Thyroid redux
Draft of message to my doctor (and yes I plan on finding a new gp).
Comments welcome
#
My concern with the test result was not purely the TSH number itself, but
the fact that eight months ago it was 1.49 and now it's 3.38, more than
double. That doesn't seem good.
(My understanding of what's "good" for TSH numbers is that there's a lot of
variance between sources -- some say anything over 2 is concerning, some
don't think it's a problem until it's higher than 4. That's part of why I
asked for a referral -- there's no clear answer, but an endocrinologist
would have a better idea of how to judge what if anything is going on,)
If you still don't think it's worth being seen by an endo, I am okay with
waiting a month and getting re-tested, as long as the full panel of thyroid
tests are run -- not just TSH and T4, but also T3, thyroid peroxidase
antibody (TPOAb), thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb), reverse T3 (rT3).
I would also like to reiterate the need to test vitamins B and D. I am not
worried about *intake* so much as *absorption*, especially since I have a
family history of D deficiency.
I'm not trying to be a pest; I'm trying to figure out why I have
debilitating fatigue. This is not just "oh I'm kind of tired" fatigue. This
is "I can't get anything done" fatigue. This is "going to church wipes me
out for the rest of the day" fatigue. This is *not normal for me at all*,
and if we can figure out why, we can maybe treat it.
It's true that most young people don't have vitamin problems -- but I am
not exactly young any more, and most people my age are able to do stuff
without being exhausted all the time. I'd like to figure out what's going
on.
Cross-posted between DW (here) and LJ. Comments welcome in either place; DW has
comments
Comments welcome
#
My concern with the test result was not purely the TSH number itself, but
the fact that eight months ago it was 1.49 and now it's 3.38, more than
double. That doesn't seem good.
(My understanding of what's "good" for TSH numbers is that there's a lot of
variance between sources -- some say anything over 2 is concerning, some
don't think it's a problem until it's higher than 4. That's part of why I
asked for a referral -- there's no clear answer, but an endocrinologist
would have a better idea of how to judge what if anything is going on,)
If you still don't think it's worth being seen by an endo, I am okay with
waiting a month and getting re-tested, as long as the full panel of thyroid
tests are run -- not just TSH and T4, but also T3, thyroid peroxidase
antibody (TPOAb), thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb), reverse T3 (rT3).
I would also like to reiterate the need to test vitamins B and D. I am not
worried about *intake* so much as *absorption*, especially since I have a
family history of D deficiency.
I'm not trying to be a pest; I'm trying to figure out why I have
debilitating fatigue. This is not just "oh I'm kind of tired" fatigue. This
is "I can't get anything done" fatigue. This is "going to church wipes me
out for the rest of the day" fatigue. This is *not normal for me at all*,
and if we can figure out why, we can maybe treat it.
It's true that most young people don't have vitamin problems -- but I am
not exactly young any more, and most people my age are able to do stuff
without being exhausted all the time. I'd like to figure out what's going
on.
Cross-posted between DW (here) and LJ. Comments welcome in either place; DW has
comments