Hi, I recently posted as i was diagnosed hyper from a routine blood test after i went in with pelvic pain. I am due to see an Endo tomorrow and my previous results from Medicheck are on my last post. I have just done the Woman Ultravit from Medicheck which though 149.00 was well worth the money. Could anyone tell me if i need to be supplementing anything other then Vit D which they recommended and also the change in my results as the GP at Medichecks spoke about me now being hypo. Many thanks!
I am currently on 10mg of Carizamole which was reduced from 20 within 2 days as no hyper symptoms but if anything i feel i have more hypos symptoms.
I am due further blood tests next week from GP for the 2 antibodies plus T3 T4 and TSH so don't want to speak to her yet about these results in case she puts them as i think i have upset her saying you guys really know your stuff.
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minnie01
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When you were diagnosed hyper, what did they test? And what were the results? If they only did the TSH, then there's a chance you weren't hyper at all. Have you even had your antibodies tested? It could be that you were just in a hyper phase of Hashi's, and have now gone hypo.
That range for the FT4 doesn't make sense. Why 3 numbers? Your ferritin, folate and vit B12 are all too low.
There is your answer. Your antibodies are high so you are positive for autoimmune thyroid disease aka Hashimoto's. This is where antibodies attack the thyroid and gradually destroy it. Antibodies wax and wane, causing hypo and hyper symptoms.
You can help reduce the antibodies by adopting a strict gluten free diet which has helped many members enormously. Gluten contains gliadin which is a protein thought to trigger antibody attacks.
Thank you SeasideSusie...i guess i have to just hope the Endo gives me correct meds now as surely taking Carbizamole will just make me more hypo although i think that is the plan of the GP as she claims it is easier to treat but looking at posts of other's who have an awful time i can only assume she has never been there!! Thanks again!
You are euthyroid (normal) with TSH low in range and FT4 just under halfway through range.
You haven't included the ferritin range but halfway is optimal so your ferritin is too low. You can supplement iron to raise ferritin and taking it with 1,000mcg vitamin C will aid absorption and minimise constipation.
vitamin D is replete 75-200 and most people are comfortable around 100nmol/L. I would supplement 10,000iu D3 daily for 6 weeks and then reduce to 5,000iu daily and retest in July.
Thankyou Clutter..i think i am a bit useless at copying and pasting but the ferratin was
FERRITIN 32.97 ug/L 13.00 -150.00
I really do not understand this as only diagnosed 6 weeks ago but GP seems to think the Endo is going to up my Carbizamole tomorrow without even doing further blood tests.
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Those antibodies are a problem. You will find many practitioners on youtube (who practice some combination of restorative/functional/environmental medicine) who will have a lot to say about gut destruction and autoimmunity. If you have the coin, you could include or exclude gluten as the cause by taking the TTG and Gliadin Antibody tests. However there are other unsafe foods and environmental pollutants which can contribute to antibodies. In any case, don't let some ignorant endo tell you that there is nothing that can be done about antibodies; generally, allopaths think the only solution is T4 (last thing you need!).
Have you asked your practitioner about the TSI (Graves antibodies) test?
Hi, It is all a minefield to me at the moment as newly diagnosed or misdiagnosed, not sure which lol..do you know where i can have the TTG and Gliadan Antibody tests done and i haven't asked my GP about a TSI test as i do not have much knowledge but i see Endo tomorrow and GP Friday so i will ask. Thank you for replying, i will take all info provided with me so i can pretend i know what i am talking about. Thanks again!
TTG and GAb tests should be available thru any major lab. The only problem you may have is convincing a doctor that they should be ordered; make sure the doc knows that you have actually corresponded with a person who got rid of their antibodies by deleting dietary gluten.
The TSI test is the only way I know of, to rule out hyperthyroidism due to Graves. Since you sometimes feel hyperthyroid, tell the doctor that you want to rule out Graves as the possible cause. However ... that fact that you have TPO and TGB antibodies (Hashi's) means you can experience "flares", alternative spells of feeling hypo and hyper. If the doc doesn't understand that, then maybe he will authorize a TSI test.
Really appreciate your advice Eddie..i will speak to the GP and my Endo i am due to see about this..the Endo i have on Bupa so maybe they may be a bit more accommodating with the blood tests but we shall see...thanks again!
Thanks to your positive antibodies you've got autoimmune thyroid disease also known as Hashimoto's Thyroiditis.
Antibody numbers fluctuate constantly, and their activity fluctuates too.
The antibodies attack your thyroid. In the process they kill the cells in the thyroid. And when thyroid cells die they release the thyroid hormones they contain into the body and bloodstream. This affects the results of thyroid function tests, so that Free T4 and/or Free T3 may be very high or over the range, and TSH will be low.
Because antibody numbers and activity levels fluctuate people can swing from hyper to hypo and back again, over and over again. For many people antibody activity seems to go up when TSH is high, so keeping TSH low is helpful.
Over time the thyroid gets smaller and smaller. Eventually it becomes too small to produce sufficient thyroid hormones even when it is under attack so the sufferer becomes permanently hypothyroid. The process of killing off the thyroid completely can take decades. There are a few people on the forum who have reported having scans after many years of problems and their thyroid has become a wizened little lump.
If someone has hyperthyroidism, rather than Hashi's, the cells of the thyroid don't die they just keep on producing vast amounts of thyroid hormone. Hyperthyroidism is usually treated with Carbimazole.
In the early days of Hashi's doctors may treat the hyper swings with Carbimazole too. But if the antibodies are fluctuating a lot in terms of activity and numbers, the carbi may help for a while then make people desperately hypothyroid if antibody activity dies down. In those cases doctors often use carbi to suppress all normal thyroid activity and then add levothyroxine to give the person a consistent level of thyroid hormone. This is called Block and Replace treatment. It may be used to treat hyperthyroidism too.
I've never been in this situation myself, but I think, for people with Hashi's, a more humane treatment for many people would be one doctors never suggest, and that is to try and find what triggers the production of antibodies, and affects antibody activity. Many people find dietary methods helps, although for some people they never find the answer.
Gluten - going gluten free can reduce antibodies. It has to be done ruthlessly if it is to have any chance of success, and this is true for any of the dietary solutions.
Dairy - giving up animal milk products e.g. cheese, yoghurt, animal milk can help some people.
Nightshades - Giving up nightshades - there are a few of them e.g. potatoes helps some people.
Histamines - A low histamine diet might help.
With all of these suggestions, try one thing at a time, and if it doesn't help then go back to eating it again. Otherwise your diet becomes too restricted.
Thanks for that very detailed account of things Humanbean, the way you have explained it makes total sense as i have read about Block and Replace but never really knew what it all mean't. My partner asked why they couldn't find out what causes the anti bodies to rise but i guess it all comes down to money at the end of the day...i will plug away at my GP, she has been really good and seeing me weekly but she doesn't seem to know much about this...only good thing is she did the blood test sooner rather then later i guess as i have neither had any weight loss or gain or typical symptoms that others have ..it literally was pelvic pain i went to see her about and then she sprung this one on me lol....thanks again!
Wow very informative humanbean, as I myself am hyper and hypo, graves and hashimotos. I just found this as it was talking about me. I still need more to learn about the Thyroid. Thanks so much.
Saw Endo for first time today, was a bit dubious but she was lovely and did the TSI test as Eddie suggested....she talked about the whole package as in TSH, T3, T4 as well as the antibodies and has said if the result comes back suggesting i do not have Graves she will do further tests to see if she can see why my antibodies are high. I feel like i have had a huge weight lifted even just having someone explain things..to be fair my GP has done her best and has seen me every 7 -1 0 days but she admits she knows very little on Thyroid Disorders especially Hyper...thanks again everyone for your advice as this really helped me sound like i knew what i was talking about lol. Just waiting on blood tests GP did yesterday and Endo is phoning me tonight regarding lowering the dose of Carbizamole.
Hi Minnie01, do you think you can let us know what type of blood tests is your endo going to ask for in order to find out what is causing your antibodies to be elevated? Thank you in advance
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