Please help- am I "normal" or is there something going on??

[Kayleigh86]

Hi all!! I went to the Dr's back in March for tests to be told normal (have added a pic) as my tsh was 3.7 (range 0.4-5.00) even after I have said to them that I feel awful...exhausted, dry skin, puffy face, gained a stone and a half of which no matter what I try I can not loose, and I have tracked over the past 6 months now... Of which I will be going back today... Am I normal? Please can someone shed light on these results or is it all in my head? And if not normal what can I say to the Dr's to make them listen? I feel like I'm a crazy person keep going on about it, but i just don't feel "normal" xx

[humanbean]

If you look at the bottom of your post you will see a v in a box. Click on that and several options come up, including Edit. Click on Edit and then delete the picture of your results.

Then photograph your results again blocking out all your personal information. Then edit your post again and include the new photograph.

Welcome to the forum.

[Kayleigh86 in reply to humanbean]

Oops!! Done, thank you!! Don't suppose you are able to shed any light on these results at all? Thank you xx

[humanbean in reply to Kayleigh86]

Your TSH level is too high for many people to have a hope of feeling well. It suggests that you are already well on your way to being hypothyroid. Your doctor would disagree with me though. Doctors think that overt hypothyroidism doesn't actually start until TSH is over 10.

Most of us on this forum who are hypothyroid feel at our best when TSH is 1 or under.

(I'm generalising, and there are exceptions but - hypothyroid people have a high TSH and hyperthyroid people have a low TSH.)

Your Free T4 is too low for good health as well. It is only 30% of the way through the reference range and the people here will often feel at their best when Free T4 is in the top quarter or top third of the reference range.

T4 is a pro-hormone or a storage hormone. It has little or no biological activity of its own, instead it acts as the raw ingredient for creating T3. T3 is the active thyroid hormone and it is lack of this that makes people feel hypothyroid.

Unfortunately, doctors have been brainwashed into believing that measuring T3 is a waste of time, and that TSH (a pituitary hormone) is really all they need to know.

For the body to be able to convert well from T4 to T3 it is essential to have good levels of nutrients. The most important ones are vitamin B12, vitamin D, folate and ferritin.

Being low in nutrients can also add symptoms on their own. Unfortunately you don't have any results for nutrients. If you could ask your doctor to test these it would be helpful. Then get copies of the results and post them in a new post on here.

Hypothyroidism affects levels of stomach acid. Levels are low. Because low levels of stomach acid actually cause indigestion and heartburn people often end up on acid suppressing treatment, making the problem worse. Low stomach acid reduces absorption of nutrients from the diet.

If you can get your levels of nutrients up to optimal (not just in range), then it may improve your conversion of T4 to T3 and this may keep you going for a bit longer. But I think you will need thyroid treatment sooner or later - probably sooner.

Lots of us on here have been refused treatment for hypothyroidism due to never having a TSH high enough to warrant treatment according to NHS standards. So we treat ourselves by buying thyroid meds on the internet.

Another thing it is possible to do is get blood tested without involving a doctor. If you can't get your nutrients tested by your doctor then it can be done privately. Obviously it costs money.

[Kayleigh86 in reply to humanbean]

Thank you so much for this, explains a lot and I haven't felt well for a while now, just seems to fall on deaf ears with the Dr! Frustrating! Do symptoms improve if correct treatment is given as a lot of posts suggest not necessarily, which seems worrying? I will ask for nutrients to be done today I think! I can't keep on like this

[humanbean in reply to Kayleigh86]

Please bear in mind that an estimated 85% of people who are treated for hypothyroidism do well on the standard treatment (levothyroxine).

The hypothyroid people you will read about on here are the ones who can't get a diagnosis because their TSH is never high enough, or they get a diagnosis but insufficient treatment because their TSH drops too much and the doctor decides they are adequately treated, or have been given too much treatment and need their dose lowered. Or they are told they are adequately treated when their TSH is only just in range (at the top of the range). Or they don't convert well, but nobody ever realises because the Free T3 is never measured.

There are loads of reasons for people not feeling well with hypothyroidism, but we are the minority. Most people get diagnosed, get treated, feel fine, and go on to lead normal lives.

Just an anecdote :

I was first told my thyroid was "borderline" (and didn't need treatment) in 1990. I was still being told I "only" had subclinical hypothyroidism in 2013. I had a fight with my doctor to get treated even then. Don't waste 23 years of your life waiting for your doctor to treat you like I did. If your pituitary is incapable of producing enough TSH you may never get a diagnosis. After 23 years of no treatment I didn't do well on the levothyroxine that was grudgingly prescribed and so I've been treating myself for the last three years.

[Clutter]

Kayleigh86,

You're not going mad, you are becoming hypothyroid. TSH >2.0 indicates your thyroid is struggling to produce hormone. Unfortunately, NHS won't diagnose hypothyroidism until your TSH is >5.0 or your FT4 is <9.0.

When you have a follow up thyroid test arrange the blood draw early in the morning when TSH is highest and fast (water only) because TSH drops after eating and drinking.

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/diagno...

Your FBC, Glucose and routine tests are all within range (normal). I can't interpret your fertility results, your doctor should be able to tell you whether or not you are menopausal.

Ask your GP to check ferritin, vitamin D, B12 and folate. Low/deficient levels can cause fatigue and other symptoms similar to hypothyroid symptoms.

_______________________________________________________________________________

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.

[Kayleigh86 in reply to Clutter]

Oh my gosh i hope I'm not menopausal as I have only just turned 30! Argh!!

Thank you for this reply, glad I'm not going mad, as they really make you feel it!! It's like hitting your head against a brick wall talking to a doctor!!

I will take the tests again, do them early and ask for nutrients to be done too... I think I will try and be firm with them today, they have to surely listen?? May ask to see an endo...

[Clutter in reply to Kayleigh86]

Kayleigh86,

I don't doubt your symptoms are largely due to low thyroid but your GP has little latitude in making a diagnosis or referral while TSH is in normal range thanks to guidelines and protocols determined by the British Thyroid Association.

Selenium is good thyroid support so supplementing 200mcg and perhaps a thyroid supplement like NutriThyroid may be helpful.

________________________________________________________________________

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.

[Kayleigh86]

So The Dr weighed me and looked again at my previous results, he said I'm not overweight so doesn't see why I would want to bring my "tsh level" down as it is normal, he got a bit angry at me as I said that I feel exhausted and can't loose the weight no matter what I do and would like to be referred to a specialist, he said no so I asked for the extra tests which he begrudgingly did so will go for the tests fasted next week. I also asked if there were any supplements I can take, to which he got very abrupt again telling me I am absolutely fine and maybe I need to see a councillor!!!! I said no chance! So are there any supplements that anyone can suggest so that I can naturally support of lower my tsh levels and bring up my T4?