Having tests done

[Jezza]

Hi guys, yet another post

I went to a less than understanding doc today and I pressed for some testing.

The doc (being less than understanding) was reluctant to do anything really, but eventually when I said I haven't ever had so much of as a test for hyperthyroidism he conceded to at least do that and a test for cortisol levels. Unfortunately I don't really think those are potentially causing HH and basically I'll probably have to give blood twice for nothing, since although I asked if my adrenaline levels (as an indication for pheochromocytoma) and glucose levels (Type 1 diabetes runs in the family and could be linked to HH) could be checked at the same time (I mean, you have the blood anyway, might as well check something useful) the answer was no...

Sure, you have to follow protocol but protocol hasn't helped to many people with HH yet, now has it...

Anyway, my question, after this needlesly long intro :lol: , is whether any of you had some tests done and if it gave any results.

What I'd really like to do is have an MRI of my spine or head to look for any of those obscure tumors or injuries.

I knew I should have become a racing driver...just crash the car once and they check everything from head to toe; have something real and be sent away with "yeah, something's wrong with your nervous system" :roll: .

*Sigh*

 

[tbanner523]

I have had the same tests as you....With me, Doctors saw an otherwise healthy person...I sweat a lot, and I am always hot, but there is really nothing else physically wrong with me (I am not fatigued, I exercise, etc..), they can't justify the cost of different tests....and in some ways I agree with that.

 

[margiehope]

tests

Hi!

I suffer from fairly severe cranio-facial HH, or did until I got onto Avert.

I'm actually low thyroid, though, and my daughter's daughter also tested her thyroid levels since she also suffers facial sweating--her tests did not show hyperthyroidism.

So, who knows?

 

[Jezza]

Well, I got the results back today of the TSH, T4 and cortisol tests.

Cortisol tested within the normal margin, but TSH was elevated and T4 slightly elevated, which is weird, because you'd expect when TSH is elevated T4 would be low, as in hypothyroidism because the two negatively influence each other via biofeedback...but apparently that wasn't the case.

Anyway, I'm thinking it could signal something, but it could also be nothing...I don't think the thyroid function in itself can really cause my HH, but maybe the unregularities are due to something else. Yet again though, I'm kicking myself for not requesting a copy of the exact results, especially since the first time I'll get another chance will be in three weeks...

The (sort of) good news though was that the doc seemed to have changed his attitude toward the whole thing a little bit in the positive direction. Last time I got the unfortunately so common dismissive talk but apparently he had done some looking into HH, and at least seemed to recognize the seriousness of it some more, which based upon the previous meeting was a positive surprise for me. Hopefully at some point we can reach a tipping point where HH breaks into the field of acknowledged physical complaints, because the whole being treated like you're imagining things wears me down quite a bit.

 

[missyv]

tumors

Hi Jezza, you know I felt exactly the same way a few years ago when I was going to podiatrist all over New York City and noone could tell me what my problem was with the sweating of my feet.

It came to a point where I just wanted to get some kind of scan done to see if I had a tumor somewhere upstairs and/or if I was crazy (the way everyone made me feel). I only found out about HH since moving to Baltimore, MD and having a dermatologist tell me. Now i don't have insurance to seek any kind of treatment and the topical solutions do absolutely nothing for me. Have you ever heard of anyone getting Disability for this disorder? Anyone?

 

[Jezza]

Well from what I understand, in theory, HH could be caused by small tumors that 'press' on endocrine glands or the spinal cord.

I was thinking more and more about HH and actually came up with that as a possible explanation too, I mean, sweating is regulated by the autonomic nervous system through the endocrine glands, so if I sweat that much, something must be wrong with them...so I searched on the internet and some cases are there, especially with pheochromocytoma, but also pituitary gland tumors and other small tumors. Usually these tumors are essentially benign but cause problems because they interfere with the nervous system, one way or another, for instance causing excessive sweating. In some cases they are more dangerous because they metastize and in the end sometimes they cause permanent nerve damage, leading sometimes to partial paralysis for instance. However, you're going from rare, to more rare, to even more rare...

Also, I have to tell you that in cases there is a tumor causing HH, you would expect to see either generalized HH or focal HH on atypical locations.

Then again, who knows really...

All I know is I'm kind of angry and don't really see why as of yet the medics haven't ordered an MRI scan of my spine and/or head, since it seems to me it's worth checking out. In fact, the whole way that HH is treated by the medical world, although it's now slowly changing a little, really annoys me.
Also personally, I live in the Netherlands where there are heavy taxes and a lot of restrictions on private care to maintain a public healthcare system, on top of that I have good insurance, so I can't help but feel I'm in my right to get it checked out properly and that they're just not doing their job/responsibility. That's the problem if you're in a system where you don't directly pay the people you need to do something for you, you don't have the power to do something about it.

I'm thinking about just still go to a private clinic and yet again pay for necessary medical care myself while in fact I've already paid for that care 2 times, but it's expensive and it's so wrong that I'm now angrily sweating behind my keyboard...which makes me even more angry :twisted: :lol:

 

[missyv]

hi jezza

i totally get what you're saying. especially, since you have insurance, you should have a doctor at your side, literally, trying to help you get this thing all figured out!! :!:

I also did some research today and did some reading on this website, www.benohanian.com/en/hyperhidrosis.htm, please check it out (if you haven't already). I really like this doctor, he's in Canada however.

 

[Aramid]

I had undergone a hyperthyroidism test and luckily it was negative. I had wasted almost a fortune for that test. Hyperhydrosis is something some doctors are new into and if you met one of them a lot of test will be introduced to you.