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Intro/Endo Question

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Thyroid Disorders
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Posted 8/5/2011 10:08 PM (GMT 0)
Hello, everyone.

I thought I would go ahead and introduce myself and ask a question.

I'm a happily married 41 year old mother of 2 elementary school aged daughters recently diagnosed with Hashimoto's.  I have been hypothyroid since 1997 and pretty much just chugged along on levoxyl or synthroid with bloodwork every 6 months.  Last January my primary doc started messing around with my dose.  It has been unstable since then, and I finally had the Hashi antibody test in May, and lo and behold, I tested 445.

I have a multitude of other conditions, mostly neurological, leaving me with daily headpain.  I attributed my great fatigue to this.  Now I am thinking it is the Hashi's.

I will have my first visit with an endocrinologist on August 23.  What does the endo do?  I'm already on Synthroid.  What more can be done?  I feel crummy, and have felt so for months if not years.  I am pinning high hopes on this endo to fix me up, heal me.  But how?  Perhaps with a scan of the thyroid?  Maybe I have nodules that need to be removed?  Maybe I have Cancer?  Oddly, I would be relieved if this were the case because something could be done and I would be "fixed".  Maybe I have Chronic Fatigue or Fibro.  Is this something the endo would tell me?  Is the endo the end-all-be-all of patients who feel crummy?

I guess I am just looking for some insight of the role of the endo.  In the meantime I am popping tylenol and using heating pads and ice packs for assorted aches and pains, in addition to the regular pain meds I get from my neurologist for my other conditions, napping at 11am because a trip to the post office wore me out, and avoiding the summer heat because it drains me as well.  All this while my primary doc runs her blood and urine tests for kidney and liver function to make sure everything is still ok, and for now, still fine.

 

Posted 8/6/2011 12:40 AM (GMT 0)
Have you had an ANA test? Some of your symptoms sound like autoimmune issues. Ask your Endo to test you on this, too.

An Endo will help you regulate your levels and check you for any malformations or cancers.
My one trip to an endo was bloodwork and ultrasound because of the outer part of my throat was sore. The bloodwork was fine and the scan normal. My throat was sore because the glands were swollen from Lupus.
Posted 8/6/2011 12:48 AM (GMT 0)
Of course, hashimottos is an autoimmune issue and your antibodies are very high. If you have active autoimmune activity against your thyroid while on meds you may want to talk to your endo about having your thyroid removed. Risks/benefits etc.

Also, do see a rhuemy because once you have one autoimmune disorder it is prety likely that you will at some point develop another.

I have had RA since I was 26, am now 40 and will be talking to my Rhuemy on Monday because I just became very symptomatic of hashi's.
Posted 8/6/2011 9:22 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, thanks for the replies. No, I haven't had the ANA test. Nor have I seen a rhuemy. I will follow up with both of those suggestions, thanks.

Just trying to make it through each day. Last night I realized my sleep positions are not comfortable. Laying on my back is painful in my stomach. Laying on my side is painful in my hips. Laying on my stomach is painful in my back. I can't win. Any suggestions for that? I fall asleep on my back with a heating pad under my back. After about an hour I wake up and turn off the heating pad.
Posted 8/6/2011 10:17 PM (GMT 0)
Can you find a heating pad that has a timer?

I have issues with my back at times, too. I went and bought two memory foam toppers for my bed. One is two inches and the other is two inches with a two inch regular foam bottom. It's supportive and soft at the same time. It has really eased my pains.
Posted 8/7/2011 12:19 AM (GMT 0)
I bought a posturpedic mattress firm with a pillow top that helped me a lot.
I also have meds for pain when neccessary.
Posted 8/7/2011 7:24 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks, I have a sleep number bed and I keep it firm (my preference). My husband has those foam egg shell inserts on his side. Maybe I should get some of those for my side, too.

I have pain meds I take for my neuro condition (three times a day), and it must be helping the body aches a little, and I take tylenol once or twice a day, too. I can't imagine what my pain would be like without all that medicine.

Oh, I really, really can't wait for the 23rd for that endo appointment.
Posted 8/16/2011 2:56 PM (GMT 0)
One trick I learned from someone on the fibro forum - take a body pillow and wedge it behind your body then lay into it. You will not be sleeping on your back or your side and will also have that stability of not trying to hold yourself in that position. I feel it has helped me quite a bit.
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