is only a matter of time before your FT3 goes sour and your tsh starts climbing.

Your ft4 is low, but its not terrible. What all are your symptoms ? Here were mine during that period:

shaky
anxiety
sweaty 
diahreah
galbladder pain
worse after 2 pm
cold
hot
anxiety
anxiety
anxiety


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## ladycase (Mar 5, 2012)

Brucergoldberg
I'm not experienced in this so when I tell the doc my symptoms, I worry they're gonna think I'm crazy b/c they are all over the place.....symptoms:
extreme fatigue, trouble swallowing, chest pain, odd heartbeat, long mentral cycle, heachache, sensitive to cold, trouble sleeping, depressed, panic, weight, pain in joints (mostly shoulders and hips)......and ironicly enough, now that I've read you link about how yours started, I will tell you incendent I had about a month ago.....I was at dinner with the in-laws when out of the blue I started having HORRIBLE stabbing pain in my back that radiated around and under my breast. I was sweating enough to soak my clothes (and I never sweat) and my hip was hurting so bad I had trouble sitting or standing. My husband thought it was a kidney stone, MIL thought I was constipated, I thought I was gonna pass out from the pain. I took enough pain meds to knock myself out for the night and the next day I was okay. I think it sounds a little like your story but what exactly is it from??


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## I DClaire (Jul 31, 2011)

ladycase said:


> Brucergoldberg
> I'm not experienced in this so when I tell the doc my symptoms, I worry they're gonna think I'm crazy b/c they are all over the place.....symptoms:
> extreme fatigue, trouble swallowing, chest pain, odd heartbeat, long mentral cycle, heachache, sensitive to cold, trouble sleeping, depressed, panic, weight, pain in joints (mostly shoulders and hips)......and ironicly enough, now that I've read you link about how yours started, I will tell you incendent I had about a month ago.....I was at dinner with the in-laws when out of the blue I started having HORRIBLE stabbing pain in my back that radiated around and under my breast. I was sweating enough to soak my clothes (and I never sweat) and my hip was hurting so bad I had trouble sitting or standing. My husband thought it was a kidney stone, MIL thought I was constipated, I thought I was gonna pass out from the pain. I took enough pain meds to knock myself out for the night and the next day I was okay. I think it sounds a little like your story but what exactly is it from??


My maiden voyage into Thyroidland began in an Olive Garden restaurant one Sunday while having lunch with my family. OUT OF NOWHERE I was suddenly so breathless I could barely speak, my heart was racing, and I got so hot I thought I was going to explode! I am not kidding!

I took my blood pressure when I got home but by then I had kinda' settled down. The next day we had a tree trimming crew here and I was outside trying to direct all that when the same symptoms hit again, only worse, and I honestly thought I was having a heart attack.

THE NEXT MORNING I was in my doctor's office!! The first blood test I had indicated I was hyperthyroid but the doctor (P.A.) got it in her mind that my problem was really heart disease and that's basically where things got sidetracked for a long time. The P.A. resented my cardiologist saying there was nothing wrong with my heart, that my heart symptoms were all related to hyperthyroidism...and she never, not in three years, ever aggressively tried to treat my hyperthyroidism symptoms.

When I, through a miracle, (in my opinion) finally found out about a good endocrinologist and asked the P.A. for a referral, her parting words to me were, "You're not going to stop until you do something you'll regret." Needless to say, I eventually found a good internist in addition to a good endocrinologist!

You've probably seen the funny little signs that say something like, "You have to kiss a lot of toads before you find a prince." It took me almost three years to find doctors who understood thyroid disease enough to aggressively try to help me.


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

I DClaire said:


> You've probably seen the funny little signs that say something like, "You have to kiss a lot of toads before you find a prince." It took me almost three years to find doctors who understood thyroid disease enough to aggressively try to help me.


And why is that the case? Why is it so hard to find a doctor who is very knowledgeable about thyroid disease? Especially given that it's so common?

I read a Mizzou alumni magazine last week, and there was an article about healthcare in it. One of the outstanding (not in a good way) facts cited in it was that there is a 17-year lag between scientific research results and what happens in clinical practice between physicians and patients. Not fully convinced, I did a quick google search on 17-year lag and healthcare. (And if a google search doesn't find the truth, what will? I say that with complete sarcasm.) That "17-year lag" phrase is quoted quite frequently, but I'm not 100% convinced that the original source of the research that led to that phrase is being quoted accurately...nonetheless, things do happen slowly, based on many of our experiences.

(Disclaimer...there was less than 3 months between me noticing the lump in my neck and having two surgeries, so I am not reflecting on my own personal experience here.)


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