Thyroid in "Normal Range", but still have symptoms

harmony5264 · 06-06-2005, 04:15 PM

I had my TSH checks and they are in the normal range, 1.781 to be exact. However, I just had a baby (5 month ago). Prior to having her, I was at a normal weight. I wore a soze 6, weighed about 130. I went through IUI to get pregnant, but because of some hormone, I had to take steriods for 10 weeks after the IUI. I gain a good amount of weight. Well, I have had the baby and have gone the strictest part of the South Beach diet. I have been on it for one month now and have lost 9 pounds. However, that is on a good day. Some days I gain a few pounds and others I am about 9 pounds lighter than before. I am always cold, but I have always been that way. My hair still seems very healthy looking, however, when I wash it I have much more that comes out in my hands. I can't tell of "hairloss" b/c I do have long thick hair. What else could be the problem? Could I still have hypothyroidism with this low of a TSH.

Thanks :-)

shenacat · 06-06-2005, 05:03 PM

Most women lose quite a bit of hair after having a baby. Hair grows in 3-6 month cycles, so you could lose hair up to 9 months after having a baby. This is because while pregnant, your body puts the stop on hair loss... so you aren't losing the hair you're supposed to during that time... but after you have the baby, your body gets rid of all those excess hairs.

As for the weight, are you breastfeeding? Sometimes while breastfeeding your body refuses to lose weight because it wants to keep good stores of fat around to feed the baby off of- to have what you need for nutritional requirements in case you aren't eating everything you should every day. Sometimes, it can go the other way around and breastfeeding can actually help you lose weight. It depends on your personal hormone mix.

Most women have issues with losing weight after having a baby- have you tried pilates?

The thyroid normally fluctuates after an event like pregnancy & childbirth. It usually levels out but it may end up stressed, a little sicker than it was beforehand. You usually can't tell for certain until it's been 6 months to a year after the pregnancy. Your TSH looks fine now, but your other numbers may be off if you really are sliding into hypothyroidism. Have you had your Free T3 & Free T4 levels checked? Have you been checked for antibodies?

harmony5264 · 06-06-2005, 05:28 PM

No, I am not breastfeeding (tried but was unable to, the baby lost too much weight b/c I couldn't produce enough milk and I have a doctor that doesn't stress the b/f issue, so he made me start the formula and i am sad to say it was just too easy to do that.) I was overweight a while back due to IR. With metformin, I went down to the normal range and didn't have a problem until now. The only test they have done is TSH. Should I ask them to do the others? If so, will I need to go back in to have blood drawn? I am just at a loss...with metformin I had no problem losing weight and keeping it off for years. Now no matter what I do, I can't lose. I did join Curves, however, I have a very bad knee and was only able to do it for 3 weeks and within those 3 weeks, along with South Beach I only lost 9 pounds and most of that time I was losing some and gaining some, back and forth. Now I am down 9 pounds, my knee is imflamed and I HATE the way I am eating with no results.

shenacat · 06-07-2005, 03:32 AM

Pilates has a lot of exercises that would not stress a sore knee. You can buy dvds and do it at home, or find a local gym that has classes. It's very slimming and low-impact, but packs a lot of punch!

Yes you would need to get more blood drawn to get the other tests. You also might have to knock someone over the head to get them to run those tests.

Sometimes doctors are too optimistic and only skim the surface when looking for disorders like this. Ask for Free T4, Free T3, and antibodies. If you have antibodies, you have thyroid disease of some type, period. So, that is a slam dunk.. even if the other blood tests come back ok, antibodies mean something!

The Free T4 should be in the upper quadrant of the range they give you on your lab sheet. The Free T3 should be at least in the middle of the range. Make sure to get copies of all your lab tests so you can take them home for reference, or show them to other doctors if you need a 2nd opinion.