Daughter 's TSH level

[Milpol]

My daughter recently had a blood test and it came back she was iron deficient. She has been taking iron tablets for about 6 months now.

On her results from the lab, it said her TSH level was 1.82. I was diagnosed with an under active thyroid last year and my mother had the same problem. I know 1.82 is well within ' the range ' but she has many symptoms of hypothyroidism .

Does anyone think we should investigate further as obviously I want to help her as she is struggling to cope with family and full time working and symptoms of extreme tiredness, brain fog, hair loss, increased weight.....

Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

[Milpol]

I meant to say she is on Lansoprol ( ?) for severe acid reflux and suffers from palpitations too .

Thanks.

[humanbean in reply to Milpol]

With a TSH of 1.82 it is unlikely, but not impossible, that your daughter is suffering from primary hypothyroidism (at the moment).

If she has thyroid antibodies (and therefore has autoimmune hypothyroidism aka Hashimoto's Thyroiditis) her test might have been done in the period of time between being hypo and hyper. People with autoimmune hypothyroidism swing from being hypothyroid to being hyperthyroid and back again at irregular intervals.

It is possible she might be suffering from central hypothyroidism but you would need to know her Free T4 and her Free T3 before such a thing could be considered.

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If your daughter is or was iron deficient and is taking Lansoprazole it is unlikely she is absorbing her iron supplements very well. You would have to get copies of her latest iron panel, full blood count, ferritin level results to see if her iron status is improving.

What iron supplements is she taking, and what dose?

Palpitations and fast heart rate can be caused by iron deficiency.

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Severe acid reflux can be caused by all sorts of things, and some of the causes can be cured, or managed with better methods than with Lansoprazole. Does your daughter know what causes her acid reflux? Hiatus hernia? Coeliac disease? Gluten intolerance or other food problem? SIBO? Does she have any other gut-related issues?

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Lansoprazole will be reducing your daughter's absorption of all sorts of nutrients, not just iron. Her vitamin B12 , vitamin D, and folate are likely to be low along with many other nutrients. Having lots of low nutrient levels can cause similar symptoms to hypothyroidism.

[Milpol in reply to humanbean]

Thanks so much Humanbean, there's a lot in your response to consider. I will discuss all this with her, but think the next steps must be more blood tests to check everything out.

Many thanks for such a comprehensive reply. Thanks to you all for the great work you do for the Thyroid UK site.