Update on my journey with Auto-Immune Thyroid Disease

Disclaimer: Please be aware that I have no medical degree or formal medical training of any kind. This post is my opinion only, and should not be taken as any kind of medical advice. No information in this post is meant to diagnose or treat thyroid disease or any other medical problem. My intent is simply to share the story of my own experience with auto-immune thyroid disease. 

You can read about my journey with auto-immune thyroid disease here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

I haven't updated for quite awhile, so I'm going to have to back track for a bit. Around December of 2012, I pretty much stopped taking Armour (the thyroid medication I take for Hashimoto's). As I skipped days here and there, I told myself that I actually felt better without Armour. And for awhile, maybe I did. But eventually, the symptoms came back, and I was feeling pretty rough.

Somewhere along the way, I came to my senses. It was probably when I admitted to my mom that I had been off thyroid meds for nearly a year, and she became really concerned about me. "You just don't know what it could be doing to your body to NOT have that medication," she gently told me. I used My Med Lab to run a TSH test, and it came back just under 10. I have symptoms when it is as low as a 2, so yes, it was way too high, but not as high as I expected it to be at after almost a year of no thyroid meds.

In January of this year, I went back to my very wonderful thyroid doctor, and very sheepishly told him my story of why I had been away for so long. He didn't scold too much, and he even said that it was pretty common for people to stop taking their thyroid meds and think they are ok without it for a while. He promptly put me back on Armour, 1 grain a day for 10 days to let my body adjust to being back on the medication, and then two grains a day after that. After 4 weeks, I went back for my follow-up, and I could honestly say that I could tell a difference already. I was feeling better, and some of my symptoms had lessened considerably. The two biggest symptoms were very painful joints and muscles in my arms, and a racing heartbeat that had me panicking several times a week. There were times that I seriously thought I might have a heart attack, it was that bad! The joint pain has lessened considerably, and my heart hasn't been racing since I started back on Armour. Lesson learned!

He prescribed N-acetyl cysteine twice a day, to essentially help the thyroiditis calm down. He also suspects I am probably insulin resistant (which apparently often goes hand-in-hand with thyroid problems), and prescribed berberine, an herbal supplement similar to the function of metformin. I have been tested many times for diabetes, and thankfully, I am NOT diabetic, but I know that I need to lose weight. So that is the next step. It feels like a daunting task to lose a lot of weight with a very slow metabolism, but I think I'm ready to just start with some small goals! As always, whenever I talk about thyroid conditions, I want to encourage those that are struggling with this to NEVER GIVE UP hope that you will feel better! Keep researching, keep learning, keep doing what you can to feel better each day! Don't be afraid to ask for help!

* If you would like to read more about the herbal supplement berberine, this LINK has some great information!

Medical Testing / Thyroid Testing

Disclaimer - the following post is meant to be simply informative, but in no way is it meant to treat, diagnose, or give any kind of medical advice. I am not a My Med Lab affiliate.

Have you heard of My Med Lab? You can register for a free account and request blood work, all without a script from a doctor. There are many different types of tests - thyroid, autism, vitamin levels, cancer screens, female wellness, male wellness, hormones, diabetes, liver, autoimmune, and more. The tests are very reasonably priced, at least as far as I have found. Once you have selected and paid for the tests you want, your order will be reviewed and approved within two hours. My order for some thyroid tests was approved almost instantly. Then you just print out the approved order, and take it to the nearest lab that is affliated with My Med Lab. In my case, I just took it to the nearest Labcorp. I walked into Labcorp, handed them my order, and I had my results back from my blood work THE NEXT DAY! I was able to view my results online at My Med Lab. Now all I have to do is print out my results to take them to my doctor at my next appointment.

Why would you need to use My Med Lab? I often hear of people with thyroid problems or suspected thyroid problems that have trouble getting their doctor to agree to run certain tests. You can order your own blood tests, without needing your doctor to approve them. This happened to me. I asked my doctor (at the time) if he could run Free T3. My doctor only wanted to run Total T3. My doctor said it was an extremely expensive test. I ran TSH, Free T3 and Free T4 for about the same price I always paid for my bloodwork at other labs.

Another reason you might want to use My Med Lab is if you suspected that your thyroid levels were off, but didn't want to make an appointment with your doctor just to get a script, then have to go get bloodwork, then make another appointment to discuss the results with your doctor. Using My Med Lab eliminates that first apointment. You can simply order your tests first, then make one appointment to discuss the results.

I will point out that my family and I have chosen not to have traditional health insurance. We are part of Samaritan Ministries, and I will try to write a post explaining how Samaritan Ministries works in regards to health care very soon. I pay out-of-pocket for bloodwork and doctor's appointments. I am not sure how My Med Lab would work for someone that does have insurance.

So the results from today - TSH was 5.54, Free T3 was 3.3 (range 2.0- 4.4), and Free T4 was 0.91 (range 0.82 - 1.77). After I see my doctor about my results I'll write a post explaining these levels. I know the TSH is way too high, and the Free T4 is too low. I'm not sure about the Free T3 since I have never had that tested before. While the TSH is not super high (I've been at 54 before), it is still high enough to explain why I've been feeling bad again lately.