GP appointment today - this is what's come out of it...

Well, this is what has come out of my GP appointment, most of which I already knew.

TSH has gone up and down like a yo-yo over the past 7 months. First it was 22 in May, 4 in August after starting the Levo, 4.3 in November and 4.6 in December. (Normal range 0.27-4.2)

FT4 is back within range from being low back in May at 10.9, then 15.3 in November and 15.6 in December. (Normal range 12-22) GP has said it's within normal range but not high enough.

Thyroid antibodies have dropped from 84,000 in January to 41,000 in December. GP thinks this correlates with the inflammatory response due to thyroiditis.

Ferritin is slightly up from August when it was 15, now it's 21 in December's test results. She would like me to continue with the Spatone I've been using from Holland and Barrett and she was happy for me to use it if I had problems with the Ferrous Fumerate I was originally prescribed.

Vitamin D is low and she has put me on Fultium-D 800IU capsules. (equivalent to 20 micrograms of D3). Not sure why she's given me D3 as I'm low on D2, unless I'm missing something...

I've tested negative for coeliac disease, which I found surprising since I have issues eating anything gluten. Well, I seem to get more issues eating gluten food and she has said that just because I've tested negative for coeliac doesn't mean I wouldn't get on well with a gluten-free diet.

She didn't want me to go on folate meds as I'm quite near the normal range, it's dropped only slightly under normal. So she would like me to eat more folate-rich foods.

Only other thing that has come back is an Anti-Nuclear Antibody test that has been tested positive. She has said there's no clinical relevance but I've looked into it and I couldn't make a lot of sense out of it as there are so many Anti-Nuclear Antibodies that I don't know which ones I tested positive for!

She also couldn't believe the amount of time I have to wait for the endo appointment as she's said March sounds like a long way away. But she has said if I feel any worse or if anything changes then they can probably think about moving it forward, but she can't promise anything.

So I have another thyroid function test on the 20th January and a follow-up regarding this on the 27th January. She wants to hold fire on upping my meds as she wants to wait until the next blood test results come through and have a better idea of what to increase them to.

Is there any reason why I have Anti-Nuclear Antibodies present and why she's prescribed me Vitamin D3 and not D2, which I have absolutely nothing of?

Also can my Ferritin levels have really upped that much from not taking that much Spatone? I was quite surprised it went up at all from just having 6 or 7 sachets!

Thanks

Jo xxx

[roslin]

she sounds like quite a good GP.

articles.mercola.com/sites/...

You need to increase your ferritin to between 70-100

nahypothyroidism.org/deiodi...

Roslin

[Hidden in reply to roslin]

Hi Roslin. Thanks for your answer and the links. Will look at them now.

The ANA test is still playing on my mind - wish I knew the significance of them.

Jo xxx

[roslin in reply to Hidden]

sorry I was so short yesterday, exhausted. I dont know anything about ANA tests i'm afraid, but I know that some people take 2 spatone aday to get their ferritin up. I bought spatone but feel so sick from it and tolerate the iron capsules better.

Roslin

[Hidden in reply to roslin]

No worries Roslin! Thanks for your help. My GP has suggested I have 1 Spatone a day and then up it to 2 sometime. The ferritin has gone up at any rate so I think any intake of iron is good.

Thanks!!

Jo xxx

[Moggie]

What a difference in a change in GP can make. She seems very thorough and is doing a good job, unlike your last GP.

If anyone is thinking of writing a letter to their GP regarding bad treatment then take a look at Jo's previous post and blogs - the difference is treatment before and after the letter are amazing and sending a copy to the practise manager was certainly the right thing to do.

Moggie x

[Hidden in reply to Moggie]

Hi Moggie, thanks for your reply!!

Yes, definitely. This GP I'm seeing is brilliant and she seems to know her stuff. I couldn't have done the letter without your help so thank you very much.

Jo xxx

[Moggie in reply to Hidden]

You are very welcome to the help I gave you - as it every other member on this site. I think the help and support we give each other is second to none and I am proud to be a part of it.

Have a good Christmas and a happy and healthy 2014 Jo. Lets hope the endo is as good as your new GP.

Moggie x

[Hidden in reply to Moggie]

Thank you, you have a good Christmas and happy and healthy New Year too Moggie. I've got very high hopes about where things with me are now going. Jo xxx

[Hidden]

Hi Reallyfedup, thanks for your reply.

I don't think the GP really gave me enough notice for the coeliac blood test preparation so I tried to eat as much gluten as I could for the whole week before. Obviously that didn't work.

If I have to be able to utilise thyroxine with my ferritin as high as 70, how come the TSH hasn't risen that much?

Also the GP thinks the slight rise in FT4 - 15.6 from 15.3 in November - is due to the thyroid compensating for the high TSH. I'm worried that if I continue to take the thyroxine as directed I'll end up going hyper instead. Or is that not likely to happen?

Thanks

Jo xxx

[Hidden]

Hi Reallyfedup, thanks for your reply.

I was tested for FT3 privately - quite recently too - and it was found to be normal at 5.5 (3.1-6.8). Surely that means T3 meds won't do anything if my levels are normal.

Jo xxx

[Hidden]

Thanks reallyfedup. I thought what I read up about T3 and Reverse T3 might have some meaning in the fact that T3 and Reverse T3 can get mixed up. That's what it seems like anyway.

Jo xxx