Finally have results back in black&white, gp still insisting everythings fine, not sure if I am going mad or if she is bonkers!!

[Gemstone88]

Hi everyone, I haven't posted in a while (kids have been ill) so I eventually received my bloodwork results, I now know that I am vit d deficient and that my iron is low, also I tested positive for thyroid anti bodies, will write out full results and ranges at the end of this post for anyone interested in having a look, I called my gp to talk these over and she is still insisting that everything is fine, I do not feel fine, I have struggled for 6 years horrifically and feel extremely unwell! in her words the vit d is bad due to my diet (I am celiacs and am very careful with my diet) iron is apparently normal as I am young enough to still be menstruating (my cycle is crazy I can go months with nothing) and the anti bodies is apparently fine and not a big deal, can't help but feel like she is once again treating me like an idiot for lack of a better word! she knows how ill I am and have been, I have the results in black and white now and she still has the same attitude, I think she wants me to believe that I am over dramatic and a pain and that there is nothing wrong here, I can't change practises as no others are taking people on in the area and I can't change gps as the others are locums and the practise is apparently struggleing with the number of patients, I am at a loss but willing to fight her on everything to get the appropriate treatment to get some quality of life back! I have to for my children, husband and myself! if anyone could take a sec to look and give me any advise...info etc so I can go back to her armed and ready to get answers it would be greatly appreciated!! thanks in advance everyone! will attach anti bodies result in pic and write off the rest below X

vit b12 (180-2000) 319

serum folate (2.8-20) 3.6

ferritin (15-20) 8

tsh (0.2-4.5) 2.2

free t4 (9-21) 10

vit d(50-170) 14

calcium (2.2-2.6) 2.27

adjusted calcium (2.2-2.6) 2.29

[Clutter]

Gemstone,

There is no cure or treatment for Hashimoto's which eventually causes 90% of hypothyroidism. Treatment is for the low thyroid levels it causes. Many people have found that 100% gluten-free diet is helpful in reducing Hashi flares, symptoms and eventually antibodies and it may slow progression to hypothyroidism. I felt desperately ill with euthyroid Hashimoto's and wish I had known to try gluten-free diet to see whether symptoms improved.

chriskresser.com/the-gluten...

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

Your thyroid levels are euthyroid (normal) but TSH >2.0 indicates your thyroid is beginning to struggle to produce T4 which is very low in range. You should ask for repeat tests annually, or sooner if symptoms worsen. NHS won't usually diagnose hypothyroidism until TSH is >4.5 or FT4 <9.0. Supplementing 200mcg selenium is good thyroid support and may help a little.

Ferritin is deficient and may indicate iron anaemia. Your GP should do an iron panel and full blood count to check.

Vitamin D is severely deficient. My GP prescribed 40,000iu D3 x 14 days followed by 2,000iu daily x 8 weeks which raised my vitD from <10 to 107. If your GP won't prescribe you can buy 5,000iu D3 on Amazon and self-medicate. Very little vitD is obtained from diet, it is produced by sunlight on the skin converting cholesterol into vitaminD. That is just about the most classic 'patient blaming' I've seen. How dare she tell a coeliac that her diet is causing deficiencies.

Calcium is fine.

B12 and folate are low but aren't deficient. You might like to ask healthunlocked.com/pasoc whether having coeliac disease predisposes you to pernicious anaemia and whether you ought to test.

I think addressing your ferritin and vitD deficiencies will greatly improve many of your symptoms.

[Gemstone88 in reply to Clutter]

Hi Clutter thank you for replying, i feel absolutely horrid with this, i now have vit d and iron supplements to start after demanding something from my gp, so does the antibodies results mean i have hashimotos? I did ask my gp this over the phone but she didn't give me a direct answer and basically just played it down and said it was fine, i know off course that none of this is fine but i am just that in a muddle with her that i don't know if i am coming or going so trying to get the information straight in my own head before i go back to argue my case again, she has sent me to an endo twice but he specialised in diabetes and was completely uninterested in anything i had to say and dismissed me completely, i have been that ill with this that i have lost my job and spend most of my life sleeping or crying, it is so frustrating! X

[Clutter in reply to Gemstone88]

Gemstone88,

Yes, autoimmune thyroiditis means you have Hashimoto's. UK doctors seem a bit averse to the term "Hashimoto's" and tend to use autoimmune thyroiditis or chronic thyroiditis. There's really nothing your GP can do about it until you eventually become hypothyroid and she can prescribe Levothyroxine.

Most endos are diabetes specialists rather than thyroid specialists and won't diagnose until TSH is over range or FT4 below range. Even a private endo is unlikely to prescribe replacement until TSH is >3.0.

I doubt you'll be able to persuade your GP to trial you on Levothyroxine but there's nothing to stop you buying it online and trialling it yourself to see whether symptoms improve.

How much iron and vitD have you been prescribed?

[Gemstone88]

I'm not 100% sure of dosage yet as i have to pick the prescriptions up after 5pm today,but i am hopeful that they will at the very least help with some of the symptoms that i have been suffering with, i wouldn't know where to start with how bad i feel...every day there seems to be another thing to add to the never ending list of symptoms, it has been almost 7 years of back and forward and getting nowhere, i never thought it was possible to feel so ill, i wouldn't wish any of this on anyone X