MYSTERY ILLNESS SAGA :D :D

[kaberett]

So! I have now been on thyroxine for about six weeks. In that time, my miserable symptoms have entirely resolved (no more cystic acne! more energy! better sleep! normal gut service resumed! I'm not cold all the time!) aaaaaand my serum TSH has dropped from low end of normal (0.64) to "subclinical hyperthyroidism" (0.26). The thing is, to some extent this was expected because supplementing thyroxine, and on the other hand it was already dropping steadily prior to thyroxine supplementation!

... and I'm seronegative for thyroid peroxidase antibodies buuuut (a) those aren't the only ones out there, and (b) some people are just seronegative for all of them. Also (c) they're v low concentration and fluctuate a bunch even then.

So! Is it masked hyperthyroidism, where the hyperthyroidism causes hypo-like symptoms because hysteresis? Is it autoimmune hypothyroidism, which would fit with my other conditions, with no antibodies detectable because I like being difficult? Is it something else altogether? Are they going to take away my thyroxine and just leave me weeping and investigating the grey markets? WHO KNOWS. But hey, I can buy it off the internet if they do. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG.

Comments

[vass]

Crossing my fingers that it turns out to be something that ends up with you continuing healthy and with the symptoms still resolved.

(Has your T4 changed over that time?)

[kaberett]

In March, T4 was 11.6 pmol/L; it's now 17.1, so it's gone from the low end of the reference range to the high end (ref range 9.00-19.00 pmol/L)...

[kaberett]

(I keep being a bit baffled by thyroid because this is reaaaaaaaally not something I've previously looked into much -- I've had irregulars for that! -- so I'm abruptly trying to assimilate a bunch of information and I don't have a good sense for what the numbers mean...)

[jesse_the_k]

Very glad to hear you have more data. More data is always good.

Sincere best wishes for figuring out the thyroid balance--it's a super-complex system. Each time I see my endocrinologist she tries to explain things. Each time I understand less.

[sfred]

Hurray for symptoms going away! I hope the next steps go OK.

[kaberett]

Fingers crossed! My (out-of-area) GP is generally pretty great, so honestly the tricky bit is likely to be getting my local GP to behave sensibly with taking over the prescription, but I've found one I'm toleraby convinced by so I'll give him another go once I've had a chat to the well-trained one...

[sebenikela]

hooray for feeling better! Fingers crossed things stay sorted.