Blood results

Hi all, further to my recent post I've recently been diagnosed as borderline hypothyroid but have severe joint pain. My blood results are tpo >1000 (range 0-35), tsh 7.16 (range 0.2 - 4.5) and free t4 10.4 range (9 - 23). I'm on 50mg of levothyroxine but this has made no difference to the joint pain. The dr now thinks the joint pain is something else so has referred me to a rheumatologist. Any thoughts on the blood results? I'm going for vit d blood and various thyroid function tests tomorrow

[puncturedbicycle]

Sorry you're in pain. I'm sort of hoping they find you're deficient in vit d because it is so straightforward to take supplements (it can take a while to reach your optimum levels but it is largely uncomplicated), but I don't know if d deficiency would cause *severe* pain.

How long have you been on levo? And when is your follow-up thyroid blood test? On such a small dose you may not yet be on enough levo for long enough and until then you can't really assess its effectiveness for your situation if that makes sense.

[Hidden in reply to puncturedbicycle]

Thanks for your reply. I've only been on Levo since Xmas, I was due to have my bloods redone at the end of jan but the dr has asked that I have them done tomorrow instead including the vit d one

[shaws Administrator in reply to Hidden]

That's good the doctor is doing new bloods tomorrow. Remember don't take levo before the test, take it afterwards.

Get a print-out of them and post for comments.

It sounds to me as if you are undermedicated at present. It does take time to gradually increase meds so that aches/pains go. These are also clinical symptoms of hypo. 50mcg is a starting dose and normally you have increments of 25mcg around every 4 to 6 weeks until you feel well. Some doctors stop when you're TSH is in the 'normal' range but some of us need a very low TSH to eliminate symptoms.

[Hidden in reply to shaws]

Thanks, the Dr was reluctant to increase the dosage just yet as my bloods weren't that out of range and because she thinks the pains may be caused by something other than the thyroid. It'll be interesting to see what the blood results are compared to the first set

[puncturedbicycle in reply to Hidden]

Just wanted to say that if you've only been on levo since Christmas that isn't any time at all. It can take a while to feel a difference. I say this not to make you feel worse but to make you feel better. It's always good to know what to expect.

Do you know why they are testing you so soon? Usually they like to leave six weeks for the levo to stabilise. In this case I hope it's because your gp wants to watch you closely and raise your levo to a therapeutic dose in an effort to give you some relief.

Oh, and have they told you to take the levo away from food/anything but water?

Since your antibodies are so high I wonder if you would benefit from trying a gluten free diet. Sometimes it can help calm inflammation.

Good luck!

[Hidden in reply to puncturedbicycle]

Thanks. The dr was concerned about the increase in joint pain so wanted to see if it was my thyroid having an affect. She wouldn't increase the Levo dose just yet - I suppose I'll have to wait and see what the results say

A gluten free diet??! Eeek! I'm not sure I can live without crisps!!

[puncturedbicycle in reply to Hidden]

You can have crisps! As long as they don't have added gluten (in some flavourings) potatoes are okay. You'd have to stop eating ordinary bread (though there are some good gf breads in supermarkets if you want to try).

Truly, I did it for over a year and didn't find it hard. (This is just an experiment to see if you feel better, so it's different from being coeliac, where cross contamination can really hurt you.) Instead of mushrooms on toast I made mushroom risotto or polenta. Instead of the odd biscuit (which to be fair is a monthly thing for me) I had those Kallo chocolate rice cakes. I ate nuts instead of crackers or Twiglets or whatever. It was fine. I am quite partial to homemade baked goods and the only thing I was not able to duplicate was bread and pastry. I really didn't miss much.

If you eat a lot of prepared foods it can be awkward, but if you cook for yourself you should be fine.

[puncturedbicycle in reply to puncturedbicycle]

Just thinking about it, if you can steel yourself to live w/o crisps you might want to try cutting out nightshades. gardeningknowhow.com/edible...

They can also cause joint pain. You could try it at a different time to gf so you don't feel overwhelmed by too many restrictions.

[silverfox7]

To follow up what punctured bicycle said about being a slow process that is so true and can feel very frustrating. It's easier in the long run though to take it steady so life for the next few months will probably be a repetition of 25mcg increase and retest in six weeks till you at around the best dose for you. You may have to try some fine tuning when you are close by alternating doses and things like that but be prepared for it being a slow process. Hopefully as time passes you will start to feel a lot better but don't be disillusioned if you think you are slipping back a little. As we feel better we start doing more so that negates a little of the gains and often that feels a backward step but hang in there till things balance out. Keep posting your results and symptoms as further down the line it may be more apparent that you need to supplement or look at other things.

[puncturedbicycle in reply to silverfox7]

Amen, all true. It is a marathon, not a sprint.

[eeng]

You ought to have your blood tests done as early as possible in the morning because TSH levels (which doctors use to adjust your dose) are highest then.

[ednamary]

I have had severe joint pain back in the summer I could hardly move my legs at times I think it was due to Vitamin D defiency . So much of all this so difficult to understand

[Hidden in reply to ednamary]

You have my sympathy, I've felt like that since Christmas - it's awful isn't it? I've had my vit d done today and the results will be back in a couple of weeks so we'll see if that applies to me too.