Dianosed with an autoimmune disease?

Good Morning! I hope you have a wonderful and safe Halloween!

I just need to get this off my chest and mind, PLEASE HELP ME SEE WEIGHTLOSS IS WORTH THIS?. I am quite frustrated right now! Surgery doesn't look like it will happen anytime soon, even though I have a surgeon appt booked nov24th. It will now be cancelled untill the blood work, colonoscopy, endoscopy and an appointment with an endocrinologist can can be done.

T

hrough all my testing of "trying to get healthy", I found out on Wed that I have thyroid antibodies. A.k.a autoimmune disease. I al

ready suffer from acid reflux, food intolerances, gallbladder removed, low b12, IBS, unexplainable weight gain, bursitis, proptosis, not being able to lose weight, temperature intolerances, arthritis, carpol tunnel AND sleep apnea. Apparently ALL are related to your thyroid!

So now, more testing and blood work is needed to see what the proper dose of medicationshould be, and then maybe that my medical issues and weight problems could be cleared up without surgery!

OMY goodness. What did I do to deservel this? All I wanted to do was concentrate on myself for this one year, to solve some of my health problems that I've been suffering with for over 30 years. I started having digestive problems when I was 9. Now I find out that my doctors could have known 30 years ago with a thyroid test that they routinely run? How long have my doctors known I have these antibodies? Did they test me when I was born because my eyes bulge slightly? Or when I started having acid reflux when I was 11? Or maybe when my aunt had surgery for Thyroid cancer, who now has Lupos. I am ready to stop all of this. Its one thing after another. I thought I was doing a good thing. I'm scared to hear all my health problems could have been prevented. The suffering I have gone through for 30 years..... i think I need a new doctor! Thanks for listening to me.

I would think your doctor would have done TSH at the very least many times. Thyroid diseases don't always show right away. I have had hyperthyroidism for years and I should be thin as a rake considering I have it but I am the opposite, I could never lose weight. I don't have the typical symptoms of someone with hyperthyroidism. My mother has Grave's Disease(a form of hyperthyroidism) and she was typical in losing weight without trying. Bulging eyes is usually a symptom of Grave's disease and normally unwanted weight loss is a side effect of it. Thyroids are a funny thing, it took them years to figure mine out because my TSH would go between hyperactive and normal and meds did nothing. I'm sure they will send you to an endocrinologist or an internist at the minimum to help figure out what you should be on. It may delay things a bit for WLS but shouldn't stop it. I have never heard of anyone with thyroid disease having issues with acid reflux because of the thyroid. I have never seen it listed as a symptom for thyroid but who knows, it could be listed nowadays. Many people on here have hypothyroidism and are on synthroid. You don't say if they are telling you if you are hyper or hypo. Hypo take synthroid to regulate it and often with hyper, they will give you an iodine tablet once to try and slow down the thyroid. Once my bloodwork came back all crazy, they send me for many different types of test to get the big picture. I had to have a thyroid scan, painless and took no time at all, different types of blood work etc. Just be patient and be happy that they found it and are doing something about it.

They have done tsh tests on me and they have been normal. 6 months ago it was high, this month it was low. I dont see a problem with my eyes at all. If they bulge, its only slightly. But the neurologist thinks theres an issue. i read about hashimotos thyroid disease and digestive issues. I have more testing to find out about the hyper and hypo stuff. Doctor hasnt told me anything,,, LOL it was the neurologist (for my carpol tunnel)*****ad my file to me and told me all this. LOL. Otherwise I wouldnt have known.

The world of autoimmune diseases is pretty fuzzy, it doesn't have the same clarity as say the world of virus-born infections. 30 years ago, people probably have absolutely no idea that your symptoms could point to one specific condition. Hell, I spend a great deal of my time research autoimmunity and wouldnt have thrown carpal tunnel in the mix.

If you can have relief from your symptoms without surgery, that's fine. Maybe that's not what the surgeon will suggest on Nov 24. Maybe they will talk about stabilizing some of the other conditions first, or not. I have an autoimmune disease and because of that, my surgeon decided to give me the sleeve instead of a RNY. That's all. One little change to accommodate my illness(essssssss, for there are many). That could be their thought process since you have IBS.

Believe me, several times throughout this process I've been convinced they were going to throw in the towel and I would be rejected. So far, it hasn't happened. If you are going to see the surgeon, that's a good sign. He is not the first appointment for a reason... getting to him is almost like getting to the pearly gates... you know the other side is near.

Good luck, I'm here if you need to talk.