Last thyroid blood test

[kimberley60]

Is this hashimotos..some say yes but my doctors have never told me all I know I'm taking levo and b12,iron as eneamic ..feel awful can't sleep .think I'm dying I just in my bones have no quality of ice at moment too tired ..any advise

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Yes - TPO are high - this means Hashimoto's. There are also TG antibodies (NHS never check these - they could be high too)

Have you had vitamin D checked? This is often low too.

You say you are taking b12 and iron. Suggest these are rechecked too. Might still be low

We need good (not just average) levels of B12, vitamin D, folate and ferritin if Levo is to work.

Going 100% gluten free can help reduce symptoms and lower antibodies. Ask GP to do coeliac blood test first (though it is not reliable). There is not current NHS test for Gluten intolerance - just have to try it and see.....

Coeliac society website is useful re GF diet, recipes etc. They also have excellent electronic food directory for members only. (£24 a yr)

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

kimberley60 As Slowdragon says, you have Hashi's. Doctors don't tend to mention it because Hashimoto's (autoimmune thyroiditis) isn't treated, it's the resulting hypothyroidism that's treated and you say you are taking Levo. Your TSH and FT4 results show that you could actually do with a dose increase. Normally, in a treated hypo patient the aim is to get TSH down to 1 or below or wherever is necessary for FT4 and FT3 to be in the upper part of their ranges. Dr Toft, past president of the British Thyroid Association and leading endocrinologist, wrote an article in Pulse Online magazine to this effect:

"The appropriate dose of levothyroxine is that which restores euthyroidism and serum TSH to the lower part of the reference range - 0.2-0.5mU/l.

In this case, free thyroxine is likely to be in the upper part of its reference range or even slightly elevated – 18-22pmol/l. Most patients will feel well in that circumstance.

But some need a higher dose of levothyroxine to suppress serum TSH and then the serum-free T4 concentration will be elevated at around 24-28pmol/l.

This 'exogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism' is not dangerous as long as serum T3 is unequivocally normal – that is, serum total around T3 1.7nmol/l (reference range 1.0-2.2nmol/l)."

If you email [e-mail] she will let you have a copy of the article which you can print out and show your GP.

For information about Hashi's, here are a couple of links:

stopthethyroidmadness.com/h...

stopthethyroidmadness.com/h...

hypothyroidmom.com/hashimot...

Good idea to get Vit D checked, if your GP wont do it you can get it done by fingerprick blood spot test for £28 with City Assays or as part of Blue Horizon's Thyroid Plus Eleven test.

As you are already supplementing B12, I have heard that further testing is a waste of time as results will always be skewed but it would be included in BH's Thyroid Plus Eleven test. By the way, you should also take a B Complex when taking B12 in order to balance the B Vits.

Being completely and scrupulously gluten free has helped many Hashi's patients to reduce antibody attacks. You don't need to be tested for coeliac, it doesn't matter whether you are coeliac or not, gluten free can help Hashi's patients. Gluten contains gliadin (a protein) which is thought to trigger autoimmune attacks so eliminating gluten can help reduce these attacks.

What is your current dose of Levo?

[kimberley60 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thankyou so much for your help and advise ..it's gonna take time to learn all this but I will do ..I'm currently taking 75mg of levo x

I will do all what you recommendas sick of feeling awful xa