results on thyroid function.

[DanCole3]

Hi,

I have been suffering with a number of symptoms for eighteen months now: bowel problems, abdomen pain, headaches, fatigue, muscle cramps, dizziness, heart palps etc. the list goes on. I've had about 15 doctors appointments in that period because I have asthma so the doctor always blames stuff on that.

Anyway one potential cause of the symptoms might be a thyroid problem as my mum, grandma and uncle all had thyroid problems, I think all hypo and my uncle had thyroid cancer.

I've had my bloods done and the results were:

(I don't know what these abbreviations are)

ALT 74 u/l (5-55)

TSH 5.69 mu/l (0.4-4.0)

There's more but the above are the only ones above the range.

My doctor said to get it redone in 4-6months. It's obviously good that he's not concerned but on the other hand the symptoms I get pretty much all day everyday are fairly debilitating, I used to pride myself on the fact that I'd go 3 or 4 years between sick days at work but now I'm lucky to go a month.

Any advice?

[greygoose]

Your TSH is high. But a one-off high TSH doesn't mean much because so many things can affect it. So, he's told you to go back and have it done again to see if it's still that high. If it is, then you are hypo.

Do make sure you have the next TSH at the same time of day. Otherwise, you can't compare them, because TSH decreases throughout the day. So, a test done two hours later will be lower.

[shaws Administrator]

According to your TSH at 5.69 and it is over-range would suggest you have hypothyroidism but if in the UK, doctors are told not to diagnose until TSH is 10. Which is so ridiculous I don't know where they plucked that figure from. In other parts of the world patients are diagnosed with a TSH of just over 3.

I shall give you some links. If you are able to afford a private blood test which will include all the important ones, not just TSH which means Thyroid Stimulating Hormone which should be below 1 and it starts to rise as thyroid gland is not producing as much to run our whole metabolism. The ALT test is to detect if there's liver disease. Other members who know who to explain it will respond.

You will see from the following that your TSH is high:

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

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

Your doctor should but probably wont test TSH, T4, T3, Free T4, Free T3 and thyroid antibodies. You can get these privately and there's a special offer on at present. We have several recommended labs and the NHS wont do them usually.

thyroiduk.org.uk/medichecks

Your doctor should check B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate and thyroid antibodies.

Always get a print-out as you've done above with the ranges. The ranges are in brackets and labs differ so these have to be stated too.

All blood tests for thyroid hormones should be the very earliest possible (fasting and you can drink water). Also allow 24 hours gap between last dose of levo and the test.

Levo has to be taken on an empty stomach and most do this when they awake and take it with one glass of water. This prevents tablet swelling in throat. Some prefer bedtime dosing and if you've had a big meal containing protein you should allow about 3 hours after eating so stomach is empty.

Always from now on get a print-out of your results from the surgery (some charge a nominal sum for paper/ink). Make sure the ranges are also stated in the print-out as labs differ and therefore ranges may be different and members need the ranges in order to respond.