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sudden thyroid storm untreated

SaraM

Senior Member
Messages
526
I need some advice please. I went to ER 3 days ago, and blood test showed TSH 0.04, free T4 : 2.0. Doc gave me no medication, and sent me to see another GP the next day. She ordered tests and referred me to an Endocrinologist. This is a County hospital , and I have no insurance now. I will probably will not be able to see the Endo for a couple of weeks, and I feel I am dying. I feel hot and cold at the same time, and I have migraine, severe muscle pain, neck and ear pain, nausea, and cant eat at all. I have just some propanolol which the second GP gave me, and it does not seem to do any thing. I have also tried large doses of carnitine and lithium with no result. I just took 20 mg hydrocortisone hoping it could suppress thryoid hormone production. I need some anti thyroid hormone medication NOW, but I don't know how to get it.
 

roxie60

Senior Member
Messages
1,791
Location
Central Illinois, USA
SaraM I know this must be scary Sara, I know the feeling that one is dying, every cell screaming for something. The TSH looks very low and FT4 looks high. I have no ideas about how to get medication but I think you still need to be properly diagnosed. I know you feel desperate but you need to find out exactly what is wrong. I cam maybe offer a couple of links that will allow you to print out some info so you can educate those knuckleheads at the ER, they dont seem to recognize someone in crisis. It could also be adrenal related. Did the ER do any other blood tests than TSH and FT4? Did they do Cortisol, ACTH, etc?

Maybe not helpful but again you may get some doc to help your case

Here is a test that will give you an idea regarding your thyroid status but you need some lab tests values to plug in, you have at least two. It doesn't take too long to complete. I took it and it said extremely likely thyroid dysfunction,
http://nahypothyroidism.org/online-test/

Here is a scale from Dr Rind and he has some examples of possible thyroid status based on TSH, FT4 and FT3,
goto interpreting results and see where/what status your lab values indicate, might be able to use this to get some attention at ER.
http://www.drrind.com/therapies/thyroid-scale#interpreting


http://www.buzzle.com/articles/normal-thyroid-levels-what-is-a-normal-thyroid-range.html

I hope these help, keep u updated, I dont want you to feel alone in this.....
 

roxie60

Senior Member
Messages
1,791
Location
Central Illinois, USA
Based on info at the drrind link I posted above you could have Hashimotos or Graves. I cant understand why an ER would turn you away with no treatment?????

Here is Dr Rinds chart once you plug in your TSH, FT3 and FT4 values and determine where they fall on is thyriod scale (high, low, optimal) thn you can look at this chart for a little more info

http://www.drrind.com/therapies/thyroid-scale-matrix

Good luck, hope you feel better soon!
 

Dreambirdie

work in progress
Messages
5,569
Location
N. California
I need some advice please. I went to ER 3 days ago, and blood test showed TSH 0.04, free T4 : 2.0. Doc gave me no medication, and sent me to see another GP the next day. She ordered tests and referred me to an Endocrinologist. This is a County hospital , and I have no insurance now. I will probably will not be able to see the Endo for a couple of weeks, and I feel I am dying. I feel hot and cold at the same time, and I have migraine, severe muscle pain, neck and ear pain, nausea, and cant eat at all. I have just some propanolol which the second GP gave me, and it does not seem to do any thing. I have also tried large doses of carnitine and lithium with no result. I just took 20 mg hydrocortisone hoping it could suppress thryoid hormone production. I need some anti thyroid hormone medication NOW, but I don't know how to get it.

This sounds over my head, but I do think you need to find a CLEAR DIAGNOSIS of what's going on before you jump into treating yourself with "large doses" of anything, especially hydrocortisone. I screwed myself up very badly taking HC, just for a few weeks back in 2009, and am still dealing with damage caused by that.

Try to focus on basics: keeping yourself as calm as possible, by doing periodic deep breathing exercises, making sure you get enough fluids (including some kind of electrolyte mix that works for you), and eating small amounts of the foods that you tolerate most. I know it's easy to say, but try not to panic, because that will just feed the angst and adrenaline. In the mean time, start doing some research of your own to figure out what's up with your endocrine system.

Good luck with it, SaraM. I wish you well and hope you can find the answers that you need.
 

Ema

Senior Member
Messages
4,729
Location
Midwest USA
For once Dreambirdie and I are in agreement on the use of HC :)

I think that increased levels of steroids could make the symptoms of hyperthyroidism worse. It won't suppress thyroid hormone. In fact, it might do just the opposite.

I really only know of l-carnitine for hyperthyroidism. Did you take 2-4 grams a day like the studies show?

Otherwise, I believe I would return to the ER and ask for anti thyroid meds to go along with the beta blockers.

Ema
 

Ema

Senior Member
Messages
4,729
Location
Midwest USA
I'm not a doctor, and I can't provide medical advice. This is just an uninformed lay opinion, so I might be wrong about it all.

If T4 is measured in pmol/L, then I think a measurement of 2.0 might indicate low function. (Normal range in UK = 12.0 - 22.0)

If TSH is measured in mu/L, then I think a measurement of 0.04 might also indicate a function. (Normal range in UK = 0.3 - 4.2)

If that is the case, then it appears that you might have an underactive thyroid function, not an overactive function.

We use conventional units here in the States. So her TSH is quite low and her FT4 is above range (typically .8-1.8).
 

SaraM

Senior Member
Messages
526
Thank you for your comments. I can't write much now because I feel terrible. I will have to call tomorrow , and schedule an ultrasound, a scan, and a visit with the Endo. No HC for now, and 4 grams of carnitine with no help.
 

Wayne

Senior Member
Messages
4,300
Location
Ashland, Oregon
Thank you for your comments. I can't write much now because I feel terrible. I will have to call tomorrow , and schedule an ultrasound, a scan, and a visit with the Endo. No HC for now, and 4 grams of carnitine with no help.

Hi SaraM, just ran across this thread, and I noticed you haven't posted since 9/1/13. How are you doing? I'm sort of concerned about you. --- Sounds like you were going through the wringer, and I hope things are better for you.

All the Best, Wayne
 
Messages
27
Melissa herb (lemon balm) has thyroid suppressive qualities and is used for hyperthyroidism. My experience in taking it would concur. It's not easy to find, though.
 

L'engle

moogle
Messages
3,200
Location
Canada
I'm way too late to make a relevant remark but high doses, even small doses of lithium can aggravate autoimmune thyroid.

Hope you are doing better!
 

xks201

Senior Member
Messages
740
It's pretty simple actually. Your body did not have enough cortisol in it to metabolize the amount of thyroid you had in you. You were either taking too much thyroid or not enough cortisol or both. You say HC messed you up - I've never heard of such a thing when people are taking physiological doses. I have taken 6 times the physiological dose of dexamethasone and yeah my blood sugar was temporarily high and I got a ton of stretch marks (got off that) but I don't understand how you can possibly blame any enduring symptoms on HC.