Guest guest Posted May 4, 2010 Report Share Posted May 4, 2010 Hi , I found this forum from the Stop The Thyroid Madness website. I hope you might be able to answer a couple questions if you have the time ( I've searched the files and links but haven't found what I'm looking for yet...which could be because of my muddled brain ). I'll try to make this short. I have every single symptom of thyroid problems. I had been tested many times and the only thing that ever was out of range was a high FT4. So, I was given a benzo and sent on my merry way. It helped for about 2 weeks and then I kept getting sicker and sicker and sicker. Ended up completely debilitated and had to quit my job. I got off the benzo, but now I am a million times worse than I was before taking it. I had more bloodwork done last fall and still had a high FT4 of 2.28 ( 0.57-1.01 ). My TSH was 2.99 ( 0.38-4.30 ). My T3 was not tested at this time but was tested months before that and it was in the middle of the range. The antibody test was negative. Had a thyroid ultrasound and it showed no goiter but the report said one side is a little bigger than the other. Have no idea what this means. I had an ACTH Stim test. My 8am cortisol was 6 ( range 8-21 ) and went up to 22 30 minutes after getting cosyntropin. The initial dose of cosyntropin made me very flush and dizzy, but then I started feeling soooo much better and felt almost normal for the rest of the day. The next day I crapped out again It's also interesting that there were other times my cortisol was tested and was in the high 20's, but I still felt like death ( I feel the same when my cortisol is 6 as I do when it is 28 ). It was only after the ACTH stim test that I got a little life back in me. I guess it stimulated other things besides cortisol. I also found out my ferritin level was less than 1. I have been taking a precription iron pill since August. My questions........... ~ Can having such low ferritin have masked a thyroid problem and possibly made my thyroid tests appear ok, and can supplementing with iron uncover a thyroid problem on lab tests? ( I haven't been retested yet ). ~ What does a high FT4 mean? Docs all said it means nothing. ~ I tried taking Cortef for the low cortisol, but after one dose ( 5mg ) I felt a million times worse...not better. I thought I would DIE! I am very sensitive to any medications now. Have you ever heard of this happening? ~ Since I have all symptoms of a hypothyroid, do you think I could possibly have a thyroid resistance problem? I really feel like I am slowly dying and these doctors aren't helping me one bit. I will continue reading the information on this website and the other RT3 website you recommended. In the meantime I would so much appreciate any thoughts you may have. My head is so muddled and muddy, it's so hard to process the scientific articles and understand some of them. I am a national board certified teacher and now feel like I've lost 50 IQ points and am dumber than a box of rocks. Sooo hard to think and figure out what to do. Thank you so much for your help and time. Pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 4, 2010 Report Share Posted May 4, 2010 I guess I should add..... I started going back over all my old labs and have never had my Reverse T3 tested. I looked at an old lab order form and there isn't even a Reverse T3 box to check to have it tested at the lab( Quest Diagnostics ). Would it be called something else? The last endocrinologist I saw tested: T3 Total T3 Uptake T4 Total Free T4 Index (T7) TSH The last internal med doc tested: TSH Free T4 I had some labs done by ZRT Labratory last year, and they tested... Free T4 ...which was 5.1 ( range 0.7-2.5 ) Free T3 ...which was 3.8 ( range 2.5-6.5 ) TSH ...which was 0.8 ( range 0.5-3.0 ) TPO ...which was 40 ( range 0-150 ) Have I been overlooked all this time by not having my Reverse T3 tested? > > Hi , > > I found this forum from the Stop The Thyroid Madness website. I hope you might be able to answer a couple questions if you have the time ( I've searched the files and links but haven't found what I'm looking for yet...which could be because of my muddled brain ). > > I'll try to make this short. > > I have every single symptom of thyroid problems. I had been tested many times and the only thing that ever was out of range was a high FT4. > > So, I was given a benzo and sent on my merry way. It helped for about 2 weeks and then I kept getting sicker and sicker and sicker. Ended up completely debilitated and had to quit my job. I got off the benzo, but now I am a million times worse than I was before taking it. > > I had more bloodwork done last fall and still had a high FT4 of 2.28 ( 0.57-1.01 ). My TSH was 2.99 ( 0.38-4.30 ). My T3 was not tested at this time but was tested months before that and it was in the middle of the range. The antibody test was negative. > > Had a thyroid ultrasound and it showed no goiter but the report said one side is a little bigger than the other. Have no idea what this means. > > > I had an ACTH Stim test. My 8am cortisol was 6 ( range 8-21 ) and went up to 22 30 minutes after getting cosyntropin. The initial dose of cosyntropin made me very flush and dizzy, but then I started feeling soooo much better and felt almost normal for the rest of the day. The next day I crapped out again > > It's also interesting that there were other times my cortisol was tested and was in the high 20's, but I still felt like death ( I feel the same when my cortisol is 6 as I do when it is 28 ). It was only after the ACTH stim test that I got a little life back in me. I guess it stimulated other things besides cortisol. > > I also found out my ferritin level was less than 1. I have been taking a precription iron pill since August. > > My questions........... > > ~ Can having such low ferritin have masked a thyroid problem and possibly made my thyroid tests appear ok, and can supplementing with iron uncover a thyroid problem on lab tests? ( I haven't been retested yet ). > > ~ What does a high FT4 mean? Docs all said it means nothing. > > ~ I tried taking Cortef for the low cortisol, but after one dose ( 5mg ) I felt a million times worse...not better. I thought I would DIE! I am very sensitive to any medications now. Have you ever heard of this happening? > > ~ Since I have all symptoms of a hypothyroid, do you think I could possibly have a thyroid resistance problem? I really feel like I am slowly dying and these doctors aren't helping me one bit. > > > I will continue reading the information on this website and the other RT3 website you recommended. In the meantime I would so much appreciate any thoughts you may have. My head is so muddled and muddy, it's so hard to process the scientific articles and understand some of them. I am a national board certified teacher and now feel like I've lost 50 IQ points and am dumber than a box of rocks. Sooo hard to think and figure out what to do. > > Thank you so much for your help and time. > > Pam > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 5, 2010 Report Share Posted May 5, 2010 Hi again. I copied these questions from my original post. Hope I'm not being annoying, but can anybody else help answer these? My original post was a bit wordy. Sorry about that. Thanks, Pam > > > My questions........... > > ~ Can having such low ferritin have masked a thyroid problem and possibly made my thyroid tests appear ok, and can supplementing with iron uncover a thyroid problem on lab tests? ( I haven't been retested yet ). > > ~ What does a high FT4 mean? Docs all said it means nothing. No big deal. ( Then why does it have a lab range? ) > > ~ I tried taking Cortef for the low cortisol, but after one dose ( 5mg ) I felt a million times worse...not better. I thought I would DIE! I am very sensitive to any medications now. Have you ever heard of this happening? I just took 500mg of Vitamin C and an hour later I feel so flushed and just awful I used to take 1,000mg before I got sick with no problem at all. > > ~ Since I have all symptoms of a hypothyroid, do you think I could possibly have a thyroid resistance problem? I really feel like I am slowly dying and these doctors aren't helping me one bit. > > > > Thank you so much for your help and time. > > Pam > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 5, 2010 Report Share Posted May 5, 2010 ~ Can having such low ferritin have masked a thyroid problem and possibly made my thyroid tests appear ok, and can supplementing with iron uncover a thyroid problem on lab tests? ( I haven't been retested yet ). Possibly as thyroid cannot be utilized properly wiht lwo ferritin so it is not reachign the cells thus even too little hormone may stil build upo and look high in the blood. > > ~ What does a high FT4 mean? Docs all said it means nothing. No big deal. ( Then why does it have a lab range? ) It means you are nbto able to utilize or convert thyroid properly. Thsi causes T4 to convert to RT3 which then blocks the T3 from the receoptors. > > ~ I tried taking Cortef for the low cortisol, but after one dose ( 5mg ) I felt a million times worse...not better. I thought I would DIE! I am very sensitive to any medications now. Have you ever heard of this happening? I just took 500mg of Vitamin C and an hour later I feel so flushed and just awful I used to take 1,000mg before I got sick with no problem at all. Actually htis is a VERY common reaciton to too low a dose of cortiosl. It is also a guarantee you need it. When you take a tiny dose of HC it lowers your pover aensitive HPA to NIL as it is over reactive when in this low cortisl state, This in turn causes that minute dose to be MUCH less than you actuall y need as you nto only need to replace what oyu were already lwo in but also what it supressed. The best way around this is to take enough to being wiht uually 25-35mg. > > ~ Since I have all symptoms of a hypothyroid, do you think I could possibly have a thyroid resistance problem? I really feel like I am slowly dying and these doctors aren't helping me one bit. RT3 ISS thyroid resistance. Low coaritsol and lwo ferritin are both causes of thyroid resistance. SO yes yo uhave thyroid resistance probelm. > > > -- http://nthadrenalsweb.org/ http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS/ http://faqhelp.webs.com/ http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/RT3_T3/ http://www.thyroid-rt3.com/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HypoPets/ http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 5, 2010 Report Share Posted May 5, 2010 Thank you, Val. About the Cortef, I was prescribed 10mg, 5mg and 5mg to be spread out during the day. I took 1 dose that morning and crashed and burned and am TERRIFIED to try that again. I didn't realize one dose will suppress everything you make on your own right away. Wow...this is all so confusing and scary and unfair. Sucks having to figure this all out on my own with no doctor to help and have people ( family/friends ) think I'm attention seeking and a hypochondriac. I am FAR from being a hypochindriac as I have to be dragged kicking and screaming to the doctor because I loathe them so badly. Over the years, the egos and arrogance and lack of compassion has scarred me pretty badly. I suppose you all feel the same. Thanks again for the help! Pam > > ~ Can having such low ferritin have masked a thyroid problem and possibly made my thyroid tests appear ok, and can supplementing with iron uncover a thyroid problem on lab tests? ( I haven't been retested yet ). > > Possibly as thyroid cannot be utilized properly wiht lwo ferritin so it is not reachign the cells thus even too little hormone may stil build upo and look high in the blood. > > > > ~ What does a high FT4 mean? Docs all said it means nothing. No big deal. ( Then why does it have a lab range? ) > > It means you are nbto able to utilize or convert thyroid properly. Thsi causes T4 to convert to RT3 which then blocks the T3 from the receoptors. > > > > ~ I tried taking Cortef for the low cortisol, but after one dose ( 5mg ) I felt a million times worse...not better. I thought I would DIE! I am very sensitive to any medications now. Have you ever heard of this happening? I just took 500mg of Vitamin C and an hour later I feel so flushed and just awful I used to take 1,000mg before I got sick with no problem at all. > > Actually htis is a VERY common reaciton to too low a dose of cortiosl. It is also a guarantee you need it. When you take a tiny dose of HC it lowers your pover aensitive HPA to NIL as it is over reactive when in this low cortisl state, This in turn causes that minute dose to be MUCH less than you actuall y need as you nto only need to replace what oyu were already lwo in but also what it supressed. The best way around this is to take enough to being wiht uually 25-35mg. > > > > ~ Since I have all symptoms of a hypothyroid, do you think I could possibly have a thyroid resistance problem? I really feel like I am slowly dying and these doctors aren't helping me one bit. > > RT3 ISS thyroid resistance. Low coaritsol and lwo ferritin are both causes of thyroid resistance. SO yes yo uhave thyroid resistance probelm. > > > > > > > > -- > > http://nthadrenalsweb.org/ > http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS/ > http://faqhelp.webs.com/ > > http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/RT3_T3/ > http://www.thyroid-rt3.com/ > > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HypoPets/ > http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/ > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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