I have been told that my thyroid antibodies are raised but my thyroid is normal, don't know numbers, could I be having symptoms?

[marylin]

anxiety is worse, headaches, tired but don't sleep well, hot and always hungry

[Marz]

.....if you have anti-bodies then it suggests you have Hashimotos - or Auto-immune Thyroiditis. It is often the case that when anti-bodies are present the TFT"S can be in range - NOT normal but fall within the ranges - which is one size fits all.

I had just that situation when I was diagnosed here in Crete in 2005. I was put on a small dose of T4 to support the thyroid that was under attack from large amounts of anti-bodies.

There are many good books - so if you are interested then please ask and I will post the titles. It's important to address gut issues and heal the gut to calm the anti-body attack. A scan would also be useful....but that is something that is not done often enough in the UK. So OK if you have TFT's that are in range but there are anti-bodies - having a scan that shows small nodes - then that's 2 out of 3 and so the show goes on....and treatment should begin.

There may well be an adrenal issue too with the poor sleep and the anxiety - but slowly slowly.... Have you had a good look around the main Thyroid UK website - lots of excellent information and explanations....

[marylin in reply to Marz]

Hi Marz, Thank you very much for your advice, will certainly look into things. Marylin

[shaws Administrator]

You haven't given your blood test results, but this is an extract from an article by Dr Toft, of the BTA for your information. If you need a copy of the whole article to give to your GP, email [e-mail]:-

2 I often see patients who have an elevated TSH but normal T4. How should I be managing them?

The combination of a normal serum T4 and raised serum TSH is known as subclinical hypothyroidism. If measured, serum T3 will also be normal. Repeat the thyroid function tests in two or three months in case the abnormality represents a resolving thyroiditis.

But if it persists then antibodies to thyroid peroxidase should be measured. If these are positive – indicative of underlying autoimmune thyroid disease – the patient should be considered to have the mildest form of hypothyroidism.

In the absence of symptoms some would simply recommend annual thyroid function tests until serum TSH is over 10mU/l or symptoms such as tiredness and weight gain develop. But a more pragmatic approach is to recognise that the thyroid failure is likely to become worse and try to nip things in the bud rather than risk loss to follow-up.

Treatment should be started with levothyroxine in a dose sufficient to restore serum TSH to the lower part of its reference range. Levothyroxine in a dose of 75-100µg daily will usually be enough.

If there are no thyroid peroxidase antibodies, levothyroxine should not be started unless serum TSH is consistently greater than 10mU/l. A serum TSH of less than 10mU/l in the absence of antithyroid peroxidase antibodies may simply be that patient’s normal TSH concentration.

[Jackie]

Hi At a guess, I would say you have not been tested for TSH, T4 and Free T3. The results may be very different. If GP will not, then if you pay on line is the cheapest. Use a good company that docs approve of.

Best wishes,

Jackie

[marylin]

Hi Jackie,Thank you very much for your advice, I will look into things. Did the test in the first place because went to the gp with tiredness, and concerned about my blood sugar levels as I often get the shakes when hungry, but probably eaten to much sugar ! also my cholestoral is high but gp not worried about that, but I am, Marylin.