hypothyroid with hyper symptoms?

kimm · 10-23-2008, 01:51 PM

Hi there -

Sorry this is long. Please bear with me!

I've been diagnosed by at least one doc as hypothyroid (slightly) My total TSH was somewhere around 2.77 to 3.something (sorry dont have test with me).

I tried a very low dose of Armour for about a week. (half a pill so about 15mg or mcg)

It made me absolutely panicked and hyper. I lost a ton of weight and couldn't function. I've since come off and identified a cycle of anxiety which seems to start around ovulation (when I do now) and gets worse until af, then goes away. I started this med when my anxiety was ramping up anyway, so that could have something to do with my reaction.

Anyway, I usually have to work like a madwoman to stay around 120 lbs(I'm 5'2")(run 4-5 times a week, weight train, diet etc) Since having my second child and finally getting pregnancy weight off, I've actually become thinner than ever (around 112 and for a while less than that). This is without changing my diet much and working out much less (crazy schedule with kids)

I now have anxiety where I can barely touch coffee and I used to be able to drink it all day with no effect. I'm nervous all the time.

My androgens are wreaking havoc. I look like I'm a total weight lifter and I barely touch them (wouldn't be complaining normally but I'm not looking feminine here)

I've just started Fortamet and have been on 1000mgs for almost 4 weeks and am hungerier now than ever! I thought for most people they wanted to eat less on this?

I've also had (tmi alert) morning loose stools even before starting fortamet. Which I understand is another hyperthyroid symptom.

My new naturopath thought I might actually be hyper and had me chart my bbt for about 10 days. I'm on day 5 and it's been consistently around 97.4 degrees. Which is odd because I don't feel that cold.

So blood test and bbt say I'm slightly hypothyroid but symptoms and reaction to thyroid med say hyperthyroid!

I've been opting to not try another thyroid med at the moment because of my reaction to the last one and my other doctors (mds not nd) think I shouldn't treat it, but I keep running into info suggesting that the thyroid does play a role in our pcos symptoms. Including here on this board.

I'm desperate to stop my hair loss here. I've also just found out that my ovaries are both filled with cysts. My cycle has been off for the first time in my life as well. We are blessed to have two children without too much effort, but are thinking we'd like a third. All signs are beginning to point to my fertility going bye-bye.

I've been on flutamide for about a year and my androgens rose anyway, so I know I need to be doing something different. I have hopes that the metformin will and is helping some (breasts filled back in a tiny bit and facial hair is maybe slowing a tiny bit) but I want to leave no stone unturned here.

Sorry this is so long. I'm just confused here, and am having trouble getting the information I need.

Rainbow Brite · 10-24-2008, 05:26 PM

They need to test more than just your TSH. They need to test Free T3 and Free T4, along with thyroid antibodies (TPO Ab). If you have autoantibodies (indicating Hashimoto's Thyroiditis) you can swing back and forth between hyper and hypo.

Good luck!

veryimpatient · 11-11-2008, 01:49 PM

My endo about 5 years ago, told me normal thyroid tests don't really show the entire picture. She did what she called a frozen test, and that is when she not only dx me with graves, but PCOS.

I also bounce between hypo (mostly) and hyper for 2 solid years. I currently have a little of both.

The hair loss really ticks me off though. Both my daughters have really thick hair like I used to have. Which concerns me even more. Their body build is like mine, and I fear they too will suffer from thyroid issues/PCOS.