New to all this! TSH 22!!: Hi everyone i posted a... - Thyroid UK

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New to all this! TSH 22!!

irish-coleen profile image
13 Replies

Hi everyone i posted a few days ago as i had to repeat a fasting blood test. well i got the results that my Tsh is 22 and something else is low so apparently this indicates a underactive thyriod. my iron is low also so my gp wants another blood test in 4 weeks to check my vitamin levels i think to see why my iron is low.

he didnt start me on tablets as he said as im still getting palpations that the thyroid tablet might increase that and he will start me at the next appointment.

im so confused with this all as they always put alot of my symptons down to fibro.

thankyou for reading x

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irish-coleen
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13 Replies
irish-coleen profile image
irish-coleen

Thankyou reallyfedup. i thought the symptons i had made me overactive but also had symptons that made me think underactive. i dont put on weight and i never sleep. would this be because the tsh is high even though im underactive. sorry im so confused. thankyou. i hope you are well xx

gabkad profile image
gabkad in reply toirish-coleen

Your TSH is high because your pituitary gland is whipping your thyroid gland to produce hormone and it can't.

irish-coleen profile image
irish-coleen in reply togabkad

Thankyou. would this make me always feel jittery and never can sleep?? x

gabkad profile image
gabkad in reply toirish-coleen

I don't know. Someone else around here could probably answer that question.

irish-coleen profile image
irish-coleen

Thankyou.its all so new x

irish-coleen profile image
irish-coleen

Thankyou reallyfedup for reading and replying.im sorry to hear your family members have this also,2 years ago i was diagnosed with fibro also so its hard to tell what illness is causing which sympton..they seem to overlap alot. xx

humanbean profile image
humanbean

If you always feel jittery I would suspect you have adrenal problems, which are amazingly common in people suffering from thyroid problems. You might have low or high cortisol, be producing lots of adrenaline, have too little or too much DHEA. Please don't guess - it isn't really possible to work out what is affecting you without testing. Do a search on this website and community for "adrenal stress profile", "saliva testing". Read up about testing here - the link is to the main website for Thyroid UK, the charity that run this community :

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

This is the saliva test that most of us use if we test cortisol & DHEA levels :

gdx.net/uk/product/27

Adrenals are not my area, sorry I can't help very much. But I do know that getting your adrenals working correctly will be a vital part of your recovery because they have a massive effect on how well your body can use thyroid hormone.

Some resources to get you started :

adrenalsweb.org/

drlam.com/index.php

(The Dr Lam site is dreadful to look at but has useful info)

Consider buying some books on the subject :

amazon.co.uk/Your-Thyroid-H...

amazon.co.uk/Stop-Thyroid-M...

irish-coleen profile image
irish-coleen in reply tohumanbean

Thankyou humanbean for your detailed reply. i certainally will look at all the links you provided. i hope you are having a good day x

Angel_of_the_North profile image
Angel_of_the_North

Just another point: you shouldn't drive with a TSH over 20 as it impairs you more than being over the drink drive limit.

Untreated hypothyroid is a cause of heart disease and might be causing your palpitations (as well as low iron) - your GP really needs to treat you.

irish-coleen profile image
irish-coleen in reply toAngel_of_the_North

Thankyou angel of the north. the reason he said he would wait a few weeks is that if he started me on thyroxine it would increase the palpations. its all stressing me out so much.i feel ok as in to drive.i actually dont even feel symptoms of underactive except white numb finger tips when cold and cold feet. i would have bet money on me being overactive but just goes to show.xx

Angel_of_the_North profile image
Angel_of_the_North in reply toirish-coleen

It could be the hypo causing the palpitations. I can't see that waiting a few weeks is going to make any difference unless you have recently had a severe illness that might raise your TSH temporarily. If "everything else is low" means free T3 and Free T4, there's almost no chance that you actually have a TSH producing tumour and are actually hyper, so what's he waiting for? Did he prescribe iron to see if that helped?

No symptoms at all? No tiredness, anxiety, bad temper, dry skin, hair loss, constipation, insomnia, lack of temperature control? White finger ends sounds more like Reynauds (another possibly autoimmune condition).

irish-coleen profile image
irish-coleen in reply toAngel_of_the_North

Hi. yes i have some symptoms as in insomia and constipation and tiredness but i thought not sleeping would be why i felt tired.im on alot of pain meds for chronic pain that can cause these side effects like constipation.but he said to improve my diet first for the iron!! i have fibro so alot of the symptoms i put down to it..i dont know anything about t3 or T4. as i was only diagnosed on friday xx

Angel_of_the_North profile image
Angel_of_the_North in reply toirish-coleen

Chronic pain and fibro are symptoms of hypo. You might want to get another doctor; this one seems determined to keep you ill. So you have a really high TSH, low T4 and T3, and loads of symptoms and your GP won't treat you. That's pretty much negligence in my book.

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