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Hashis and esophageal motility/ hair falling out- please help! Trying to avoid surgery...

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Thyroid Disorders
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Posted 11/1/2013 8:53 PM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone,

Hashis patient here. I've been having issues with esophageal motility and reflux for the last 8 months (diagnosed with Hashis this past January), and I'm trying to rule out my thyroid as a possible cause as per my esophageal specialist's suggestion. Also at present I'm shedding a LOT more than usual... Here are my present labs:

My TSH is 5.5 (range .27-4.2)
Total T3 is .8 (range .8-2.0)
T4 free is 1.25 (range .93-1.7)


Does it look like I'm converting T3 from T4 efficiently? My doc just called in a higher dose of Synthroid after these results (from 75mcg to 88mcg) but I'm not sure if this will do the trick?

Any help or suggestions you have here would be sooooooooo appreciated! My doctor is talking about surgery as the only option to fix my reflux problems, but the motility makes that risky, and I do NOT want surgery if this is just tied to a thyroid issue that is fixable via drugs.


Many, many thanks,

GC
Posted 11/2/2013 4:50 AM (GMT 0)
Your TSH is high, the range set by the AACE ten years ago is : 0.3-3.0, so you are Hypothyroid.
Unfortunately your doctor ordered the Total T3 test which is considered obsolete and of little use.
Posted 11/2/2013 11:34 AM (GMT 0)
Just out of curiosity what does the total T3 measure? Why would they test for it?
I'm having trouble understanding what all the labs mean.
If I'm understanding correctly Free T3 is what is available for your body to use...like circulating in your bloodstream? T4 is produced by the pituitary gland... And you have to have enough T4 for your body to HAVE enough of the "free" hormone circulating in your body?
Am I on the right track here or not?
Posted 11/2/2013 12:40 PM (GMT 0)
No, both T3 and T4 are produced by the thyroid gland, the Total means all of what you have, both Free and bounded to protein, Free means the amount available for your cells to use, the thyroid gland produces much more T4 than T3, the body gets T3 mainly from converting T4 to T3 in the liver, the 3 means three atoms of iodine and 4 means four atoms of iodine, the conversion is done by removing one atom of iodine from T4.

The pituitary senses how much thyroid hormone you have and produces TSH(thyroid stimulating hormone) to tell the thyroid to produce more hormones, TSH goes counter intuitive; if there are less thyroid hormones the TSH increases, and if there are too much the TSH decreases.
Posted 11/2/2013 11:17 PM (GMT 0)
Ahh, ok. I knew the pituitary is responsible for something! I think I may have misunderstood what my doctor was trying to describe the other day. I thought he said T4. This makes sense now. Thanks!

Sorry to the original poster for butting in here.
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