Hi all! Just wondering if anyone can give me some advice/information on this. Basically I went to the docs about 6 weeks ago complaining of fatigue,no energy,aches and pains,constantly hot,legs feeling weak and occasionally giving way (which was scary when holding my daughter). I was originally convinced it was an iron deficiency. I had some blood tests done and have been told my results are fine and that no further action is being taken. Results for thyroid are as follows:
Serum free T4: 12.5pmol/L (range 7-17pmol/L
Serum TSH: 0.98mu/L (range 0.40-4.5mu/L
I have booked an appointment for the 6th September with the doctor who sent me for the blood tests as I went to see a different doctor who told me my results were fine even though I have all these symptoms. I feel so ill. I am having to have a nap everyday around 1pm otherwise I'm asleep by 5pm. Not ideal when I have 2 young children. Luckily my partner has been amazing and so helpful. May I note that my partner actually believes I may have hypothyroidism because he has that and when I have described how I feel he says it matches perfectly with how he felt before diagnosis. Sorry for the essay just trying to include as much information as I can
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Cherie1993
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You need to have TPO and TgAb tested to rule out thyroid antibodies. Then I would also get ferritin, folate, B12 and vit D tested to rule out deficiencies which could be the cause of your symptoms. TSH 0.98 is within the normal range for someone who has no thyroid disease. If you have thyroid antibodies your TSH result may fluctuate.
I did have my B12 checked which was 254 ng/L (range 145-910ng/L)
I was checked for a load of different things. The only other thing that came back on the low side was HDL cholesterol level which was 1.19mmol/L (range >1.20mmol/L) but was told this was down to my diet. I've since eaten healthier and been taking multivitamins with iron which seems to have done nothing at all. Will have to ask the doc about having more tests done as you have suggested
I agree with previous posts about further tests for your thyroid. That being said, you may be looking in the wrong direction. Your B12 of 254ng/L is way too low and a B12 deficiency can cause all of your symptoms. Why not check out "Pernicious Anaemia Society" community posts ?
Yes. TSH is highest early in the morning - at least before 9 o'clock - and drops throughout the day. It also drops after eating. So, to get the highest TSH - which is all doctors really look at, you need an early morning test, having fasted over-night. But drink plenty of water.
I wonder if that could have affected my previous results as I had eaten before since nobody told me not to 😑 I'm going to ask for the thyroid antibody tests too so I can rule out as much as possible
The NHS only test one of the two thyroid antibodies. My NHS antibody test came back, doc said you don't have Hashimotos, then I did a private test and the one NHS don't test came back as positive. I really would recommend doing a complete thyroid test privately from Medichecks or Blue Horizon
Hats off to any country that dont have an NHS! £49 just for the basic test 😦 I would much rather get it done privately though so will see about putting money aside
Choose carefully which test you order privately I went for a fairly basic one due to cost but did not get enough information and ended up ordering another to see antibodies and nutrient values which are important. I know they are expensive but consider what information you need. The private cost is nothing like the cost to the NHS which is far cheaper.
There are different guidelines on testing depending on your CCG. If you can get onto your local CCG website you may be able to find out what they will do. Kent and Coastal CCG refuse to do anything but T4 and TSH. No antibody, no T3 rT3 and absolutely no Vitamin D. The NHS is a postcode lottery there are no national guidelines
Suppose I can only try. I will mention the support I have had on here and the suggestions. He seems like a decent doc so I don't see any issue with him arranging for antibody tests. That's the first step. If that comes back clear I will have to have my T3 levels checked. I really am stumped if these come back clear. There's no other explanation for my symptoms
Have you had vitamin D checked? Also, I would get the results for your iron. NHS will say fine if you're one tiny bit above deficient because they don't have to give you supplements unless below range but you could be so low in range it could be making you feel ill so get the results and check them out. Generally people need ferritin to be halfway in range.
Cherie1993 i have exactly the same symptoms as you except I am cold most the time. After loosing my grandad last year my body just went crazy my b12 was low and looking at yours it seems quite low (even though in range) but that range does seem low I thought lowest was around 190 I also had low bit d and folate of definitely get them all checked. I also had private bloods (which was only reason I found low bit d) but on that test was thyroid antibody test and my results weren't positive but also not negative they were on a null area and my GP won't believe the result anyway he says it's a pointless test as all my other results were in range. Now I'm being told it's stress and anxiety and have even antidepressants, which I'm to afraid to take and he also mentioned possibly coming off the pill as I've been on it 7 years and it could be affecting me. So I'd definitely get your vitamins checked and you can take b12 supplements if gp won't do anything about it.
If I have been taking multivitamins how long would it take for them to bring my levels to a healthy number? I've been taking them for 6 weeks but haven't taken them for a few days since I'm not seeing any improvement in my symptoms. It's frustrating that we get fobbed off and other things in our lives are being blamed. The second doctor I saw to discuss my results was trying to blame my symptoms on having a newborn (she's now 4 and half month old),even though she has never had a child herself. I'm pretty sure I know my own body and this isn't normal for me. When I had my first child I was actually really unwell after,had to stay in hospital with an infection and had low iron and this how I feel now is actually harder to cope with. Especially the fatigue. So glad I'm on maternity leave at the moment 😞 I'm just hoping I can get another load of blood tests to rule out anything else. Will keep you guys posted
Cherie1993 I'm not sure to be honest I got given 6 b12 injections and that was it nothing said about it after that. I would just keep taking the supplements as they can take a while to work and don't always get completely absorbed. The doc said my drop in b12 was just a natural drop yet I'd not changed my diet or anything and I'd been tested for anemia and celiac and both clear so I don't know why it wasn't being absorbed into my system so I started talking probiotics to see if they would help my gut to then maybe help absorb the vitamins better. It's a funny thing stress you don't think you are stressed but you probably are. Especially with feeling so crap then not getting any answers it's a vicious circle and just causes more stress, not helping symptoms :/
Yes definitely get those bloods done and people here are lovely and will help you
To be honest I don't think doctors really know much about the thyroid. I understand they have a million things to remember but there's so many people undiagnosed. My partner only found out about his underactive thyroid after 3 blood tests and booking several appointments to get somebody to listen. He too suffered with the fatigue and a couple of other symptoms so it was obvious something wasn't quite right. I'd never even heard of a thyroid until his diagnosis 😰 I definitely do think stress is a powerful thing and can wreck havoc on our bodies. I'm actually hoping it's just a deficiency I have rather than a thyroid problem. The thought of medication for life scares me ☹️ In reply to your message button,I thought a drop or rise in any of your results would warrant further tests? Bit odd that they brushed it to one side. Oy mentioned you starting taking probiotics... did they help you to absorb the vitamins? You didn't say
Cherie1993 I know I had several further bloods after the injections and first one had risen then it dropped again then I got put on folic acid and it had rose again but only by a little then I've not had any tests since and it's been a couple of months since I took the folic acid. I'm not sure about the probiotics to be honest I think they have helped but I'm not sure as with having the folic acid tablets I don't know what is helping my body and what isn't as I don't know the problem lol but my b12 hasn't sank back to below limit yet well as far as I know
You need to get blood tests for vitamin levels and then you'll know what and how much to supplement. Multivitamin won't harm you but won't help if you're deficient. Most have the cheapest, least easily absorbed forms of vitamins and are a waste of money. If you're getting B12 checked you need to be off supplements for a few months to get an accurate reading. Also vitamins may contain biotin which can skew thyroid test results. Make sure you don't take for a couple of days before test.
Ahh I'm glad somebody knows what they are talking about. I'm useless, I have to google everything 😂 they already checked my b12 so I doubt they will do another test for those. They checked my haemoglobin etc I'm assuming that's iron levels?
According to my GP I'm not. My haemotocrit level came back as 0.362 (range is 0.36-0.48) not sure if this means anything as everything else seems within range. I was told not drinking enough water would be the reason for the low level
Hi , I was exactly the same . Dropping my daughter to school & going back to bed for up to two hrs then ready for bed at 6pm ... had a thyroid test , test was high so they wanted to do it again . Next test was normal . Went to see doc as still feeling so tired , hair loss , not eating as wasn't hungry , dry skin & cold . She said no need to repeat test again but insisted , as my mum & brother both have under active thyroid . So she agreed & this came back higher . Saw a diff doc , he put me straight on 100 mg levothyriod & omg I couldn't sleep ! Went back lowered to 50 mg , only been a month , but now I'm napping again , I'm tearful & moody ,it's awful . I have blood tests in the morning to check levels as it's been 6 weeks since diagnosis. Apparently it can take up to a year to get you on the right dose . This makes me cry , I feel awful 😢
That's awful I'm so sorry you are having such a hard time. I know it took my partner over a year from diagnosis to feel normal. He actually went to have an operation the other day and at the pre op they wanted to check his thyroid levels. Turns out he's taking too much but they apparently can't reduce his dose because he then wouldn't be taking enough. Poor thing is suffering with a load of symptoms again hopefully you find the right dose soon collie22,I know it can take a while but just think of how much better you will feel in the end. Hang in there!
I'm only on 50mg levothyrioxin they did put me on a 100 mg , but this sent me over active ( was awful ) but I'm still very tired . This was all picked up also at my pre op assessment when they did lots of blood test s . They also told me my heart rate was rapid . I've got lots of stomach probs too . Just don't know why I'm suddenly getting all these things wrong me ??
I saw the doc on Wednesday and he doesnt think these symptoms are anything to do with my thyroid. He's given me a sheet to have my antibodies checked but only one of them so I'm going to go to the drop in clinic to have my bloods done today. I'm starting to doubt it myself now I just have no idea what is wrong with me it's frustrating. No doubt the results will come back negative but I'll will post them when I get them
A few people have commented that your Vitamin B12 level is low. I would agree with them. And low B12 has many symptoms that are the same or similar to those found in hypothyroidism.
Check the list of signs and symptoms of B12 deficiency here :
Note that the body needs adequate levels of folate in order to make full use of vitamin B12, so if your folate level is low that will make B12 deficiency worse.
I would suggest reading the reply by SeasideSusie in this thread :
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I'm so sorry you are having such a hard time. I know it took my partner over a year from diagnosis to feel normal. He actually went to have an operation the other day and at the pre op they wanted to check his thyroid levels. Turns out he's taking too much but they apparently can't reduce his dose because he then wouldn't be taking enough. Poor thing is suffering with a load of symptoms again 
Awaiting thyroid scan for nodules etc...
Starting trial of levothyroxine 
Alarming Thyroid Test Results :(
