Its been 2 years since I have been on this forum as its been a long road and I ended up having a breakdown.
but in Nov 2016
I finally weaned myself off Venlaflaxine - it took until May 2017 I was Anti depressant free for 4 months - but I have recently had to go back on 50g of Setraline (and feel very ashamed) because the last couple of months have been unbearable - constant crying and absolutely no energy, no interest in anything and also no care about life ect. I went to the doctors but she refused to do more Thyroid tests as she said my TSH was normal and wacked me on the anti-d pills.......I still don't feel much better except the crying has stopped. This disease is crippling isn't it. I think I am going to try to get tests from an independent company - I read somewhere about Blue Diamond???
I will post the results once I have them back and I just know something in me is not right.....
Does anyone recommend an independent company that can do all the tests
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Jmb1963
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Your doctor doesn't sound very sympathetic and simply went into default prescription mode....more ADs.
One of the major symptoms of hypothyroidism is depression and/or anxiety. Our brains need lots of T3 just like the rest of our body to function properly otherwise it just slows down into a foggy, upset mess.
As far as private testing goes, I think they are terrific because you can get tests that the NHS don't do, or will only do in certain circumstances. Some GP's accept these test results, others are very sniffy. Considering the labs used are the same as hospitals, private doctors, NHS and Uncle Tom Cobbley and all use I can only deduce that this is because some doctors don't like their patients being pro-active over their own health care!
There is Blue Horizon......bluehorizonmedicals.co.uk/ The Thyroid 11 finger prick test is a favourite. If you don't want to do a fingerprick you can pay a bit extra to either have it done at one of their clinic centres or even a phlebotomy nurse to come to your home .
As well as your TSH, FT4, FT3 levels it's good to know ferritin, folate , Vit D and B12, CRP and the antibodies. It's important to know if you need some vitamin, mineral and dietry support to make your body utilise levothyroxine as well as possible.
Thank you so so much - My doctor said that because my TSH was "within range" a more extensive test is not necessary. I will do the Medichecks or Blue Horizon and post my results. Thank you for making me feel its OK to feel "out of sorts"
Doctors are very fond of saying "within range"......with some conditions it is important exactly where in the range . It is often taken too literally, sometimes to the point where for example if vitamin B12 had a laboratory reference range of (this is figuratively only) 200-900 and the patient scored 201 that would be deemed in range or "normal". In reality the patient could be having symptoms of B12 deficiency and supplementing would be recommended, at least a sensible doctor would rather than casting aside.
Also the term "your results are normal". As you will see on this site we consider that merely an opinion, in other words the doctor glanced at the results and it was "in range". This is why we ask people to get their results in full, including the reference range in brackets and then the results can be examined more closely.
The most important tests you need are Free T4 and Free T3. I would think your T3 is very low and can cause depression due to the lack of T3.
Levothyroxine is T4 and inactive hormone. T4 has to convert to T3. T3 is the only active thyroid hormone and is needed in our billions of Receptor Cells. If we don't have sufficient T3 converting from T4 we will not feel well.
Blood tests have always to be at the earliest possible time, fasting (you can drink water) and allow a gap of 24 hours between your last dose and the test and take it afterwards.
We have two recommended labs and I'll give you a link. Both do pin-prick home tests and make sure you are well hydrated a couple of days before blood draw. Blue Horizon and Medichecks. Medichecks have a special offer every Thursday.
A Full Thyroid Function Tests is: TSH, T4, T3, Free T4, Free T3 and thyroid antibodies.
Your GP should test B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate. Deficiencies in these also cause symptoms.
Post your results with the ranges on a new question.
Blood tests have to be at the very earliest possible, fasting (you can drink water) and it is important to leave a gap of 24 hours between last dose of levo and the test and take it afterwards.
Get a print-out with the ranges of your results and post them. In the meantime I will give you a list of symptoms and I am sure you will have more than a few.
Don't feel ashamed about taking anti-d's if you needed them. I think your doctor is a fault as they don't test Free T4 and Free T3. If your T3 is too low to run your whole metabolism, including our brain and heart (these need the most T3) we cannot feel well.
Levothyroxine is inactive. It has to convert to T3. If we dont have sufficient or cannot convert it into sufficient T3, we will have symptoms and not feel good at all.
Thank you so so much - My doctor said that because my TSH was "within range" a more extensive test is not necessary. I will do the Medichecks or Blue Horizon and post my results. Thank you for making me feel its OK to feel "out of sorts"
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. It is often taken too literally, sometimes to the point where for example if vitamin B12 had a laboratory reference range of (this is figuratively only) 200-900 and the patient scored 201 that would be deemed in range or "normal". In reality the patient could be having symptoms of B12 deficiency and supplementing would be recommended, at least a sensible doctor would rather than casting aside.
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