posted
My family EYE Dr. (after seeing more specialists than I can count)finally listened to me when I told her that my right eye feels swollen and like it has pressure behind it. It looks like to me that my right eye is open more than the the left.
She took me seriously. She measured it. My eye is sticking out and it is open more. She can't find a physical problem with the eye but she carefully questioned me about other symptoms.
130 lb weigh loss in 14 months without really trying, shaking, intolerance to cold, racing-pounding heart, etc. etc.
She says she can't diagnose me but she urged me to see an endocrinologist immediately. When I explained that the local endocrinologist just released me saying that "there is nothing hormonally wrong" she found an endocrinlogist for me.
She explained that it's rare, but sometimes people can have a thyroid that goes slow, then fast- it's all over the place.
In the last 6 months I've been told I'm hyperthyroid, hypothyroid, borderline hyperthyroid, and borderline hypothyroid. None of the Dr.s have followed up on this. They just say - "we'll test it again in a few months or those results are just a little over the line, so don't worry about it." This includes my LLMD.
I've been having what I call "surges". They are episodes of large spikes in Blood pressure,intense chest, head, and ear pressure, chest pain, difficultly breathing, throat pain, etc. My temperature will swing from 94 degrees to 99 degrees in the matter of an hour.
No one, including my LLMD, can figure out what these "surges" are. I had a terrible one a few weeks ago and I called him. He sent me to the ER. The ER sent me home saying there was nothing to treat me for. I called the LLMD and he said that whatever the surges were they weren't going to kill me and to deal with them.
The eye Dr. says that they're rare, but you can have self-limiting thyroid storms. They aren't as intense or life threatening as a true thyroid storm but that she says she doesn't know of anything other than a thyroid disorder that would produce what she sees in my eye.
Please, those of you out there with thyroid issues, give me some input. Does this sound reasonable? I can't seem to find anything about self-limiting thyroid storms on the internet. I can't get in to see the endo she referred me to until November.
Posts: 237 | From WV | Registered: Mar 2007
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savebabe
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9847
posted
Have you been tested for hashimotos with a tyroid uptake scan?
My mother has surges like this and was diagnosed with this autoimmune endocrine disorder. This disease causes the thyroid to go overactive and than underactive.
She currently takes synthroid and glutathione to help with this disease.
Posts: 1603 | From ny | Registered: Aug 2006
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Pocono Lyme
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5939
posted
Sorry can't help with the thyroid issues, but sinusitis could cause your eye/s to bulge.
The sphenoid sinuses are located behind your eyes and when inflamed will push your eye. I know this all too well.
They can also put pressure on the optic nerve and a few cranial nerves causing all sorts of symptoms. I don't remember which cranial nerves offhand, but if you search sinusitis and cranial nerves it may give you insight.
Your other symptoms definitely point to thyroid though. I did have shaking and intolerance to cold, and heart symptoms with Babesia.
-------------------- 2 Corinthians 12:9-11
9 But he said to me, �My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.� Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ�s power may rest on me. Posts: 1445 | From Poconos, PA | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
My eye has been like this now for about a year and a half. I had an MRI about 6 weeks ago and I remember the report said that the sinuses appeared with minimal mucosa? During the course of my illness I've had several MRIs and none has noted any problem.
I haven't had any thyroid scans, just the blood tests that pointed in so many different directions. I didn't know there was a disorder out there that could cause the thyroid to swing so wildly. Thanks for the info. I'll research.
I'm so confused. Is it Lyme? Is it a co-infection? Is it a thyroid problem and not Lyme at all? Is it Lyme causing a thyroid problem?
Posts: 237 | From WV | Registered: Mar 2007
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klutzo
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5701
posted
I have the surges you describe. After 12 yrs. of suffering the attacks, a cardiac event monitor finally diagnosed me with Paryoxysmal Supraventricular Tachycardia (PSVT). I now take Verapamil ER, and limit my life severely to control it. I also take Clonidine to lower my blood pressure when it happens.
It is very important to rule out pheochromocytoma (a rare, benign adrenal tumor) when you have this type of symptom pattern, since it can kill because of the hormones it releases. This is done with a 24 hr. urine test, a blood test, or MRI.
I am also hypothyroid, and still have low thyroid symptoms,but my TSH is perfect, and my free T3 is too high, for whatever that is worth, and I don't think it's much. This indicates a blockage.
I can't speak for you, but in my case I am convinced that severe adrenal fatigue is causing my thyroid receptors to be blocked,and causing my surges. I have all the signs of a major adrenal problem. For example, my systolic blood pressure drops 40 pts. when I stand up. My pupils cannot remain contracted when a light is shined on them, and my temperature ranges all over the map.
I believe my cortisol is too low in the morning and too high in the middle of the night, causing me to be awake for hours from 2-5 am, and causing the PSVT surges, 90% of which happen between 2 and 4 am.
You might want to read up on adrenal fatigue. The thyroid cannot work without the adrenals, since cortisol escorts thyroid hormone into the receptors. Many doctors feel the adrenals should be fixed first, before even starting thyroid hormone, or it is like putting your foot on the gas pedal and brake at the same time.
If you think your heartbeat is abnormally fast (over 104) or irregular during your surges, you will need a Cardiologist to fix you up with a cardiac event monitor. Do NOT accept a Holter monitor...they are inferior and miss a lot.
Keep looking until you get an answer,
Klutzo
Posts: 1269 | From Clearwater, Florida, USA | Registered: May 2004
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I've had halter monitors and they pick up episodes of tachycardia and EKGs say sinus arythmia (please excuse my spelling) but nothing that Dr feels is serious enough to be treated.
Dr. said would put me on beta blockers at very small dose because of the one episode of tacycardia they picked up in 24 hours. My heart does really odd, scary things on beta blockers and I declined. They did give me Inderol to take when the BP spikes and then took me off of it "just in case is is a pheo." I'm on Benicar 5mg now.
I have had 24 hour urine tests, MRIs, and blood tests etc due to high cortisol and high dhea. The doctor say I don't have Cushing's or a pheochromocytoma.
I did have a cardiac event monitor and they said "I was within normal range".
The endo I went to says adrenal fatigue doesn't exist. I also suspect that my cortisol is bottoming out and then spiking and I asked for blood/urine tests in the morning, afternoon, and midnight. He says he doesn't believe in adrenal fatigue and he release me from his care saying I'm "hormonally intact."
Posts: 237 | From WV | Registered: Mar 2007
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posted
There s such a thing as adrenal fatigue-it's just hard to find someone to treat it. Google it-read up on it-there are a lot of self help things to do.
Posts: 561 | From eastcoast | Registered: Aug 2006
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posted
MOTOWNLYME, you should definitly be on something for the thyroid problems, I take Armour Thyroid that my llmd prescribed. I also see a Homeopathic doctor and he prescribed Adrenal Complex from www.designsforhealth.com for the cortisol problem i have. (I have none.)
I have insomnia forever, and i am going to have a sleep study done in a couple of weeks, hopefully i can get more answers for that. helen
Posts: 145 | From Grant,MI,USA | Registered: Aug 2002
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klutzo
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5701
posted
Hi Motown....
It sounds like you've done all the right things, but conventional medicine, in their arrogance, has snubbed you. No surprise there. I think adrenal fatigue is the most likely explanation at this point.
Can you afford a holistic doctor who could interpret an ASI test for you? That is a salivary cortisol test, done at home, with samples taken at 4 times of the day. It also gives you a DHEA level, and an SIgA level.
My holistic doctor, whom I sadly can no longer afford, also tested me for all 3 types of estrogen, testosterone, Dhea, and progesterone and gave me a chart showing the ratios of one to the other, which gives you a risk ratio of various types of female cancers.
I asked him once why conventional medicine stopped teaching adrenal fatigue....they used to teach it in med school until about 50 yrs. ago.
He sarcastically replied that when they set up the ICD insurance codes for the adrenals, they only assigned two, and gave them to Cushings and Addisons, which left none for adrenal fatigue, and everyone knows, no ICD code, no illness!
Conventional medicine is saying the adrenals can function perfectly on only 10% of normal capacity. They seem to think that one day you are normal, and the next day you have Addisons, with no stages inbetween! Hans Selye proved that there are stages a long time ago. You can look him up to read more.
Also try www.drrind.com for a good scorecard to help you define whether you have problems with the thyroid, the adrenals or both. Also Google Dr. Poesnecker for an entire web site devoted to this subject.
This denial is sad at a time when adrenal fatigue is rampant in our society as never before, due to our crazy lifestyles. IMO, It is esp. a problem for women, most of whom are now expected to do the equivalent of 2 1/2 full time jobs every day.(I am counting care of a husband and a house as a 1/2 time job, care of kids as a full time job, plus an outside of the home full time job).
Plus, we must do all of this at a break-neck speed, while dealing with a constant bombardment of changing information. It simply exceeds the human capacity for adaptation, and it causes constant stress, when our adrenals were designed for occasional bursts of stress only. End of rant!
If money is an issue, you can do a lot to help yourself, with B vitamins (esp. B5), Isocort or other adrenal support supps., licorice root teas, sea salt in your drinking water, proper sleeping hours (the adrenals recharge between 10 pm and 12 am, so being asleep then helps a lot.), not talking on the phone (talking to someone you can't see draws down your adrenal reserves),and many other things you can find by doing some reading on this subject.
First, make sure it really is adrenal fatigue by doing temperature testing, pupil testing, and blood pressure testing (if you have a cuff). The pupil test is easiest, and is reliable....
Go into a completely dark room and take a flashlight with you. Keep your eyes open and stay in the total dark for at least a whole minute.
Now shine the flashlight onto one of your eyes, from the side. The pupil should contract to keep out the light. If you have adrenal fatigue, within about 30 secs. (only 5 secs. in my case!) the pupil will start to waver as it loses it's contraction, going back and forth between contracted and dilated.
A normal person's pupil will stay contracted. If yours is wavering even a little, you have some degree of adrenal fatigue.
The blood pressure test will help you figure out how bad it is, but I will leave it up to you to read about that, because this is getting way too long!
Klutzo
Posts: 1269 | From Clearwater, Florida, USA | Registered: May 2004
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CaliforniaLyme
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 7136
posted
I had thyroid issues which caused major swellinga round my eyes but it went away with IV Rocephin-!!!
-------------------- There is no wealth but life. -John Ruskin
All truth goes through 3 stages: first it is ridiculed: then it is violently opposed: finally it is accepted as self evident. - Schopenhauer Posts: 5639 | From Aptos CA USA | Registered: Apr 2005
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helen
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