What the heck do all these test results mean? (and sorry its a long post!)

[smileplease]

So I finally have a copy of all my blood test results since thyroid problems were found, endo diagnosed Hashimotos in March 2011 and I have all results from Jan of that year however I have NO clue which are useful to post for people to advise me on?

One of the reasons i asked for them all at the doctor is that the endo i saw literally said oh you have Hashimotos disease you take the tyroxine and that is all you can do. Never even explained it was an autoimmune disease, what the other complications could do, how so many things I had been suffering with came from this etc etc you all sadly know or have heard about the type. I was then told to get bloods done at dr once a year and off I went, felt worse, worse still and started to research it myself and found you guys and well tried to start to sort myself out. HOWEVER some times i read tales on here and online and wonder do i have hashi's as however bad i feel i think i have it easy compared to so many of you and I wanted to see if my results do in you guys opinions (which I feel I would trust more than the endo thats for sure) indicate Hashi's?

Last blood results from 21-06-13 but feeling awful at the mo and about to request new bloods should I wait for these ones and then post them all? I think its only the TSH you need as all rest vitamins, iron and blood cell counts I think.

what is also now worrying me is I keep being told I should look in to gluten free diet but I thought it was just the american line and well to be honest really didnt want to go gluten free but I have been told Coelliac and Hashimotos often related and on my results from April 2011 there is a note if i was gluten free for at least 6 weeks I am unlikey to have it but if not they should consider gastro referal to have it checked - no one ever even discussed this with me!

so I will be asking about this at the doctors when I go too - do they do this often do we know?

anyway any advise welcome

many thanks x

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Ask for a print out and post you results (with ranges) for folk to chip in. e.g. TSH FT4 FT3 and your minerals/vitamins and gluten test.

Symptoms are the key however tests will give some idea (not everything is in the blood tests, but it's a start).

Have a look at the main TUK site for more info about tests..... J

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

[puncturedbicycle]

It doesn't really matter if you want to post your old results now. Feel free - you can always add your new ones or do a separate post if you prefer. The tsh is just one of the results (some may say the least important one), but ideally you'll have t3 and t4 results as well as antibodies as well as ferritin, vit d, vit b, and I'm sorry, I can't remember the rest. Someone else will know.

It sounds like you may want to ask the gp about the coeliac note on your results. You may already know this, but make sure you don't follow a gf diet before the coeliac test as you may get a false negative if you've been off gluten for a while. Do you have any symptoms? After your test you can always give it a go and see if you feel good cutting out the gluten. I didn't find it as hard as I'd feared, and I was strictly gf for a year.

It's a great feeling to take your health in your hands and get on with it when everyone else has been letting you down, and this is a great site for it. Good luck!

[Jackie]

Hi Make sure that you always have tSH, T4 and Free T3 done for the thyroid, especially before any change in your meds. When you have a test, ask receptionist for a print out with results to include ranges, vital as labs vary, so long as you have the range for the test you have ,it does not matter where from. Hospital always phone the Sec the same, although some consultants give them to you automatically.

With one autoimmune condition ,you are likely to gradually have more, I have 12. Vitiligo, whit patches, that have no treatment and do not matter, in particular go with thyroid disease.The ones that should have been tested an d that are repeated annually are B12+ foliates, need to be high in range, Diabetes, and also not thought to be autoimmune, vit D , hormonal, if low corrected calcium before any treatment, iron/ferritin needs to be clearly in range. For these if put on treatment, retests after 4 months.

Best wishes,

Jackie