General Medicine

» Elaine Moore - My mom and Lupus and Crohns

In response to My mom and Lupus and Crohns posted by angiegould:
Hi Angie,
Because people frequently have more than one autoimmune disease, it's always a good idea to test them for thyroid disease. Because some meds like corticosteroids falsely decrease TSH levels, people on these medications need to have a FT4 test to evaluate their thyroid status. And whenever fatigue is present it's a good idea to have a test for the Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) to see if there's an underlying viral connection or a possibility of chronic fatigue syndrome. Ideally, our doctors would run all the tests we need, but often we need to prod them and remind them of our symptoms before this happens. Best, Elaine