New Labs - Opinions Please!

[Guest guest]

A little background, I am 57 years old, hysto in the late 1980's, no

HRT since the late 1990's. I was diagnosed with Hashi's about six or

seven years ago due to elevated antibodies, and the endo prescribed

Synthroid (even tho he said my other labs did not support it). After

about 18 months of increasing doses (with increasing symptoms!) I

stopped the Synthroid. I tried a minute dose of Armour but could not

tolerate it, due to horrible back pain, elevated pulse rate, etc.

I had cortisol saliva testing done in July, 2007 (will be doing

another soon):

7-8A 25 - range 13-24 - elevated

11-12N 4 - range 5-10 - depressed

4-5P 3 - range 3-8 - low normal

11-12M 2 - range 1-4

DHEA 3 - range 3-10

Most current serum labs run on March 21, 2008:

Vit D, 25 OH, 29.3 - low - range 30-60 (in June 2007, was 16.8, range

32-100, supplementing with 5,000 iu's D3 per day).

Ferritin, 18.0 - range 11.0-306.8

TSH 1.87 - range .44-4.37 (has ranged from .03 to almost 3 over the

past 2 years)

PTH Intact w/o calcium, 52 - range 12-88

Calcium, 9.8 - range 8.7-10.0

FT4 0.9 - range .6-1.6 (has been decreasing steadily every time labs

are taken).

FT3 - this doc refused to run any T3's, he said that would

only " confuse " the issue. My last FT3 was July, 2007, was 1.06,

range .87-1.78. They have also steadily decreased.

My sodium and potassium both came back in normal ranges after testing

low last time. He was supposed to run my B-12 (which was borderline

low last time), but didn't.

I had another thyroid ultrasound in Feb, 2008, and it showed my

thyroid was swollen, worse on the right side, with multiple nodules

(some full of fluid, some solid, and some a combination of the two).

I have a goiter (although not huge) that feels like it is choking me,

but the doc sees no reason to treat it. My vocal cords are also

swollen (reinke's edema), so the combination of the two makes it

worse.

He stated that all of my labs are normal, and he would not prescribe

thyroid hormones because he said it would make matters worse! When I

asked him about all of my symptoms, he said that there are lots of

things that could be causing them, and had no further ideas other

than to come back in three months.

The last time my aldosterone and renin were checked, the renin was

out of range low and the aldosterone was borderline low; that doc said

I could not have a pituitary problem as the ratio of the two was okay

and that I also have high blood pressure. (As a side note, a mod on

another thyroid board disagrees, and believes me to be secondary AI,

needing cortisol replacement and Armour; he also reviewed the results

of my cortisol stim test -- but, of course, no Docs agree and I

haven't been able to get further testing!)

My primary concerns at this point are the swollen/nodular/goiter

thyroid, osteoporosis, degenerative disk disease, aching in

bones/joints/muscles, almost a steady, throbbing pain just to the

left of my spine and below my bra strap area; badly thinning hair,

dry cracking skin, unrefreshed sleep, unbelievable fatigue, brain

fog/memory problems, and EXTREME mood changes (and I don't mean good

ones!).

I supplement with sea salt, CoQ10 with fish oil, Evening Primrose

Oil, and other vitamins, extra B's, C, and iron.

Other than firing this doc and trying to find another one, anyone

have any other suggestions? Ideas? Thanks for " listening " .