Hypothyroidism Support Group

Hypothyroidism is the disease state caused by insufficient production of thyrohormone by the thyroid gland. There are several distinct causes for chronic hypothyroidism, the most common being Hashimoto's thyroiditis and hypothyroidism following radioiodine therapy for hyperthyroidism. Advanced hypothyroidism may cause severe complications, the most serious one of which is...

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KeriBaker 10/01/2010

So I am still on my quest to gettting diagnosed and my doctor is taking a million years.

I went to the eye doctor yesterday because my eyes have been swollen and red and terrible for about the past 3 weeks. He did a complete exam on me and said it looks like I could have the early signs of thyroid eye disease.
(In addition to the fact that I have a hole in my retina and need laser eye surgery. That is just unrelated and icing on the cake :)).
So he wrote a letter for my doctor to look at and recommended my doctor to have me tested for the the thyroid antibodies.

Thank goodness! I have been trying to get my dr to run these for weeks but I feel like he is a little stubborn and wants to prove his theories wrong first. He is in excellent dr, don't get me wrong, but he has a bit of an ego and I don't have time to wait while he tests his theories - I am in pain!

So I went yesterday morning for basically a full panel of hormone blood work. DHEA, Cortisol, Testosterone and so on and so forth. I guess he probably knows what he is doing because I have heard that thyroid problems and adrenal problems can go together quite often. I meet with him on Wednesday and I am going to show him the paperwork from my eye doctor and basically demand the Free T4, Free T3 and antibodies and then see if I can get a thyroid scan on top of that since I have difficulty swallowing.

So I am not there yet but I am making some progress. My goal is to be on some type of medication by Halloween. It's my favorite holiday and I actually want to be able to drag my tired butt out of the house and enjoy it.

If anybody has any other advice or thinks there is anything else I should mention to my dr it would be appreciated. Can you get thyroid eye disease with Hashimoto's or Grave's or is it usually only Grave's?

I hope all is well in everybody else's world!

God Bless.

Keri

deleted_user 10/01/2010

Hi Keri, I am sorry to hear you aren't feeling well. I know how docs can be with stubbornness! I think it is a good sign that he is testing adrenal function. You can get thyroid eye disease with Hashimoto's. It is not as common as in Grave's, but you can get it. Bloodshot eyes and pain are suspicious, definitely. I am glad for you that he is testing these things. As I always say, my HMO doc is a stubborn surgeon. She won't even refer me to an endo. I am in the middle of going through patient advocacy because of it. Your doc sounds like even tho he is egotistical, he is doing what is right by you. The only other thing I would suggest is, like I tell everyone, to do a 24hour cortisol test. This is a saliva test, some docs don't believe in them, but they are more accurate than the blood. The blood test takes basically a snapshot of where you are at the moment. Cortisol levels lower and raise all throughout the day. The saliva test will paint a better picture of its function. They are costly but your insurance may cover it. I hope this helps. I myself LOVE Halloween and hope you are able to enjoy yours!

Bloomsday 10/02/2010

Hi, I hope you dont rush out to get laser surgery on your eye as I had the same thing five years ago, mine was caused by my hypothyroidism causing me to have a high free testosterone and a high cortisol level, both of those made my retina extremeley thin and fragile causing blistering and holes. I got the advice that I would need laser surgery and got a few other opinions as I knew that would cause permanent scarring (black spots in your vision) I am so glad I tried the remedy that my Naturopath (ND) recommended, a berry juice extract supplement, I also took and still take Bilberry, a Rexall brand supplement I get at Walmart. After 4 months my vision was back to normal. After a year I had one small flareup but took the berry juice extract again and it went away even quicker this time within a month. The supplement was called Verry Berry and was about 50 dollars for a quart sized bottle. It as so worth it, I was afraid it would be quack thing but it turns out that the anthocyanins in very dark berries are just what the back of the eye needs to heal and repair. I always eat and drink dark berry anything now just to keep my eyes healthier. If you have any questions just message me ok. Good luck and dont jump into laser surgery!

deleted_user 10/02/2010

Blooms - I have had a ton of eye floaters show up in the past few months along with my other strange symptoms, do you think this could be related to the eye experience you had? I have been to the eye dr, he said my retinas were fine. He called the floaters benign.

KeriBaker 10/03/2010

Thanks for the advice ladies! I will make sure to ask my dr about that Bloom - I really don't want laser eye surgery :(
I am praying that this is my week of finding out some answers and I really appreciate all the additional help and support of everybody on this site. It is so helpful to be able to go to your dr with additional knowledge.

I will let everybody know how things go and I hope you all have a great week :)

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