Need help interpreting Labs...Thyroid and CD57

Your labs are very indicative of someone whos been on both t4 and t3 thyroid med for a while.

The longer your on both, the pituitary gets lazy and the tsh signal it sends to the thyroid (its not really a hormone) starts to go away - thats why your tsh is so low, but your hormones are only in the middle of the range.

At this point it gets harder to find a dr who STOPS looking at tsh and looks at t3 t4 hormone only- to some you look hyper with that low tsh, but you are NOT hyper.

I agree with astroman - especially about the difficulties associated with doctors who erroneously continue to look at TSH to evaluate thyroid function.

That said, I've been taking T4 and T3 for years (well before the tick bite) and I feel best (as most people do) with my Free T4 and Free T3 levels near the high ends of their ranges.

On a "good" day, my TSH is .005

Ironically, my FT4/FT3 levels were almost identical to yours when I first started thyroid meds and I was dealing with a very large number of hypothyroidism symptoms.

If you are dealing with thyroid symptoms, you need dose INcreases and I fear a visit to an endocrinologist might result in a demand to lower your dose(s).

Are you taking your levothyroxine on an empty stomach at least 2 hrs. away from food/meds/drinks other than water?

D-Mannose is an excellent (and relatively benign) supplement that can help with urinary tract infections - most specifically those caused by E-coli.

I've had bladder issues ala Lyme and am very happy with what Mullein Root tincture is doing for me.

Sorry I don't know anything about the other tests you had done except to say that I wouldn't rely on the Quest WB results - they don't even test for the bands most likely to reflect Lyme.

ShmilyKate said...
No, I am definitely NOT hyper. I have gained about 40 pounds in the past year since becoming sick last September.

The CD57 test really confuses me and I can't really find much info anywhere on it. One source said if the CD57 is high it is indicative of the body fighting co-infections and it is low when it is fighting Lyme. ???

I am ready to give up...I can't seem to get anywhere with 'whatever' illness is going on.

The CD57 is a very confusing test. For some with a chronic infection (like Lyme & Co), the CD57 can be VERY low - and the patient isn't badly compromised by symptoms, yet another person can have a VERY high CD57 and have debilitating symptoms. So it's not a good test to use, except for those with a low CD57 it can help them track the healing of the infections as it should rise as the infections heal - but not always.

This is a good article explaining things about the CD57: /sites.google.com/site/marylandlyme/lab-tests/cd-57

I agree with Astroman and CD about your thyroid, as I had the same issues. Every single doctor that I went to would only 'see' the TSH and refuse to test me further - until I sought out someone known to look for the T3 & T4 values. Sure enough, I have a low functioning thyroid, but it was my adrenals that made them that way. I have severe adrenal exhaustion.

On your hands peeling, take a look at these pictures (caution, they are NOT pretty!!) I also have psoriasis, and my plaque psoriasis hits my knees and elbows, but I have pustular psoriasis that hits my feet and my hands - my hands first start off with little tiny red spots on the 'heel' of my palms, then they have little blisters and some of them will show up with what looks like puss in them (but it's not really from what I have been able to find out), and my hands start to peel.

If you do have psoriasis, there are some things you can do to correct it at home. I use coconut oil to moisturize the skin, and take one probiotic to stop the autoimmune process. It's called Align, it contains B. infantis probiotic. You can buy it over the counter at many stores and online. Just be sure it's got lots of
B. infantis. If I catch it early, 6 weeks of Align and coconut oil stops the psoriasis.

www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/264719.php

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23842110

Thanks Traveler, and everybody for being so kind and helpful. It is not psoriasis, as within 24 hrs of taking the anti fungal the dry blisters stopped forming and even started healing. 10 days later and my hands are 99% back to normal. I didn't get the dry blisters/peeling anywhere but the palms of my hands.

My LLMD seems pretty literate when it comes to thyroid. He is the one who brought it back onto my radar in January...I had just been getting a yearly TSH for the prior 18 years. I asked him at the last appt if he is willing to prescribe Armour, and he said he was. I see him Aug 8th, so guess I will talk with him then if I don't hear from him before that. He started me on the Liothyronine in February and initially I thought it was a miracle but then things leveled out again.