Expert: Robert Arnone, DC - 4/11/2009

Question
Hi!

I'm a 22-year old female, very fit, who doesn't smoke or drink. I was diagnosed last year with PCOS/insulin resistance (for which I'm treated with metformin with excellent results), as well as a little known condition called palindromic rheumatism. I'm usually *very* active, as I want to join the army, and I (used to) work out two or three times a week easily.

Recently, I began to feel increasingly tired after each work out. Now, almost two months later, I'm so exhausted I can barely get through the day, let alone exercise. My legs feel shaky. I sleep over ten hours a day (when previously I used to need only 6 or 7 hours of sleep) My hands and feet are always very cold, and my hair/skin have become dry. My eyes are puffy and feel gritty. I feel lethargic and slow. I forget things.

Since my grandmother has Hashimoto's, I gave a call to my endocrinologist who ordered bloodwork to check my thyroid.

My T4 levels came back normal, but my TSH was 3.48. According to the lab and my GP, it's perfectly normal. According to my endocrinologist, it's slightly elevated. I'm scheduled to get another blood test next week along with antibodies to confirm it.

What I don't understand is, how can I feel so *awful* if my TSH levels are only "slightly" up? I've only felt so tired once in my life, and it was after a bout of dysentery that nearly killed me. Now my relatives are beginning to think this is all in my head, or that I'm exaggerating. I wish I were!

Should I consider other medical reasons for my exhaustion? Or is my thyroid causing my problems?

Thanks for your time,

Andy

Answer
Andy,
You certainly should consider other medical reasons for your trouble.  Even if there were problems picked up in your Thyroid, you should seek the best answer.
What I am getting at is that your Thyroid is run by your brainstem and even if your thyroid were not functioning correctly, taking a drug to stimulate it or inhibit it would not correct the cause of the problem.  In other words the thyroid trouble would be merely an effect of the underlying problem which is usually in the brainstem.
In fact, your brainstem is related to all function in your entire body and all cells.
SO..............
The endocrine disorder that you are suffering from which seems to be diabetes related and the arthritis that you are suffering from, these are abnormal effects of what can happen if there is a brainstem problem.
The test that you need to take is one that a specialist can give you and see if you may have an Upper Cervical Spine Injury that is causing brainstem pressure and therefore your ill health conditions as the result.
Drugs will never correct your health problems and the only way to get well is to correct the cause.
Is this making any sense to you?
Yours in Best Health,
Dr Robert Arnone
Upper Cervical Specific Doctor
"Brainstem Specialist"
St Louis, MO