Thyroid issues

[rogerant]

Hello

Just some more information about my thyroid history I've been diagnosed around 10 years. I have had a very long battle with it, which has got progressively worse in terms of how I feel and currently am feeling worse than ever.

I have been prescribed thyroxine and have been as high as 275 mg per day but am currently taking 225 Levothyroxine.

I regularly have my bloods checked and these are my latest results.

Serum tbh level 1.27 my/L

Serum free t4 16.8 pmol/L

In all honesty I have no idea what this means but doctor says it is satisfactory

I'm currently at 115 kg I go to gym 4 times per week and eat fairly healthy dire but find it impossible to lose weight. I also have a general lethargy I can easily go back to bed frequently during the day and have no energy.

It seems to me that it's how my body uses the thyroxine that appears to be the problem. I have an ongoing battle with the doctor to refer me to a specialist but he refuses I'm thinking of paying to see a consultant privately as I'm feeling more and more run down .

I'm a total novice regarding my condition and any help would be gratefully appreciated

[greygoose]

Do you have the range for that T4? The number o its own means nothing.

Your TSH is reasonable, but ddoesn't tell you how much T3 you have available. And it's low T3 that causes symptoms like weight gain.

If l were you, before going to the expense of a pprivate endo, l would get my thyroid panel done privately.

TSH

FT4

FT3

TPO AB

TG AB

VIT D

VIT B12

folate

Ferritin

That will give you a clearer idea of what's going on. And, if l were you, l would stop going to the gym if my T3 were low. Exercise uses up your T3, and you cannot easily replace it. That will make you even more hypo, and put on even more weight.

[rogerant in reply to greygoose]

Thanks for that how can I get my bloods privately done will they do that at my gp if I pay ?

Tsh level 1.27 range .3-4.40

T4 16.8 pmol/L range (9.0 - 19.1)

[Marz in reply to rogerant]

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

They all use the same labs so GP should accept results. So many people on this forum use Blue Horizon.

[greygoose in reply to rogerant]

You mean take the blood? I don't know. Depends on the individual doctor. But they don't do the analysis for you, even if you pay. You have to send the blood to somewhere like Blue Horizon. Details on the home page of TUK.

[silverfox7]

Lots of other info on the Thyroid UK site. It will help you understand more about the condition. Anything you don't understand shout out. Nothing is too trivial and we have all been there! Knowledge is power!!!

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I've just bought a blood test kit from Blue Horizon to do at home. Its a finger prick test (they supply lancets for that) it looks fairly straightforward. I've bought the 11 point test as it was offer £99 instead of £139. So test can be done at home, sent off in the post. They will send you a report by email and I believe they do some interpretation of results for you. There are some other thyroid tests they have which are cheaper, but I wanted the one with the antibodies in.

My GP refuses to send me to an Endocrinologist as he says he can't send someone with 'normal' blood results. I've tried no end of times to explain that I still don't feel 'well' but another GP said its menopausal (tried not to punch her) then told her menopause done and dusted 8 years ago, so she then said symptoms are age related (tried not to punch her again) On this occasion my usual GP has agreed to increase my Levo to 100mcg (which I didn't really want) from 75mcg for 3 months as my TSH was higher on a recent blood test. If no change in 3 months he has said he will refer me. I told him I'd been swimming several times over 3 weeks swimming many lengths each time and he looked at me smiling (as if to congratulate me for getting off my backside) and then told him I'd put on another 3 pounds in weight. He seemed puzzled at that point.