Double Whammy.

[allhaka]

I have some weirdness and I'm waiting to talk to my Doctor to figure out what (if anything) they are going to do.

Hi! How are you all! I'm Kim, I am 39. I have a weird autoimmune disease that causes inflammation in my blood vessels. I have been feeling really bad lately, assumed I was flaring (although it was a "weird" flare) and went in to my rheumatologist on Thursday of last week. Basically I came out with and FSH of 96.5 (guess I'm in menopause - kind of suspected it, but it's still a bit of a shocker) and a TSH of 5.68. So. Now what. I feel AWFUL. I am SO tired I can barely function, I have terrible headaches, I lost about half the volume of my hair 18 months ago (we attributed this to a new immunomodulator I was on - I quickly went off ALL drugs for my autoimmune disease). I have these weird, little white bumps on the backs of my arms, my OILY skin is thick and dry and peeling (but still not really "DRY, dry"), I have always considered 98.6 a low grade fever as my temp is always around 97. ALWAYS freezing (well now except when I am having a killer hot flash), etc. I think you get the picture. SO, I am waiting to hear from my Doctor, reading and absorbing and trying to figure out what is going on. Oh, I do want to mention, I live in the upper midwest and I have known my Vitamin D level has always been borderline low (30 last fall, 37 currently in the middle of summer and I am "tan").

Not really sure what I am looking for, I guess I'm just a little shell shocked and shook up and thought i'd put this out there.

Thank you!

[Nancy LC]

Sounds like pretty classic hypothyroid!

[Didy]

I agree with Nancy, thyroiditis is a pretty common companion to autoimmune disorders....Make sure and have your Free T3 and Free T4 numbers checked as well as the antibodies. Your TSH should really be below 3, according to "new" standards - and many doctors are not aware of this.

Good luck and hope you can get some answers soon!!!!

[Nancy LC]

Just another suggestion, you might want to try a paleo or stone-age diet to help your other autoimmune condition. It seems like it often does help folks.

[Scarlet]

Also see about getting tested for celiac disease. You can get conventional blood tests for this. If bloods are negative you can get the stool test from enterolab. I don't know where you are but they deliver the test to anywhere in the world. I am from Ireland and all I needed was a FedEx courier. If you go to http://forums.realthyroidhelp.com you can get recommendations for good doctors in your area. I am of the opinion that TSH is useless and that the Free T3 and Free T4 levels are what is important.