"How are you even FUNCTIONING?" my doctor asked. "It would not be unrealistic if you spent all day, every day sleeping with levels this high."
The normal range for thyroid thingies (TSH) is anywhere between .3 - 4.0
My levels are, get this, 117.
YEAH. Mine are a li'l high. ::smacking hand to forehead::
Apparently this thyroid garbage is causing all of my other problems too.
My face - which has broken out in a rash of dry skin for several months and had been diagnosed as sebhorrea dermatitis (which is nasty stuff - I do not recommend it) and has been treated with steroids for the last three months, has been caused by the wonky thyroid levels. It has not improved with the steroids. (which is why I wanted the dermatologist recommendation - and he did give me one, YAY!)
The tiredness - NO DOUBT attributed to thyroid issues. My doctor couldn't beleive I was capable of even working.
Hand pain? THYROID.
Inability to lose weight even though I've been behaving really well with diet and exercise? THYROID.
He gave me a prescription, which I start immediately, and then I go back in four weeks to be re-tested. He told me that once the meds kick in, I will feel like a completely new person.
In all honesty, I'm just extremely relieved that there's a real reason for all of my problems and that I'm not just "lazy" or burned out, or worse. . . .
*whew*
Oh, and my doctor told me I have a unique belly button. "Neither an innie, nor an outtie. How peculiar!"
And then I panicked, because I forgot to de-lint it before the appointment.