hypothyroid?......
 

Hi all, i have seen a few hypothyroid threads on here and just wanted to run this past u guys before i see my general doctor (who is fairly unsympathetic and prob thinks im a hypercondriact!).

i have noticed the last 8+ months:

hair thinning at the front of my scalps and at my temples (worse on my tos side)

a scaley dry patch at the front of my scalp which try as i may, i cannot get rid of!.

tiring easily after regular daily activities

my heart often jumps all over the place - feels like skipping a beat - if i breath in deeply it usually stops


Does anyone think that this may be linked to a thyroid prob (which i see many Tos suffers have on here.....)

Or perhaps the hair (the loss and the scaly patch!) prob is unrelated to thyroid and could be some thing like a dermatitis!

thanks

:confused:

Hi Tracey gosh could be alot of things, blood work would probably tell you if it is thyroid disease. Hair can thin for alot of reasons, stress,diabetes,alapecia and diet are just a few I can think of. I hope your able to find out soon.

Does a simple blood test confirm thyroid imbalances or potential problems conclusively?

usually....t3/t4 measurements and TSH level will frequently tell the story. If your TSH is higher than 3 more progressive docs will reccomend treatment. More conservative docs might opt to wait til tsh of 5 or more, but if you feel yucky, you might push for treatment. If you have hashimotos, which is the most common cause of hypothyroidism, you can tell for sure by measuring for TPO antibodies.

In my case, TSH was 6 at first but t3/t4 levels were OK so my endo/primary care doc did not want to treat me. I knew it was high, so instead of arguing with him i asked if there were any other test that could confirm a problem, and he offered the TPO antibody test. When my antibody level came back "to the moon" high at 10,000 or so, i didn't have to ask to be treated :) I am pretty sure TPO antibodies are present before problems with thyroid performance show up, so this test can also be a good indicator of a potential problem.


So for the most part, i think a few blood tests will do it. Of course, I am not a doctor, just a disabled engineer, so don't take my word as 100% fact.

johanna


PS about.com is a great site for info about thyroid problems.