Hashi

[keeta]

Hi .even though i have had hashi for years .i never got print out of any results .so would not understand them like all you lovely people here.my results have been up and down over the years and for the last year i presumed they had stayed level on 125 levo.but a couple of months ago i started putting on weight and feeling awfull .you get to know the signs.i phoned docs and said i din.t feel good .when is my next blood test they said not till dec .i also have R/A .doc phoned me last night and said he was putting my levo up to 150 and asked if i had been taking my levo properly as my tsh is 36.5 .what would make it rise like this .this has haopened before x

[shaws Administrator]

You have been on too low a dose which has caused your TSH to rise. TSH stands for thyroid stimulating hormone and it is from the pituitary gland which starts to rise in order to try to raise our thyroid hormones output. When we cannot, we are hypothyroid and that's why we are given levothyroxine (or other thyroid hormones which most self-source) which is a life-long medication. We cannot recover from hypothyroidism.

For your TSH to rise to 36+ tells me that you have been neglected and if we want to prevent damage to our health/body we have to ensure that our dose is sufficient.

You have been very neglected.

Are you aware to have your blood tests at the very earliest possible? Fasting? - you can drink water and allow a gap of 24 hours between your last dose and test? You need to do all of this in order for your TSH to be at its highest, as it drops throughout the day.

The worst thing doctors can do is adjust our dose according to the blood test which usually is only TSH and T4. Neither gives the information which we need, i.e. the Free T4 and Free T3. Both have to be towards the top of the range.

Levothyroxine is T4. T4 is inactive and it's job is to convert to T3. Sometimes we cannot do so efficiently and if TSH is in range doctors assume we have sufficient thyroid hormones.

The aim is a TSH of 1 (not somewhere in the range) with FT4 and FT3 in the upper range.

We are entitled by the LAW to have copies of our results (some charge a nominal sum for paper/ink) so get a print-out of your most recent results with the ranges and post on a new question if you don't have them today.

Ask GP to test B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate. Everything has to be optimal. He should also test for thyroid antibodies as you have hashimoto's.

Put your results on a new post for comments..

[keeta in reply to shaws]

Thank you so much as for me its hard to understand .have been on iron for restless legs for twi weeks.why did it rise i have had this b4 and then it goes to a point were he liwers the dose again

[Marz in reply to keeta]

So as suggested above obtain your results with ranges and post them - so people can begin to help you. You will have to read and read posts again and again until it all sinks in ....

Are you taking VitC with each dose of iron ? How much ?

[keeta in reply to Marz]

Thank you for your answer i will get a copy and post it and no i am not on vit c

210mg of iron 1x3times a day .

[Marz in reply to keeta]

Vit C aids the absorption of Iron ...

[shaws Administrator in reply to keeta]

If we are given too low a dose of levothyroxine, the TSH rises and that's all doctors appear to look at.

He then adjusts your dose according to the TSH.

He is under the misapprehension that you will have a heart problems or osteo if TSH is low. At the next blood test your TSH isn't quite in range, then increases dose again.

Once you realise that doctors are so poorly trained and if they are flummoxed and don't understand how the thyroid gland works, the patients are lost who then cannot recover due to adjustments up/down willy/nilly.

Just keep in your mind that our TSH is to be 1 or lower. They will rarely test Free T4 and Free T3, so if the next time he wants to adjust your dose tell him you want both FT4 and FT3 to be tested as they inform us (the patient) what is actually circulating in our blood. A TSH and T4 doesn't. On the following link highlight why both FT4 and FT3 are important when trying to get to a level playing-field i.e. we have sufficient hormones to raise our metabolism and relieve symptoms. Keep in mind that T4 (levo) is inactive and T3 is the only Active thyroid hormone needed in our T3 receptor cells.

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

[keeta in reply to shaws]

Thank you so much.i will keep reading untill it sinks in and will gwt a copy and post it .xx