- she has all the classic symptoms of hypothyroid;
- she is not on any hypothyroid medication;
- TSH levels a week ago by NHS test were 2.53 therefore the GP sent her away saying nothing - therefore she went and got tested at Medichecks - TSH jumped to 4.5!!! How is this possible? She got tested at the same time of day...
- before we go to a private doctor and spend hundreds of pounds please comment below if it is worth going to one. Thanks!
If your wife's TSH remains over range her NHS GP should treat her. If her TSH drops back <3.0 I doubt you will find a private doctor willing to treat until TSH is >3.0. It might be better to wait 3 months and retest before deciding to go private.
Free thyroxine (FT4) isn't unduly low for someone not taking Levothyroxine. Free T3 is good but that is likely to be due to high TSH flogging conversion.
Thyroid antibodies are negative for autoimmune thyroiditis (Hashimoto's).
Active B12 >35 is unlikely to be deficient.
Folate is good.
Ferritin is optimal halfway through range. Your wife could eat more iron rich food to raise ferritin or supplement iron with 1,000mg vitamin C to aid absorption and minimise constipation.
CRP is an inflammation marker. 2.5 doesn't indicate much inflammation.
What was her vitD result and how much has her doctor prescribed?
Doc didnt diclose her vitamin D levels only that she was deficient. She will talk to the NHS doc when she visits them again.
The NHS GP clinic got results of THS 2.53 just last week and this week it went to THS 4.5 at the medichecks private; do you think the GP will be skeptical to treat her now?
She really needs treatment her lack of energy and insomnia and weight loss problems are severely debilitating...
I cannot believe how much THS jumped! How can this be explained? She had her NHS test at 9am and empty stomach and her Medichecks test 8am empty stomach...
TSH fluctuates according to circadian rhythms so it can fluctuate that much in a day but as your wife tested at the same time of day I don't really know why. healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...
TSH can be elevated due to non-thyroidal illness like a virus or infection which is why I suggested she retest in 2-3 months.
I don't know what your GPs attitude is to private tests, many won't take notice of them, but certainly show them to GP. NHS Lab is likely to decline any request to retest within a month of the last test.
By the way Clutter, after some research it may have been due to our change in diet that made such a dramatic increase in the THS levels (or at least contribute to it) as we were on a very low carb diet before my wifes first test and a very high carb diet for the second test.
We have been informed of the benefits of taking iodine for thyroid health. Can you advise this would assist my wife?
Also she's going to the NHS GP on Friday with private test results showing above change in TSH hopefully they will listen.
Barring a good response from the NHS GP we are considering seeing a private Dr in North London from the list next Tuesday. Do you think above test results with extremely close symptoms of hypothyroidism will prompt private doctor to diagnose and prescribe some treatment or will they just say" test again in a few months to confirm"? We have to be careful because cost of visiting doc is hundred of pounds so we need to be sure it's worth going with tests we have received. Thanks so much really appreciate your advice!
I am very against supplementing iodine unless iodine deficiency has been confirmed.
Iodine used to be given to hyperthyroid patients to reduce FT4 and FT3 and raise TSH so I don't think it is likely to be helpful for someone borderline hypothyroid.
Natural Calm Vitality Magnesium powder is easy to use, cheap and widely available. Start on low dose and build up - can cause diarrhoea if take too much too quick
We just got a daily 25mg supplement from Boots pharmacy for vitamin D. She will just ask for that result when she goes in again and I assume then they will do some sort of loading dose but in any event I will post here again for commentary.
Even if you look at vitamin D deficiency symptoms they dont fully match what she has. Her symptoms exactly match hypothyroidism so I'm sure she has that.
Any experience/knowledge of how NHS GPs will take private test results? She got 4.5 THS on private (taken at 8am empty stomach) and 2.53 THS at NHS GP (9am empty stomach) test a week earlier.
Obviously they sent her away on the 2.53 results but the 4.5 they cannot ignore?
They are likely to ignore as antibodies are low so no Hashimoto's
Then often want TSH above 10 before starting treatment
Low vitamin D will be preventing thyroid hormones working
As her vitamin D level improves TSH might rise
Forgot to say - if taking any supplements with biotin in (B complex) then must remember to stop taking 3-4,days before any further tests as biotin can falsely affect test results
Where can you get a scan of thyroid and how much does it cost?
So my wife is going to NHS GP on Friday with private test results hopefully they will listen to her utter pain with hypothyroidism symptoms but if they don't we will go private.
We are looking st a private doctor in London. Do you think with above results and extremely typical close symptoms to hypothyroidism will prompt them to diagnose and prescribe treatment or will they just say "test again in a few months to confirm results"?
I ask because the consultation will be hundreds of pounds so we need to be sure it is actually worth it before going. Thanks so much for your advice!
It looks unlikely that a dr would consider Thyroid is the problem with these results and low antibodies.
Weight loss - has she been fully tested for coeliac? Blood test is very unreliable, needs to be endoscopy after 6 week high gluten diet (called gluten challenge)
Alternatively a functional doctor or nutritionist could run lots of tests - Cyrex tests for food sensitivities and stool tests for gut infections like SIBO candida, etc
Not cheap, but I don't think you are going to get much further with NHS - possibly a gastroenterologist. NHS does not offer Cyrex tests
Info about Cyrex tests from well known nutritionist website
It doesnt seem like she has SIBO because she is TOTALLY UNABLE to lose weight no matter how hard she tries and this is after she has put on 30kg or so so its really bad now.
But Candida could be something as her gut and her constipation are bad and other symptoms seem to match. Either way we are getting desperate as she sleeps/lies in bed all day and gets serious insomnia and she is exhausted, anxious, panicky and depressed all the time with other weird things like high cholesterol, irregular menstruation cycles, constipation, diarhea.
Vitamin D is low (56.5) and we are treating with vit D and magnesium and also getting iron back up to optimal level but these can't alone explain these symptoms. There is clearly something SERIOUSLY wrong with her and we need answers.
She doesn't need a loading dose of vitD but she needs more than 25mg which is only 1,000iu. I recommend 5 x 25mg for 6 weeks then reduce to 2 or 3 x 25mg daily and retest in April.
Ditch them and buy a decent softgel that contains oil to help absorption, like these - just two ingredients and no unnessary rubbish bodykind.com/productsearch/...
My suggestion would be to start on something like 4000iu daily, even 5000iu, until she reaches the recommended amount, then she'll need a sensible maintenance dose which may be 2000iu daily, it's trial and error so it's recommended to retest once or twice a year to keep within the recommended range. You can do this with a private fingerprick blood spot test with City Assays vitamindtest.org.uk/
There are important cofactors needed when taking D3
D3 aids absorption of calcium from food and K2-MK7 directs the calcium to bones and teeth where it is needed and away from arteries and soft tissues where it can be deposited and cause problems.
D3 and K2 are fat soluble so should be taken with the fattiest meal of the day, D3 four hours away from thyroid meds.
Magnesium comes in different forms, check to see which would suit you best and as it's calming it's best taken in the evening, four hours away from thyroid meds
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