What is wrong with me? Hypothyroidism? Pituitary hypothyroidism? Hashimoto's? Leukemia? ?
I'm 19, about 5 feet tall, 116 lbs. African-American.
History: Most of the symptoms I have I've had for years, but being raised in a family that pushed me to "just deal with it" whenever I complained about feeling sick Iwas forced to push myself. I'm in a much better situation, but since I've been here my health has consistently been declining and I've developed anxitey which keeps getting worse. Life before this year was pretty close to unbearably stressful including freuqent sporadic bouts of homelessness all throughout my life as well as other traumatic events. I thought maybe it could be ptsd or GAD, but the anxitey just began now that I'm removed from the stressful situation and placed into a stable one, same with my body pretty much breaking down. Through-out my developmental years I abused a variety of pills (Been clean for awhile.) as well as ingesting mass amounts of soy (vegetarian for eight years) and starting birth control at 14. Family has a history of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, addiction. Possibly a history of hypothyroid, but only one family member is officially diagnosed ,four people total with parallel symptoms though.
Symptoms including, but not limited to: Dry, brittle hair & scalp, hair loss, dry skin, several different kinds of recurring headaches (center of head between ears mostly), weight flucuations ,Hirsutism, irregular periods, infertility, acne, visual disturbances (three dots in a triangular formation), bleeding gums, tooth decay, sporadic dizziness, loss of motor control, slurred speech, fevers (past 2 month), menstrual irregularities, infertility, sinuses hurt constantly throughout ears and face, several serious sinus infections over the years, "lump stuck in throat" feeling, swelling under her chin sometimes, heartburn, stabbing chest pains (really painful almost incapacitating), heart palpitations, back & shoulder pain (excruciating, chronic), trouble digesting food, no appetite, possible gall bladder problems, daily nausea, muscle weakness, joint pain, chronic yeast infections over the years (generally very prone to infection), "tingling" in limbs kind of like they fell asleep but more intense of a pins & needles feeling, lack of energy, shortness of breath., lump on her arm about a centimeter or so high, what feels like carpal tunnel, insomnia, serious anxiety. Temperature. is very low in the morning and high at night. She's extremely sensitive to cold, sensitive to light(sometimes it causes her to vomit or pass out)
We're worried that the ranges of normality might be off considering she's a pretty tiny person and i guess wouldn't have the same range of normality as someone who is of average height and weight or someone that hasn't been on birth control on and off since they were 14
Theories have been put forth that it could be either depression in general (it absolutely isn't), 1.pituitary or secondary hypothyroid, 2.Adrenal failure originating in the pituitary gland( due to what seems like bouncing between hyperthyroid and hypothyroid) 3. Leukemia (due to her wbc being on the high end and her rbc being on the low end) or some Autoimmune disease (due to her lymphocyte count being on the high end and her monocyte count being on the low end)
Doctors are just pretty much refusing to listen to her tell them her symptoms or perform tests, especially if they know her history. Or they tell her it's anxiety or depression because her results are "within range".
Here are a lot of test results, if you can make any sense out of them I'd really appreciate it:
BUN/Creatinine Ratio 13
Alkaline Phosphatase, S 48 (IU/L)
LDH 115 (IU/L)
AST (SGOT) 15 (IU/L)
ALT (SGPT) 14 (IU/L)
pH 6.0
Free T4 1.28 (ng/dL)
TSH 1.051 (uIU/mL)
Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) Ab <10 (IU/mL)
free t3 3.3 (pg/mL)
antithyroglobulin ab siemens (DPC) ICMA Method <20 IU/ML --40
WBC 8.6 (x10E3/uL)
RBC 4.13 (x10E6/uL)
Hemoglobin 12.3 (g/dL)
Hematocrit 36.2 (%)
RDW 12.7 (%)
Platelets 344 (x10E3/uL)
Neutrophils 46 (%)
Lymphs 49 (%)
Monocytes 4 (%)
Eos 1 (%)
Basos 0 (%)
Neutrophils (Absolute) 4.0 (x10E3/uL)
Lymphs (Absolute) 4.2 (x10E3/uL)
Monocytes (Absolute) 0.3 (x10E3/uL)
Eos (Absolute) 0.1 (x10E3/uL)
Baso (Absolute) 0.0
I forgot to clarify a few things. The tooth decay is recent, most of the enamel on my teeth is gone. I don't have insurance at all. I can't work and I can't go to school. And I'm no longer a vegetarian as of one year ago.
Also, I've been all over the vitamins situation. All kinds of D, B, B12, A and some other multi as well as iron supplements.
- Adam L
The biggest thing I can see that's off is your blood pH. This is called metabolic acidosis. This could explain some of your symptoms. There is definitely something more going on there, though.
- A Canadian
Your blood work looks essentially normal but take it from some one who suffers with hypothyroidism...the blood work doesn't mean a thing sometimes..it does sound like you have a goiter and a good number of the symptoms you describe are classic of hypo. I would also urge you to get tested fro PCOS...you fit that description also.
- Katherine W
You have symptoms that wouldn't be explained just by low thyroid. You need a complete workup by a competent team of doctors. If your current doctors are not taking your symptoms seriously, you need to find a new doctor who will help you. I'm especially concerned about your slurred speech.
I think you should get treatment for the things you know about, as it seems you have multiple things going on. I would start with an anti-anxiety medication: it could be that your doctors are ignoring your symptoms because of the way you present them, and by taking some anti-anxiety medication, you might be able to speak with less anxiety and therefore present your problems in a way that they're more likely to take seriously. At the least, if you're on anti-anxiety medication, they can't just dismiss everything as 'anxiety.'
Next, I'd get your dental problems treated. When you have infections around the gums, it can impact your whole health. You should get cavities filled, and begin flossing and general tooth care. If you have problems affording this, there are dental clinics and you can also go to a dental school and have students work on you supervised by professors of dentistry.
I suspect you also might need some nutritional help. Vegetarianism can be good for you, but you have to know how to get sufficient protein by combining foods, and a lot of people don't do that. Even if you are no longer vegetarian, you may have depleted your body of some minerals and B vitamins. A good nutritionist or dietician can help.
You should also see an eye doctor about those visual irregularities. It might be something that's easy to explain, or they may be able to look at your retina and see if something else is showing up (diabetes shows up in the eyes, for example).
I think you should also consider some alternative therapies. I'd see a chirorpractor about all of this -- they will take a long history and see if they can recommend anything, and at the least they can work on the tingling numbness you're getting. Also, and I don't have experience in this, but I've heard that accupuncture and accupressure can deal with things that western medicine can't seem to do, and they've had definite results with things like infertility, I believe.
I know this is a lot. Perhaps you can pick one thing and just do that, and see if you get results, and then keep going.
I wish you luck!
- mimuful
Hello...your test results mean nothing to us if you don't include the lab ranges. Thats because every lab has a different method of testing and have different ranges. So I am unsure what is low or high.
I have a pituitary condition AND Hashimotos. Before I was able to find a Dr. that would listen, I had many of the symptoms you describe and was told I was just depressed. I found a good Dr. that realized I might have the 2 conditions and combined they were making some of the lab results look normal (one condition was pulling them down, the other up). And he said "OF course your depressed, your very sick!" Why isn't IGF 1 including in your test results? Thats a very important test to determine pituitary functioning. All your symptoms point to a pituitary problem. You need to find a good Endocrinologist who specializes in pituitary disorders. Go to www.pituitary.org and look through Dr. listings. I'm not sure what you should do about the financial issue but maybe someone can help you out.
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