Hi, new to the forum and currently unmedicated. Brief history - my mum is hypo since her early 40's and has taken T4 and T3 for years. My TSH has been tested over the years and has been slowly increasing until my last NHS test about 6 months ago, when it had randomly decreased to around 2.5. I decided to have a test done privately, as I seem to have so many symptoms which are just getting slowly worse. I'm so cold all the time, have chronic constipation, extreme tiredness to the point where I can't make it past lunchtime without closing my eyes, my weight is maintained but only by staying on a 1,250 calories a day diet (which isn't fun!) brittle nails, patchy dry skin, total crash of libido and a myriad of other annoyances that make me feel like i'm constantly complaining about one trivial thing or another. I'm starting to get on my own nerves there's so many 😂
Can someone advise me as to wether or not i'm barking up the wrong tree here and need to get a grip, or is it possible I would benefit from some sort of medication? Just to make it more confusing, I have ADD and take 15mg ritalin instant release twice a day (morning and early afternoon to get me through the working day) i think this masks some of my tiredness symptoms and enables me to stay awake, as without them i'm asleep by lunchtime. Looking at my results, my FT3 seems lowish, but it's such a complex subject, I don't know where to start, and I don't want to do more damage than good. I'm told i'm "normal", but I don't feel normal
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TSH >2 indicates that your thyroid is beginning to struggle to produce thyroid hormone but your FT4 and FT3 are within normal range. NHS won't usually diagnose hypothyroidism until either TSH is over range or FT4 below range.
Both sets of thyroid antibodies are negative which means you do not have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's).
It's probably not worth retesting for 12 months unless symptoms become very much worse. When you have your next blood test arrange it early in the morning when TSH is highest and fast (water only) as TSH drops after eating and drinking.
Hi Clutter, thank you for the reply and the welcome 😁 I'd had my TSH levels checked every 2 years and they were steadily increasing. A year ago it was just short of 4.0, so I wasn't given the option on medication but went back after 6 months to have a further test. Both myself and my GP were expecting it to have tipped over the 4.0 mark, but it came back as 2.5 which is what prompted the private test. It seems to be still staying round this level. Do you have any idea what can cause it to have gone down after steadily increasing for so long? I'll leave it a year or so before any further testing. It's hard to stop digging for a solution when you're feeling so rotten!
Usually it's Hashimoto's which causes fluctuations in TSH. Some people are sero negative with Hashimoto's so despite your negative antibodies you could have Hashi's. An ultrasound scan is probably the only way to tell whether there is typical Hashi damage to your thyroid. Your GP could trial you on Levothyroxine for 3 months to see whether symptoms improve but very few GPs agree to this unless TSH is abnormal.
Thanks Clutter, I think I had to be at 4.0 before medication. I'll just sit tight and see what happens next time. Thank you for your help, it's such a big subject
Hi Marz, I have no idea about my B12 levels. The only thing I know is that last October I had surgery and I needed iron tablets before they would let me out (not very helpful sorry) and I found out I had blood pressure on the low side, and a slow pulse. I don't know if any of those things are connected in any way. I'm ashamed to say I know very little about my health, because until the last few years i've always taken it for granted. It's only now everything is falling apart that i'm trying to figure out where the problem might be
I don't know if it's a definite hypo symptom but I had low blood pressure and it was assumed (before the Hashi's hypo dx) that was normal for me. With hindsight I think it was a symptom. Have a look at the Thyroid UK website for their list of symptoms.
BTW I didn't know much about my health or nutrients either when I was first diagnosed in Jan this year, and I think that's pretty normal from reading the forum. Find out all you can - it's a bit of a learning curve but will enable you to be in more control of your health.
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