A bit confused, need help with blood results....

[bex2016]

Hi all, i'm new to the forum, I ordered the info pack from Thyroid Uk and have found it really helpful!

Quick background: Been hypo for 11 years since my daughter was born (my dad and maternal nan are hypo too)

On 150mcg of throxine a day but have never felt 'right'. I've been back and forth to the gp's for years with different niggles and, i believe, I have now been put in the hypochrondriac/depressed category by them (last time i went i was told there's nothing wrong and it's all in my head).

My main symptoms are the fatigue, feeling cold, very dry eyes to the point of getting episcleritis on a regular basis, brain fog and I now think i'm lactose intolerant.

Sooo, after reading the info pack I decided to get some private bloods done.

Had them done by Blue Horizon and recieved an email this morning:

T4 - 176 nmol/L (59 - 154)

TSH - 3.23 mIU/L (0.27 - 4.2)

Free Thyroxine - 18.4 pmol/l (12.0 - 22.0)

Free T3 - 3.8 pmol/l (3.1 - 6.8)

Thyroglobulin Antibody - 104.3 IU/ml (0 - 115)

Thyroid Peroxidase Antibody - 164.5 IU/ml (0 - 34)

I'm waiting for B12 and Vit D to come back but couldn't wait before posting!

I've never been referred to an Endo but am now thinking of asking gp to refer me.

If anyone can help with making head or tail of what's going on in my body, i'd really appreiate it.

Many thanks,

Bex

[chihiro]

Your TSH is really high considering you are on medication. It should more suppressed than that. Your FT3 is also very low which isn't good. And you have antibodies. Had you had antibodies tested before? If you haven't this anyway confirms that you have an autoimmune problem that has caused you to go hypo. Are these the only results you have or do you have thyroid function test results from previous gp visits? It is very common unfortunately for gps to keep their patients feeling like this. If you email Louise she can give you an article from Pulse magazine that quotes Dr Toft saying that your TSH should be suppressed (under 1) for you to feel well on thyroid medication.

Have you had ferritin tested? That might be helpful as a result too. It will be interesting to see your B12 and D results. The dry eyes is often also a symptom of low B12. I don't have it but a friend of mine who has severe b12 problems tells me that she knows when she needs a B12 injection because her eyes go incredibly dry and sore

[Coastwalker in reply to chihiro]

Interesting tip about low B12 and dry eyes connection Chihiro. Thank Q

[jimh111]

If you haven't tried it before I think your doctor should put you on 175 mcg levothyroxine and reassess you in two months. If you get a referral to an endocrinoligist which is likely to be more than six weeks away they should up your levothroxine in the meantime in order to save wasting time.

Jim.

[bex2016]

Many, many thanks for your replies.

I've never heard of a link between B12 and dry eyes, that will definitely be an interesting result to get.

I don't have any previous results from my gp's, i've never asked to be honest, I just trusted them when they told me my results were 'normal'.

Like you say jimh111, I might try the 175mcg anyway.

I'm feeling an intense sense of relief that i'm not going mad! Just need to get this sorted now.

Could you let me know Louise's email address so I can hold of that article please?

Many thanks,

Bex

[chihiro in reply to bex2016]

I've PMed you

You are entitled to get copies of your blood test results so ask your surgery. They are your results after all. GP doesn't have to be involved a receptionist could print them out for you. At my surgery one of the nurses often does it for me. Doctors will often say normal but that might mean wrong for you. Take me for example, unmedicated my TSH at the moment is 2.4 (range 0.35-5.5) now that doesn't look too bad does it? Gp said it's normal but I don't feel normal. A lot of doctors have forgotten to treat the patient not the numbers. As someone pointed out to me a few days ago...the TSH test was meant to be used as a guidance not as a definitive answer but that sadly isn't the case.

Hope this helps a bit. No you are not going mad Trust your body and what you are feeling. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[bex2016]

PS I think i'll get my ferritin tested too....

And nope, not had antibodies tested before so it's a new one to me.

Thanks again for making some sense of the information for me.

[Marz]

Your anti-bodies are not too high so you could nip that in the bud by trying to optimise your treatment. People with Hashi's often have problems with converting the T4 into the ACTIVE T3 - so it will be interesting to see if the increase in T4 helps matters. B12 Ferritin D etc all need to be quite high in their ranges for good conversion to take place.

Remember that the B12 result is only part of the story - only about 20% of the result that is in your blood will be available in the cells where it is needed. hence it needs to be high in the range.

Gut issues ? Healing the gut is important to assist auto-immune issues. Selenium ?

Izabella Wentz has a good website and has Hashi's. Her book is also a good read - Hashimotos - The Root Cause.

My anti-bodies are high - but having worked hard on the B12 and VitD I am feeling fine having been diagnosed in 2005....

On the Right of this page click onto Hashimotos under Browse by Category and you will see lots to read...

Hope you soon feel better....

[bex2016]

Thanks very much Marz.

Every bit of information I am getting is helping to make things clearer, its so confusing how all the different results interact with each other.

I will definitely be doing a lot more research, starting with Izabella Wentz.

Thanks again.

[Marz in reply to bex2016]

Hi bex - have only just found your reply - by chance Click onto the yellow box - Reply to this - if you want the person to see the reply. Just happened to return to the thread.... Have a lovely day ...

[bex2016 in reply to Marz]

Thanks Marz! All new to this :o)

[Marz in reply to bex2016]

I still forget sometimes - more B12 needed

[crimple]

I Posted recently (am hypo and have tpo antib's) After reading Isabella Went and also Robb wolf -paleo solution I went gluten free and have reduced my antibodies by almost half. Hashi's is auto immune disease and you need to read about the effects of gluten and dairy on antibody levels. Also your bloods need to be high in range for Vit D ferritin, iron, B12 and folate so that you can absorb the levo. Lots to learn, but lots of very helpful people on here!

[bex2016 in reply to crimple]

Thanks Crimple, at least there's light at the end of the tunnel...it seems I've got a bit of reading to do :o)

[bex2016]

Morning all,

Can anyone explain why my t4 would be high?

Does that not mean that I'm getting too much thyroxine?

I'm worried about going to the gp's with these results and him wanting to lower my dose!

[eeng in reply to bex2016]

It's the Free T4 reading that is important and that is not over range.

[bex2016 in reply to eeng]

Ah, thankyou, that makes sense now