Under-active Thyroid

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  • Hi Christine
    My goodness - another member! There's more of us than we thought - welcome!

    I get the headaches too, usually only when I race but I haven't associated them with TD. I had one on Sunday after a very hilly 6.25m race.

    There have been lots of threads on this in the past - with as many theories. You might want to try searching the site to see if you can turn them up.

    I feel mine are triggered by something to do with a change in blood pressure on extreme exertion. My 'normal' BP is very normal. I can tell in advance if I'm going to have a headache by a sort of warm flush that spreads up from the back of my neck and then my whole face flushes. It feels different to just being hot from exercise - I'm not sure I can explain it any better!

    Like you, I find they last the rest of the day and they are migraine-like in severity.
    Do you push really hard on every run - perhaps you might be doing too much too quickly and not giving your body enough time to adapt to the new routine. If your hydration is good, are you well fuelled too - I think low blood sugar can bring on headaches?

    The shivering I can definitely relate to. I went through a phase of getting violent shivers after exercise - even gym work. I would sit in the changing room swaddled in towels until I could control my movements again. I think this is TD related - I no longer experience this now that I'm stable on the right level of replacement for me. I also found that eating right away helped - I kept an energy bar in my bag.

    This site explains heat regulation quite clearly and it includes the role of thyroid hormones in regulating body temperature:

    http://www.ann.com.au/MedSci/rmoregul.htm

    Hope this helps!
  • Hi lmh
    Well I don't think it's hypochondria if you are experiencing physical symptoms like these.

    What might help is to keep a symptom diary for a bit. It's a drag to do but it might help to make connections. You need to record everything - what you eat and drink, any medication/supplements etc. and when, what exercise you do and when, how you feel, what symptoms you have, what got better, what got worse etc. You may find a pattern emerges. Then go back to your doctor - you shouldn't be having swollen glands for no good reason.
  • Hi Christine

    Welcome to the 'club.'

    I also joined this forum last week, and have found it to be a great help with so many fellow sufferers giving their help and support.

    I honestly believe that the symptoms you describe of headaches of a long duration, and the extreme body temperatures of either really cold or adverse heat are thyroid related. I suffer in exactly the same, and it coincides with needing the dose of Thyroxine increased. The first time it happended to me, especially with the blinding headaches, and also feeling totally debilitated the day after running, I could'nt understand why, when I had taken on board plenty of fluid, etc. However, having returned to the doctors for a TFT, my dose was increased. The same situation recently occured again (six months down the line), and my dose is now 150 mcg.

    You sound to me as though you are still on a very low dose, so hope that you doctor is prescribing adequately, and that you have your thyroid checked again in the not too distant future.
  • Now im worried
    I always turn bright blue and shiver post exercise

    Only ever had T4 checked
  • Hmmmm.... what do they say about doctors being the worst patients???!!! Get checked out Hippo - you seem to have several things that could be thyroid symptoms. Best to exclude, huh?
  • Morning All,

    Shirl, I think you're right - I'm going to have to get serious if I'm going to get anything done. Part of the problem is that I get caught up in the depression and lethargy. At the moment I seem to be spending nearly four weeks out of every eight being so tired and ill that if it wasn't for my fantastic OH I'm not sure what I'd do. It seems more likely that this is related to my B12 jabs rather than the thyroid but as I have the jabs at 8 weekly intervals and the norm is 12 weekly I'm already in dispute with the docs about that. I just get so tired of trying to fight the system and have some semblance of a life.
    If you think you can or you think you can't you're probably right.
  • Shirl
    im fat cos im a pig
    LMH-seriously, are you doing too much in the 4 weeks you are ok
    Not saying there arent medical issues-but you know what i mean dont you
  • Hi Hippo - I do know what you mean but I think that the answer is no. I work, I run (only about 25 - 30 miles a week though I want to train for a marathon later this year) and that's about all I have the energy for. In my good weeks I can stay up until 2200hrs, maybe 2230hrs. Last night I was struggling coming up to 2000hrs - and I get this for three weeks before my B12 jab. For three or four days after my jab I normally feel nauseous and have quite a bad headache. My GP tells me that I should be able to live a normal life - but I don't think this is normal. My work colleagues manage to have nights out and late nights even with our stressy job and silly shifts.
    If you think you can or you think you can't you're probably right.
  • so-nothing to do with your massive half mara pb then?
    your work colleagues may not run either
    or work as hard a syou
    Just a thought
  • Tiredness, lethargy, hair loss, unable to keep warm (I have 5 layers on and but still cold), dizziness, headaches, irregular cycle, waking up and feeling drunk (even though I haven't touched alcohol for months!)...should I be worried? My doctor isn't!

  • Hippo - I'm not exactly fast! The four other people I was with on Sunday ran PBs too and they weren't asleep for most of Monday.

    One of my work colleagues works out six days a week (gym, hockey, running)though she is younger than me. I thought running made you fitter which gave you more energy?

    I don't do anymore hours than the others, in fact at the moment I tend to do less.

    I appreciate your opinion Hippo as a doctor who runs (and as a person of course!). Do you really think that what I'm doing is excessive and that I should expect this level of tiredness? Do I just have a strange idea of what is 'normal'?

    I've dropped a day a week at work as of the end of this month and I'm currently working a restricted shift pattern (can't do 1600 - midnight or nightshifts as can't stay awake). This wasn't an issue before the thyroid and perniscious anaemia.

    I'm getting married at the end of May - a week before my B12 jab is due - and I'll be on honeymoon when it's due. I had a real problem getting them reduced to 8 weekly (until the heamatologist checked and said that my levels weren't high even at that interval) and I don't know how I'm going to get round that yet.
    If you think you can or you think you can't you're probably right.
  • Hippo
    I wasn't thinking particularly about weight so much as how you seem to be quite sad a lot of the time - sorry if that's a bit forward but there's lots of peeps here who worry about you, you know? Can't you do a full thyroid panel on yourself at the hossie?

    Hey - congrats lmh! Post-nuptials you'll have to change your name - Little Mrs Happy! Seems to me that something isn't right yet, whether its the TD or PA or even something else. I don't think a fit young person should be feeling the way you decribe. I think you should get back to your doctor sooner rather than later and get checked out. Don't want to have a headache on your honeymoon, do you?
  • Hi Hula Hoop
    What tests did your doctor do and what were the results? These could be thyroid symptoms but equally could be other things too. What did your doctor suggest / prescribe?
  • Shirl - I had a blood test for anaemia and thyroid. Haemaglobin was 14.9 which apparently is fine. Everything else is 'normal' too. I'm not sure what else I should be asking for as far as results go.

    I have had to almost stop training in the last few months because I was falling asleep at work!

    Incidently, I have been using soya milk since I was 18 (I'm now 31) and wondered if this may affect my results - yes, I am grasping at straws!
  • HH - what about perniscious anaemia? Not found (correct me if I'm wrong) in a standard anaemia blood test?
    If you think you can or you think you can't you're probably right.
  • Hi folks

    Just a quick catch-up on this thread, and I find yet another bizarre coincidence! I've had joint pain in my thumb for over 4 weeks and when I went to my GP yesterday for my usual medication update blood test, she did an RA test too, to rule it out as the cause of the joint pain. And now I find there is a link! (Mind you, my thyroid is faulty due to radiotherapy rather than disease). Weird how these things crop up.

    Although my energy levels are now superb and I can do enough exercise to stop me going loopy, I'm still really struggling to lose 20lbs or so that have crept on. Anyone got the answer to this one, or is a slow long journey the only solution? I find if I cut cals too low, then I can't function, and if I go too high, I don't lose anything. Finding a level in the middle, so I lose gradually just hasn't happened yet. Any ideas welcome...
  • Hi HH
    I'm guessing that as far as thyroid is concerned, only TSH was tested. That's what is usually done as initial screening for TD. It would be useful to know what the test result was along with the reference range too - you can get these from your surgery. The range usually goes from approx. 0.5-5.0 and it's not unusual to get a 'normal' pronouncement with a result of e.g. 4.9 when in fact you may actually have subclinical hypothyroidism.

    Some doctors will re-test in 6 months under these circumstances. The more enlightened now offer a trial period on thyroxine. Depending on where your TSH is, it might be appropriate to ask for an FT4 and FT3 test too.

    With your symptoms, I'd also ask for a ferritin test. Haemoglobin can be OK while ferritin is not.

    How did your doctor explain your symptoms with everything 'normal'?

    The soya question is a tricky one. It has health benefits for some but is also problematical for those with or susceptible to TD and the problem is we don't know until too late who are the susceptible ones. I am wary because we get far more than we realise. As the cheapest form of protein it is in almost everything that is processed in any way. Having TD, I wouldn't substitute soya for a 'normal' food, in fact I'm not sure I would even if I didn't have TD.

  • LMGTS - wish I could help on the weight front. I'm ok, before I was diagnosed it felt as if I was putting on weight daily but it was actually no more than half a stone and I've gradually got rid of it.
    If you think you can or you think you can't you're probably right.
  • Hi Shirl
    I have just called the surgery to get the figures. So here they are (sorry if they don't make sense) -
    TSH - 1.54 (normal)
    FSH - 6.6 (normal)
    Serum LH - 2.4 (said this is low)
    Potassium - 4.5 (said this was high)
    Haemaglobin - 14.9
    Mean corpusc - 30.7 PG

    Does this mean anything and can you explain it to me?? LOL! Oh and the doctor couldn't explain my symptoms - I have been complaining of tiredness for a while and I feel they think I am waste of their time, to be honest.
  • Hi HH
    More questions - were you asked to have the test at a particular time in your cycle? If not, do you know what phase - it makes a difference to the LH/FSH.

    Your TSH looks to be in a good place but getting at least one of the thyroid hormones tested would help to confirm/exclude TD.

    I'm getting out of my depth here, but wondering about the possibility of a pituitary problem which could account for low TSH and low LH?

    You really need Hippo/Vrap for this - high potassium should be of concern I think - I have no idea if 4.5 is high enough to be a problem. Are you on any medication, been injured, had surgery? You could post these results on a new injury thread for Hippo/Vrap to look at. They will probably be of more help.
  • Popping in briefly
    That potassium is totally normal
    Tired all the time--a bloody difficult one
    I have it myself
    But i also thinkpeople do expect too much of themselves(BTW LMH I dream of times like yours)



    Shirl, my depression i guess is the job-long story
    and crhrnic low self esteeem
  • Hi Shirl,

    Thanks for you advice. They didn't ask me to go in at a particular time in my cycle, but it worked out to be the 3rd day.

    I'm not on medication, had surgery or been injured.

    Hipps - I appreciate some people expect a lot of themselves. I struggle to get through a normal working week (and I don't work extra long hours!).

    Thanks to you both.
  • Hippo - I dream of being to able to run for as long as you. :-)

    Can't say I've noticed any difference since I doubled my thyroxine dose - guess it's too soon. My skin seems to be getting drier though and my tiredness progressing as my jab approaches, headaches increasing too. Such is life.
    If you think you can or you think you can't you're probably right.
  • Shirl - when will I feel a difference if the increased dose of thyroxine is having an effect? I'm sooo tired and down, don't know what is causing which 'symptoms' or the best way to tackle them. I know I have to shift my jab date (can't have it when I'm in Oz) but am loathe to try to tackle my GP again as he's likely to say that I have to wait for the results of the thyroxine increase - but if that's after my blood test it will be too late to adjust the timing of this jab and bring them gradually forward.

    Sorry, looking for answers I can't expect you to have.
    If you think you can or you think you can't you're probably right.
  • Got my blood tests back (usual annual thyroid, plus RA test due to joint pain) - all normal (TSH 0.91, FT4 16.1) so no RA - why does my thumb hurt so much then? RSI from forumming probably...
  • LMG-T-S,

    I have got the Rheumatoid Factor present but no finger/knee joint pain - but lower back pain/sciatica pre the anti-inflam's! But I suspect I will joining that club very shortly - after my appointment (which I am waiting for) with my Rheumatologist.

    Good news on the thyroid results.

    Can anyone tell me how it takes for the MedEx card to come through?

    Many thanks.

    Sean.
  • SG - turns out the thumb pain is linked to neck pain from an old whiplash injury - went to see the osteo and she fixed it with a bit of manipulation. Bizarre how the human body works.

    The Med Ex card took about 3 weeks to come for me, but if you need anything in the meantime there's a form you can fill in (at the post office?) which you can claim back costs with.

    Good luck with the RA diagnosis...
  • chatting to totally non medical hubby about this


    losing outer third eyebrow hair, skin dry, hair dry, no energy(or me-they laff if i even suggest hypo)


    he thinks I should get tested again
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