I would like to understand more about the thyroid and its symptoms, so i can be more prepared when dealing with gp's. I have already had the heads up on some stuff so am going doctors this morning a little more aware than i was at my first visit. So hoping to have full bloods and data to keep a check on my levels and what i might need to supplement for myself.. This site is amazing and i'm so grateful to have found it, i have just ordered the book below: after lurking on other posts & will get started with this. but if anyone has any other books they think are a good read then i would be really grateful.
Understanding Thyroid Disorders by Dr Anthony Toft
I'm getting fed up with this dizziness now and really worried about driving, kids will be back to school soon so really need to get something sorted..
Not taking meds today so hopefully i'll get my bloods done tomorrow now.
Thanks in advance
Karen x
meds: 50mg levothyroxine & 20mg citalopram
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How long have you been on 50mcg ? Usually a starter dose and a blood test after six weeks should reveal the need for an increase. Do post your most recent results with ranges for people to comment and support.
The Thyroid and How to Keep it Healthy - is an excellent book by Dr Barry Durrant-Peatfield.
I would also buy - Could it be B12 ? - by Sally Pacholok. Every home should have one
Also have tested your Ferritin - Folate - B12 - VitD.
You may find when your FT3 levels are GOOD you will not be needing the AD.
If you have anti-bodies - Hashimotos - then Izabella Wentz has an excellent website/book/Newsletters.
Hope you soon feel stronger and the dizziness eases.
I would recommend, especially if you have hashimoto's
The Immune System recovery plan by Susan Blum - very clear explanation on connection to gluten, leaky gut, stress and adrenal health.
Also as Marz says....Izabella Wentz
Her book, being science based, helped my husband finally understand "it wasn't all in my head" and that being gluten free was not "just some faddy lifestyle choice" !!
There is "Diagnosing and Management of Hypothyroidism " by Dr Gordon Skinner an opinionated Dr who got up the nose of the establishment which probably helped drive him to an early death.
Thyroid for Dummies is much better than the title might imply.
Then there are the US books including two from Stop the Thyroid Madness ,and Hashimotos Thyroiditis Root Cause by Izabella Wentz.
I'd recommend Tired Thyroid by Barbara Lougheed if you want to understand WHY dosing by TSH doesn't work. She profiles five different thyroid patients and explains thyroid physiology using them as examples. Great for understanding how it all works.
Agree with Marz that your dose may be too low if you're dizzy.
Thanking you all for the book advice, i have got three now on my kindle so will be slowly getting through them, if my brain allows me to
A little update on my visit to gp's yesterday,,, Was very confident when going in the and came out quite deflated tbh!!! Guess this isn't abnormal..
Feeling rather stupid at the moment!!! not only did i underestimate the time i've been on thyroxine, I have just realised the lady treating me is a nurse practitioner and not a doctor.. Now i'm not knocking Her as she is very lovely, but not sure if i should really be seeing a doctor!!!!
I really don't feel strong enough to confront these ppl or argue against what they think i should be doing..
I went in armed with a list of what i wanted tested & asked to have copy of data so i could keep a track of whats going on for myself and explained i wanted to see if there was anything i could maybe supplement myself..
She basically said it was to soon as my last bloods were 11-7-16 which means i didn't start taking the levothyroxine until 22-7-16... think i was confused, being put on citalopram month before and for some reason thought i started them together. Can i blame head fog
She wants me to get bloods done at the end of september and has include Thyroid antibodies, she also included b12 and folate!! but removed it after looking more closely to my blood results said i had them tested and they were fine!!! now i realise after coming out that was in dec 15...
She's convinced my dizziness is due to vertigo!!!! i have been given Cyclizine (Antihistamine) guess i have to give it ago!!! So far its done nothing, i'm still dizzy, tired & fed up,, can't be bothered to get dressed and the house looks like a bomb went off *sighs*
I have asked for data of all other results so i'm going to give it ago putting them up, but tbh its a bit gobiddy goop to me...
Also asked about my groin pain and a few issues with niggles and pain in stomach and moves to my back. was told to make another appointment as can only deal with one issue at a time.. I was told in dec 2015 that i wasn't in my change by a doctor over the phone as it seems impossible to get doctors appointments in my area ( Romford Essex) So why haven't i had a period for nearly four years.. i think this needs investigating!!!
Thanks for any advice and sorry to off load, think my husband has had enough of me going on about it all now
Thanks
Karen xx
Oh and i have started taking levo at night and citalopram in the mornings as find it hard not to be able to have a cuppa tea first thing
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Not to worry, I can comment on some of your results but not all, so I'll see what I can do . I waffle on so bear with me
3-12-15
Glucose = 4.8- sorry, I don't know anything about this.
Folate= 5.6 (Replete 5.4-20.0 Indeterminate: 3.4-5.3 Deficient: 3.4) - it may be replete but it's not optimal, it's very low in the range. It needs to be at least half way through so that would be 12.7. See below * my comments for B12 on how to increase this.
Ferritin= 50.4 - is there a range for this? It's normally advised for ferritin to be at least 70 for thyroid hormone to work properly, and better is half way through range. It would appear that you could do with an iron supplement to get you there. You could get Ferrous Fumerate or Ferrous Sulphate (GP unlikely to prescribe with your result, you can get it from Amazon, some pharmacies). One tablet twice a day. Take with 1000mg Vit C. Take 4 hours away from Levo and other supplements as it will affect their absorption. If you get upset tummy or constipationl then look at Iron Bisglycinate which is more gentle, although there is less elemental iron.
B12= 389 - far too low. The Pernicious Anaemia Society recommends 1000. Neurological damage can occur at less than 500. Supplement with Solgar or Jarrows methylcobalamin sublingual lozenges, 5000mcg daily to start with. When level gets nice and high go on to a maintenance dose of 1000mcg.
When supplementing with B12, we need to also take a B Complex to balance the B vitamins. If you get Thorne Basic B or Jarrows B Right, they both contain 400mcg methylfolate, which is the active form of folic acid - never get one with folic acid as it synthetic and needs to be converted into folate by your body and we can't all do that. Folate is the converted, natural version. *Either of those brands should increase your folate level*
serum free T4 = 9.4 - do you have a reference range?
serum TSH = 9.21 (0.35-5.5) - far too high - indicates hypothyroidism but many doctors wait until TSH reaches 10
11-7-16
serum FSH = 32.6 follicular: 2.5-10.2 (OV peak: 3.4-33.4 Luteal: 1.5-9.1 Post Meno: 23.0-116 original results: 32.6) - sorry, I don't know anything about this
serum free T4 = 10.4 - need range
serum TSH = 15.47 (0.35-5.5) - worse than last time, over the magic number 10 and this is why you got diagnosed and put on Levo.
What should happen now is a retest 6-8 weeks after starting Levo. Hopefully your TSH will have reduced and your FT4 increased. Please try to get the range for FT4. After this test you should have a dose increase, then another retest, dose adjustment, and so on until your symptoms are alleviated.
The aim for a treated hypo patient is for TSH to be 1 or below or wherever it needs to be for FT4 and FT3 to be at the upper part of their reference ranges. Many doctors treat by TSH which is wrong. Once on replacement thyroid hormone, TSH is irrelevant, it's FT4 and more importantly FT3 (which they never seem to do) that count.
For future reference, if you find your doctor dosing by TSH being just 'in range' and not optimally treating you to where you feel well, this might help:
Dr Toft, past president of the British Thyroid Association and leading endocrinologist, wrote this in a Pulse Online magazine article:
"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 louise.warvill@thyroiduk.org.uk she will let you have a copy of the article which you can print out and show your GP
Keep asking questions and learning, you're doing great up to now
One test that is missing is Vit D. Along with all the other vitamin and minerals this needs to be optimal and a lot of us in the UK are low in Vit D. If your GP wont test this you can get it done privately for £28 through City Assays, an easy at home fingerprick blood spot test vitamindtest.org.uk/
PS In case you don't know already, Levo should be taken with a glass of water only, on an empty stomach one hour before or two hours after food. Good that you are taking it at bedtime
I didn't post on your earlier question about dizziness but I am now. Why?
Well, my hypothyroidism was picked up from blood tests to find out why I was getting vertigo episodes. Since then I have been diagnosed (by ENT) with BPPV and "reduced vestibular response" which I've put on my profile. I don't doubt these at all, BUT the frequency and severity of these episodes seem to be linked to how much levothyroxine I'm taking among other things.
I also get dizziness which is not the same as vertigo. Also lightheaded episodes which GP thought might be blood pressure related, although at the syncope clinic I was advised to get my thyroid rechecked.
I don't know if any of this helps but I agree with "!!!!".
Thanks Ellismay, i have a few now on my kindle but there is a a few more that i would like to ordered, so will definitely do that through the link at a later date..
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Books on Hypothyroid
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