Hyperthyroid ??'s

erinschoenherr · 06-03-2004, 04:41 PM

Hi Girls -

I just went into my internal medicine doctor for a yearly physical and my thyroid tests came back abnormal! I was too shocked to get the actual levels but she said she suspected that I was hyperthyroidic. I am scheduled for a thyroid scan procedure in a few weeks and was wondering if anyone else had a similar experience.

I was diagnosed with PCOS in October, 2003 and been on Metformin 1000mg/day. Could my thyroid disorder have been overlooked for PCOS? Are they related??

Thanks!!

Erin

snowbunny · 06-03-2004, 05:09 PM

WOW! It sounds like your going through the same stuff I was just a few months ago! I was Dxed HyperT because of Graves' Disease. Thyroid Scans are pretty easy and mellow. They give you a few pills to swallow then you go back to the Nuclear Medicine section and to lay on an uncomfortable machine for a few minutes.

Hyperthyroidism is hard. So, if you need someone to chat with about your symptoms, I'm here for you. I just started Tapazole a week ago, and I'm seeing an endo for the first time tomorrow.

I think that endocrinological disorders often cluster together so that someone with PCOS has a higher chance to have other endocrinological disorders such as HyperT or HypoT etc. I think, and I may be wrong, that more PCOSers have HypoT than HyperT.

My Primary Care Physician told me that all my PCOS symptoms might really be related to Graves' Disease and that once I get the thyroid under control, that everything will be taken care of. I, personally, believe that I probably have both since some of my symptoms are not really related to HyperT (like hairiness and weight gain).

Hope this Helps!

erinschoenherr · 06-03-2004, 05:22 PM

WOW - it does sounds like we have similar experiences! I actually had a strange reading on my thyroid levels last year and then I was re-tested (just bloodwork) and everything looked ok. I chalked it up to a fluke.

When I went off the pill in April of 2003 I started having the symptoms....shaking, light-headedness, perspiration, constantly hungry (I mean hungry!). I also stopped having periods. The doctors chalked it up to PCOS since I didn't ovulate...I'm so wondering if it's thyroid only?? I don't really have any of the PCOS symptoms like weight gain or acne or excess hair.

Do you know how this affects fertility? I've heard that women should wait 6 mos after starting thyroid treatment before they attempt to conceive. I've also heard that there are treatments available that are not harmful to fetuses...who knows!

I have to wait to schedule my thyroid scan test because I'm in the middle of a fertility cycle and don't want to mess it up with all that radioactive stuff!

Thanks for all your great info!!

shenacat · 06-03-2004, 06:24 PM

My thyroid disease surfaced after I went off the pill too. I started out hyper then went really super hypo then leveled out at slightly hypo. So I take medication now to supplement my thyroid.

Be careful make sure they diagnose you properly. Many pcos patients actually have hashimoto's thyroiditis which is a disease that fluctuates between hyper and hypo phases.

CelticSpirit · 06-03-2004, 11:24 PM

During my first pregnancy I had periods of hyper and hypo (I wasn't diagnosed, I just knew from my weight gain). When I finally found someone to test me (after my son was already crawling!) I was slightly hyper...well, it settled down for the next blood work up and has been hypo since...

Just to address a comment made earlier...yes, it's more commong to be HYPO than HYPER for us PCOS gals...

Whatever you do, make sure you get the right treatment for your thyroid! It can be a royal pain in the butt when the sucker is off!

Stacie