Help Please to Work Out Test Results

[Tilly4547]

Hi I posted a couple of weeks ago regarding a slightly raised TSH. Have since been to the doctors and been given a low dose trial of levothyroxine. Is there anything else I should be considering/flagging up as an issue based on these results?

[Saggyuk]

Hi Tilly

Your ferritin is a little too high. Just to rule out the obvious, are you taking iron replacement or eating too much liver lol. If so, you should stop. Sometimes your body will remove iron from your blood and store it on purpose (ferritin is iron storage) in situations such as infections or inflammation and I suppose thyroid issues ight not help - have you had a virus lately or been on antibiotics or anything? A full blood count might be useful also.

Similarly, thyroids can also slow down when you have issues like these so your thyroid results can be temporary so I would retest them after a couple months to check if still raised and then start levo if they remain so.

Your results don't indicate autoimmune thyroid problem at this very moment (although doesn't rule it out) so could be temporary. Do you have any other issues, do you eat enough, do you have a healthy balanced diet, etc etc? Maybe have a quick check if you are getting enough iodine/selenium in your diet as thyroids need these to work properly also.

It may also be worth a quick check of blood glucose levels or cortisol as these can affect thyroid function too

[Tilly4547 in reply to Saggyuk]

Hi,

Thank you for your reply. I was on iron tablets as it was low but obviously am not anymore after this blood test!!

My main symptoms seem to be hair loss, difficulty staying asleep, tiredness and irregular periods. They all started last year three months after the birth and death of my second son. Initially thought it was due to the stress of that and post partum but symptoms have continued on. TSH was 3.3 when tested in October and has risen so trying a trial to see if it makes a difference or not.

[Saggyuk in reply to Tilly4547]

Well you may still be low on iron, a blood count would show this or not but even if you are, there's no point taking iron if your bodies just chucking it into storage as this can cause problems if goes to high.

There are a couple of things I can see you could look into further which can cause issues for your thyroid before taking the meds. Unfortunately docs aren't great at putting things together and you don't want to be taking them unnecessarily.

First is stress hormone - you can do a saliva cortisol test with medichecks. THis will show if this has anything to do with it as you can end up going round in a vicious circle as they all effect each other - high cortisol can cause thyroid difficulties and a tsh over 2 can cause high cortisol. Not eating enough can also cause both higher cortisol and thyroid issues and there are other simple things you can do to bring down cortisol levels more naturally that are easily googled. High cortisol can cause you sleep problems and hair loss issues

The second is B12, some people and some countried class deficiency under 500. However, did you have gas and air during birth? As Nitrous oxide can make all your B12 in your system become inactive which possibly wont show up on the typical B12 tests as these tests just show up how much B12 is in your system and takes no account of whether it's still active or not. Supplementing B12 is not dangerous anyway (unlike iron) as it is a water soluble and therefore your body pees out anything it doesn't need so it's hard to overdose so maybe 3000-5000mcg methylcobalamin for a couple of months while to see if improves things. THyroids require B12 to work properly and low B12 will make you feel awful and is dangerous. Low B12 can also make ferritin high and cause hairloss so does fit.

I'm not suggesting to not take the thyroid pills and bear in mind I'm not medically trained but I'd be tempted to check these both out first as it might be difficult to come back off them later. I wouldn't suggest this either if you had antibodies as this would mean you definitely need them but you aren't at the moment so possibly worth looking into other reasons why - which docs rarely do lol.

I am very sorry to hear about the death of your son but hope you get to the bottom of it and feel better soon

[Tilly4547]

Thank you. I did have gas and air so will look to take some B12 supplements. I've already started the levothryoxine a couple of weeks ago as am desperate to get to the bottom of what's causing the shedding. Been nearly a year now and it's not slowing down but is continually coming back in which is a bonus I suppose! Willing to give anything a go at the moment.