It’s a maze??

[Angieclark69]

I have been under active almost 20 years. Now menopausal & I have no control with what my body is doing. Went to GP who ONLY rested my TSH(is this normal). I am suffering horrendously from sweats, cannot sleep, chronic depression, weight gain, brain fog. It has never been mentioned to take T3 with my Levothyroxine. Could this possibly make me feel human again? My GP is just NOT interested. He keeps plying me with blood pressure tables for my sweats & anti depressants & HRT. None of which have helped. I’m feeling very low & desperate☹️

[fibrolinda]

More info would help. Have you got your TSH result? Have you thought about changing GP? You very rarely get ft3 tested on NHS but you can get private testing via Thyroid UK website if you can afford it? Best one is just under £100 and does TSH, ft3 Ft4 antibodies, Folate, Ferritin, b12 and vitamin d and will give a picture of what is going on... for a starter

[shaws Administrator]

Welcome to our forum Angieclark69

Today, is the day that can change your health and members will respond. You are now going to take things into your own hands because the medical profession are uneducated and unknowledgeable about anything to do with a dysfunction of the thyroid gland.

Once we are diagnosed, it seems to the medical profession that all that is needed is a TSH and T4 test (you are only getting TSH) which is no good to anyone to judge if your thyroid hormones are optimal.) That is, TSH, T4, T3, Free T4, Free T3 and antibodies. TSH means thyroid stimulating hormone and it is from the pituitary gland and rises when hypo. The aimis a TSH of 1.

The above FT4 and FT3 are rarely tested. You can make an appointment to see your GP and say you are a member of the NHS Choices for information/advice about dysfunctions of the thyroid gland and have been advised, because you are clearly symptomatic, that you need a Full Thyroid Function Test. He or lab may not agree but if you can afford it you can get it from one of our Recommended Labs. Pin prick home tests and you must be well hydrated for a couple of days before drawing blood.

If your doctor does some of the tests, you can get the others yourself. He should definitely test B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate. All have to be optimal and can also cause symptoms if deficient.

All tests have to be at the very earliest, fasting (you can drink water) and allow a gap of 24 hours from your last dose of levothyroxine and the test and take afterwards. This helps keep the TSH at its highest as that's all doctors look at.

Depression is most probably caused by you not having sufficient T3. T3 is required by the billions of receptor cells in our body, the brain and heart needs the most.

Always get a print-out from the surgery of your results with the ranges. Ranges are important for members to comment upon results.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

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 or Endo ever test these? If not ask that they are tested.

If antibodies are high this is Hashimoto's, (also known as autoimmune thyroid disease). About 90% of hypothyroidism in UK is due to Hashimoto's.

Hashimoto's very often affects the gut, leading to low stomach acid, low vitamin levels and leaky gut.

Low vitamins that affect thyroid are vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12. If they are too low they stop Thyroid hormones working. Have these been tested, if not ask that they are.

Always get actual results and ranges on all blood tests

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 and don't take Levo in the 24 hours prior to test, delay and take straight after. This gives highest TSH and most consistent results