Had my second appointment today. I guess it was pretty much just a follow-up so that he could see how I'm feeling on my new Synthroid dose. I had blood work done so that he could see my testosterone, DHEAS, and thyroid levels before trying any new treatment on me. My endo's way of doing things is to change things one at a time. Right now he's focusing on my thyroid before PCOS... Anyway...I asked for a photocopy of my blood work from January. One thing that stuck out to me was my insulin level. It was 251 when the range says 21-118. I had eaten a piece of pizza two hours prior to this test, but it still seems high to me. Stupid PCOS! So I have a feeling that if my thyroid is stabilized and there's nothing else that can be done with that, then the endo will start treating my insulin/PCOS issues. My testosterone was 1.5 when the range is <2.5 Nothing else important to say I 'spose. Just gotta treat this insulin issue.
Alicat, hi. Can i ask specifically what thyroid issues you have? e.g. high TSH/antibodies, hypo/hyper etc? And isnt Synthroid meant to make the hair loss worse?
not really. i don't get as many headaches anymore, but that's about it. but i just feel so damn sad today because "hind sight is 20/20" ya know? i wish i knew then what i know now!!! maybe my hair loss wouldn't be this extensive if i knew how to treat hair loss then like i know now. grrrr. i am frustrated and realize that's it virtually too late to grow my hair back now. i thought going on diane 35 would solve all my probs, but as it appears, i've had a thyroid prob and pcos stuff untreated for soooooooooooo long. i've never EVER had my insulin tested until now (like 10 years into PCOS). i should have been more aware of PCOS symptoms and demanded treatment from a doctor. oh well. maybe now instead of trying to get my hair back, i should work on getting my physical health in order. i'm bummed.
i have a normal TSH with Synthroid, but a low free T4. I also have thyroid antibodies. i don't think it causes hair loss for everyone. i heard it's indicated as a symptom because it's such a tricky business getting the thyroid perfected! people with hypothyroidism are usually already experiencing hair loss. maybe the dose has to be just right to stop the hair loss. too much or too little synthroid is not good.
I agree, Ali, your insulin was high, regardless of the pizza. My fasting insulin was 51, and that was enough to put me on Metformin (are we talking about the same test? That range is completely different from mine. I was told my fasting insulin shouldn't be higher than 10, and every other time I've had it checked since being on Metformin it's been 10-11). I feel like you do about treatment. Don't feel guilty! I just had so many doctors who didn't know what to do with me, so I didn't get treatment until about 14 years after my hair loss started! This might not make you feel any better, but I've been making the rounds with doctors for over 10 years and that didn't stop my hairloss progression. It is what it is, and you're lovely anyway.
Hey The insulin range here is in pmol/L (whatever that means!!!) My glucose was ok. It was 5.9 in a range of 3.5-10 mmol/L (again, whatever that means!!)
I just found a statistic that said that fasting insulin should be <30 mlU/ml. I'd have to whip out my old chemistry notes to convert that to the format yours is in, Ali, but I'm pretty sure that's what my doctor was basing my insulin resistance diagnosis on.
P.S. There's also a note on that site that says that fasting insulin of 10-13 indicates some insulin resistance, and 13+ indicates insulin resistance. My doctor was quite alarmed when mine was 51 :crazy: http://www.fertilityplus.org/faq/hormonelevels.html
Alicat~I think it's smart that your endo only changes one thing at a time...so many of us are using multiple meds that it becomes difficult to know what it working and what it not. Keep us posted!
Hey Catfancy I wasn't fasting when mine was done so how accurate could it be? I had a piece of pizza two hours prior to the test being done. Should he not test me again when I"m fasting? He never said he was and that seems weird, no? Or is my number high enough to indicate a need for Met?
Hmmm...I hear you on waiting too long to treat the hair loss. Last summer when my hair started falling out, I didn't even know that Androgenetic Alopecia existed! If I could have got on treatment then, I could have kept a lot more hair! Maybe I should get my thyroid checked to be safe. Have your thyroid meds helped to slow the hair loss at all?
