I know I'm being completely foolish but here goes. I'd been feeling itchy at night for a while so I went to see the nurse who ordered blood tests. Everything came back okay except my thyroid which was Serum TSH 0.01muL Serum free T4 35.5pmolL. I went to see doctor and he said I may have to be on longterm medication which the thought of keeps reducing me to tears. I asked for another test as my last test in Feb this year was good and didn't show any signs. Funnily enough the itching has stopped for the past week. I have lost a bit of weight but that's because I started walking everywhere since last summer (most days I walk for more than an hour straight). And I do 4 high impact exercise classes each week. I also limited my meal - but kept eating chocolate I started losing the weight last year and my tests were clear in Feb. I have a fitbit and my resting heart rate is anywhere between 86 and 95. The test results should be back next week. In the meantime I've been reading a lo about hyperthyroidism and diet. My questions are? Has anyone every had a high result and then it sorted itself out? I know 35.5 is high but is it very high or slightly high (I've read some limits are up to 19.8 and some up to 25pmol. And finally, has anyone been able to control they're overactive thyroid with just diet.
Sorry for a long post but I've felt anxious since my test results (which is probably why my heart rate has risen). When I talk to my family they just keep saying not to worry, (I'm trying not to and praying instead) but I just wanted some advise from 'the experts'
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Sillvie
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Welcome to our forum, and it sounds to me as if you are hypERthyroid. Not that I am an excerpt and am not medically qualified but these are a couple of links:
To know how high your FT4 is, you need the range used by your laboratory. Ranges vary from lab to lab, and you can only use the one used by the lab that did the analysis.
Is your doctor going to test your antibodies? If he doesn't, he cannot give you a real diagnosis, just a rough guess - which isn't good enough! You could have Grave's, in which case you would need anti-thyroid drugs for life, or a thyroidectomy. Or, it could be Hashi's, which means that whilst you have high FT4 at the moment, it will eventually drop and you will become hypo, and need thyroid hormone replacement for life - which isn't nearly so bad as taking anti-thyroid drugs, because it would just be hormones! So, don't jump to any conclusions - and don't let your doctor do so, either - without having all the facts!
You need to know the lab ref range to know how high FT4 35 is. Most ranges top off at 22 so it is fairly high. You can't control hyperthyroidism with diet. You will need anti-thyroid drugs, usually Carbimazole. Most people will need Carbimazole for 12-18 months after which they wean off and try for remission.
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I started losing the weight last year and my tests were clear in Feb. I have a fitbit and my resting heart rate is anywhere between 86 and 95. The test results should be back next week. In the meantime I've been reading a lo about hyperthyroidism and diet. My questions are? Has anyone every had a high result and then it sorted itself out? I know 35.5 is high but is it very high or slightly high (I've read some limits are up to 19.8 and some up to 25pmol. And finally, has anyone been able to control they're overactive thyroid with just diet.
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