Still dazed and confused!!

[sharonjarvis]

I was diagnosed underactive thyroid in January and went for my second set of blood tests on Tuesday. I'm on 50 mcg of levo and i still feel knackered but i can't sleep properly!

My results are

TFT 13.3 (10-26)

TSH 5 (0.35-4.5)

Folate 6.0 (4.6-18.7)

Vit B12 212 (175-900)

I'm waiting for my Vit D3 result to come back. How long should it take the hospital to do the test? All bloods were sent at the same time.

I had a follow up appointment today with my doctor but unfortunately she's off sick so I'm not sure what to make of these results. Im a bit confused, as she's asked for my TSH and TFT to be done again today(Because I didn't know about the blood test today I took my medication as normal) The nurse told me my results were all normal and that I should take my medication on the day of a blood test. Should I just disregard the blood results taken today?

I had an ultrasound on my thyroid yesterday and the consultant said it was very scarred with lots of nodules.(As i've had problems for 3 and a half years swallowing and breathing at times and feeling like I'm swallowing past a rock. The whole right side of my neck hurts, I get loads of sore throats and my right gland behind my ear swells up and hurts. Is this normal?). He called my old doctor an idiot for telling me it was all in my head! He told me it was definitely autoimmune thyroiditus. Is this Hasimotos? and is the ultrasound just to back up the diagnosis? The medication doesn't seem to be helping with the uncomfortableness around my throat.

Thanks to all the wonderful people on here who have really helped and sorry I've got so many questions!

[puncturedbicycle]

So they did tests on Tuesday and another set of tests today? That doesn't sound right. Maybe a form or something was duplicated in the process of ordering the bloods - ?

Not sure what the nurse was talking about. You can see clearly that your tsh is out of range - too high - and is that first result meant to be t4? That is too low. Ideally they should allow you to get your tsh right down to see if it makes you feel better.

Hopefully it will be good to have the consultant on your side in case the gp sees today's results and says you're on enough meds.

[Ansteynomad]

I would interpret your thyroid test results as showing that you are still very hypo. Your TSH is over range and your FT4 is low in range, so even though you shouldn't take your meds on the morning of a test (take them immediately afterwards), I don't think the result would be much different in terms of interpretation.

On top of that, your folate needs to be in the top 25% of the range and your B12 over 500. Looking at those, I would expect your vitamin D and also your ferritin to be low in range. Has ferritin been tested? With most or all of those low in range, levo will be ineffective, which may explain your thyroid test results.

By all means get tested again, but It does look as if you need to get your vits and mins sorted out and possibly also get an increase in meds.

Oh and autoimmune thyroiditis is Hashimoto's Disease by any other name.

[sharonjarvis]

Thank you so much for your replies. Puncturedbicycle, my doctor asked for these bloods yesterday. I'm not sure why as she'd done the original ones on Tuesday. Maybe she was having a brain fog day!!

Ansteynomad I'm hopefully going to see my doctor on Monday so I'll mention the Ferritin test and also ask about help getting my vitamin and mineral levels up. I'm really lucky with this doctor as she listens to me, unlike the last one who told me the troubles i was having with my throat were all in my head and wanted to send me to a shrink.

[puncturedbicycle in reply to sharonjarvis]

Good luck with your appointment.