Please help.

[LMor]

I've just had my results through. Please help me interpret......

[LMor]

I've not been diagnosed with anything nor am I on medication. Doctors refused to test when my tsh level was 4.96. So I had it done privately.....

[Nanaedake in reply to LMor]

Your antibodies result shows you have Hashimotos thyroiditis also known as autoimmune thyroid disease. You need Levothyroxine to lower your high Tsh and bring FT4 into range and increase FT3.

Take your results to GP and request Levothyroxine, starting dose 25mcg or 50mcg depending on age and health. Then test 6 weeks later and increase dose until you reach Tsh 0.1 or thereabouts. You need to have vitamin D, ferritin, folate and B12 tested as we can be deficient and thyroid meds need vitamins to be at least half way in range to work well and top of range for B12.

You can read more about Hashimotos on Thyroid UK website.

[LMor in reply to Nanaedake]

Thank you. Is Hashimotos serious? I will read up about it :-(. I didn't expect my results to come back anything but normal. Doctors have mad me feel like I'm putting it on.

[greygoose in reply to LMor]

What was the range when your TSH was 4.96? When was that done?

This test says that you are very much hypo and have Autoimmune Thyroiditis - aka Hashi's - so you should be treated. Best to show these results to your doctor.

[LMor in reply to greygoose]

That was done around four months ago. Doctors refused to test anything else. My last doctors test (3weeks ago) my tsh was 3.86. This was done at 4pm and I understand it's at it's lowest the later in the day. After speaking to people on here I decided to do a private one as I feel so ill all the time and I had the results today. The test was done at 8am and before food.

[greygoose in reply to LMor]

OK, so you see the difference it makes! Yes, it would be at its lowest at 4 pm, but doctors don't seem to know this.

Show your doctors these results, and they might want to redo them, themselves. Then you can have a really early test, and fast over-night. Because TSH drops after eating, too!

[Nanaedake]

Lots of people have Hashimotos. It's the most common reason for hypothyroidism. It's not curable as such but it's treatable. Treatment is for the hypothyroidism that develops so taking Levothyroxine.

Many people find going gluten free helps. Treating vitamin deficiencies as people find they often have gut problems, low stomach acid as a result of being hypothyroid and don't absorb vitamins from food properly.

There's lots you can do to help yourself. Docs don't know much about it so you need to learn from the people here.

[LMor in reply to Nanaedake]

I've been gluten free for four months now due to my stomach being all over the place. This test was done by medi checks (recommended by thyroid uk). It is a reliable test isn't it? I will go to my doctors tomorrow and see what they say. If they refuse to take me seriously then I will have to change GPs

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Ask that they also test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 - either now if they insist on repeating thyroid tests (if they don't trust private tests)

Or get these checked when you get retested 6-8 weeks after starting Levothyroxine

Very common for these vitamins to be low.

Hashimoto's affects the gut

See The Thyroid Pharmacist website for masses of info

Also Chris Kresser, Amy Myers

[LMor in reply to SlowDragon]

My gut is terrible. I went gluten free around 4/5 months ago and this has helped a lot with the acid reflux. I am really hoping the doctors take my results seriously. They haven't diagnosed me and wouldn't which is why I did a private test. So I'm not on any medication etc. I will go today and show them and see if they will finally believe me.