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Hypothyroidism, Hyperparathyroidism, Adrenal Insufficiency, and now Iron Deficiency. What's next?!

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Hypothyroidism, Hyperparathyroidism, Adrenal Insufficiency, and now Iron Deficiency.  What's next?! Empty Hypothyroidism, Hyperparathyroidism, Adrenal Insufficiency, and now Iron Deficiency. What's next?!

Post by Little Audrey Sun Mar 22, 2015 3:27 pm

Yes, I can now add something else to my list of issues. I saw the hematologist on Thursday. After looking at my lab results, he agreed that I do have an iron deficiency. He said it is not full-blown anemia yet, but if not treated at this time, it will soon be anemia.

He also said that my kidneys appear to be functioning just fine, so they are not the cause of this iron problem. That was nice to hear, because that would be a much more serious issue, as Edwin knows. It seems the only problem with my kidneys is that they are just not producing or secreting adequate amounts of renin, which in turn is keepint the adrenal glands from producing and secreting adequate amounts of aldosterone, which is why I have to take Florinef. Other than that, the kidneys appear to be healthy and filtering just fine.

I really like this new doctor. He is a young man (and VERY cute, I might add! Very Happy). He seems very intelligent and really seemed to know what he was talking about. He was going over a lot of things with me, trying to figure out the cause of my iron deficiency. He was suspecting some type of internal bleeding. He discussed colonoscopies. I told him I get them every 5 years, due to polyps that were discovered during each of my 2 previous colonoscopies. I told him I also recently did the stool card test, and it was negative. Then I said to him, "I guess I should mention I am a vegetarian." He looked at me and said, "BINGO, and there it is!" We both laughed. I told him I was suspecting this was the cause. He told me there were 2 ways to treat this. I could either start eating meat, or I could take supplements. I think he knew my answer from the expression on my face when he told me this. So he prescribed iron supplements and vitamin C to help absorb the iron.

I told the hematologist that I think his scale was incorrect. It wasn't the weight I had a problem with; although, I would have preferred it would have been much lower, but I weigh myself at home every day, so I know what I weigh. It was when the tech measured my height that I had a problem! I have always been 5' 1-1/2" tall. Not a very big person to start with. The tech measured me as exactly 5 feet!!! affraid What happened to my 1-1/2"?!!!!! Now, I am aware we lose height as we age, and I do have spinal issues which could contribute to this, but it hasn't been that long since my height was measured, and I was 5'1-1/2" tall at that time! I told the tech their scale must be incorrect. He laughed and said, "Yeah, I'm sure this $3,000 scale is off!" Jerk! I talked to my PA on Friday. I told her about this. She said she really doubts I have lost that much in height so quickly. She said she will measure me when I see her next. If I am only 5' tall, that is the least of my worries; it's just hard to believe. My goodness, if I get any shorter, I will only be 4' something!! Holy cow!! My daughter-in-law is only 4'11" tall. I will be right there with her. My granddaughters love that they are passing me up now. Well, the 12-year-old passed me up about a year ago. As a matter of fact, last night when they were here, I was standing beside her, when the younger one noticed there were a couple of inches difference. They immediately wanted to take a picture of this. They are so cute!

I now am having something new going on, which is quite painful, and I'm not sure why this is happening. This started on Thursday, the day I started taking the iron and vitamin C. I'm not sure if there is any connection or if this is just a coincidence. My left hip started aching VERY hard, and then my entire lower back started hurting. Then the entire leg started hurting. My thigh is VERY stiff and painful. Then this morning the other hip and thigh started. Now, I've had trouble with stiff thigh muscles for a little over 4 years. This started when all of my other symptoms started, which I was attributing to the hyperparathyroidism. After parathyroid surgery, the thighs remained stiff. Now I am wondering if this all might possibly be from the thyroid? I'm wondering if I SHOULD raise my thyroid meds to see if that would take care of this problem. Edwin, I know you mentioned that my free T3 level of 2.7 needs to be higher, and you are not the only person who has told me this. I too thought it should be higher, but now I'm thinking that more than ever.

The hematologist told me he does not think any of my symptoms are being caused from the iron deficiency. He told me not to stop searching for a cause of the symptoms, because he really does not think they are being caused from the iron deficiency. I am hoping he is wrong, since I found ALL of these symptoms listed all over the internet under iron deficiency. But if he is right, this makes me wonder more than ever if my thyroid is to blame. I am VERY tempted to just increase my dosage myself to see if things will improve.

Edwin, you are very knowledgeable about the thyroid. If I am taking 105 mg of Armour, and my free T3 is 2.7, what do you think would happen if I increased this dosage by 15 mg? I'm thinking I probably need more than that, but I want to increase gradually. I now take one 90 mg tablet and one 15 mg tablet daily. I know I should wait til I talk to my nephro about this, but if he should tell me not to increase it, I won't, and I will never know if it would help. If I do it myself, and things improve, I can tell him this at my next appointment in 3 weeks. I'd appreciate your thoughts on this. Anybody else, please feel free to jump in here too. Smile

I also asked the hematologist if the iron deficiency could possibly be keeping my kidneys from producing the renin, because I had heard iron deficiency can cause issues with various enzymes in the body, and renin is an enzyme. He said that would not be the case. Darn! I was hoping if I raised my iron level, the kidneys might start producing more renin, which would then raise the aldosterone level. Oh well. I am very aware, though, that doctors are not always right. Wink

Well, I need to get busy here. Got lots to do today. Hoping the hip pain subsides a bit so I can get on with my life here. So tired of being exhausted and hurting. Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

Love,
Audrey


Little Audrey

Posts : 1131
Join date : 2014-03-30
Age : 71

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