Hashimoto's: Mercury Poisoning or Pituitary Tumor? Doctors, please help.

[Unregistered]

I'm going to scream. I can't take one more light consideration of this. I feel as though I'm falling apart and I'm tired of the presumption that I'm too stupid or unreflective to distinguish between depression and physical need. I need medical help and despite many reachings out, I have not been able to connect with a doctor that views this as important. Please read on if you feel you can help.

I'm a 28 y/o female, 5'0, 150lbs. who was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis by both Endo and Rheumatologist. I have also recently been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia after running tests to clear Lupus and other like autoimmune diseases. I have been on levothyroxine therapy for almost three years and my symptoms have not improved. My blood work has improved only mildly. In fact, I'm feeling worse. Please read on.

Symptomatic Manifestations:
Mitral valve prolapse (slight leak), intermittent tachycardia, incredible difficulty swallowing (sometimes even saliva), intermittent diarreah and constipation, intolerance to even mild cold, severe chronic symmetrical Arthritis of metatarsal region in feet, bone pain in lower back, hips, neck, and chest, muscle pain everywhere else, chronic cystic acne for the last ten years, Headaches (which I never used to get) increased frequency and intensity, shortened and more painful menstrual cycle, severe Anxiety attacks, feeling of breathing through a straw, recently started snoring severely, feeling of a lump in my throat, waking up in the middle of the night for sugar yet craving salty and fatty foods during the day, severe chronic fatigue--feels like drunkeness, especially after eating, "brain fog" (as though too many thoughts are trying to go through at once and they all get jammed up, unable to complete a thought), difficulty speaking, stumbling over words and blending words at a higher rate than normal, unrefreshing sleep, blurry vision without diagnosable physical cause, low-normal body temp and blood pressure, high Cholesterol despite dietary restriction, continual pain in sides and lower back/abdomen, dentist reported bone loss in jaw but bone scan revealed no bone loss elsewhere, tooth mobility, waking up in the middle of the night with leg cramps so bad I can only describe them as "rigor," myoclonus in face, eyelids, fingers, legs, arms, feeling like there is something on my skin when nothing is there (not even a hair or spiderweb), forty pound of weight gain in abdominal region.

Medication:
I have been on 75mcg of Levothyroxine, 5mcg of Cytomel and 1200 units of vitamin D per day for the last six months (previously just 50mcg of Levothyroxine, prior to that Amour Thyorid, low dose).

My numbers:
Initial Diagnosis, 165 lbs.,
06/13/05: (TPOAb) 5908 H IU/ml (0-34 ref. interval), TSH 2. 189 uIU/ml (.350-5. 500 ref. interval), Total Cholesterol 233 H mg/dL (100-199 ref. interval) LDL 163 H mg/dL (0-99 ref. interval) I restrict foods high in animal fats, and had for the previous two years-- family history of high Cholesterol and other symptoms.

Most recent test, 150 lbs.
02/06/07: 2141 IU/ml (0-34 ref. interval), TSH 4. 157 uIU/mL (ref. interval .350-5. 500), (No lipid panel for comparison)

Questions:
I suspect that my problem is related either to the pituitary, or to amalgam mercury poisoning. Where do I go next? Who do I consult with? Should I be tested for Lyme's, Cushing's? What else should I be aware of?

Thank You...

[Unregistered]

Hi, Sorry you are dealing with all this.
Undx'd Lyme can cause a lot of your symptoms, which in turn can lead to thyroid and adrenal problems. I am dealing with much of what you have, so I am just learning abt all this stuff...I do know how frustrationg it is, to seek medical help and not get good help. Here are two great websites for you to check out. People there should be able to help you alot more than I can. Best wishes~~Dee stopthethyroidmadness.com and lymenet.org

[Unregistered]

I'm so sorry to hear of your problems - had some similar problems too - vastly frustrating and no doubt frightening too. I have only just found this website in a search for answers to one of my own symptoms.

If you have not got any answers yet, please go to Dr Sarah Myhill's website and ask questions. She may well be able to help. It is www.drmyhill.co.uk Her book on ME is available free as a download - it is brilliant.
Also helpful is www.thyroid.uk.org and look under Fibromyalgia. There are papers by Dr John Lowe, Dr Durrant-Peatfield, and Martin Pall which shed much light on the subject. Dr Lowe (USA) believes hypothyroidism/ fibromyalgia/ ME/CFS to be a continuum of the same problems, Dr D-Peatfield (UK) specialises in thyroid problems and his book explains all different angles as to why levothyroxine does not suit everyone including cell resistence and lack or malfunction of the deiodinase enzyme. Martin Pall has come up with a fantastic explanation of why disorders such as we have are so varied, due to the permanent upregulation of the NO/OONO cycle and offers some protocols to help. These are similar to Dr Myhill's.

I think you may need to look at food intolerances which really upset my system. Those and Candidiasis. We usually end up with a variety of problems as one impacts on the next. Unfortunately the NHS divides the body into various parts and symptoms and has little in the way of joined-up thinking.

Wishing you all the best. Caroline

[elke]

Consider going to a newer neurologist to see if you might have a rare complication of hashimoto's thyroiditis called hashimoto's encephalopathy. It can cause myoclonus, fatigue, migraines, balance and coordination problems, speech and language problems, cognitive problems, somnolence, etc etc etc.

Diagnosis is made by clinical history and positive thyroid antibodies. Most patients have normal hormone levels. Treatment is steroids, but be careful as they drop you thyroid hormone levels and can worsen you low thyroid symptoms. I improved after both steroids and levoxyl.

Please keep us posted!

[MedicalReflexologist]

Doctors are idiots. I am researching how to help my health too. I also have Hypothyroidism. . the autoimmune kind. My recent thing is that I need to get my Mercury fillings removed. To make a long story short, you have to be your own health advocate. Way too many people think that doctors are gods and they are not.

Because I am a Medical Reflexologist (also going into Pre-med if possible to do integrative medicine eventually), I think more holistically. You might like my blog. It is MedicalReflexology dot blogspot dot com.

If you want to email me, you can definitely do that as well. My email address is medicalreflexology.blogspot.com. It might help to have a health support system. You going to this web site was very smart. I am using web sites like this too to help myself when doctors have failed.

[Joan5555]

Your recent TSH is WAY too high! That reference range for normal the lab is using is WAY outdated!!!!!!!!!!! You poor thing! No wonder you are miserable...take heart...I think with more agressive treatment there is hope..... I suspect you are quite undertreated!!!!!!!! Autoimmue Hashimotos can be still the problem...for some the disease can really cause lots of thryoid fluctuations.....it can be tricky but my sister-in-law has this and she is treat fine ...I had the opposite problem, Graves Disease...too MUCH thryoid hormone....anyway....

You may need to get another doctor who will work with you a bit better.......I think you deserve it at this point suffering for threee years!!!!!! One suggestion is that you may need higher dose of thryoid supplement... a bit more agressive treatment.....you need to get a TSH of about 1 when under treatment and for reference the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologist recommend a normal range of 0.3-2.5 (sometimes 3.0)...and for FT4, look to have this in the mid range of normal and for FT3, most feel better with that in the upper of the normal range. If you are havng this much troubl you will also need to perhaps be more careful about diet, activity, vitamins, minerals, iron (ferritin blood test tells the best on this) and other small things that may make your symptoms worse...even small details when you are not recovering so well, can make a difference...and getting back to the blood work...for some even a bit off what is "normal for them" WITHIN the normal range can just throw them for a loop...the trick is to find your "sweet" spot and then stay there...yes, hard to do but possible......BTW Fibromyalgia is often treated with thryoid supplement as it is often just another symptom of undertreated hypothyroidism.....

Check out Mary Shomon's thryoid site...great info and the forum is really, really, great...ladies very helpful there and they know a LOT about all the DETAILS of hypothyroidims...yes....from what I have read over there it CAN cause continuing symptms and YES, it can take quite a while...even a few years (sorry to say this but actually this was my case though it does not mean you will be feeling so horrible the whole time....) to get things back to some kind of normal...hang in there...there is help. Joan

[help on it's way]

Get a CAT SCAN and MRI of the Locations (Brain down to mid chest), and do your self a favor have them run it from the top our your head to the middle or below your kidneys on both test. One stop shopping.

I am not a doctor, but I was dignosed with IBS, possible Chrones and it took me years to get a doctor to listen to me. It turned out it was all a food alergy and endcrine system fluke on the digestive side.

You are your best tool, so work on what you think it might be, and remember you don't have to have every side effect to have the syndrome you find. My mom had kidney stones, grew then as fast as they cut them out, I mean 7 surgerys later, I found that she had hyper"para"thyroidism, when all the kidney specialist in the world never tested for, because they were only looking at the kidney stones...

God bless you and keep strong!

[QUOTE=Unregistered;31950]

[aquila]

Maybe none of the above!

I think you may have celiac disease.

Try here:

http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac/

[dizzy lizzie]

I think Joan is right. Your treatment for the Hashimoto's is not correct for your body. There is a whole support community over at NeuroTalk for people with Hashimoto's. I'd suggest posting there as well and getting some other first hand experiences. They're really nice too.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/index.php

I'm on both sites still trying to figure out what's making me miserable. Agree with everybody that you HAVE to be aggressive with doctors and change doctors if you aren't being heard over time. I have many of the same symptoms so I feel your pain.

[fewd4thought]

Hi there. I am sorry to hear that your are dealing with such a frustrating constellation of symptoms. Unfortunately, a great deal of misinformation circulates on this site, especially regarding thyroid disease, lyme disease, and fibromyalgia. It requires vigillance on your part to separate out the fact from fiction. A little primer on Hashimotos... (Medreflex!!) by definition autoimmune thyroiditis, it can result in an encephalopathic condition, but always elaborates anti thyroid antibodies that are diagnostic of the condition. (Joan) Every lab will have its own reference range for TSH values. The substrates vary and testing conditions vary. To say that an individual should maintain a value based upon what some independent observer says is invalid. Your physician will (and clearly has) titrate your levothyroxine dose to maintain your TSH within a therapeutic range. Fibromyalgia is not treated with thyroid supplementation if the individual who made that claim was referring to levothyroxine or any thyroid hormone analog. That is not the standard of care in any US hospital. It would be tantamount to malpractice. Please be judicious with what you write in these forums.