My daughter has had underactive thyroid for over 13 years - she is now 23. She also has Pernicious Anaemia. She has never been well and has struggled with her weight etc. She goes for regular blood tests (I have under active thyroid, so I know how she feels). Last year she put on a large amount of weight very suddenly and had trouble getting out of bed, she had really bad fatigue. Her doctor thought it was post viral fatigue as her bloods came back normal apart from a raised cortisol level. After a month or so, she got better and started back with her personal trainer. Her personal trainer took measurements. August this year, she started to put weight on again after a good diet and exercise programme...it comes on suddenly. Her PT measured her this week and the only measurement that has changed is around her tummy. She is too tired to go out and have fun and is feeling down because she cant loose weight, feels tired etc. She has a good full time job and lovely friends. She went to see a new doctor who carried out lots of different blood tests, plus FBC. (Normal Renal/ liver function) here are her latest results relating to thyroid:
Free T3 5.2 (2.8-7.1)
Free T4 22.00 (12.5-20.5)
TSH 3.93 (0.60-4.20)
Thyroid Antibodies TPO 1069 (0.0-75.00)
Ferritin 62 (13-150)
Folate 7.1 (4.6 - 18.7)
B 12 573 (197-771)
Plasma C reactive 4.5 (0.0-5.0)
Electrophoresis alpha 1 3.5 (2.1-3.5)
Beta 1 5.1 (3.4-5.2)
Cortisol 718 (172-497) taken by fasting blood test 8.30am
My daughter is on: 150 Thyroxine B12 shots every 3 months
I see that her cortisol is high again. I noted that at about 10.30 am my daughter became very pale and quite and was extremely tired.
At the moment her symptoms are: Fatigue (different times of the day) weight gain, feeling down, puffy eyes, painful eyes.
Could my daughter have Cushing's or Adrenal problems?
My daughter has an appointment with the doctor, not for 2 weeks as she is away.
Your opinions will be greatly appreciated.
Many Thanks
Written by
Deb59
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Your daughter needs an increase in levo - her TSH is too high and should be around 1 or lower or suppressed and she might feel better then as she's converting to T3.
Did your daughter have her blood test at the earliest and fast? Did she leave approx 24 hours between her last dose of levo and the blood test?
Hi, Thanks for your reply. Yes my daughter had a fasting blood test done at 8.30 am. No she didn't leave 24 hours between her dose and blood test.
You say that my daughter should take more tHyroxine, but her free t4 is above normal. When she increased her dose to 150 6 weeks ago from 125 she became acidic and felt her heart was painful and felt quite faint at times... If she increased her dose further, would she become hyper?
Blood tests aren't my forte and I'm surprised you've not yet had more comments yet.
For someone whose been having treatment for 13 years and is still quite unwell. Maybe a change or the addition of T3 will be more helpful. She does sound quite hypo.
If she took her dose too close to the blood test it might have skewed the results a bit. Her TSH is too high and nearly at the top of the range. Her FT4 is high but FT3 could be a little higher.
Her cortisol is higher and I had high cortisol too. One doctor said I'd have to take Adrenal support but that made me have have severe palpitations. Another doctor told me that if adequately treated the adrenals heal themselves. I know - conflicting info.
She has very high antibodies at present.
Your daughter has an Autoimmune Disease called Hashimotos but the treatment is the same, i.e. levo. Antibodies attack your thyroid gland until you become hypothyroid. Sometimes they're too much and at other times less.
I, too have, pernicious anaemia and get quarterly injections but I also supplement too with sublingual methylcobalamin B12. It is recommended on the forum that our upper range should be 1,000 even if you dont have P.A.
I was more unwell on levo than before I was diagnosed. I have hypothyroidism and am well now that I'm on T3 only and I was also fine on an NDT.
"I am not a medical professional and this information is not intended to be a substitute for medical guidance from your own doctor. Please check with your personal physician before applying any of these suggestions"
Some people with high antibody levels benefit from a gluten free diet. Has your daughter tried this? Apparently you need to try it for 3 months (with no cheating) before you can tell whether it works or not, but I have a friend whose daughter was a different person once she went gluten free.
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