Hypothyroidism - Misdiagnosis! - Page 1

Has anyone ever had their GSD be misdiagnosed with hypothroidism?  What did you notice after they were off of their thyroid medication? 

Not to bore everyone but in a nutshell my female was diagnosed in 2004 when she was 2 years old and has been on meds ever since.  I wasn't happy with her T4 levels, her coat quality or skin issues so I sought a second opinion.

I honestly couldn't tell you why I never put it together before or why I waited so long.  Well, hypothryoidism has been ruled out by an endocrinologist and subsequent full blood panel (T3, T4, TSH and not sure what else).  Hopefully, with her being off of the meds her coat and skin issues will improve.  I still suspect there another reason for the skin issue aside from the allergies.

Sheesh!
 

If you have had her on meds for 2 years and now taken off, watch her. I had my throid out in 87, they always kept messing with the levels they gave me, really played some fun with my moods, I would be feeling great and they would tell me no your not!
Watch her for awhile while her body starts to kicks back into gear. I would sub with some Omega for the coat.

Yes for a while it was the catch all.  You need to run several consecutive T3/T4 panels to determine the throid levels correctly.  Get another vet.

She's on Grizzly Salmon Oil as well as EPA gel caps.  She's on so much oil - she should be slippery.  Just kidding.  Bad joke.  My husband suffers from hypothryoidism so I know EXACTLY what you're talking about with the medication being messed with and the mood swings.  It such a fine line...one minute you're fine on the meds and the next minute they need to be tweaked a little to the right or left and then the fun begins.  Ugh!

She's going in 4 weeks for another blood draw.  She's currently off of all of her thyroid meds so I'll certainly be anxious to see what the results are.  Her dosage wasn't to much (.50 mg per day) and fluctuated through the years as did her T4 levels even though I had her blood drawn every 3-4 months. 

I initially took her to the vet back in 2004 (when she was first diagnosed) because I couldn't keep weight ON her and I was concerned. That's when she started the medication.  Then, some of the dermatological clinical signs started to present themselves within 18 months of the hypothryoid diagnosis and have pretty much been present ever since (dry and flaky skin, coarse fur and hyperpigmetation).  

Like I said - I just hope to get her coat quality back but it's been so long since it's been "good" that I can't even remember what is use to be like.  I still think there is another underlying issue.  She'll be going to the dermatologist for her 6 month check up in November so hopefully we'll be a little further along than we are now.

What were her levels back in 2004?

Always,
Cee

Cee -

Her initial T4 draw on 7/31/04 was 3.7 and then 3.0 on 11/22/04.  On 2/18/05 it was 2.8 and then went up to 4.1 on 5/21/05.  I kept a log of all of the blood draws since 2004.  It's pretty much been "in the normal range" according to the original vet.  Maybe I was expecting it to be stable and it's just not going to happen.  She fluctuated from 2.7 to 5.0 and everything in between.

I have the results of her most recent blood draw that was sent to Michigan State University.  I also wonder if the T4 bloodwork that the initial vet did every 4 months from her leg gave a false reading  per se?  The 2nd vet actually took the sample from an area on her neck.

Unless you destroy the thyroid completely as in humans for hyperthyroid you will really not see even a close steady reading at best even on meds. The body is always in flux with itself. The leg or neck draw really would not influence the T4 reading. The neck draw is alot easier to manage.  I am glad you are going to a specialist, they will guide you on what to do.
Always,
Cee