I posted a couple of weeks ago that the doctor had told me that my thyroid issue had started again after a couple of yrs with it being ok. I immediately quite gluten and diary after reading many posts on here and also asked my doctor for bloods for bits and minerals etc. I had the bloods done and it turns out I was anaemic and deficient in Vit D3. Since I have started to take iron tablets and the vit D, together with gluten free etc, I lost over half a stone and feel a different person. I also went to see a endocrinologist and had further bloods for thyroid done and it now turns out my TSH has reduced from 4.86 to 2.3 and my T4 was bang in middle range. He said my antibodies indicated a positive result which meant I would be prone to hypothyroid in the future and on that basis he thinks I have Thyroiditis and I just need to manage my diet and vits. I just wanted to say thank you to all on here who commented as I wouldn't have known to ask for the certain bloods and didn't realise who much vita etc affect conversion of t4 to t3. I know it isn't a happy ending for everyone but I just wanted to say my thanks to all. Hopefully my thyroid will behave when we start to have children x
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Mrsnorris
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I am glad you're feeling so much better. I assume you have an Autoimmune Thyroid Disease also called Hashimoto's as you had/have antibodies. Some doctors don't prescribe levothyroxine due to the TSH level being low, but Dr Toft of The British Thyroid Association recommends levothyroxine if we have antibodies. This is also an excerpt from Thyroiduk.org.uk:
"The Myth that Thyroid Auto-immune Antibodies never hurt anybody"
Patients are frequently told by their medical practitioners that their thyroid antibodies are not harming them. However, the most common cause of hypothyroidism is, as you probably already know, Hashimoto's disease. Now, in Hashimoto's disease thyroid auto-immune antibodies attack and destroy the thyroid hormone producing cells in your thyroid gland. Such attacks may initially stimulate the thyroid into over activity but the auto immune antibodies gradually turn the thyroid into scar tissue, destroying in the process its ability to produce thyroid hormones. I'm not sure exactly what triggers all this off but it comes to mind that since cortisol, one of the adrenal hormones, actually moderates the immune system, one predisposing factor in this might perhaps be the presence of adrenal insufficiency.
In reality you should not have any autoimmune antibodies in your body at all although of course you do need normal antibodies to provide you with vital resistance to infectious diseases, etc. If you do have autoimmune antibodies, you can be sure that they will be doing you no good. Furthermore, if you have one type of autoimmune antibody active in your body, you may well have others to go with them, and they won't be doing you any good either.
This is an excerpt from Dr Toft's article (he was President of the BTA.
2 I often see patients who have an elevated TSH but normal T4. How should I be managing them?
The combination of a normal serum T4 and raised serum TSH is known as subclinical hypothyroidism. If measured, serum T3 will also be normal. Repeat the thyroid function tests in two or three months in case the abnormality represents a resolving thyroiditis.2
But if it persists then antibodies to thyroid peroxidase should be measured. If these are positive – indicative of underlying autoimmune thyroid disease – the patient should be considered to have the mildest form of hypothyroidism.
In the absence of symptoms some would simply recommend annual thyroid function tests until serum TSH is over 10mU/l or symptoms such as tiredness and weight gain develop. But a more pragmatic approach is to recognise that the thyroid failure is likely to become worse and try to nip things in the bud rather than risk loss to follow-up.
Treatment should be started with levothyroxine in a dose sufficient to restore serum TSH to the lower part of its reference range. Levothyroxine in a dose of 75-100µg daily will usually be enough.
MrsNorris, thanks for posting. It's always good to hear positive feedback and it is helpful to members who are still struggling. Prior to being ill I thought vitamin supplementing was a fad indulged in by people trying to be interesting...until I noticed the difference after my vitD and folate deficiencies were corrected.
I hope your future children will behave better than your thyroid gland
Mrsnorris, make sure you discuss with your GP/endo plans for pregnancy ahead of the time. TSH should be in the low-normal range 0.4-2.0 and FT4 towards/in the top 75% of range otherwise conception can be difficult, foetal development compromised and the risks of miscarriage and post partum thyroiditis increased. See the NICE recommendations below.
Mrsnorris so pleased for you that things have improved. I also improved my vits and minerals after reading comments on here and also went gluten and then lacto free in the last year and really reduced my TPO antibodies. Recent blood tests show i am on the the right track. Certainly feelin better than I did 2 years ago. I started on a low dose levo 8 years ago and am now on 100mcg.
The members here have been instrumental in helping me to improve my health.
Becaus of my hypo problem (strong family history) my daughter was monitored during and after her last pregnancy. Hope things go well for you
Thank you all. Could I just ask one more thing. I've had another thyroid function test and the TSH has reduced down to 2.1 now and since starting to take iron tablets etc I feel loads better, don't feel as out of breathe anymore too. Do you think I should request another antibodies test or will it be too soon. I'm still gluten free mostly and have reintroduced milk just at breakfast time but soya all other time.
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