Blood test results say I'm normal

[Thyroidmeg]

Blood test results

[Jazzw]

No, blood tests say you're in range. A TSH of 2.5 is on the high side for someone who takes 200mcg of Levo (I think that's what you're on, reading earlier posts?). Do you think your GP would be amenable to letting you raise by another 25mcg a day?

[Thyroidmeg in reply to Jazzw]

Hi yes I've been on 200 for years. Asked doctor this week if he could increase dose he said no. Asked for nature thyroid he said no. Asked for added t3 he said no!

I said it's not optimal and he said it means your metabolism is normal .

He said if he increased dose I might end up hyperthyroid

Maybe my symptoms are because bit d so low 27 nmol/1?

[shaws Administrator in reply to Thyroidmeg]

I think some doctors have done a very short course on 'How to keep Patients Unwell when on Levothyroxine" because they pass with flying colours.

Email [e-mail] and ask for a copy of Dr Toft's Pulse online article. Highlight question 6. Send a copy to your GP saying:

With respect and further to my consultation on ...?.... you will note from the enclosed article from Pulse Online by Dr Toft who was President of the British Thyroid Association on how low the TSH level should be when one has been diagnosed with hypothyroidism.

As I am still suffering with clinical symptoms, I would be grateful if you would reconsider your decision and increase my thyroid medication as per Dr Toft's advice. As you will note, even a suppressed TSH is sometimes warranted.

******

Don't be nervous, by not increasing your medication around 1 or below or suppressed you may well develop heart disease or other serious diseases.

If he refuses I would take the matter further.

[Thyroidmeg in reply to shaws]

Got it thanks will write to him

[Marz]

There's no FT3 reading so how can he say you will go hyper ?

[Thyroidmeg in reply to Marz]

He wouldn't test that . I said could I pay and he suggested a local

Private Nuffield hosp but I will have to pay..

[Thyroidmeg]

I know thanks I'm really fed up too

[mistydog]

I thought they should be in the top 75%!

[BeansMummy]

My GP also wouldn't agree to me increasing my levothyroxine when my TSH level was similar to yours, despite the fact that I was feeling more and more unwell. She said that it was up to the endocrinologist to do it, but my appointment was still several months away. I didn't have the confidence to do it myself but, thankfully, another much better-informed GP told me to raise my dose immediately. When I finally saw my endocrinologist (one I hadn't seen before), she put in writing that I should be aiming too have a VERY low TSH, and that although mine is now only 0.13, she is happy it is so suppressed so long as I feel good!

You definitely need to go and have another chat with your GP.

[Thyroidmeg in reply to BeansMummy]

I think I do I'm going to wait a few weeks until my vitamin d test and use that as a chance to speak to another gp

[mistydog]

What about B12 and iron?

[Thyroidmeg in reply to mistydog]

They wouldn't test mine said iron would be ok because hemoglobin is.

[mistydog in reply to Thyroidmeg]

Honestly there is no hope. Change Doctor

[Thyroidmeg in reply to mistydog]

I think you're right. My problem is I'm overweight and high blood pressure so I get made to feel that the weight could be the cause if my fatigue but I don't agree .

[silverfox7 in reply to mistydog]

is there another doctor at your surgery you could talk to?

[Thyroidmeg in reply to silverfox7]

There are another couple hopefully they don't all

Stick together now . I'm sure my nervousness is a symptom of my hypo I didn't used to be anxious. My plan is to go to a different one when I get my d blood test in February

[silverfox7 in reply to Thyroidmeg]

Worth a try. Good luck

[Thyroidmeg]

I know you have thanks it's my doctor who I need to convince and he was useless so I'm trying another one. They did test ferritin it's 29. I'm going to ask them for print outs they've told me to write to practice manager for them . I notice my hemoglobin result isn't on that print out or my ferritin or my d so I'm going to phone them tomorrow

[Thyroidmeg]

I'm getting private t3 test it's my only option

[Thyroidmeg]

I don't understand how my doctor can be do stupid . Can

Low iron make me cold? I'm thinking maybe all my symptoms are low iron and low vit d. I'm deconstructed taking this further with doctor .

[faith63]

I may have something else going on , but i can say, that a person with a high reverse t3 may not wan't their ft4 level to be even midrange, because that makes the rt3 even worse. The higher the dose of t4 the more t4 pools. They are going to want to keep their t4 meds to a minimum or stop them completely.

[Thyroidmeg in reply to faith63]

Even more reason fir me to find out my t3 or reverse t3 or whatever I need it's very confusing

[faith63 in reply to Thyroidmeg]

I have a reverse t3 issue..can't even have my ft4 in range, can't even take 50 t4. Even a free t4 level, below range, gives me a mid range rt3 and blocks the action of the t3 meds..it will get less confusing the longer you go through this crap and read..unfortunately.

[Thyroidmeg]

Thanks I'm going to google now you've explained it very well

[faith63 in reply to Thyroidmeg]

Why not just order some t3, it's cheap and you can bypasss all the testing. Tests don't correlate with symptoms, most of the time anyway. Did you know that they use t3 meds at weight loss clinics and for depression?

[faith63]

Maybe people can order the tests themselves? I have spent quite a lot on labs. Hopefully, some day it will pay off and i will feel well enough to have a life.

[Thyroidmeg in reply to faith63]

I'll need to look at my finances . Not sure whether to go to Nuffield with the £50 tuk discount or blue horizon finger prick testing

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Its really important you test ferritin, B12 and folate together. There will be a reason you're iron deficient (which at 29 you must be feeling absolutely exhausted), so start with supplementing for that. You need to get up to 70-90 as a woman, and even more precisely 80-90 to stop hair loss.

B12 and folate are hard tests to read as b12 should be right near the top of the range, but if you're exhibiting classic B12 symptoms (here's a simple online assessment: b12d.org/b12-signs-symptoms..., then regardless of what your blood tests read, you will still be deficient. It gets a bit complicated, but even high readings - yet with many of the symptoms - means that there's probably a lot of unavailable B12 circulating in your system (the blood test measures total B12), and you have problems with your methylation pathways for whatever reason.

A good test would be to simply take some Methyl B12 (methylcobalamin 1mg sublinguals) for a while and monitor your symptoms. Cheapest I've found is buying them from iherb in the U.S., but you can also find them on Amazon. There is no real upper limit for toxicity for B12, but you will most definitely start noticing a difference if you are deficient. But beware, depending on how deficient you are, and perhaps if you have any blockages in your methyl pathways, you could start crashing on these (normal healthy people don't ever), because it will be the start of your body healing and accessing nutrients in your body. The crashes will be your body using up nutrients and signalling that you need to take it all low and slow. Its a bit of a balancing game, needing you to listen to your body. I've started crashing on B12 after 3 weeks of feeling better than I have in a very VERY long time (I was definitely deficient in my blood tests), and felt better after stopping for a day or so. Now I'm taking it all lower and slower. This is a useful blog with lots of useful links to other useful sites/pages: howirecovered.com/active-b1...

Same goes with folate. The folate blood test measures all forms of folate, including folic acid (synthetic), in your system. So it can be quite low, and so obviously deficient in your blood test, but it could also be high, and masking a deficiency in folate and B12. If indeed you do have problems with your methyl pathways, you should avoid all foods fortified with folic acid, as your body can't process it very well (you may have seen mentions of MTHFR gene mutations on thyroid sites), and it too ends up floating around in your system being completely unuseful, and even worse, taking up space where methyl folate should be working. You can google methylation for yourself. But folate is necessary for your body to access the B12.

These three, and Vit D3, are huge for hypothyroid patients - because of our slowed metabolism, we're usually operating with multiple deficiencies. Hope this helps. I've been learning loads lately myself, and finding I'm needing to use my incomplete knowledge already to help my son and his daddy...