Tuesday, February 22, 2011

So I have a diagnosis for me, really?

I was diagnosed last week with Fibromyalgia, and while I do agree that the symptoms of that syndrome match up with my own, I am just not sure about this. First of all, other causes have to be ruled out and that just can't be the case for me because I have hypothyroidism and possibly something else going on which can also cause about 80% of my symptoms. My last doctor, an endocrinologist who will remain nameless kept me sick by not giving me enough Armour(Synthroid is forever banned from my body, I will never take it again). She uses a pituitary hormone to judge my thyroid function which really makes no sense, then declares my numbers are normal and my symptoms therefore must be psychological. I know this is not the case I feel sick, not depressed. I have been depressed before and this is just not that. If she would have paid attention to my actual thyroid hormones she would have seen that I am hanging by a thread at the bottom of the range. I know that optimal thyroid function will put your free T3 near the top of the range and your free T4 midrange or higher. My endo also said that I was not anemic, but my labs demonstrate otherwise if you pay attention. My ferritin, which is storage iron was at the bottom of the range and my TIBC was elevated indicating that my body is struggling to keep up. I have nearly used up all my storage iron, that is not normal and can interfere with how my Armour works. The endo did say that I was Vitamin D deficient and told me to take a prescription supplement. I went to a new doctor who gave me the Fibromyalgia diagnosis and is running labs again to see what is going on, but she looked at my labs and said no wonder you feel lousy. I hope she works out and leads me in the right direction. She did take lots of time for me and listened to me and seemed to suggest the labs I thought she should. I go back to her later this week to discuss the labs she ran. I just want to feel better than rotten. I am a little shaken about getting a diagnosis that is a chronic, incurable often debilitating syndrome, but have hope that between a compassionate(she has fibro too) doctor and my own strength, faith and smarts I can find the road back to health.