Help and advice required please :-)

Hi At age 50 I went to my GP feeling lethargic, increased weight gain (2 stone in four months) very heavy periods, mood swings and aching joints I was told that I may be depressed and offered anti depressants this was a no go area for me I know my body and I know about depression and this was not it!

Having sought advice from another GP who knows me a little better had blood tests taken and the results showed I was anaemic, had positive antibodies and my thyroid levels were border line and given 25 mg levothyroxine. I continued to have the same symptoms including hairloss and my levothyroxine was increased to 50mg daily and I was given iron supplements and a marina coil fitted. I felt better but still found it hard to lose weight so changed to follow the leptin diet and began to lose weight slowly. Having regular blood tests showed that my levels became better, my GP suggested taking me off the iron supplement so I stopped taking my iron and sent a repeat prescription to the GP for levothyroxine but due to a computer error it was not processed and I was off all medication for a week prior to my blood test. I felt so much better and brighter in myself, I went back for a blood test the results are my T4 15.4 , TSH was 0.88 , B12 normal and iron were normal although still positive antibodies,.

After discussing this with the GP suggested staying off the levothyroxine as I was borderline when first diagnosed but did say the due to the positive antibodies I would need thyroid medication at some time. I am quite confused could my symptoms have been due to iron deficiency due to heavy periods?, could my it be that stopping the iron has made me feel better? is it possible for my thyroid levels to remain stable without the levothyroxine?, could stopping levothyroxine increase mood swings? or is it all linked to the menopause?

The GP suggests further blood tests in 3 months but I am going to request monthly blood tests to monitor my levels, I am under no illusions that I may require levothyroxine but I just needed some sound advice please.

[greygoose]

Good for you on the anti-depressants! How can they just say that without knowing you or doing any sort of examination! It's mysoginistic, that's what it is! Men don't get that sort of treatment!

Well, a lot of things could possibly have happened here. As you have Hashi's, it's not impossible that your thyroid levels could have improved by themselves in what is called a Hashi's swing.

However, a lot of people report feeling much better when they come off their thyroid hormone. It doesn't last, thoug.

It happened to me last summer when I was very ill and stopped taking my T3 (for all sorts of reasons). I got better, left hospital and felt better than I had in years! I even started thinking that maybe I had never needed thyroid hormones, false diagnosis, etc etc etc. Even when my TSH got to about 40, I still felt better than when I'd been taking it - and it wasn't my thyroid taking up the slack because the poor old thing has just about had it!

But a couple of months later, I began to feel bad. My hair started falling out, my legs were swelling etc etc etc. My TSH had gone down to 35 but I knew I had to start taking the T3 again. However, I'm now on a lower dose.

There's so much that could be going on there - adrenals, thyroid, vit and min deficiencies, etc - that I doubt anyone could ever unravel it. Even if they wanted to, which your average GP doesn't! He will just tell you the first rubbish that pops into his head. Never believe anything a doctor says without googling it first! lol

Hugs, Grey