Hi I am very new to all this. I am 27 and I have felt unwell for about 10 years. I have high thyroid antibodies. My doctor wants to speak to me about results on Monday and I am worried about them. Please advise thank you I am not yet diagnosed but had results given to me Friday
TSH 64.3 (0.2 - 4.2)
Free T4 10.7 (12 - 22)
TPO antibody 375 (<34)
How many times have you visited the doctor in the last 10 years and why has it taken so long to get a diagnosis? YOu are VERY hypothyroid and you have high thyroid antibodies which means you have autoimmune thyroid disease otherwise known as Hashimotos although doctors in the UK rarely use that term.
AS the post above says, you need all your vitamin levels testing as you're likely very deficient due to your delayed diagnosis.
Thyroid disease is very treatable and 1 in 20 people have a thyroid condiion in the UK according to the Thyroid Foundation website so it's very common and 90% of thyroid disease is caused by autoimmune thyroiditis. However, it sounds like your diagnosis has been very delayed and it will take a while until you feel well again. Unless you are very feeble, old, very young or have a heart condition, don't let the doctor start you on 25mcg of levo. You should be started on 50mcg Levothyroxine unless there is a good explanation not to.
Always take your levothyroxine on an empty stomach such as first thing in the morning with a full glass of water and don't eat or drink anything (except water) for an hour afterwards. Leave at least 4 hours until taking any other medication or supplements.
YOu should have blood tests every 6 weeks as stated above by Reallyfedup123 until your TSH blood result is around 1 or a little lower.
If your GP doesn't call you for a blood test then make an appointment yourself with the phlebotomy nurse or GP (or whoever takes bloods in your surgery). Keep a record of all your blood test results from now on. Get a print out of results or register online for results and keep a record in a diary of blood test, amount of meds and levothyroxine batch number and brand. That way if you have any problems you can trace back to help you work out what might be causing the problem.
Visited GP 3 times, I gave up after the 3rd attempt because they sent me back home with antidepressants despite suffering symptoms of hypothyroidism
They get financial incentives to diagnose depression
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, makes me so madddddd.
Do they really get financial incentives for diagnosing depression !!!!
Well, I'm afraid dishing out anti-D's seems to be the doctors fall back position. How ridiculous that they didn't do blood tests and check your thyroid levels, such a simple thing to do. It seems very, very irresponsible for a doctor to dish out antidepressants without doing a whole host of blood tests first. It makes me VERY cross.
Well, you have at least discovered that you have to keep going back to the doctors if you want somethiing sorted. They do not follow things through, it is up to you to keep presenting yourself to them and good for you for not taking the antidepressants! They won't correct thyroid imbalance. See if you can find a doctor in your practice who is a bit more useful.
Make sure from now on you keep a record of all blood test results and a diary of the amount of levothyroxine you're taking, the brand and each blood test etc. If you can, register online for blood test results. You can ask your GP receptionist for the information to set it up.
As already mentioned here you need your vitamin levels testing. Your doctor probably won't know that Hashimotos and hypothyroidism causes vitamin deficiencies because your doctor doesn't sound like he/she knows very much so you will have to take the initiative and ask for the tests to be done.
Your doctor might not use the term Hashimotos so don't be surprised if your doctor calls it autoimmune thyroid disease, He/she might think the antibodies are irrelevant. It isn't irrelevant though since Hashimotos causes gut dysfunction and many find they need to go gluten free to get better.
Hi JEC ... welcome .. really fed up is cirrect ... you need a different doctor ! Quick !
You need to tell him you have not been treated correctly ... for a start.
Ask him to rest all your vitamins and minerals
For example
B12
Magnesium
D3
Irion
Etc etc
Your body ( metabolism ) for probably 10 years has been running ' out of sync ' And
A lack of vitamins minerals and nutrients is very likely .
You must get the bloods done in order to know what to replace to get yourself back to optimum capacity ..
you will only then begin to feel you're getting somewhere .
But it is imperative that you get
The Levothyroxine issue sorted
( as above ) Out as your Thyroid Gland must be desperate at times .
Keep us posted and get a print out if your results For your Thyroid antibodies etc AND fur vitamins and minerals .. and
Come back on to us to see how we can help next .
Best of luck Luvvie
Luv mx🌹
Yes, I know exactly how you feel! They left me for over 10 years during my teens. I had repeatedly gone to the doctors throughout this time as had stopped growing at age 11/12 and stopped going to school at age 14 as could no longer get out of bed but they just kept telling me it was depression and in my head. Didn't get diagnosed until I was 23 when they finally did a blood test as couldn't speak anymore and had a tsh of just under 200! I had really bad cerebellar ataxia by then and had lost all my vocabulary which I had to relearn. Their excuse was "it doesn't normally happen to people your age"!
Yes, do as the others have informed you and my best advice is to read as much as you can about the subject and relating conditions so you no longer have to depend on your GP to sort you and know exactly what they should be doing. Unfortunately, you can't rely on them to help you - most of them anyway!
Many of us find a gluten free diet helps us feel better also.
Hope you feel better soon
xx
New to the site, very excited reading everyones posts
New Diagnosis. Very confused.
New cortisol results with Regenerus and very surprising!
Feeling very overwhelmed - new here!
New member feel very alone could use some advice
