First can I say to forgive me if my question seems not wholly relevant to this community, but I would be very grateful to hear people's views...
I am new to this forum and discovered it because I had a 'eureka' moment when, trying to understand what's been going on for my elderly mother (on levothyroxine for years but I never knew, with dementia/deteriorating health & in a care home now), realised I too have had hypothyroid type symptoms for a long time. Without appreciating its value for hypothyroidism, I went GF nearly 30 yrs ago... I’ve long had what I can only describe as a sluggish gut! (At a recent sigmoidoscopy screen I was told I have diverticula).
In the last 6 months however, I have been feeling particularly yuk: low mood, itchy scalp, thinning/loosing hair, dry, flaky skin, hot night sweats but cold feet, poor sleep, joint pains, bloodshot (left) eye, jumpy heart beats etc. Most worryingly I have persistent high diastolic BP and fluctuating high systolic BP, according to bowel action. I had what I perceived to be a bit of a goitre, which does seem now resolved (after reading up lots on this forum/following links etc I have reined back in dietary bad habits!).
From a visit to my GP this January my blood results were all classed as 'normal' (except cholesterol (6.0mmol (<5.0)) & platelet distribution width (21.5% (9.0-14)). This test at 4pm showed (amongst other things):
Serum TSH level1.6 mu/L[0.4 - 4.9]
Serum Ferritin94 night/mL[15.0 - 204]
Total Vit D96.2 mmol/L[ > 49.9]
Serum B12 858 night/L[187.0 - 883]
Serum folate14.4 ug/L[3.1 - 20.5]
Iron/Iron Binding:
Serum iron16.1 mmol/L[9.0 - 30.4]
Serum unsaturated iron binding capacity31 mol/L[13.0 - 56.0]
TIBC47.1 mull/L[45.0 - 72.0]
Iron saturation (%)34.2%
A private blood test I had done subsequently, in March at 9am, showed the following:
THYROID STIMULATING HORMONE 2.89 mIU/L (0.27 -4.20)
FREE THYROXINE 15 pmol/L (12.00 -22.00)
TOTAL THYROXINE(T4) 72.7 nmol/L (59.00 -154.00)
FREE T3 3.39 pmol/L (3.10 -6.80)
REVERSE T3 21 ng/dL 10.00 -24.00
REVERSE T3 RATIO *10.51 (15.01 -75.00)
THYROGLOBULIN ANTIBODY <10 IU/mL (0.00 -115.00)
THYROID PEROXIDASE ANTIBODIES 9.3 IU/mL (0.00 -34.00)
I am advised following this, that my thyroid function is normal, although the rT3 ratio is not. I think I’ve discerned that interpreting rT3 ratio is controversial?
However it may explain my ‘symptoms’??
Sorry for the length of this post - but if you have any thoughts having read this far I’d be very grateful to hear what you think.
Thanking you for any time you are able to give.