Hi I am a new member here on behalf of girlfriend of 14 years. Her under active thyroid symptoms seem to be having a huge impact on her life and I am very worried about her. She is 30, I am 40.
Her family don't seem to care about how her illness has affected her and she moved out of the family home because she felt too poorly to do things around the house. She feels very alone with her illness and I really want to help her by asking for advice on this forum. She was diagnosed 2013. Thanks.
Hello, I myself have under active thyroids and have done since the age of 5 I'm now 24 in recent years I would either forget my medication or just refuse to take it and when I didn't take it I would feel extremely tired all the time somewhat moody and under my chin would get bigger making my face look fatter, but since I saw what it was doing to me I now never miss a day the most you can do is be supportive of her, do you help out with her meds? my parter likes to help out with my tablets (250mg) has she had bloods taken recently? And you say she feels very alone have you asked her why and if you can try spending some time with her even just little walks if you have a dog or go for little days out and yes thyroid problems do bring this on I also suffer with depression and I was diagnosed with that in 2012 I'd suggest having a talk to her doctor and seeing if maybe it's more then thyroid related it could be when she's left home it could be playing a big part in it all
Hi no she takes meds herself. I will post thyroid results now. We don't have a dog, she doesn't really like going out because she gets cold easily.
Hi Amiga77, how nice that your girlfriend has such a supportive BF 
The first thing to do is post her latest thyroid test results. If she doesn't have them then if you are in the UK she is legally entitled to them under the Data Protection Act so she should ask her surgery for a print out and make sure that the reference ranges are included for all tests.
Ideally the following are need, but won't necessarily have been done
TSH
FT4
FT3 - rarely done by the NHS unless the other two are out of range
Thyroid Antibodies - there are two types TPO and TG, the NHS rarely does TPO and almost never does TG
Also very useful are
Vit D
B12
Folate
Ferritin
If she can't get them all done, there are home fingerprick tests that many of us use which covers all these tests, Blue Horizon or Medichecks do them thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...
Once you post the results (include the ranges) members can help.
Thanks for reply, I will post latest results now.
It is really very kind of you to be supportive to your girlfriend. Not many people understand what it is like to have hypothyroidism if levothyroixine isn't making you feel better.
You would expect doctors to be more helpful but it is a case of many patients 'doing it ourself' as we do on this forum.
SeasideSusie has given her usual brilliant advice and as soon as your girlfriend is able to do them the better.
If she is taking levothyroxine at present it should be taken on an empty stomach, usually when she awakes with one full glass of water and wait about an hour before eating as food can interfere with the uptake of the hormones. Some prefer taking levo at bedtime, in that case before a blood test this night dose should be missed and taken after test and night dose as usual.
When she is having a blood test she should allow a gap of 24 hours between her last dose of levothyroxine (hormone) and the test and take it afterwards. The blood test should be the earliest possible and fasting (she can drink water) This helps give an accurate result.
Hi yes she is taking levothyroxine and T3 and she takes it on an empty stomach when she gets up. She always leaves a gap of 24 hours between levothyroxine dose and blood draw and 12 hours between T3 dose and blood draw and early morning and she fasts.
That's good as many members are not told this by their doctors. Some say it doesn't matter but it does if we want the best result which is in our favour.
What dose of each does she take, i.e. levothyroxine and T3? Does she take the combined dose once daily?
She takes 200mcg levothyroxine and 10mcg T3 and she takes them both in the morning on waking.
That's good. I have read some research which suggests the combination is best if it at 3:1 (T4:T3) and I'll give you a link. Maybe her T3 isn't high enough which may mean lowering T4.
tpauk.com/images/docs/reduc...
Go to page 80 to read the top left-hand para.
TSH 4.8 mIU/L (0.2 - 4.2)
Free T4 13.3 pmol/L (12 - 22)
Free T3 4.1 pmol/L (3.1 - 6.8)
Thyroid peroxidase antibodies 503.5 IU/mL (<34)
Thyroglobulin antibodies 277.3 IU/mL (<115)
I have asked her if she could join the forum.
I am not medically qualified but it seems as if your girlfriend is not converting 200mcg levo effectively into T3 and should be on T3 only.
Her TSH is far too high - should be 1 or lower.
FT4 near bottom of range - they should be towards the top.
FT3 near bottom of range.- they should be towards the top.
Your girlfriend has an Autoimmune Thyroid Disease called Hashimoto's and it is the commonest form of hypothyyroidism. The antibodies attack the gland and sometimes there's too many and at other times less. Going -free can help reduce antibodies.
Here on behalf of my sister
New here support for my girlfriend needed
Girlfriend's thyroid results
