Crazy question- thyroid, hormones, hypoglycemic and "normal" blood tests??

Hi MarriedtoLymeinNJ.  No, you are not insane!  Doctors who think everyone fits into the same "normal"  paremeters are insane in my opinion.

Lyme disease can definitely affect thyroid, adrenal, and hormone function.  As I have posted many times, I  think everyone who has Lyme--both male and female--should have these levels tested. 

Regarding thyroid testing, have you ever had the Free T3, Free T4, and thyroid antibodies tested?

If you want more information on testing, let me know.  I am on my way out now, but I will check back later.

 

Hi, MarriedTLinNJ~

I think it is possible to have such issues and still have normal blood work. i think it's part of the reason why doctors often think our symptoms are psychosomatic. My female hormones are definitely out of whack, and have been for years (to the extent that I'm considering a hysterectomy--and even my holistically minded gyn thinks thats a good idea.) That gyn got my low vitamin D levels back to normal, and ran a less-used test to determine that my iron stores were low (ie, anemic, but it didn't show up on the normal test for that).

So, got the vitamin D and iron stuff sorted out, and felt lots better, but still had other issues, and seeking treatment for anxiety, literally stumbled on to someone who diagnosed my Lyme/bart. She ran the typical battery of blood tests, and told me that if she didn't know better, she would look at those results and think they belonged to a healthy 20 year old. (I'm 52--and not exactly feeling up to snuff!) She didn't seem surprised by that--kind of inferred that it's not atypical for folks with Lyme, etc. to look better on paper than they actually are. She also has Lyme, so she knows for herself what the struggle is.

By the way, I live near Philly, don't know where in NJ you are, but my holistically minded gyn would not dismiss your issues, and she's great with sleuthing down issues and prescribing supplements, herbs, etc. She doesn't "do" insurance, so might be pricey (I can submit for a 60% coverage) but she does do consults; it's really her specialty now to get people straightened out at the cellular level.

It's frustrating, huh? Hope your health picture improves . . .

MattyLou

If you have symptoms of low thyroid you should be on thyroid medication to see if the symptoms resolve - tests are inconclusive. It could be lyme is affecting your thyroid making it worse and it can also be that a low thyroid is making it difficult for you to recover. It is a merry-go round.
This is important to know about taking thyroid medicine. When you take a thyroid medication it goes into your blood stream and when it reaches a certain level your thyroid quits producing hormones of it's own. You are not adding thyroid hormone on top of what your body is making. Your body quits making it. You have to add more thyroid than your body was producing before to have any affect. For this reason it is easy to slowly raise your hormone level without the risk of overdosing. You should check the symptoms of low thyroid and if you feel deficient and go to a sympathetic doctor that will give you armour thyroid based upon symptoms. My hormones were completely out of wack all of my life and it was thyroid. Taking bio- identical hormones will be much more helpful than birth control pills.
Ome signs of low thyroid are fatigue. lethargy, sluggish mind, dry scaly skin, dry brittle hair, fingernails that tear, heavy periods, missing the outer third of the eyebrow, indentations left on tongue when you wake in morning (swelling of tongue), depression and some people think lack of fingernail moons. You will not have all the symptoms unless you are really sick.

Hi MarriedtoLymeinNJ.  You need to have better thyroid testing done.  Ask to have the Free T3, Free T4, and thyroid antibodies tested in addition to the normal panel.  If antibodies are present, it indicates Hashimoto's Thyroiditis which is an auto-immune thyroid disorder.  Some people who have Hashimoto's have other results in the normal range, but treatment is warranted because of the antibodies.  Also, normal results may not be optimal for you.

In my opinion, finding a truly knowledgeable thyroid doctor can be almost as hard as finding a knowledgeable Lyme doctor.  I recommend calling a compounding pharmacy in your area to see if they can recommend a thyroid doctor and a doctor who is knowledgeable about bio-identical hormones.  Doctors who are knowledgeable in these areas often use compounding pharmacies. This is how I found my latest thyroid doctor.  He has helped me more in a few months than all the other doctors combined have in several years.

Regarding having your hormone levels checked, it is my understanding that saliva testing is more reliable than blood testing.  My doctor used ZRT Lab http://www.salivatest.com/ to test  cortisol (adrenal), DHEA, estrogen, testosterone, and estradiol levels.  I was deficient in all of them, and it has helped me tremendously to address this.

I hope this helps!