thyroid blood tests

[katherine107]

i have had a severe flu virus for last 3 weeks and am so fatigued and weak and glands in neck are up and down all the time. i am seeing my gp this afternoon . i want to demand to have some blood tests done. as do not seem to be getting any better. i am on 50 mcg of t3 prescribed from gp but i feel i need something else. have all the the symptoms of underactive thyroid. hot one minute, cold the next. dry skin and severe fatigue. i would like to know if i need any more blood tests other than t3, tsh and t4. i feel so ill. do i need antibodies test?

[Clutter]

Katherine, TSH, FT4 and FT3 are the main thyroid tests to request. You can ask for thyroid antibodies but it won't make any difference to NHS treatment if they are positive. If they are positive dietary changes like going gluten-free can reduce Hashi flare ups and reduce antibodies, but it doesn't work for everyone.

It can take 6/8 weeks to recover from a flu virus. You could take high dose vitamin C, 2,000-3,000mg to boost your immune system and ask your GP to test ferritin, vitamin D, B12 and folate as they're often low in hypothyroid patients and this can cause musculoskeletal pain, fatigue and low mood similar to hypothyroidism.