What next ! Apparently I haven't ever had Hashimotos or hyperthyroid!!!!!!

[Steni]

I have just had blood tests back ( from my gp ) not private endocrinologist. He says I don't believe you've ever had a thyroid problem! He referred me to the results I am posting below. Last month he said there was room for improvement and I should go up to 150 mg a day, this month there's nothing wrong with me!!!

[shaws Administrator]

He must be an excellent doctor as you appear to be 'cured' after a couple of appointments.

Others will comment on your results

[Clutter]

Steni,

If there was never anything wrong with your thyroid why is he prescribing 150mcg Levothyroxine? TSH is suppressed as expected on 150mcg but you aren't over medicated because FT4 is within range. 150mcg appears to be an adequate dose.

Ferritin is optimal half way through range. You can raise ferritin by supplementing iron. Taking each tablet with 1,000mcg vitamin C will aid absorption and minimise constipation. Take iron 4 hours away from Levothyroxine.

Vit D is optimal >75 to around 100. If you're able to get some sun on your face and arms next month you can top up naturally. Otherwise consider supplementing 1,000iu* D3 for 3 months. Take vitD 4 hours away from Levothyroxine.

* edited to correct error.

[Steni in reply to Clutter]

Thank you. He said he'd never seen a test result that showed I had a problem ! That's because the ones he did came back 'normal' apparently and he hadn't entered all the tests done by the endo that showed I did have a problem

[Clutter in reply to Steni]

Steni,

He doesn't seem to have considered that the Levothyroxine you are taking is why the tests he does come back normal. If you weren't hypothyroid you would feel very unwell on 150mcg.

[Steni in reply to Clutter]

The thing is I do feel very unwell

[Clutter in reply to Steni]

Steni,

It may be worth ordering a private thyroid test to include FT3. If your FT3 is low you will benefit from adding some T3 to Levothyroxine. thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

[humanbean in reply to Clutter]

Otherwise consider supplementing 1,000mcg D3 for 3 months.

I think that should say 1000 iU D3 for 3 months.

[Clutter in reply to humanbean]

Oops, you're quite right. Thank you, HB, I'll edit my post.

[Jazzw]

How has he ascertained you don't have Hashi's without testing for antibodies??

[Steni in reply to Jazzw]

He didn't actually. I went to see someone privately about something else who referred me to an Endocrinologist who did the tests which revealed the Hashimotos. Until then I was told for years I had perfectly fine thyroid results, by my GP. He more or less told me today that private doctors will tell you anything to get money! He also said my Vit D was at a good level, and all this Vitamin D talk was crazy and in 10 years we'd all be wondering why we had been overdosing on it.

[Jazzw in reply to Steni]

Yes, well - I suspect he's wrong about Vitamin D. We all used to spend a lot more time outdoors, walking to work etc. Now we all travel around in cars and spend our days in offices (well, I do ). Sometimes my skin isn't exposed to sunlight for days on end. I think, given Vit D is actually a hormone, that the rise of autoimmune disease, depression and cancer might just have something to do with Vit D deficiency. But I don't know - just speculating.

Your doctor seems woefully uneducated about thyroid issues. Levothyroxine does not immediately make you feel better, particularly if you've been slightly hypothyroid for a number of years. It's not like most of us one day wake up and find our thyroids aren't working - it's a gradual decline, which has a knock on effect to health. Because one of the effects of hypothyroidism is the reduction of stomach acid, you don't absorb nutrients as well and so you start developing other problems as a result of iron deficiency, Vit B12 deficiency etc.

Although your TSH is suppressed there's no evidence (because he didn't run an FT3 test) that you're overmedicated (or unnecessarily medicated).

Scary finding out that doctors don't know nearly as much as they think they do, isn't it!

[Steni in reply to Jazzw]

Your so right, it is teryingvto think how much misguided trust we place in them.

[Steni in reply to Jazzw]

Thanks for this, I'm grateful

[Steni]

Is my tsh weirdly low or is this what we are aiming for? I feel terrible and I wondered if I was over medicated? I have never seen the slightest improvement of any kind since starting on Levo. The doctor today said when I told him this 'that's because you don't need it, if you had a thyroid problem you'd feel better at once'

[Steni]

And hadn't he done a Free3 test then?

[Ruthi]

Its not really possible to comment on just one TSH reading.

But a GP decided that was the case with me. Persuaded me to stop my NDT. My brain was so fogged that I didn't realise I was undermedicated - eventually after a couple of months my husband marched me down there. TSH still 0, Free T3 almost undectedable.

So fight for your right to take the meds down gradually if they are going to do it at all.

[Steni]

Typical 😡