To fast or not?

So my gp has agreed to what he calls a 'wild goose chase' because 'this is probably all in your mind' and 'at your age (51), you should expect to feel some symptoms' and has referred me to an endocrinologist - appointment on 16th July. Question : should I fast or not? I want to try and have my bloods as accurate as possible. I had a cup of tea and a couple of biscuits 3 hours beforeally my last bloods at 9am.

THYROID STIMULATING HORMONE 2.26 mIU/L 0.27 - 4.2

FREE THYROXINE 12.1 pmol/l 12.0 - 22.0

TOTAL THYROXINE(T4) 73 nmol/L 59 – 154

FREE T3 4.9 pmol/L 3.1 - 6.8

Thyroid Antibodies

Thyroglobulin Antibody 17.5 IU/mL 0-115(Negative)

Method used for Anti-Tg: Roche Modular

Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies 6.1 IU/mL 0 - 34

[Hidden]

Hello Tetttiger,

Fasting should make TSH levels higher so is recommended before a blood test.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/252...

flower007

[Glynisrose]

I was declared 'too old' at 40!

[humanbean]

For thyroid function tests, it is definitely recommended to have blood drawn as early in the day as possible - preferably before 9am if at all possible. Also, fast except for water until after the blood draw.

Your FT4 is 1% of the way through the reference range, and your FT£ is just under mid-range. I'm not surprised you have symptoms, and they probably have little or nothing to do with your age!

There are other things you should ask to be tested - it is very common for people to be deficient in these if they have thyroid problems :

Vitamin D, Vitamin B12, folate, ferritin and iron.

Iron is unlikely to be tested unless your ferritin is below range, but if you don't ask, you don't get.

Do you have any gut problems? Do you have heartburn, acid reflux, indigestion? Do you take PPIs or ranitidine (zantac) or antacids a lot?

[Hidden in reply to humanbean]

Thank you. I saw the nurse today who said that my GP hadn't written me up for any blood tests (despite saying he would). I gave a brief explanation of our conversation and she said "well let's see what we can put you done for" within minutes she had ticked off good and bad cholesterol, full blood count, liver function, B12, ferritin, folate, Vit D (although she did confirm what the GP said about vit d being too expensive). Woo hoo! Endo appointment has been bought forward to this Thursday so should just have the results. ☺

[humanbean in reply to Hidden]

No thyroid function tests? But otherwise the list looks very good.

If the vitamin D test is not carried out, you can pay for your own tests which just involves a blood spot test - the necessary kit is sent through the post, you prick your finger and then send the blood spots back through the post to get tested :

vitamindtest.org.uk/

betteryou.com/vitamin-d-tes...

[Hidden in reply to humanbean]

Hi, I had my thyroid function tests done privately which has led me to get the further tests, from advice on this forum.

[humanbean in reply to Hidden]

Sorry, I didn't go back and review the thread before writing my previous answer, which I should have done.

[Hidden in reply to humanbean]

Haha! I put it down to brain fog! !