TPO ANTIBODIES 990.5 (<34)
TSH 6.2 (0.2 - 4.2)
FREE T4 11.5 (12 - 22)
FERRITIN 7 (15 - 150)
FOLATE 2.2 (4.6 - 18.7)
VITAMIN B12 136 (180 - 900)
VITAMIN D 16.3
Getting tickly throat and coughing up bitter stuff not sure why is it thyroid related thank you
Yes, you have high TPO antibodies. This indicates that you have Hashimoto's. Do you have the test results for your Free T3? This is an important piece missing in the puzzle. Free T3 tests are always tested at the same time as Free T4. They are a pair that have a working relationship. They are your thyroid hormones. TSH is not, but communicates with your thyroid through your pituitary gland. Your TSH is too high, indicating that your thyroid is working too hard to function and perform.
Did you get a complete iron panel? Ferritin is just one of the components. You need the entire panel to know what is going on there. Your ferritin is too low. Your folate is too low. Have you been tested for the MTHFR gene? If you have this gene, this is why your folate is too low and if you are ingesting any folic acid (synthetic folate), you can not utilize it properly and it becomes toxic to you. Your B12 is too low. If you have the MTHFR gene, this is likely why. The folate deficiency that comes with MTHFR is usually accompanied by B12 deficiency, and will have the same problem with eating synthetic B12 as you do with synthetic folate.
You don't state the range of the D test. Is that result D2 or D3? It should be D3. Is the low end of the range 20? If it is, then you are also deficient in D3.
The tickly throat and coughing up bitter stuff is not a symptom of Hashimoto's. With any autoimmune problems your immune system is challenged, so you are likely more susceptible to seasonal flu's, colds, and other illnesses. Slow digestion can be related to Hashimoto's since slow thyroid means slow metabolism, which means slow digestion too. The bitter stuff might be gastro reflux or stomach acid reflux.
Thanks for reply Free T3 is 3.1 (3.1 - 6.8) and iron panel showed in range iron which was 9.0 (6.0 - 26.0) and transferrin saturation 15 (12 - 45) and the vitamin D result is total vitamin D I haven't been tested for the MTHFR gene
Hi ,
In the Uk you can’t get ft3 generally tested unless you are hyperthyroid. I’ve never had it done only TSH and if that’s out of range or close to they do FT4.
Free T3 is 3.1 (3.1 - 6.8)
Hi Lily7778
Yes, you seem to have hashimoto's and with those results must be feeling awful. Before I self treated, and sometimes now when I have a flair, I wake in the night coughing with a very dry throat and mouth, which I know can be a symptom of Hashimoto's or Hypothyroidism. I sounded like a man who was a heavy smoker when I got up in the morning and for a few hours when I was at work (the blokes I work with kept making jokes about how I had to give up smoking). It has got much better since I self medicate.
You must be feeling terrible with ferritin that low. You do need a full iron panel as Shooting Star suggested. You should get advice from your GP on which iron and how you should take it. If you can manage it, you should take iron after any thyroid medication - when you start taking it, (an hour after T3 and probably the morning after a night time dose of T4). You should take the iron with orange juice or Vit C and then not eat for an hour to allow your body to absorb it. My GP told me the other day that apparently we shouldn't take a daily dose of iron, as the iron itself can interfere with the uptake of iron, and so you will need a bigger dose to get enough, whereas if you take it every other day you will absorb more of the dose.
My ferritin got down to 17, and I was breathless when climbing stairs, bloated and had lost a fair amount of hair on head and body, and the outside of my eyebrows. When I had been taking iron for a few months, I felt as if I could feel my cells taking up oxygen, and I lost 7lbs in 5 days in the first few weeks, which shows the stress that my body was in with that little iron. (I also got my memory back)! I can't imagine how you must be feeling!
Your TSH is far too high and I hope that your GP will start you on T4.
I wish you luck getting the help that you clearly need, but you will feel better once the GP starts to treat your iron deficiency and your hashimoto's. You will find lots of marvellous help on here with finetuning things once you feel a bit better.
Iron needs to be taken 4 hrs away from levo, not 1 as otherwise it binds with the levo and hence stops levo being absorbed.
Yes, rereading it I wasn't very clear.
If you take T4 or Levo at nighttime then leave iron until the morning.
If you take T3 you can take your morning dose and then you should be okay to take iron an hour later.
Thanks startagaingirl.
Yep sorry - I should have said iron needs to be 4 hrs away from all thyroid meds, including t3.
Yes, T3 needs to be taken 4 hours after iron, but if you take T3 first in the morning it is absorbed within an hour so that you can then take iron an hour after.
I think your coughing up may be related because hypothyroidism causes more production of mucin (I think - gunge in the body anyway) causing the puffy bloated look on the face and causing problems around organs, swollen ankles etc in my case my spleen used to ache and feel tender. I never coughed up rubbish in the morning on cleaning my teeth but I do every day now despite being pretty well optimised. I also got lots of strange tastes and smells plaguing me, that can also be due to vitamin/mineral deficiencies. Hopefully once treated and controlled the coughing up/strange tastes (and the rest) will cease.
I accord with the other comments and I am sorry that you must be feeling pretty poorly.
I hope you get thyroid hormone replacement soon if you are not in it or a much needed increase otherwise. Plus those deficiencies need addressing.
I found going gluten free helpful.
Good luck 🍀☘️🍀
Hi - and welcome to the forum. Could you tell us a few more details. Are you in UK? Have you been diagnosed as hypothyroid by GP? Are you on any thyroid medicines? Do you take any other medicines or supplements?
We do see many cases like yours and SeasideSusie is our real expert on vitamins and minerals. For instance, look at her answers on this post to another new member with nutrient levels similar to yours.
healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...
Gillian
Thanks for reply I am in UK and not diagnosed hypothyroid I am not on any other medications or supplements and I am not on thyroid medication I haven't been told I need them
Hi - you are hypothyroid and what you have is the auto-immune form, Hashimotos. 90% of us hypos have this form. What it means is that your immune system is mistakenly attacking your thyroid, gradually destroying it. The attacks will typically come in waves, each time the dying tissue dumps its hormone into the bloodstream, causing a temporary hyper situation. But this quickly passes and you become even more hypo as you now have less tissue to produce hormone. It is thought that this is caused by a condition called leaky gut, whereby gut damage caused by underlying food intolerances allows particles into the bloodstream which then irritates the immune system and causes it to go off around the body seeking out these particles. The most common trigger is gluten - it is believed approx 80% of us have this issue, even if coeliac tests are negative - followed by dairy and soy. thyroid tissue can look similar to the protein in gluten to the immune system, hence the attacks. For this reason at least a 3 month trial of a strict gluten free diet is recommended.
The gut damage associated with this then causes malabsorption of nutrients from food, resulting in the typical and often severe deficiencies as you indeed show in your results. The problem is that these are needed for effective use of thyroid hormones, so as deficiencies get worse, the thyroid situation becomes worse. It needs good quality, single supplements to overcome these and for details of those look at SeasideSusie's posts - she is our hero!
You do need treatment for the hypo, the normal start is 50 mcg levothyroxine, taken first thing in morning, at least 1 hr before any food, tea or coffee. You should then have blood tests 6-8 weeks later and dose raised depending on result by a maximum of 25mcg a time. This slow raise is to avoid shocking the body. This should continue until tsh is around 1 or below with ft4 in top quarter of range and ft3 in top third. At that point, individual tweaking may be required to alleviate all symptoms. Test should always be done as early as possible - ideally by 9am - fasting since previous evening (water allowed), and 24-36 hrs after last levo dose.
Keep reading and learning, be a pro-active patient and take control of your own health. Oh and see a different GP!
gillian
Thanks for reply I will see if I can get a different GP today and get started on thyroid medication
GPs will often only prescribe levothyroxine when TSH is over 10.Nevertheless as others have said you are hypothyroid and need virtually allyour vitamins supplemented.
So I can't have thyroid meds with tsh 28 and free T4 10.3
Thanks
You gave Tsh as 6.2 above? That is in the range gps would call sub clinical. If Tsh is 28 then yes you definitely should be treated.
Make sue and point out your anti-bodies as I believe rule says that sub-clinical - as they call over range but below 10 tsh - should be treated in that case but may not be without anti-bodies as Treepie says.
Good luck!
Lily7778
Did you notice that every single one of these tests is either over or under range.
Were they done by your doctor, if so what is he intending to do about them.
Your b12, folate, ferritin & vit D are at seriously low levels & need urgent attention.
Are yyou taking any thyroid hormone replacements for your autoimmune hypothyroidism (hashimotos)?
Thanks for reply I have noticed all my results are abnormal but GP doing nothing about it and he is intending on doing nothing about them and I am not on any thyroid hormone replacement
Ask for a referral to an Endocrinologist of your choice, research before who you want to see and go there, you can choose who you want and if he won’t refer ask for it to be written into your notes. I was treated by endo just looking at previous result and she didn’t even have antibodies tests either, I just took a long list of signs and symptoms and she started treatment.
Good luck
Your doctors lack of action is quite honestly irresponsible and shows they are either completely lazy or have a serious lack of knowledge. I would see a different GP as a matter of urgency and insist on some action and investigation on why your vitamins and ferritin are so low especially B12 as this could also be another autoimmune condition called pernicious anaemia which will require lifelong B12 injections. Even if you do manage to get thyroid hormone replacements prescribed they wouldn't necessarily make a lot of difference until your vitamins and iron are at better levels.
Lily, you are learning just how little your conventional doctors intend to help you. To get this low you must have been becoming hypothyroid for years. You can actually improve quite a bit. You are getting the message that chronic conditions are often lifestyle and diet related. Living in a dirty city and eating processed food is all it takes for some people.
There are some great doctors on the internet who can help you understand what is happening and websites with indexed information to answer any question. Start educating yourself and you will see there are many things you can do to help yourself.
stopthethyroidmadness.com/r...
you really need to discuss these results with your GP - they may want to redo them if they were private
as well as thyroid your GP should be looking into cause of low vitamins and minerals - and should be treating you for iron, folate and B12 deficiencies.
You can find more on B12 deficiency on the PAS forum
It is possible you have post nasal drip - "occurs when excessive mucus is produced by the nasal mucosa. The excess mucus accumulates in the throat or back of the nose." It's just a suggestion but it does make you cough stuff up! Not pleasant - I have it.
Optimal serum levels for thyroid antibodies?
