thyroid question

Easy way to find out the answer to all these, get the blood work. It is very easy. I am a man and I have a thyroid condition.

you think they could test for it at a student health center at my university? My parents have a pretty sparse insurance deal, so I don't want to see a specialist if possible.

You need a tsh test which they can probably do at the clinic.

Your student health center can test for it (may have to send your blood out to a lab to get the results), but the problem is most student health centers will not do screening tests -- you need to be complaining about something. If the doc at your center will prescribe the test then it can be covered by insurance in most cases. If not prescribed, insurance will not pay for it. Get the tests; simple medication can be very helpful. We had a girl who after running 2:32 marathon got into thyroid trouble and ran an all-out mile in 7:40. With medication she made the next Olympic team in the marathon

If you are in a large metro area where there's a Quest Lab, you can (except in some states) just go in and request a thyroid panel (several thyroid function tests done on one blood sample) without a physician request or consultation and send you the results. Post your results here and we will interpret them for you.

okay thanks, I'm gonna call the student health center tomorrow to see how much it is and if they'll even do it. What would I be complaining of if I had a thyroid problem? I'm thinking fatigue, mood swings/depression and weight gain.....that's what I always thought thyroid problems caused.

I'll see how much it is at the student center and either do it there or at a quest lab. I'm about 40 minutes from Salt Lake City, so I figure they've got one there if not closer. Thanks

I have a thyroid condition and am male also.

Another idea for payment is to go to your trainer if you run for a team. I had no insurance and had the same problems. My running was suffering so the trainer sent me in on the school's dime. I now have to pay for it myself but the first few visits were on them.

It certainly wouldn't be unusual for you to be complaining that you feel like 6:00 mile pace feels like 5:00 pace -- what used to be easy has become very difficult.

Are you referring to Margaret Groos?

Do not take any vitamins for right now. It can throw false info into the test. My Insurance paid for all these tests only to find out I take vitamins. Not anymore and now I am flagged for a thyroid by any new insurance co.

could hypothyroidism lead to continous low grade injuries such as muscle strains and fatigue? also, should endurance athletes use the standard normative ranges for tsh and t3 the same as sedentary people? for example, would being on the lower end of the total t3 and the upper end of the TSH indicate you should increase your doseages?

I have been told that it can affect recovery time and I should plan accordingly by taking my easy days easier.

I guess if I was not recovering properly it could lead to injuries and things like you asked.

I have asked my doc the same questions with the athletic side in mind but he didn't think it made a difference with this disease.

That is great info. Thanks.

2:18 wrote:

Do not take any vitamins for right now. It can throw false info into the test. My Insurance paid for all these tests only to find out I take vitamins. Not anymore and now I am flagged for a thyroid by any new insurance co.

did he tell you it would affect your recovery time even if your TSH was in the normal range? does this mean that even if you are treated for hypothyroidism that you are still going to have recovery issues?

About 10 years ago I suffered from hyper (over active) thyroid. After treatment, my thyroid stopped funtioning and I experience hypo (underactive) thyroid. So let me ask you this...Assuming you were in good shape for a few years, do you know what your resting heart rate was? Is it much (more then 5 bpm) lower now? Is your voice horse or noticibly gravely? Do you arms ache when you type? Are your feet and hands cold? All these are extreme symptoms of hypo thyroidism, but if you have a few, maybe you are hypothyroidic. The only way to know is a blood test. The only problem is that the normal range for thyroid function is rather large, and as a result you could be hypo-tyroidic and still be in the normal range. I convinced my doctor to increase my thyroid medicine until my resting heart rate was back to "normal", even though my thyroid funciton was normal taking .125 mg/day synthroid (and I now am up to .20 mg/day).

Good luck...ask lots of questions...and usually hypo-thyroidism affect woman much more frequently then men...

Thanks for the reply. I was diagnosed about 2 years ago as being hypo and for a short period of time after being treated, i was actually able to train pretty hard and some of my old times were coming back. but in the past 6 months, i've been slowly falling apart. i'm chronically sore and i keep thinking i just need to back off a bit but it doesn't seem to help. my TSH came back in the normal range but it's always on the high end. this is why i wonder if runners need to have a little slush room given the stress that running puts on the thyroid - kind of like runners shouldn't be on the low end of the iron scale.

the problem with the resting HR test is that i tend to have alot of the symptoms of overtraining including a high morning resting HR and not being able to sleep well.

i'm going to my doc this week. i know he's going to say it's too soon since my last test to have changed but i'm going to press him anyway. it plays with your head. i always have to analyze whether or not this is all in my head and i've lots motivation or if is really something wrong.

From the descriptions of the symptoms I'm thinking I don't have it. I've also read a bit in encyclopedias (not medical ones though), and it seems like a more serious condition than what I may have, if I even have anything.

I'll ask the doc when I see her on Monday....I'm seeing a nutritionist at the Student Health Center for a $15 office visit fee.....not bad I suppose for a kid with no insurance anymore.

Get a TSH test, Ask for your T3 and T4 levels as well.

What is normal can be different for everyone. No endurance athlete should be on the low end of normal. Be an advocate for yourself based on your symptoms, not just whether or not you are in the normal range.

My weight went up with an increase in mileage. Not terribly so, but I was not getting leaner despite 70 mile weeks (my usual was 40 - 50).

My symptoms were sluggishness, fatigue, low heart rate. I thought I was anemic - I did have low ferritin (get that checked too) which can go hand in hand with low thyroid. It was in the normal range for the regular joe, but too low for an endurance athlete (runners under 25 can experience performance deficits and under 20 is a big red flag).

My race performances were very mediocre to down right slow depite consistent training and workouts.

Other symptoms included depression, slow recovery, cold intolerance. Looking back, I had all of these, but attributed a lot to stress and more running.

I have been on synthroid for about 3 months. Symptoms of depression have disappeared - physically, I feel more energy, and better recovery. I am still adjusting and I have heard from other runners that it can take awhile. I already feel my metabolism has picked up. I also take iron supplements religiously now.

I'm hoping my racing times reflect this in the spring. we'll see.

Also, what are you eating and when? An increase in mileage does not mean you can eat 24/7. Keep your body fueled but avoid giving yourself the right to go for a 4th serving at the cafeteria b/c you ran 15 miles that day.

You are describing a potential hypothyroid condition.

Be careful interpreting the TSH test results. The "normal" range is huge - running from 0.5 - 6.0 for most labs.

I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. It is the autoimmune hypoactive variety of thyroid disease. My father has Grave's Disease, the hyperactive version. He lost 50 pounds in four months before going to a doctor. My symptoms were entirely different from his: alopecia, vicious nighttime calf cramps, feeling dead tired along with brain fog, itchy skin, never deeply hungry, thinning eyebrows. . .and I didn't have a clue what was going on.

I was not the typical hypothyroidism case. I was male, thin and young. I spent years thinking wondering if I was malingerer.

It took me a year or so for my body to adjust to the Synthroid (T4). I also take Cytomel (T3). The Cytomel sharpens my mental thoughts.

I feel best with a low TSH - less than one. Some years ago I went to the doctor and told him I was really dragging and might need to boost my Synthroid dosage. A week later his assistant calls and says to maintain my dosage. My TSH had gone from 0.8 to 5.4. I insisted on boosting the Synthroid dosage. Good thing I did It made me feel much better.

Three key points to remember:

1) Almost everybody feels best with a TSH near 1.0. A few outliers might feel better further up the range, but it is unusual.

2) Always ask for your test results. Most docs medicate to test ranges, not to how you feel.

3) If your TSH is >2.0, you probably have a subclinical thyroid issue. If your family physician won't address it, seek someone who will. A very low dose of T4 will probably help. Serious runners will feel the effects of a faulty thyroid gland before most other because they test their bodies more aggressively. A subclincal (2.0 - 6.0)TSH should be addressed.