My wife has symptoms of hyperthyroidism, symptoms such as hair loss, weight gain, tiredness etc. To this day all the labs are negative from her primary care doctor and OB/GYN. She is going to see an Endocrinologist and most likely he is going to order the same lab tests again for her. We have heard that even though the labs can come back normal for the THS, T3, T4 that you can still have a thyroid abnormallity. When she sees the doctor besides letting him know her symptoms and besides more lab work what else can she ask him as far as what can be done if the lab comes back normal again but the signs and symptoms are still there.What other tests are there? Does anyone know how it can really be detected?
2007-09-26 15:03:07 · 2 answers · asked by asere 1 in Health ➔ Women's Health
First off- hypo or hyper? From the symptoms it sounds like hypo. Which, as you know, is lower than normal amounts of thyroid hormone. I know you don't want to hear this but if there is an abnormality in the thyroid there should be an abnormality in the labs. For hypothyroidism the TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) would be high because it is trying to stimulat the thyroid to make more thyroid hormone. T4 is the inactive form of the hormone which is converted to T3 in peripheral body tissue. The very definition of hypothyroid is "low thyroid" so if the hormone levels are normal then it's not a thyroid problem. Maybe the endocrine doc will be able to come up with something or done some more sensitive testing of some sort-- I wish you the best of luck!
2007-09-26 15:20:52 · answer #1 · answered by terpfaninohio 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am hypothyroid, but never heard of anyone having blood work come back normal when they had a thyroid abnormality.
Could be some other pituary abnormality though. The endocrinologist will run tests for this.
There are also biopsies that can be done.
Depending on where you live, an iodine deficiency is also a possibility.
2007-09-26 15:18:28 · answer #2 · answered by Tarkarri 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋