Hypo symptoms? Possibly?

Hi all. I'm usually from the ulcerative colitis boards but lately I'm having symptoms that are making me wonder about my thyroid. Lately my nails have been brittle and breaking easily, I'm tired all the time, I have been gaining weight like crazy without changing my diet, weird numbness/tingling in my fingers coming from my elbows and I have been constipated. The constipation gets me because I have ulcerative colitis, IBS-D, and lactose intolerance--diarrhea is my thing. I have an appt with my primary next Friday and I'm wondering how to ask her to test it without sounding crazy. I'm a med lab science student and I'm working on a project forr my chemistry rotations about T4/T3 testing on our instruments and it all makes me wonder. My maternal grandmother, brother and paternal aunt all have/had thyroid issues.

Hi, Sam. I remember you from the UC board. In my case, I had the thyroid disease first and the UC developed later. But my endocrinologist told me when he diagnosed Graves disease that having one autoimmune disease made me statistically more likely to get a second.

You're going to want to have T3, T4 and TSH at a minimum. Depending on your symptoms and what these labs show, your doctor may also want to test for anti-thyroid antibodies. You're best off with an endocrinologist, at least until your thyroid status is stabilized. That usually takes six months or more, and may need frequent blood tests and medication dosage adjustments.

Welcome to the thyroid forum, sorry you're now sharing this additional challenge with us.

Hi,
I just wanted to add that the tests are TSH, Free T3 and Free T4, since there are also Total T3/4, which are not the same and considered obsolete.

Good luck,
S