BadHare

Autoimmune thyroid disorders can cause swings from hyperthyroidism to hypothyroidism. You might want to consider eating a gluten free diet which seems to help a lot of people.

I'm not using my computer, so can't provide you with links I've posted previously, but Chris Kresser's website has a lot of useful ebooks & articles on thyroid health & autoimmune disorders.

Miralise in reply to BadHare

I'll have a look- thanks!

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SlowDragonAdministrator

Sounds more like Hashimoto's (hypo) autoimmune thyroid disease. You can get swings that appear to show blood is hyper, but you feel hypo

Plus low vitamin levels are very common. Also want to check vitamin D.

First thing is do you have any actual blood test results? If not you need to get hold of them. You are entitled under data protection laws.

You may be able to view test results online - ring and ask about this. If you can then apply for online access to your account. All GP practices are supposed to offer this, in reality very few have blood test results available online.

If not then ask for print out of recent tests. Pick up in a day or two. They may make a nominal charge for paper.

You need to know results for TSH, FT4 and FT3. Do you also have high thyroid antibodies? You need to know. Did GP test these? If not ask that they are tested.

Suggest you ask GP to test for thyroid antibodies for Hashimoto's and antibodies for Graves, if they have not been done

But if you are taking vitamin B complex, or any supplements containing biotin, remember to stop these 3-5 days before any blood tests, as biotin can falsely affect test results

If you didn't stop this might account for hyper result

endo.confex.com/endo/2016en...

endocrinenews.endocrine.org...

If you can't get full thyroid and vitamin testing from GP

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have money off offers.

All thyroid tests should be done as early as possible in morning and fasting

Miralise in reply to SlowDragon

I am slightly vit D deficient but not enough to be prescribed it, though I was last year (only just remembered this). I'm going to see the GP on Wednesday so I'll try to get more info then. My vitamins don't contain Biotin. Thanks for all the info!

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Cat4health

You said you are on a strong vitamin B compound - does it contain Biotin? This can cause a false positive for hyper I believe

Miralise in reply to Cat4health

I just checked and it doesn't contain Biotin. I am also slightly vit D deficient. Could this affect it? I'm going to see the GP on Wednesday so I'll try to get more info then...

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Cat4health in reply to Miralise

Low vitamin impacts immune system i believe but wouldn't give a false reading. I'm not a hypo expert, or any thyroid expert tbh, but I've heard lots of people talking about hyper flares during hypo. On the other hand I do know graves n some of your symptoms could be hyper related -tiredness and shaking. Plus as humanbean says it's a myth that all hyper people lose weight. I never did n i believe it can sometimes cause weight gain (n not from eating too much which is what doctors think) but just because different bodies react differently.

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SlowDragonAdministrator in reply to Miralise

Biotin is also listed as B7

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humanbean

GPs determine whether people are hypothyroid, "normal", or hyperthyroid based on the TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone).

Their deductions from the TSH are (putting it very crudely) :

TSH below reference range - patient is hyperthyroid and needs treatment to lower thyroid hormone levels

TSH within reference range - patient is euthyroid (also known as "normal")

TSH over reference range but less than 10 - patient is suffering from subclinical hypothyroidism and doesn't need treatment

TSH over 10 - patient is overtly hypothyroid and should be treated with Levothyroxine to raise thyroid hormone levels

The above "recipe" for how to treat the thyroid is simplistic and doesn't cover all situations.

You could have hypothyroid symptoms and a low TSH if the condition you really suffered from was actually secondary or tertiary hypothyroidism. Doctors don't consider this scenario very often. They've been told that it is very rare so they rarely think of testing for it.

In the two conditions I just mentioned (secondary and tertiary hypothyroidism) the problem is not with the thyroid gland. Instead, there is an issue with the amount of TSH the body can produce - it can't produce enough. If the body doesn't produce enough TSH then the thyroid hormone levels, Free T4 and Free T3 will be low and the patient suffers from hypothyroidism that way.

The treatment for hypothyroidism of any kind is prescribed hormones, usually in pill form, to replace the ones that the thyroid doesn't produce.

humanbean in reply to humanbean

I should add that there is a lot of crossover between hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism in terms of symptoms. If you believe stereotypes then people with hypothyroidism are all fat - they all gain weight, they don't lose it - and people with hyperthyroidism are all thin - they all lose weight, they don't gain it.

There is plenty of anecdotal evidence from patients to suggest that these stereotypes about weight loss or gain are not accurate.

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