Advice needed on latest blood results.

[rosypo]

Hi Everyone,

My son (17yrs) has been ill for over 2 years. Diagnosed hypothyroid and has been given increasing amounts of thyroxine since. After an increase in dose he seems much better for 2 or 3 weeks and then becomes less well again.

His symptoms are :- sleep disturbance (sleeping during the day and awake at night)

sore throat which tends to go along with a painful stomach which comes and goes.

He also has sinusitis.

Lethargy, he now does not like going out or meeting new people (he has lost his confidence socially)

Hair has been falling out, but better later.

He has a brown/yellow tinge to his skin with dark patches under his eyes periodically.

He has also lost lots of weight (down to 7 stone 2 months ago, but he looks like he has put on more weight in the last few weeks.

He has had a short synacthen test which was normal.

His latest blood results were,

Serum free T4 23.7pmol/L (12.0 - 22.0)

Serum TSH 0.08mIU/L (0.27 - 4.20)

Serum free triiodothyronine level 7.6pmol/L (3.9 - 6.7)

He is less well than ever at present with sore throat and tummy pains.

I will have to get him to one of the endos on this site, but what should the GP do in the meantime. Should we keep him on these high levels while waiting. I know it's recommended to have T4 and T3 in the upper level, but it's not doing any of his symptoms any good.

PS B12 is only 264 ng/L (180 - 900).

serum ferritin 189ug/L (30 - 400)

serum folate 5.8ug/L (4.6 18.7)

Sorry about the big ask!

[Jackie]

Hi I am sorry , a worry for you both.The levels do look very high to me.Did he have re tests before every rise in meds? Also, yes he definitely needs B12, what about vit D( hormonal? If low , corrected calcium before treatment, also diabetes, autoimmune and hormonal with similar symptoms. It may also be worth having a Caeliac blood test, not foolproof. He should definitely be seeing an Endo, make sure his choice not GP`s.Sometimes the symptoms of hypo are the same as hyper, so a lot ,in that case ,depends on the blood tests. I would try and get an urgent appointment NHS or privately, for an Endo, not a private thyroid doctor as there may be something else going on.I was overdosed and it made me very ill.

Be sure that it is an Endo, NHS or private of your choice , not GP`s.

I hope that helps,

Best wishes,

Jackie

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[rosypo]

Hi Jackie,

Thank you so much for replying. He has seen an NHS Endo, who discharged him a while ago now, after doing quite a few blood tests including a short synacthen test which was normal. His GP started him on vit D 800. He did have blood tests before increases in thyroxine. I will have to check about the corrected calcium. I don't know if he was tested for diabetes, I will check, and also the Caeliac blood test.

I think I will talk with the GP about lowering his thyroxine for now as it obviously is'nt doing the trick. The GP is aware of treating symptomatically rather than relying on blood levels. I will also try to find a private Endo asap as you suggested.

Many thanks again, I'd be going mad if it wasn't for this site!

[Heloise]

Feel badly for your son. Young people should be healthy and happy.

This chart, if you read down to Graves seems to be typical with low TSH and high T4 and T3.

drrind.com/therapies/thyroi...

[Heloise]

You might consider this article although I don't know if your test results would be that good if you were reacting to taking T4 only. stopthethyroidmadness.com/t...

[rosypo]

Thank you Heloise, The charts are extremely useful and very clear, they point towards adrenal fatigue for him. There is so much information to take in with endocrine problems isn't there? It was all a bit too much for me at first, but I think I'm beginning to get a bit of a handle on it now!