I only have a couple of symptoms of hyperthyroidism

[AnneEvo]

I've been having my thyroid checked for about 12 months, having blood tests every 3 or 4 months. After the last one I got a call from my doctor's surgery saying I had to make an appointment to see the doctor; I don't know whether I have hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism. I'm reluctant to take medication so have been researching online. I know there's a lot of rubbish out there as well as useful information. I read that you need selenium and zinc for a healthy thyroid gland, so am currently taking supplements. I want to give it a few months before I see the doctor. The thing is I only have a few of the symptoms for hyperthyroidism - tiredness, feeling the cold and while I don't have diarrhoea my stools have become softer and I often pass stools twice a day whereas previously I'd only ever passed a stool/stools once a day. As for feeling the cold, I've been like that since I was at least in my 30s (that's the first time I remember noticing it) and I'm 71 now. I'm not tired all the time but recently I feel tired more than I used to. My short memory has deteriorated, I put that down to age but I've always had a poor memory. Does anybody else just have 2 or 3 symptoms but is on medication?

Anne

[greygoose]

Tiredness and feeling the cold are hypo symptoms - although, of course, you can be tired when you're hyper.

When you see the doctor, you want to find out if they've tested antibodies - and if so, which ones. But, get a print-out of the results and ranges, anyway. Then, you can post them on here.

[AnneEvo in reply to greygoose]

Thanks. I'd got mixed up with hypo and hyper as they both have tiredness under symptoms. And one has feeling cold while the other is sensitivity to heat - I can't stand the heat or the cold; I can't control my body temperature well. A doctor once said it's like having a faulty thermostat

I will post the results here once I've been to see the doctor.

[greygoose in reply to AnneEvo]

That's exactly what it's like!

Be careful of lists of symptoms, they ca be a little pedantic. It's not as simple as hypers are hot and hypos cold. A lot of symptoms cross over. And, whilst hypers don't tend to suffer with the cold, hypos can be both heat sensitive and cold sensitive or both at the same time.

Hyper is when your thyroid is over-active, and you have too much thyroid hormone.

Hypo is when your thyroid is under-active and you don't have enough thyroid hormone.

But we'll see which you are when you post your results.

[AnneEvo]

I've just picked up a copy of my results. I wanted to be armed with some information before I make an appointment to see the doctor. The information is very sparse, this is all I've got:

Serum free T4 level 11.8 pmol.L (11 - 26)

Serum TSH level 8.89 miu.L (0.27 - 4.2) Outside reference range.

I can see TSH level is high. Can anybody explain more fully and what pmol.L and miu.L mean?

[humanbean in reply to AnneEvo]

The pmol/L and miu/L are just units of measurement - like measuring length in inches or miles or metres. It is worth giving the units of measurement in posts because they aren't the same in every country.

What did your doctor say about your results? Have you been given a prescription for anything or been told to go back and see him/her?

Your TSH level shows that you are hypothyroid not hyperthyroid. In other words, your thyroid is not producing enough thyroid hormones for you to feel well.

This is confirmed by your very low in range Free T4. If you've been lucky enough to get Free T3 tested as well, it would probably have been low in range as well.

The usual practice is to make the patient wait 3 months then repeat the testing. If TSH is still well over the range then you should be given treatment. But many doctors are reluctant to treat hypothyroidism, and make people wait until TSH goes over 10 and Free T4 drops below the range.

[AnneEvo in reply to humanbean]

Thank you.

My doctor's practice have been monitoring my Thyroid for about 12 months. After the last test in May I had a call saying I needed to make an appointment to see a doctor - so it seems at my practice they are willing to medicate for hypothyroidism. As I'm reluctant to take medication, unless absolutely necessary of course, I've been trying to research the condition before making an appointment. I've come to the conclusion that medication is the only way. Though taking certain supplements such as selenium and zinc may help with overall health of the thyroid I've not found anything that can repair it, so I will be making an appointment.

[humanbean in reply to AnneEvo]

I think you should take the Levo if/when it is offered, so I'm glad you've decided medication is the only way. Low thyroid hormones affect many aspects of health, particularly the heart, the gut, and mental health.

One effect of hypothyroidism for many of us is low stomach acid. This causes symptoms of indigestion, heartburn and acid reflux. It also reduces your body's absorption of vitamins and minerals. Many of us test basic nutrients and then try to optimise them. We often put a lot of effort into trying to repair the ravages of hypothyroidism on the gut, as well. In my personal opinion it is worth the effort.

[AnneEvo in reply to humanbean]

Do you think I should ask my doctor if I can be tested for Thyroid antibodies? The reason I ask is that many years ago when I used to give blood I was told I had lots of antibodies in my blood and they put a specific label on it. At the time I thought it was good to have lots of antibodies but obviously if they include Thyroid antibodies it's not good. I realise it doesn't mean I will have but feel I should be tested for them.

[humanbean in reply to AnneEvo]

If your doctor will test thyroid antibodies and it comes back positive then your case for being treated for hypothyroidism with a TSH less than 10 is strengthened a lot. So yes, I think you should ask.

There are two kinds of antibodies which may exist in people with hypothyroidism. They are TPO antibodies and Tg antibodies. People can have both kinds of antibodies, one of them but not the other, or neither.

The NHS usually only tests for TPO antibodies, saying that Tg antibodies are much rarer than the TPO ones. However, there are quite a few people who have come on to this forum who have elevated TG antibodies but not TPO antibodies.

For more info :

labtestsonline.org.uk/under...