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Graves' Disease Support Message
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Introduction
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I'll probably piss off a bunch of people, doctors in particular,
by writing about my experiences with Hashi's Disease and
Hashitoxicosis, also known
as Hashimoto's Disease, Hashimoto's Thyroiditis or just Hashi's
for short. We'll call it Hashi's.
I have a typical
guy mentality....34 years old, happily married, had not been to
a doctor since I was about 17. Never had a blood test in
my life before this year. My wife and I had our first baby
boy 14 months ago. Marriage is good, work is work but I
can't complain.
As a promise to
myself and my baby son, I was going to straighten myself out
100%. I decided I was going to find out why I've been
having panic
attacks for the last 10 years on and off and make sure I was healthy enough to go on a strict
diet to lose some weight and get back in shape. I quit
drinking and quit smoking just like that because I promised I
would. I did not want my son growing up thinking his
father was a boozer. I decided my party life as a young
adult was over with the birth of my son so it was definitely
time to grow up. I knew it would take a little getting
used to the new baby and the new lifestyle but I was ready for a
new chapter of my life. A little change of pace for the
better never killed anyone...or so I thought. Quitting booze and smoking was
easier than I thought but I was pretty motivated to put that
behind me. I did manage to hold on to one vice, a disgusting one at that, but
as I quit smoking I picked up chewing tobacco. I will quit
that nasty habit too soon.
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Panic
Attacks & Agoraphobia: |
I've suffered
through a few hundred panic attacks (PA's for short) in my life,
starting when I was around 22 years old. I have no idea
why I was getting them or why they started, but they grew worse
and worse over time, coming to a head about a year ago where I
was getting these attacks almost daily. In between that
time I would get breaks from the attacks. A week or a few
days, sometimes even a month or two and then out of the blue
they come back in full force. My particular pet
peeves which seem to set them off are shopping (or at least
standing in line at the checkout counter), and other situations
where I might feel there is no immediate exit - don't ask me
why...it just happens that way. PA's really
affect you mentally because as you start getting PA's in more
and more places, more and more places seem to cause them.
I had a "good" one recently at the zoo with my wife and son.
I thought I was going to have to have an ambulance come to get
me out of there. I was doing fine all morning and felt
great. It was a beautiful day and out of the blue while
walking around the zoo I starting getting really dizzy and
sweating profusely. My hands and legs started to tremble
and I had to hang on to the railing to keep from falling over or
passing out. It was pretty brutal. This PA took me
about 4 hours to get over before my blood pressure dropped back
down below the stroke range and my hands stopped shaking.
At the time I thought it might have had something to do with
blood sugar and that my sugar just dropped out of nowhere but
after doing some research I think it had more to do with my
Thyroid than anything else.
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What a pain in
the ass these are! I've always been sort of a rough and
tumbled kind of guy...played a lot of football in High School,
worked out with weights most of my life between 15 and 24 years
old. I'm a big guy at 6'0" 290 pounds. I always felt
I was not afraid of anything, until these attacks progressed.
Not knowing when or why these attacks happen seems to be the
worst part of this whole progression, mentally at least.
Before I get
too far into my little shrink session, I should preface these pages by
saying that I am a happily married father of a 14 month old, I
am a small business owner and am college educated and last I
checked, I was of fairly sound mind.
I am not a
doctor by any means and don't want anyone out there that reads
my half-witted comments to construe anything I say as advice.
I am a little distrusting of doctors, particularly when it comes
to Thyroid problems, but most doctors do know what they are
doing and you should always follow their advice. I'm
posting this information contained here so you can become better
informed and possibly pick up a thing or two from my
experiences. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER take Thyroid medicine
without the advice and legal prescription from a qualified
doctor. Thyroid problems are very hard to diagnose and
a messed up Thyroid's symptoms mimic many different diseases.
It is possible you have some other disease and there is nothing
wrong with your Thyroid. Your Thyroid gland is a very
important gland and it is not something you mess around with.
I can tell you first hand how many problems can arise from
having a screwed up Thyroid - its not fun.
With that said,
I will add to these pages as I see fit. As of right now, I
am still not fixed, but have at least isolated a problem or two
and will hopefully be straightened out soon.
Quick
Information about your lab tests:
Average Reference Ranges from Popular Labs:
TSH (3rd. Gen.) - Reference Range .4 - 5.5
T4 FREE - Reference Range .8 - 1.8
T3 FREE - Reference Range 2.30 - 4.20
T3 TOTAL - Reference Range .70 - 1.79
Thyroxine (TOTAL T4) - Reference Range 4.5 - 12.0
ANTIBODIES:
Thyroglobulin Ab 326 Reference Range 00 - 74
Thyroid Peroxidase Ab Reference Range 00 – 74
IDEAL NORMAL & GOAL LAB VALUES WHEN BEING TREATED:
Normal TSH = .85 – 1.7
Normal Free T3 = 3.7 – 4.1
Normal Free T4 = 1.3 – 1.7
No Antibodies
“CLASSIC HYPOTHYROID”:
High TSH > 2.5 – 4.0 and Up
Low Free T3 < 2.5
Low Free T4 < 1.2
Possible Hashi’s Disease:
Normal TSH
Normal Free T3
Normal Free T4
High Antibodies
Possible Hashi’s Disease:
High TSH
High Free T3
Low/Normal Free T4
High Antibodies
Possible Hashi’s Disease:
Normal TSH
Low/Normal Free T3
Low/Normal Free T4
High Antibodies
Possible Grave’s Disease:
Low (or zero even) TSH
Normal/High Free T3
Normal/High Free T4
Antibodies Probably Present
TSI Antibodies Present
Possible Pituitary and/or Hypothalamus Problem (Tumor on
Pituitary):
Normal TSH
High Free T3
Normal/High Free T4
Possible Pituitary and/or Hypothalamus Problem (Tumor on
Pituitary):
High TSH
Normal Free T3
Normal Free T4
Other possible issues when dealing with Thyroid problems:
Rule out blood sugar problems:
Blood sugar swinging up and down all day can be an indication of
“pre-diabetes” or diabetes, which can certainly mimic the
effects of a Hashi’s attack. I believe everyone with a Thyroid
problem should monitor his or her blood sugar regularly just to
be sure. In addition, ask your doctor to give you a Glucose A1C
test, which is essentially a measure of your average blood sugar
over the last 3 months time. Go to ebay and search for “glucose
monitors” to find a deal or visit your local drug store. I use
the Freestyle monitor. It uses just a tiny little drop of blood
and you can prick your forearm, which is completely painless.
Rule out Adrenal Fatigue:
The stress of having a problem can wear your adrenaline glands
out. You should have your doctor test your Cortisol levels to
see where you are. High Normal Cortisol levels most likely means
you are totally stressed out and your body is producing globs of
Cortisol to fight off all that extra adrenaline your body is
pumping out. You’re going to burn yourself out at this rate.
Rule Out Adrenal Tumor:
This is a very hard issue to get diagnosed properly. As far as I
know the only way to properly diagnose an adrenal tumor, called
a pheochromocytoma. You can search the Internet for this rare
condition. It does however; frequently mimic Grave’s Disease by
the fact that you have a very “ramped up” nervous feeling all
the time. Cortisol tests should be abnormally high most of the
time with this disease. If you are within the normal range for
Cortisol, you most likely do not have this type of disease. It
also mimics Panic Attacks as well.
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