any one help please. possibly hypothyroid.

[menonewbie]

hi all, hope someone can offer advice. I think I might be hypothyroid. Having lots of symptoms, weight gain, low temperature (between 34.1c and 36.4c) raised blood pressure (between 127/89 and 169/97) exhaustion and poor sleep,numb tongue and sometimes blue tinge to lips, painful feet and hands plus other things. GP thinks its menopausal and thyroid is ok. I had some tests done from blue horizon and the results are as follows.

TSH 5.04 mIU/L 0.27-4.2

T4 114 mnol/L 59-154

FREE THYROXINE 17.1 pmol/1 12.0-22.0

FREE T3 5.0 pmol/L 3.1-6.8

THYROID ANTIBODIES Anti Tg 65.6 IU/mL 0-115

Anti TPO 15.2 IU/mL 0-34

VIT B 12 414 pg/ml 197-771

FERRITIN 284 ug/L 13-150

GP blood tests show only slightly raised TSH so he will repeat tests in 2 months time. Any advice or comments will be welcome. I am 54 and 4-5 years into menopause with no health issues other than acid reflux and taking ranitadine twice a day. Hope to hear from someone with more knowledge than me.

[Clutter]

Menonewbie,

Menopause commonly triggers hypothyroidism.

Your TSH is over range with normal FT4 and FT3 which means you are biochemically subclinically hypothyroid. However, 'subclinical' should mean symptomless. As you have symptoms with over range TSH ask your GP to prescribe you a trial of Levothyroxine.

Thyroid antibodies are negative for autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's).

Ask your GP to test vitamin D as painful joints and bones can be due to vitD deficiency.

B12 414 is unlikely to be deficient but if you have symptoms in b12deficiency.info/signs-an... go to healthunlocked.com/pasoc for advice.

Ferritin over range indicates inflammation or infection somewhere in the body. It's not significantly high and it's possible that a cold at the time of testing could have raised it but if ferritin is still elevated in 4-6 months your GP should do a full blood count to investigate.

[menonewbie in reply to Clutter]

Many thanks for the speedy reply. Just having someone believe what I have been saying and understanding the blood test results means so much. My GP will not prescribe any medication as he says I do not have anything to suggest a thyroid problem. He would not use the test results that I paid for as they were from a different lab to the one he would be using! He will let me have more blood tests in 2 months instead of 6 as I am showing a slightly elevated TSH level. He said all of my vitamins are fine and everything else is good. I do trust him to give me good advice but needed another opinion from someone in a position similar to mine. My mother has an overactive thyroid but I am not sure if this is relevant. Are there any symptoms that I should be aware of? Also, I have a small hard lump just below my adams apple that is about the size of a grape. Its not sore and the doctor said he couldnt be sure its not just part of my windpipe. I dont know either as it doesnt hurt. Should I just leave it or ask for a scan? Thankyou for your advice and hope you can address these other issues for me.

[Clutter in reply to menonewbie]

Menonewbie,

The correct protocol is to retest 2-3 months after the first abnormal TSH result in case TSH is elevated due to a virus or infection which would be expected to resolve in 2-3 months.

If your GP isn't sure what the lump is he should order an ultrasound scan to see what it is.

If GP hasn't tested vitD he doesn't know whether it is good or not. If the pain you are experiencing in your feet and hands is in the joints and bones it may be due to vitamin D deficiency.

It's about time NHS GPs got over this stupid reluctance to trust results from other labs. They are wasting taxpayers money by retesting because their pet lab didn't analyse the results.

[menonewbie in reply to Clutter]

Thanks again. I will try to find out about vit D. It's all a bit overwhelming at the moment and goes against the grain to question my doctor. Hopefully my next tests will show him what's wrong and I'll be treated accordingly. I will keep an eye on this lump and see him if it gets bigger or painful. I'm sure I'll be asking more questions in the next few weeks and reading lots more about thyroid problems.

[Clutter in reply to menonewbie]

Menonewbie,

Get into the habit of asking for ALL of your blood test results and the lab ref ranges otherwise you will just get opinions like 'fine' 'okay' when levels are within range when with a bit of dose tweaking levels can be optimised and patients will feel a lot better.

[menonewbie in reply to Clutter]

Hi again Clutter. I have taken your advice and have the results of the blood tests taken last week. It was non fasting if this makes any difference. Could you have a look and give your opinion please?

serum vit b12 356 1300.00-800.00ng/l

serum folate 5.1 4.00-20.00ug/L

serum ferritin 150 12.00-250.00ug/L

serum c reactive protein 1mg/L <7mg/L

serum vit d 48 30.00-300.00mnol/L

serum TSH 5.28 0.35-5.00mu/L

serum cortisol 332 140.00-700.00mnol/L

I am not sure what test results are relevant as I don't understand them but I also have results for full blood count, liver function test, bone profile, urea and electrolytes and colesterol.

It seems as though the results are satisfactory (doctors words) which may be the case but i am determined to get better some how. If you would like to see the other results please let me know and I will post them.

[Clutter in reply to menonewbie]

Menonewbie,

The results aren't satisfactory. TSH is over range and vitD is insufficient. As I said, virus or illness can elevate TSH so ask to be retested in 3 months when any virus or non-thyroidal illness should have cleared.

VitD is replete 75 - 200 and optimal 100-150. I would supplement 5,000iu D3 for 8 weeks then reduce dose to 5,000iu alternate days and retest late April.

B12 is unlikely to be deficient but if you have symptoms in b12deficiency.info/signs-an... go to healthunlocked.com/pasoc for advice as they are the experts re B12 and folate deficiency.

Folate is low in range. You can raise folate by eating more leafy green veg and by supplementing folic acid or methylfolate.

Ferritin and CRP are good.

Cortisol is within range.

[menonewbie in reply to Clutter]

Thankyou Clutter. Please forgive my ignorance but for the vit D supplement and folic acid will I be able to buy them from a health shop or would the doctor have to prescribe them.

[Clutter in reply to menonewbie]

Menonewbie,

You don't need a prescription. If your health shop doesn't stock them Amazon will have them. If you buy on Amazon please use the affiliate link healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[menonewbie in reply to Clutter]

Thankyou. I'll do that now. next blood tests for thyroid including antibodies will be in march so I'm bound to be in touch again after that. Once again thanks for all of your advice. Its so confusing so any help is very much appreciated.

[Clutter in reply to menonewbie]

Menonewbie,

Write a new post for the new results because updates can be overlooked.