Mass confusion SOS!

[Wlorenm]

My doctor declared me normal today despite all my symptoms and a massive lump in my neck he suspects is goitre. He had sent me to a Endocrinologist this weekend though.

Here's the results:

Serum free t4 11.9pmol/L (12-22)

Serum TSH level 3.8 mU/L (0.27-4.2)

If you can shed any light I'd be so grateful!

Also is there anything I MUST do on Saturday at my appointment ? That would help me out loads too.

So stressed x

[HarryE]

Your T4 isn't normal though - it's below range! You need to get T3 tested & antibodies too.

[Hidden]

You might be normal, but I shouldn't imagine you are well. In fact I wonder if your GP was reading the results upside down. Your T4 is below range rather than in the top quartile, and your TSH is near the top of the range. Many of us need the TSH to be around 1.0 or below, and others like me, need it to be suppressed (below range) in order to feel well. You also need your T3 level to see what is happening to the measly amount of inactive pro hormone T4 in terms of its conversion into the active T3 that every single one of your cells requires for good health. In addition you need to have blood tested for iron, ferritin, folate, VitB12, and Vit D as often they are depleted in the run up to becoming hypothyroid, or in the event that you remain untreated for any length of time subsequently.

I wonder why the GP is referring you to the Endo if he thinks you are normal?

[Wlorenm in reply to Hidden]

I have a prominent swelling he suspects is a goitre and I'm gaining weight at a rate of god knows what. I eat literally nothing - a meal a day - and my iron levels are down!

[Hidden in reply to Wlorenm]

So by his own yardstick you're not normal

If you are hypothyroid and possibly have Hashimotos then it's likely your weight gain is fluid in your tissues rather than fat, and severely restricting your food intake is unlikely to reduce your weight but will impact on your poor iron levels and slow down your metabolism even further. Plus you will feel fatigued as your body is in a near-constant fasting state. Do continue to eat well while you are under further investigation.

[Clutter]

Wlorenm, As Hypnoteq said, your results aren't even in range, let alone normal but the good thing is you have been referred to an endo.

Bullet point a list of symptoms and when they started or worsened and make a separate list of medications and supplements you take and for how long you've been taking them.

This may help thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/diagno...

Ask the endo to test your FT3 and thyroid peroxidase antibodies, ferritin, vitamin D, B12 and folate or ask him if he'll recommend your GP does the vitamins and minerals.

[Hidden]

How can he possibly say you're 'normal' if you're displaying a goitre?! A goitre is your thyroid enlarging! Odd, however, that you're putting on weight. Usually a goitre means the thyroid is making too much hormone and one goes hyper, not hypo (which weight gain suggests).

[helvella in reply to Hidden]

There are records going back hundreds, probably thousands of years, of goitres being prevalent in areas of low iodine. It appears that at least some goitres are caused by this low iodine which is common in mountainous regions.

Shakespeare in The Tempest:

Faith, sir, you need not fear. When we were boys,

Who would believe that there were mountaineers

Dew-lapp’d like bulls, whose throats had hanging at ’

Wallets of flesh? (Gonzalo, Act III, Scene 3)

Worth a read here:

jameslindlibrary.org/illust...

Rod