Help or advice

[shadow21]

Hi i am new to all this just been diagnosed with hypothyroidism i have never been in so much pain i have joint pain all over my muscles in my legs go into spasms and seem to lock have pins and needles in my hands neck pain sleep is crap i am going to post my results and any advice is greatly appreciated my doctor thinks its to do with my immune system not sure how to read the blood result but will try

Serum levels Tsh usual 8.9 mul 0.3-4

Serum cortisol (Kd) 494

Total white cell count 6.3 usual 10.9/L 4.00- 11.0010*9/L

Haemoglobin estimation 119 g/l 115-165.00g/l

Red blood cells count 3.53 10*12/L

Mean corpuscular volume (mvc) 105

Meancorpus. Haemoglobin 33.7 pg

Rheumatoid factor <20.

Serum ferritin (Kd) 179

Serum LH levels (kd) 42.9

Follicular 2-12

Mid cycle 8-89 luteal 1-14

Post menopausal 5-62

Serum calcium 2.26

Calcium adjusted level 2.27

Serum total protein 70

Serum albumin 37

Serum globulin 33

Serum inorganic phosphate 0.89

serum alkaline phosphates 78

Serum c reactive protein level 7

Any advice would be great fed up feeling like this i am so depressed xx

[shaws Administrator]

Welcome to our forum,

I am sorry you are suffering (pain/stiffness is common when first diagnosed) and hope the doctor is capable of treating you. Has he given you levothyroxine and what dose? You should take this first thing with one full glass of water and wait about an hour before eating. Food interferes with the uptake of the hormones.

It is an autoimmune condition meaning our body has a failing thyroid gland which doesn't produce sufficient hormones. So doctor prescribes levothyroxine and he should have started you on 50mcg with a blood test and increase every six weeks of 25mcg levo until you are symptom-free.

Also ask him to check B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate as deficiencies (which are common) can also cause unpleasant symptoms.

Always get a print-out of your results with the ranges as these are important.

Blood tests have to be at the very earliest possible, fasting (you can drink water) and allow a gap of 24 hours between last dose and test and take afterwards. This helps keep the TSH at its highest as doctors seem to only look at this result and the procedure helps to stop him adjusting the dose.

[shadow21 in reply to shaws]

Hi yes i am on levo at present 100 mg gotta go back in October for more bloods will post them on i have been reading the posts and cannot believe all my symptoms are classic hypo symptoms this site is great

[shaws Administrator in reply to shadow21]

I believe doctors know no clinical symptoms, nor treat or diagnose by them as they used to do before levo and blood tests were invented.

All they diagnose by is by the TSH alone and the worst is when the patient's TSH reaches somewhere in range (even the top) and quite a few GPs stop increasing dose.

They appear not to understand that we need a TSH of 1 or even lower and some need it suppressed. Even worse is that the UK states TSH has to reach 10 before being diagnosed but in other countries when the TSH reaches 3+ levothyroxine is prescribed.

[greygoose]

If your doctor thinks you have autoimmune thyroiditis - aka Hashi's - why doesn't he do the antibody test? There's no sign of it in that list of results. I presume your doctor has given you levo - how much? If it's 25 mcg, that's not enough - unless you're very old or have a heart condition. You really need 50 mcg to start with, then go back for retesting in six weeks.

However, a lot of your symptoms could be due to low nutrients. Hypos often have nutritional deficiencies, no matter how good their diet, due to low stomach acid. Ask your doctor to test for vit D, vit B12, folate and ferritin.

In the meantime, you can try taking magnesium citrate for the cramps. You can take up to 400 mg, but start low and work up to that dose, because magnesium can affect your bowels.

Your TSH is much to high, at the moment, it needs to come down to one or under, but that will take time. You can't hurry hormonal treatment. I've just noticed that your ferritin has been tested, but you haven't put a range. Results are meaningless without ranges, I'm afraid.

Did your doctor tell you how to take your levo? Just in case he didn't... It should be taken on an empty stomach, with a large glass of water, one hour before eating or drinking anything other than water; two hours before other medication or supplements; four hours before iron, calcium, vit D or estrogen; six hours before magnesium.

[shadow21 in reply to greygoose]

Hi yes i am currently taking 100 levo still feel like crap will try the magnesium see if that helps gotta go back in October will post new bloods then thanks for advice