The Diagnosis Domino Effect - How One Thing Leads To Another

I had said in my first post that this process was similar to peeling back an onion.  You have to peel back one layer to see what is underneath.  In my case, I guess it could also be described as a Domino Effect.  One issue lead to another issue which lead to another issue and so on....  This post will will take us through my first three appointments at The Genesis Center and the first two dominoes.

Appointment 1 - 07/28/2020

My first appointment was around the beginning of August.  I discussed all of my issues and we talked extensively about my medical history.  The first step was lots of bloodwork to see where my body was at currently.  An extensive panel of tests was ordered and what seemed like an endless number of vials of blood were drawn.   

This is a list of all the tests that were ordered:

• CBC with Differential/Platelet
• Comprehensive Metabolic Panel
• Thyroid Panel with TSH (not just TSH and T4)
• DHT
• Testosterone, Free and Total
• Vitamin B12 and folate
• Cortisol
• DHEA-Sulfate
• Estradiol
• Hemoglobin
• Prostate Specific Ag (PSA)
• Vitamin D, 25 Hydroxy
• Sedimentation Rate-Westergren
• Triiodothyronine T3, Free
• C-Reactive Protein, Quant

In addition to this, I was given a jug to pee in for a full 24 hours to check my Cortisol levels.

After extensive internet research, I was convinced I had a Candida overgrowth.  Many of my symptoms lined up so I was doing a Candida treatment that I had found online.  I had been doing this treatment for about a month prior to this appointment with some noticeable improvement.  They agreed that I most likely had Candida and gave me a specific anti-fungal, Nystatin, that would be much more effective in getting it under control.

After taking what seemed liked 15 tubes of blood (actually about 8 or so), I was on my way with my assignment to fill the pee jug, drop it off at a lab near me and come back in about 2 weeks to review the lab report.

 

Appointment 2 – 08/17/2020

This is where things get a bit crazy!  Not only with the issues that brought me to the clinic but also on the Covid-19 rollercoaster we have all been riding this crazy year.  My follow-up appointment was set for a Monday morning.  That Sunday morning I developed a cough and generally did not feel very well.  I did not have a fever at this time (this will be important later).  I called first thing Monday morning to arrange a phone appointment rather than doing it in person.  We reviewed my labs over the phone and it was confirmed by what they saw that I had probably been feeling pretty crumby.  The main issues that stood out were High TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) and Low Testosterone.  The way I understand it is that TSH is essentially your body asking your thyroid to do its job.  By the levels I had, my body was SCREAMING at my thyroid but not much was happening on the thyroid front.  This led to the diagnosis of hypo-thyroidism.  It was suggested to start taking a bovine (pig) thyroid supplement. Why a pig you ask?  Because pig thyroid and human thyroid are nearly molecularly identical.  This means that your body knows how to metabolize it and produces both T3 and T4 in your body.  Synthetic thyroid drugs, such as Synthroid, do not produce both T3 and T4 so your body is not getting what is needs to produce maximum energy.  We discussed the low T and my previous experience with it.  We agreed that it was important to try it again in conjunction with the Thyroid supplement and retest in 6 weeks.  We did agree to lessen the dose I had taken previously to see how that would affect me and my numbers.  They also wanted to run some further tests on my thyroid so another blood draw was ordered for a week prior to my next appointment in 6 approximately weeks.   Later that day, I would test positive for Covid-19.  This meant that I start would start taking my bovine thyroid supplement, which is designed to help boost my energy levels on the very same day that I received a positive diagnosis for something that increases your level of fatigue.  I would have to wait to see if it was really doing any good until I recovered from Covid but I started taking it anyway.  The testosterone had to be ordered from the compounding pharmacy.  It would be a while until I received it so I decided to start it once I had cleared the Covid hurdle.  We had a diagnosis of hypo-thyroidism with low T and a plan moving forward so this made me feel pretty good!

 

Appointment 3 – 10/28/2020

After being on the bovine thyroid supplement, testosterone, Nystatin and recovering from Covid, I was starting to feel a bit better.  By no means did I think I was doing great but had less fatigue during the day so that was a major plus!  The first order of business was to review my recent bloodwork.  Upon entering the office, my doc opens with a bang!  “Did you know that you have Hashimoto’s Disease”?  I told her I did not and calmly asked her what on God’s Green Earth it was?  She said that basically my body was attacking my thyroid because it thinks it doesn't belong in my body.  This forces the thyroid to shut down, which we knew from our previous test that it wasn’t functioning properly.  She said at this point we are taking the bovine thyroid supplement already which was causing the TSH to lower significantly and the T3 and T4 (the thyroid hormones responsible for making most of your energy) to increase.  This explained why I was able to make through days without feeling exhausted or needing a refresher nap but my thyroid antibodies were high, which is what indicates the Hashimoto’s Disease.  We discussed that in addition to the things I was doing that removing gluten from my diet could help reduce those antibody numbers so I began eating a gluten free diet.  I had gone gluten free a few other times previously but most notably for a more than a year because my body simply revolted when I would eat something with gluten in it.  In addition to wanting to reduce the antibody numbers, we also agreed we needed to figure out why my body was attacking my thyroid. 

This is where I need to divert for a quick second!  Why would someone get a Hashimoto's diagnosis and not want to figure out what was causing your body to attack your own thyroid?  Why would your doctor not want to dig deeper to find a cause?  I have many friends who have reached out to me recently stating that they have had Hashimoto’s for as many as 20 years.  Their doctor gave them some synthetic thyroid drug and sent them on their way.  Maybe it is just me and how my problem-solving mind works or maybe it is how the staff at The Genesis Center works (or a combination of both) but that was never an option for me.  What can we do to figure out why this is happening?  We can run some test to see if there is an infection or something that is causing this to happen.  Great let’s draw some more blood and get it done!

This bloodwork was a bit more extensive and was sent to a specific lab that specializes in this type of testing and would take 3 weeks to get the results back.  It was also suggested that I begin daily Sermorelin shots.  What is Sermorelin you might ask?  It is a Human Growth Hormone (HGH) Peptide and not actual HGH.  Instead of putting actual HGH in your body, Sermorelin tells your Pituitary gland to produce its own HGH.  From what I understand, this in turn entices the other parts of the glandular system to do their jobs, in my case hopefully my thyroid and testes.  I was told it generally takes 2-3 months for the response from the body to be fully realized.  This is consistent with the research I have done online and we decided to go ahead and order the first month of nightly shots.  I set an appointment for about 4 weeks out since we would be on vacation for Thanksgiving at the three week mark.   The daily morning thyroid supplements and weekly testosterone shots were continued awaiting the lab results from these latest tests.  The next set of lab reports is where I think it really starts to get interesting (and a bit more complex) so stay with me!