Ranges - Check up

[Mollietho]

Hi there,

I was diagnosed in August after going to hospital with hypothyroidism (& anaemia and celiacs...obviously, golden trio).

I'm currently on 100mg and going for bloods again this week I was wondering if anyone knew the ranges I should be in when my results come back in. I've had a lot of people say i'm very 'hyper' and that 'i've lost a lot of weight' but my family is naturally very skinny and full of energy.

I guess I just want to make sure that i'm on the right levels, I couldn't imagine going back to so little energy, but of course don't want to be over medicated. Any advice would be much appreciated!

- Thanks

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Do you have Hashimoto's also called autoimmune thyroid disease, diagnosed by high thyroid antibodies?

For full evaluation you ideally need TSH, FT4, FT3, TT4, TPO and TG antibodies, plus vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 tested

See if you can get full thyroid and vitamin testing from GP. Unlikely to get FT3

Private tests are available

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

Vitamindtest.org.uk - £28 postal kit

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have money off offers.

All thyroid tests should be done as early as possible in morning and fasting and don't take Levo in the 24 hours prior to test, delay and take straight after. This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results

Link about antibodies

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

Link about thyroid blood tests

thyroiduk.org/tuk/testing/t...

list of symptoms

thyroiduk.org/tuk/about_the...

[bluebug]

If you are in the UK the NHS will test you for TSH and frequently - if the doctor knows what they are doing - free T4. They won't test you for free T3 because lots of doctors including endos and the lab have been told that the active hormone is meaningless. (The lab staff can actually have more academic qualifications than the doctors. ) If you do some reading around the threads on this site you can draw your own conclusions why that is, particularly as if you get private thyroid tests done you can easily get free T3 tested.

Anyway if you are on T4 replacement hormone e.g. levo then your TSH should be under 1. If it is lower than the range lower boundary don't worry as long as your free T4 value is in the top quarter of the range. When taking T4 replacement you muck up the feedback loop more is explained here - thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_... - which is why your Free T4 and free T3 results matter far more.

While the stereotype is that those with hypothyroidism are overweight not everyone is and if you have celiacs you can't expect to be as you have difficulty absorbing nutrients. As already pointed out you are likely to have Hashimotos which is why you have the trio of iron deficiency anaemia, celiacs and hypothyroidism. The NHS frequently doesn't test people for thyroid antibodies as the standard treatment if you have it is still T4 replacement hormone. There are other things you are advised to do on this forum to help you gut bacteria but nearly all doctors, whether they work privately or not, think it is a myth.