Thyroid disease?

[Bek87]

Hi

Have been told I have high thyroid antibodies, list of symptoms are

Goitre

Dry skin

Sighing a lot

Low concentration

Heavy feeling eyelids

Cramps

Fatigue

Pain in joints and under nails

Losing head hair

Heavy periods

Taking 75mcg thyroxine, diagnosed 5 years ago. Do I need increase?

TSH 4.10 range 0.2 - 4.2

Free T4 14.1 range 12 - 22

Free T3 3.3 range 3.1 - 6.8

Thyroid peroxidase antibody 275 range <34

Thyroglobulin antibody 255.3 range <115

Thanks

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Bek87 Yes, you need an increase in Levo. Your TSH is far too high and your free Ts far too low for a treated hypo patient - the aim generally is for TSH to be 1 or below or wherever it needs to be for FT4 and FT3 to be in the upper part of their respective reference ranges when on Levo.

Your high antibodies mean that you are positive for autoimmune thyroid disease aka Hashimoto's which is where antibodies attack the thyroid and gradually destroy it. The antibody attacks cause fluctuations in symptoms and test results and you can swing from hypo to hyper and back to hypo again. These swings are temporary and you might need to adjust your dose at these times.

You can help reduce the antibodies by adopting a strict gluten free diet which has helped many members here. Gluten contains gliadin (a protein) which is thought to trigger autoimmune attacks so eliminating gluten can help reduce these attacks. You don't need to be gluten sensitive or have Coeliac disease for a gluten free diet to help.

Supplementing with selenium l-selenomethionine 200mcg daily can also help reduce the antibodies, as can keeping TSH suppressed.

Gluten/thyroid connection: chriskresser.com/the-gluten...

stopthethyroidmadness.com/h...

stopthethyroidmadness.com/h...

hypothyroidmom.com/hashimot...

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

Hashi's tends to go hand in hand with gut/absorption problems and most hypo/Hashi's patients have low nutrient levels. Have you had the following tested, if so please post results with reference ranges and say if you are supplementing, if not ask for them to be done:

Vit D

B12

Folate

Ferritin

[Hillman51]

Hi,just reading your symptoms, I get the heavy eyelids too, I wonder why ? 🙁