THYROID DISEASE

Read and learn more about silent thyroiditis. For more, visit the Thyroid Disease website ThyroidDiseaseWiki.com.

Q: Are a positive ANA test, miscarriage, and silent thyroiditis linked?
I am a 24 F. I tested positive for ANA in January at a titre of 1:60. In April my period didn’t come, and I had all the classic pregnancy symptoms. I was tested for pregnancy at what would have been 6 weeks and HCG came back a 6. Two days later my period started. I had SEVERE cramps (I couldn’t stand up straight) and very heavy bleeding. My cycle was late again the next 2 months in a row, and I was diagnosed with silent thyroiditis in June. My main concern is that because I’m ANA positive, if I was pregnant, did that cause a miscarriage which in turn caused my thyroiditis. I’m trying to figure this out now so that I can try to prevent future miscarriages, and my endocrinologist is not being very helpful. My husband and I want kids really bad!
The ANA test was originally ordered because I have a variety of chronic complaints: headaches, nausea, heartburn, insomnia, fatigue, achy muscles, shortness of breath, and heart palpitations. Holter monitor shows no problems with my heart. Sleep study shows no apnea. Anit-DNA test was ordered as a follow up to ANA to check for Lupus and came back negative.

A: Very good questions, and although I won’t be able to specifically give you a straight answer, hopefully I can help ease your mind a little.

Your ANA, while positive, really isn’t that high, and in the absence of identifying a specific antibody pattern, it doesn’t mean much. In fact it is one of those tests that often gets ordered for no good reason and come back positive for no good reasons, then we scratch are heads, send patients to rhematologists…only to have them say “don’t worry about it.” BUT in light of the other recent unfortunate instances in your life it is reasonable to wonder.

Thyroiditis is usually (or at least usually thought to be) some sort of auto-immune process- for which your ANA certainly could be related, as a non-specific marker…I think in something like 30% of people (women more common).

Your sub-clinical thyroid problem may have had an independent impact on your pregnancy, and there is some evidence that women with +ANA miscarry more frequently, but remember, -ANA women miscarry also, and if this was your first pregnancy, I would be cautious about rushing to connect the dots. Some OB/GYNS or rheumatologists might suggest a daily aspirin to help prevent microscopic clots (or immune complexes) from clogging-up the implantation site in the uterus, but this is a discussion you must have with your doc before conceiving.

If you have done some research about positive ANAs you will most certainly come across a myriad of autoimmune disorders that they are associated with (lupus, scleroderma, CREST etc.) and if you have any additional symptoms of these I would encourage you to visit a rheumatologist to determine the best course of action. With the endocrinologist involved, there is no doubt that you are getting appropriate thyroid treatment, which may be all you need, but GYN & possibly rheum should/could ponder you as well.

Remember, the fact that you got pregnant (despite the miscarriage) is an encouraging sign by itself and you likely have a lot of healthy eggs left to keep trying.

Good luck !

Q: can hypothyroidism cause you have a red/warm face and ears?
it happens especially at night. usually just for a little while before i go to bed.

i have not been diagnosed by my endocrinologist yet (i’m going at 12pm today) but my blood work has shown a high TSH level that suggests hypothyroidism and i have had silent thyroiditis (extreme hyperthyroidism that comes out of no where) so i believe that i probably do have hypothyroidism now.

so from your experience can hypothyroidism cause red and warm face and ears?

A: Hi. I have hypothyroidism, and i experience what i call “warm flushes” on my face, neck, and upper back. Not really sure why i get them, but i do. I can feel really warm one minute, and be freezing cold the next.

Q: Can hypothyroidism cause excessive hunger or even just hunger pains but then you get full very quickly?
in 2007 i got silent thyroiditis which is when you fluxuate between hyper and hypo over the couse of a couple months. you don’t actually have to treat the disease just treat the symptoms by taking a beta blocker until the thyroiditis goes away by itself.
i have been perfectly fine since.
last week i went for my yearly physical and routine blood work. my dr called me the next day saying my TSH was up (indicating hypothyroidism) so i had to go for more blood work (which i did on thursday) and a thryoid ultra sound (haven’t been able to make an appointment and i’m not sure if i’ll be able to make one until after this next week coming up due to transportation issues).

at first i didn’t think i was even really having any of the symptoms of hypothyroidism cuz the symptoms i did have were just normal things i’ve dealt with my whole life like being tired and cold. everything else has been fine.
but then i suddenly started feeling much more tired. (friday i watched my 17 month old niece all day and she took a nap from 10am-12pm and so did i. i then got lunch for both of us and after that she likes to watch yo gabba gabba and dances to the songs. i sat on the couch and she sat in the chair/stood up and danced. i actually fell asleep while she was watching it i was soooo tired still. that freaked me out cuz i realize she could have gotten into trouble and i was sleeping.

FINALLY GETTING TO THE POINT:
in the last couple days i’ve also noticed that i am very hungry. i’ll feel hungry for a few minutes and then all the sudden i’ll get really bad hunger pains like when you don’t eat for a really long time and you actually start feeling sick to your stomach like maybe you shouldn’t eat anything.
then when i do eat i feel full really fast and can’t finish my food but then a little while later it starts all over again.
i’ve been trying really hard not to eat more than usual through out the day and i just have something like a glass of apple cyder instead of something like chips or what not.
so to the question. can hypothyroidism make you very hungry?
thanks for your thoughts but i already know my thyroid is out of whack cuz the tests showed it. plus the fact that i’ve had thyroid problems in the past.
and i haven’t always been super hungry its just been for a few days now which makes me think the hypothyroid thing is catching up to me. (if hunger is a symptom that is).
i have tried the low carb thing before and my body can’t handle it. after a week of little to no carbs i got physically sick and exhausted. i started crying all the time and was very depressed. as soon as i started having a normal amount of carbs i felt fine again.

A: I had basically the same symptons and the doctors told me my thyroid was normal. I think it was a little high or low or whatever. I went on a low carb diet cut out all the yeast, flour, and sugar in my diet ate eggs, green veggies and meat or fish. I did that for about a month then I added yellow veggies after about a week I added melons, I slowly started added different foods into my diet that had more carbs but I still watch how much I eat especially bread. If I have bread I don’t eat potatoes. And I don’t eat high carbs every day once or twice a week like bread one day and potatoes a couple days later. And stay away from any kind of water that isn’t spring water. Chlorine will play havik on your thyroid and make you even worse. There is a disease that causes basically the same symptons I think it’s called Candidia you can look it up on the internet under Yeast Connection this will also help with Hypo thyroidism.

Q: Why are my FSH, LH and TSH test results changing substantially in only 3 weeks?
Sex: M
Age: 41

I’ve been on Synthroid (150 MGC/day) for the past few years because of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. A few weeks ago I went to a new endocrinologist for a checkup (it had been a while). My bloodtests showed
-low FSH (1.4) and LH (0.7)
-Thryoid Peroxidase antibodies (528)
-thyroglobulin antibodies (63)
-normal T3/T4
-normal TSH (0.68)

Three weeks later he ran more blood tests which show:
FSH (1.5)
LH (1.6)
Prolactin (4.4)
TSH (0.16)
Growth Hormone, IGF, Testosterone (all are still pending)

My TSH went from normal (.68) to low (.16) with no change in medication. Also, my LH went from low to normal.

He sent me for a thyroid ultrasound which showed “heterogeneous hypervascularity” but no nodules.

Does anyone know if this might be caused by pituitary problems? My vision has degraded recently (have an apointment with the eye doctor for July 6).

Is there anything else this could be? Silent thyroiditis? Should I get an MRI? Is it normal to have big swings in these hormones without changing medications?

A: My bet is he will order MRIs of your brain; one with contrast, and one without.
I suspect he’s considering a pituitary tumor as part of the differential diagnosis. If one exists, it’s treatable with surgery.
Don’t panic.
Keep in mind that this is not the only possibility.