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Posted 7/23/2015 5:36 AM (GMT 0)
I've got round tiny patches, plain skin color(I'm Caucasian) that have a tic-tac-toe look to them.
Does anyone know if it could be a 'Lyme' related skin issue?
I Forgot to ask my Dr today
Posted 7/23/2015 6:45 AM (GMT 0)
It's called hypopigmentation. One of the most common causes is adrenal fatigue. I would talk to my dr.
Posted 7/23/2015 2:02 PM (GMT 0)
I get "blotchy" red patches around my torso and outside of my arms and sometimes when its bad my face as well. Usually when I have it my body feels really hot, like flushing with heat but I also get chills sensations with and without goosebumps that follow.
Except when im on Minocycline, then all of those symptoms are suppressed until I stop taking it for about 5 days.

For the longest time Doctors fed me BS about it being "allergic to reaction to this or that. Soap was always their first 'go to' then foods.


My thyroid t3 & t4 always come out normal, though my TSH is almost always low to borderline low. I was diagnosed by an LLMD in 2009 with having Lyme and co-infectious. But god forbid you try to get any other doctors to agree with the LLMD or let alone give you an actual answer.

Fun times...
(sarcastically said)
Posted 7/23/2015 3:22 PM (GMT 0)
Marine - what is your TSH range? My FT3 and FT4 are good and my TSH is very low too, at the bottom of the range... So I was concerned..but have been told that is good (told by several knowledgeable people on here)
Posted 7/24/2015 5:22 AM (GMT 0)

Girlie said...
Marine - what is your TSH range? My FT3 and FT4 are good and my TSH is very low too, at the bottom of the range... So I was concerned..but have been told that is good (told by several knowledgeable people on here)

Here are all the labs I could find. The one from 2015 May was done by an Infectious Disease doctor who told me that I have some "mild suppression" of my Thyroid. It needs to be watched.

I seen my primary care doctor today, told him my TSH goes up and down. Up when Im on Minocycline down when Im off it for awhile. But my T3 and T4 never go either way. He said they dont treat you based off t3 and t4, they treat you based off your TSH level.


TSH (Thyrotropin)
-----------------

2015JUL15
Range: 0.27 - 4.20 uIU/mL
My Value: 0.99

2015MAY27
Range: 0.40 - 5.80 uIU/mL
My Value: 0.66

2015MAR20
Range: 0.450 - 4.500 uIU/mL
My Value: 1.750

2014JUL14
Range: 0.27-4.20 uIU/mL
My Value: 0.75

2011NOV23
Range: 0.27-4.20 uIU/mL
My Value: 2.13

2011JUN13
Range: 0.27-4.20 uIU/mL
My Value: 0.75

2009DEC23
Range: 0.34-4.82 uIU/mL
My Value: 0.36

2009OCT01
Range: 0.34-4.82 uIU/mL
My Value: 0.70

2009SEP25
Range: 0.34-4.82 uIU/mL
My Value: 0.25 (L)

2009JUL17
Range: 0.34-4.82 uIU/mL
My Value: 0.20 (L)
Posted 7/24/2015 2:27 PM (GMT 0)
Sorry to go off-topic here but, I'd like to share some info related to the thyroid topic.

I've been dealing with thyroid disease for 8 years now and have researched extensively. Just as with Lyme, that research was necessary for me to get properly treated.

Studies have shown that healthy people have TSH around 1.0. TSH consistently above 2 (no matter what the range) would be suspect for hypothyroidism with a thyroid-savvy doctor. And, yes, there are many things (including meds) that can affect TSH levels.

Also, people can be dealing with hypothyroidism and have low TSH (even very much below-range). That's where I'm at right now.

There are several different types of thyroid antibodies that can cause hypothyroidism. One type of thyroid antibody causes hypothyroidism but also suppresses TSH - this is what is coming into play in my situation.

TSH fluctuates throughout the day in efforts at maintaining stable thyroid hormone levels (Free T4 and FreeT3). It's highest in the morning and lowest around 1PM....and those fluctuations can be significant.

Obviously, timing of the blood draw comes into play with TSH test results.

TSH is a pituitary hormone and an indirect indicator of thyroid function. Looking at TSH to judge thyroid status is like looking at the odometer in attempts at guessing how much gas is in your tank.

Thyroid-savvy doctors know that the FreeT4 and FreeT3 levels are the most accurate indicators of thyroid function.

Unfortunately, all too many doctors are slaves to the TSH test (sorry, Marine - your primary sounds like one of them as does the one who commented about your "suppressed" TSH.). Doctors who diagnose and treat based upon TSH levels are the ones that keep people sick.

The doctor who wrote the following article "gets thyroid":

www.thyroidscience.com/hypotheses/dommisse.feb.2008/dommisse.feb.2008.pdf

Hope this helps anyone wanting more details about this stuff....

Post Edited (cd3764) : 7/24/2015 8:31:38 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 7/24/2015 3:05 PM (GMT 0)
Good pos cd3764.

Marine

"He said they dont treat you based off t3 and t4, they treat you based off your TSH level."

This statement is all you need to know that this MD is absolutely 100% clueless about the thyroid function, testing and tx.

Most people are unaware that TSH is actually a hormone produced by your pituitary.

Also, there are natural and synthetic replacements and some have both T3 and T4 and some have one or the other, so it's important to fully understand what is joing on with you and why.

Here is a great resource. You will need to educate yourself about thyroid so that you can help your MD get it. Or, find an ND, who will be more likely to be educate.

www.stopthethyroidmadness.com

-p
Posted 7/24/2015 3:06 PM (GMT 0)
Also, regarding the skin patches—

I'm not sure if you are talking about splotchy reddish patches or white patches? Sorry, I'm confused.

Anyway, Bartonella is famous for causing strange, weird markings on the skin. Mine are like blobs, splotchy, sometimes oval shaped, sometimes like a paint splatter. Weird, wild stuff.

-p
Posted 7/24/2015 5:03 PM (GMT 0)
After reading your post Pirouette, I'm thinking now that the strange rashes I have had periodically show up throughout my treatment could have been bart rashes all along.
First thought is was zithro causing them...then biaxin... but then I started biaxin again, and no rash...but then I had a totally different type of rash show up a few months later when I was on Ceftin.

The last one was like splatters all over my back - different sizes. -

My LLND first said it was an allergy to the antibiotics i was on at the time...and then a few months later he said it was a lyme rash.

I'm now thinking bart.
Posted 7/24/2015 5:13 PM (GMT 0)
Someone on here said the other day that the skin rashes or "lesions" are like the infection trying to "get away" from the treatment! Sounds kinda funny but also kinda makes sense.

Mine are on my right shin, my lower back where you have the dimples above your butt, on my ribs right below my bra line, on my inner thighs, and I have one in the middle of my back. WEIRD.

I think there is still a lot to be learned about Bart…

-p
Posted 7/24/2015 7:35 PM (GMT 0)
Marine,

As a few people have said your MD has no idea what they are talking about.

TSH is often the test that is run but as someone said it is an indirect measurement.

The way it works is the Pituitary gland measures free T3 and T4 in the blood.

If there is not enough, it produces TSH which tells the thyroid to make more T3 and T4.

If there is too much, it backs off on the TSH.

The amount of TSH the thyroid gets determines how much free T3 and free T4 that it produces.

If your thyroid is not working and your free T3/T4 is too low, it is hypothyroidism. You have to take a thyroid replacement med (usually synthroid) and have everything retested. Then you adjust the dose and retest.
You repeat this until every thing is right.

Some docs will just aim for values in the mid ranges (for normal). Some people however feel better at one end of the range (T3/T4) or the other. The goal is for you to feel your best, not to meet some number that someone without thyroid disease determine is "normal".

Hypothyroidism, under active thyroid, affects your metabolism and growth. So you are fatigued, gain weight (metabolism causes you not to burn calories), hair falls our or if it's a child in puberty, their growth slows down.

Hyperthyroidism, over active thyroid, makes your metabolism run too fast so you lose lots of weight. I don't know the treatment.

Some people test positive for antibodies named for a Dr Hashimoto. The presence of the antibodies means that your body is attacking your thyroid. But only a small percentage of people test positive for the antibodies.

If you don't have the antibodies, you still have thyroid disease it just means no one knows why.

Treatment is based on your free T3/T4 not TSH. TSH is only a warning flag. If you like your MD for everything else you might want to see an endocrinologist to treat the Thyroid, but ask the Endocrinologist to send test results and notes to your MD. After everything is the way you want it, you can go back to the MD to maintain things. The MD will have the notes from the Endocrinologist and will treat you accordingly. The MD won't lose face by listening to the Endocrinologist as he/she would by having you say the MD is wrong.

One question about the blotches. I have sort of spots on usually my arms. I would describe it as a lace or honeycomb pattern. Some are almost white and others are red(pink). Is this what you guys are talking about.
Posted 7/25/2015 11:57 AM (GMT 0)

sweetpeaisme said...
I've got round tiny patches, plain skin color(I'm Caucasian) that have a tic-tac-toe look to them.
Does anyone know if it could be a 'Lyme' related skin issue?
I Forgot to ask my Dr today


I am sorry sweetpeaisme, I'm not trying to misdirect people from answering your post. I feel like I may have pulled some of the attention to me. In all honesty, If you feel something may be wrong. Listen to your gut and get it checked out. But before you do be sure you are going in with some information the doctor can work with. Such as: When it happens, how long its been going on, if it started before something or after something. He needs data for troubleshooting the problem.

I remember in my younger years, in the military I ignored most issues. "suck it up". Then when I did go see doctors I couldnt even explain to them what was happening because I spent no time gathering info or noting things. I just went in when it got bad enough. haha.

cd3764 said...
Sorry to go off-topic here but, I'd like to share some info related to the thyroid topic.

gkamom said...
As a few people have said your MD has no idea what they are talking about.

Sorry I didnt want to quote the entire lengths, so I chose a sentence. :)

Oh trust me, I have heard much of this before. I was just giving my experience in reply to the person who mentioned adrenal fatigue. Venting frustrations.

I wasn't exactly fair to the doctors I quoted. Some of them are trying hard to give me an answer. And when they can't give me an answer, they try to "ease my mind" with the craziness going on with my body. Between Sept - Oct 2009, the labs you see there were from an Endocrinologist. I was sent there because my military doctor ran July lab suspecting some kind of Thyroid issue based off symptoms I continued to complain about. I also had some heart issues that started in March.

He said said he wasn't definitive on how to look at that so he wanted to give a referral to Endocrinology. Which the Endo doctor retested for everything you can think of. I think we ordered at least 15 labs and a 24 hour urine among others. Checked me for Pituitary Tumor, Vitamin levels, any chemical ending with "phrines".
At the end I was told my Vitamin B-12 is "suboptimal" but not low enough to cause symptoms (maybe a 10% chance of symptoms from that) and then based off my TSH, T3, T4 "I am diagnosing this as "subclinical hyperthyroidism", it needs to be watched by your primary care provider.

After that pretty much any doctor I seen that couldn't answer or didn't know what to look for, I would just ask them to check my thyroid or for Lyme because they are the only two labs that ever come out different.

Side Note: I started refusing all prescriptions in 2009, because each time I would go in complaining they would throw another drug at me. So I started telling all those doctors, "if you cant prove to me why I should be on this medication with some form of actual science, dont bother prescribing it because im not taking it". I still have the shoebox full of all the meds they prescribed, most of them are full still.

In 2009:
DOC: "here some Nuerontin because I think maybe you might be having 'micro-seizures'".
ME: "What the hell is a Micro-seizure?"

DOC: "here some Blood Pressure medication because your resting BP is way too high. Does your mom or dad have this problem."
ME: "Doc, 3 months ago I got 1st place in the 10k and my resting BP was 106/70. Suddenly its 145/98 for the past 6months. This isnt genetic."

at some point I yelled at this doc, told him he didnt know how to do his job. Then after that he diagnosed me with an "anxiety disorder not otherwise specified" and I got after that was offers to see Psychology because every doctor would see that diagnosis.

... this went on from March 2009 to June 2010 with these Docs. Then I moved and It was on with the VA system. Dont get me started with them. lol
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