For the people out there that have hypothyroidism or some form of it how was it diagnosed and what blood tests were done to discover it. My daughter was just diagnosed with hypothyroidism for short stature and the doctor says it runs in families I believe I had tsh done but not t3 or t4 I always thought something was not right with my metabolism but anyway if any body has experience with this let me know so I know what to tell my doctor I want for blood tests.

My mother (who has hypothyroidism AND was a Med Tech, someone that draws the blood then actually does the tests on it) told me that i needed not only TSH, but also T3 and pre-T4.

Thyroid Antibodies are also a good idea.

Of course, i'm hypothyroid too (hits all women in my family around age 35) and trying to convince my doctors to have teh additional tests is a pain. They don't understand why I need them, and I can't explain either.

Your best bet is to ask to be refered to a Metabolic Specialist (or it it a hormone specialist?). They will do a LOT more tests than your primary care, and know what the results actually mean.

I see an endocrinologist for my hypothyroidism, (contracted at age 35) but mine lives and dies by the TSH, T3 and freeT4 results. It doesn't matter that I"m so tired I have to take a nap during lunch, fall asleep waiting for my doctor appointments, etc. You need to have your blood tested every 6 weeks until it is within normal limits. I feel better when mine is closer to the hyperthyroid end of the spectrum.---Karen MT from Kentucky

Be sure and have Free T3 done also.

TSH

T3

T4

Free T3

Free T4

Antibodies (TPOAb & TgAb)

I'm Hypothyroid - diagnosed with Autoimmune thyroiditis. Antibodies are attacking my thyroid. My levels have been good since January of this year I take 100mcg of Levothyroxine and 5mcg 2X a day of Cytomel. That helps my energy level. I'm losing weight pretty good too! Good luck. Thyroid takes time to get under control. I felt like crap for 10 years until I insisted on going to a specialist. My GP kept saying my levels were good. The specialist said I was too high. Figures!! I'm glad I insisted on getting the referral to a specialist.

I am hypothyroid and have been taking .75 mcg of Synthroid for over 6 months now and haven't lost? How can that be? I thought I would lose once I started taking thyroid...

I think everyone believes that, but it just isn't so. I take a combo of Armour Thyroid and Synthroid which my Dr. let me concoct..bless his sweet soul and have bben stable for years now. My levels are borderline hyper ( I feel better here), and I still have problems losing weight. I remember when i was finally diagnosed (same problem as lildarlin) I cried becuase i thought to myself...finally...I will be able to lose weight. Not!!!! They took me off of my meds for 6 weeks in order to do a scan and I actually gained 35 MORE lbs. in those 6 weeks. This is the first time I have actually lost more than 10 lbs. and kept it off in a long, long time. I love this band!

I have it too, and also take synthroid. Mine was detected when I was being treated for depression and they did some blood tests, which determined that I have the hypothyroid condition. Your family doctor should be able to send you in the right direction as to where to get the blood work done, and what kind of meds to take, etc.

That's not always true. Most family Doctors don't know squat about thyroid disease. It took me 3 different Endocrinologists and my persistence, to figure out I had a problem. Deep in my heart, I knew I did, but kept being told my numbers looked good. WRONG!!! A very good place to start and really, really educating yourself is http://www.healthboards.com/boards/forumdisplay.php?f=122

Another factor I know to be true is that most Doctors under medicate thyroid patients because they're scared of throwing them into hyperthyroidism, but most patients feel better when very close to hyper.

So if you're taking enough to be close to hyper, do you lose weight?

No, I do not lose weight when I dip into the hyper range...I do seem to have more energy during the day, but then I can't nod off to sleep at night...which isn't an option for me, as I work full time.

I don't like to go into hyper, but to keep my numbers very suppressed....almost hyper. I feel so much better that way. My Doctor goes by free t3 and free t4 not TSH. I'm not saying he doesn't check it, but he keeps me in the top 3rd of the scale for t3 and t4 and that optimizes how I feel. If he keeps me there, it usually suppresses my TSH to almost hyper.

I have just begun the process for the lap band surgery. However, in the last 4 weeks, I have been having proximal muscle pain, in the shoulders, hips, knees and elbows. I read somewhere that hypothyroidism can manifest as a myopathy or muscle pain that is very similar to my symptoms. Have any of you had this experience? Was the pain severe? I just completed my blood work for the surgery which tested my T3 T4 and TSH, and the nurse at the office said that my bloodwork was normal. I am not sure if I should see a Endocrinologist or Rheumatologist. I was hoping on having the surgery the beginning of august, but now I am worried that it might be some sort of autoimmune connective tissue disease, which I read is a contraindication to the lap band. Does anyone have any advice? Thanks!!!

Jillian:help:

As far as discovering IF you are hypothyroid- my advice is to be your own advocate. Do research and read about symptoms that may apply. Then, get consults from a couple different endocrinologists if you feel comfortable, and get all the levels checked. I have been on synthroid for about 7 years now, and it only came from me insisting that I get it checked- I was working out HARD 6 days a week, and not losing weight as expected. I also had a cyst on my thyroid causing me to have a visual lump in the throat (THAT was attractive...). I was so "hungry" for results on the scale and working out so frequently, I doubled my dose on my own. :nervous <V:p</V:p DO NOT DO THAT! I had been taking twice the normal dosage for almost 2 months when the insurance denied filling the prescription (they only allow you to fill it when you are below a 75% per month). The Dr. was then notified, and I got a stern talk. My Dr. explained that I could have done serious damage to my heart is I'd kept it up. You only get one heart, so I figured I shouldn't play around with it. :faint: That is my experience with this. Just stay on top of it, and give your body time to adjust to the dosage, as your Dr. should be testing you often to get it just right. Good Luck!

Hey "Miper70",

My experience has been similar to yours. I had all the symptoms of hypothyroidism, but was barred from getting consistent help due to inconsistent tests. For years I have struggled through doctors' tests showing borderline hypothyroidism. I was put on medication, then taken off too many times. I finally found a good endocrinologist that asks me how I feel! He let me gradually add 25 mcg of Levothyroxine (synthroid) each week until it got to a level I could live with, which is 125 mcg. Now I don't feel like I am fighting to stay awake each day!

Unfortunately, the medication has never caused me to lose weight. But it has prevented me from gaining! Whenever the bouts of complete exhaustion have hit me over the years, my weight has shot up.

Now I feel so blessed to have the band because nothing was working for me before.

Hypothyroidism is a condition that every tired, overweight person should be evaluated for.

This may be a silly question---if your TSH is WNL, but your T3 or T4 is high(toward hypo range) other than raising Synthroid, what can the doc give you? This is me.