Hi, my daughter (20) has many of the symptoms of thyroid problems, tiredness, depression, weight gain, and erratic periods etc. She and her fiancé are getting married in 2019 and will be trying for a baby soon after. My mum was hypo and our daughter is exactly like her, almost a clone, literally lol.
Anyway she went to her GP for depression and tiredness who was next to useless, just told her to go away. He did a blood test for diabetes which came back as normal.
So I bought her a fingerprick test and she got the results yesterday which they have said is within normal range, she's given me permission to post them as she's working long hours in a very busy environment and is sleeping most of the time when not working as she's so damn tired! If this is a problem for you I'll get her to post them herself.
* TSH 3.54 mIU/L Range 0.27- 4.3
* Free Thyroxine (FT4) 17.06 pmol/L Range 12-23
* Triiodothyronine (FT3) 5.18 pmol/L Range 3.1-6.8
* Thyroxine (T4) 98.4 nmol/L Range 64.5-142
* Anti-Thyroidperoxidase antibodies (TPEX) 6.1 kIU/L Range 0-34
Hidden Your daughter's thyroid would appear to be struggling. Her TSH is quite high in range, in a normal healthy person you'd expect to see it about 2, maybe lower. Her FT4 is less than half way through it's range (46%) and you'd expect that to be somewhere over half way through in a healthy person. Her FT3 isn't too bad but that could be because her thyroid is trying to produce enough of the active hormone.
Her antibodies are negative but although one positive result confirms autoimmune thyroid disease, one negative doesn't rule it out.
Unfortunately, she will not get a diagnosis of Hypothyroidism until TSH is over range with a below range FT4, or a TSH of 10. An enlightened doctor might start treatment with an over range TSH and positive antibodies, but not all will.
Has she had vitamins and minerals tested? If these are low they can produce similar symptoms. She needs
Vit D
B12
Folate
Ferritin
It would have been a good idea to have them tested as part of a thyroid bundle when doing the fingerprick test.
In the meantime plenty of Vit C will support adrenals (at least 2000mg daily in divided doses) but I would suggest getting those vits and mins tested before suggesting any other supplements.
Thank you very much, I've been reading up on vitamins for her and will order the iron blood test as you've suggested!
It rang bells actually as one of our daughter in laws has major tiredness/sickness problems with her lack of vitamin b12, she has been hospitalised several times and has to have 3 monthly injections; she is a vegan though and even she says she should start eating eggs at the very least, but can't bring herself to do it. I have pointed her in the direction of the group on here relating to it.
I will suggest the extra vitamin c to our daughter, I assume you can't overdose on it as excess would be urinated out?
Too much Vit C will let you know by giving you diarrhoea. We all tolerate individual amounts. Dr Peatfield suggests at least 2000mg daily in divided doses. Dr Myhill advocates 2000mg at bedtime will bring about a bowel movement in the morning for those who suffer constipation. So, really, just take at least 2000mg a day, more can be taken to bowel tolerance if required.
If taking an iron supplement, it's advised to take 1000mg with each iron tablet to aid absorption and help prevent constipation.
There are different forms of Vit C, most common is ascorbic acid which some people find a bit harsh, in which case magnesium ascorbate or sodium ascorbate would be better.
Your daughter's thyroid is struggling to have TSH 3.54 but both FT4 and FT3 are good. NHS will not usually diagnose hypothyroidism or start treatment until TSH is over range or FT4 is below range.
Symptoms can precede abnormal thyroid results by months/years. Your daughter should request a NHS thyroid test in 6 months as TSH may have risen. She should arrange an early morning test when TSH is highest and fast (water only) because TSH drops after eating and drinking. If her GP tells her to go away again she should find a new doctor AFTER she makes a formal complaint about her GP's negligence and rudeness.
An exception to treating normal thyroid levels is when a woman is planning to conceive because TSH >2.5 can make conception difficult and, if pregnancy is achieved, increases the risks of miscarriage. The recommendation is that women planning conception should have TSH in the low-normal range 0.4 - 2.5. Levothyroxine dose is usually increased by 25-50mcg when pregnancy is confirmed to ensure good foetal development and to avoid the risk of post partum psychosis. Your daughter should not assume her GP is au fait with this and may need to present BTA and NICE documents to support her if her GP is not helpful.
So from my understanding, prior to starting to try for a family, she should get her level down? I'll suggest going to the GP again at the end of the year and asking for another test then, and yes she needs to change her GP. When she went before she was very depressed and told him she had been thinking of doing something silly. He refused anti depressants and put her on a waiting list for counselling; that was 3 years ago and she's not heard a thing since. We got her some private counselling but there's no reason why she's depressed, lovely fiancé, they're buying a house, wedding booked...she just is sometimes and is always shattered!
Do they check every pregnant woman's TSH then? And do they check if fertility issues crop up? Only asking as our other daughter and her husband have been trying to conceive for over 2 years with no luck and have just been referred for IVF, she will be 33 next month. He incidentally is a GP, they've never said that they've had her thyroid levels checked.
It amazes me how interconnected all the adrenal glands are, i guess if one is not functioning as it should, then the whole lot get stressed. This is such a huge topic!!
My Mum incidentally sadly passed away due to pancreatic cancer, her mum also succumbed to it. I have often wondered if her hypo contributed or was implicated in some way. I look in the mirror for jaundice myself every day 🤔
Thank you so much for your advice re her results. I guess she's in a sort of no man's land together with many others.
Shamefully, thyroid testing is not automatically done in women planning conception or newly pregnant.
It is possible that your daughter's depression is due to her becoming hypothyroid and it may improve when she is eventually diagnosed and treated. However, contrary to what many on this forum state, there are other reasons for depression and, perhaps hardest of all, no discernable reason. I think it would be beneficial if she ruled out ferritin, vitamin D, B12 and folate deficiency as causes of fatigue and low mood. She can order home finger prick tests via thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...
Probably the first thing the fertility clinic will do is to check your other daughter's thyroid levels and start her on Levothyroxine if TSH is >2.5.
I'm sorry you lost your mother and grandmother to pancreatic cancer. I'm not aware there is any connection with hypothyroidism.
Brilliant, thank you so much! I'll go order the test now.
Ok so been doing some research and am I correct in thinking that a TSH level of up to 10 is considered normal and yet once medication starts their aim is to get it down to not more than 2.5? Really???
Also if my daughter, the one whose test results I asked for help with, went to her GP with these results they wouldn't medicate even if she told them she will be trying to conceive as her result was under 4 (3.54) despite them saying it could be dangerous for the baby (that is if she managed to get pregnant and didn't have an early miscarriage!) if the result is over 2.5? I daren't tell her about this infertility link, her periods are irregular as it is, she's wanted to be a mum since she was a child
This is completely crazy, it makes absolutely no sense! Are all countries guidelines like this or just ours (UK)?
The sainted NHS strikes again.
Oh and I'm having trouble finding the correct iron/vit finger prick blood test to order, I can't seem to find one that tests for all 4? Do I have to order separate tests or is it me just being dumb? She literally nearly passed out when we took the last one
Testing vitamins and minerals tends to be cheaper doing it as part of a thyroid bundle, testing individually is expensive. The following contain the important ones that support thyroid hormone working properly (that's our own as well as replacement hormone).
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