I have been auto immune for over 6 years which has finally been diagnosed as Sjorgens, but since Jan fatigue hitting harder and for 4 months 12hours sleep er day is still not enough. Have several other conditions and 7early miscarriages last 2 years which we now think was due to thyroid which concerns me it has been bad for over 2years, although my other conditions can affect fertility too. Thyroid test was done and was put on levothyroxine straight away 50mg, which currently I take at 6.15 when I inject my dog and then go back to sleep and then have my breakfast etc at 11ish.. When I get next tests done should I still take the levo at same time?
Tsh 13mu/L....(0.3-5.5)
Serum free t4 14pmol/L....(10-22)
B12 649ng/L...190-660)
Serum ferritin - 108ug/L...(24-400)
Folate 10.8ug/L.. (2.1-26.8)
Esr 34mm (0.0-9.0)
Now I do take pregnCare vitamins although did not take until after blood test... Don't know if that would have affected Folate /b12... I assume not as body doesn't hold these? Grateful for any insights
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Caliendria
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1) Arrange the test for as early in the morning as possible, at the latest by 9am if you can possibly manage it. TSH varies and is at its highest early in the morning. See the graphs on page 2 :
2) The evening before the test don't eat after about 10pm - midnight, and don't eat again until after the blood draw. From the same time, don't drink anything other than water. Drink water freely. You don't want to be dehydrated for the blood test.
3) Take Levo 24 hours before the blood test. Don't take any more until after the blood is taken. Then take your Levo after the blood draw. About an hour or so later you can eat and drink as normal.
pregnCare vitamins are a total waste of money, for several reasons. The main one being that it contains iron, which will block the absorption of all the vitamins, so you won't get any vitamins out of it. Plus it contains iodine and copper, which it's doubtful you need, and could cause your levels to become too high.
With a TSH of 13 you are definitely hypothyroid, and this will definitely have had a bad effect on your fertility and will almost certainly be a contributory factor to your miscarriages.
Be aware that being hypothyroid reduces stomach acid levels and therefore has an impact on how well your gut can break down your food to release nutrients. As a result it is common to have low levels of nutrients, although yours don't actually look too bad, to be honest. Although I think you have made a mistake with this one :
Serum ferritin - 108ug/L...(244-400)
That reference range doesn't look right and you need to double check it.
In your shoes I would want to get my folate levels up a bit, to the upper half of the range. Taking a good B Complex every day which contains methylfolate would be a good idea. But, be aware that any supplements which contain biotin (as B Complex supplements usually do) should be stopped 3 days or so before any blood testing. Biotin has an unpredictable effect on blood test results of all sorts, and must be allowed to disappear from the body before testing.
Your ESR is a measure of the amount of inflammation in the body, and you clearly have quite a bit. This could be caused by your Sjogren's but I'm only guessing. The ESR doesn't tell you where or why inflammation exists, it just tells you whether or not it exists somewhere in your body.
Many of us have found that dietary changes improve how we feel. What works varies from person to person.
Common dietary changes that people make :
1) Go 100% gluten-free, with absolutely no cheating. For many of us (including me) this is the only change that they have made.
2) Go dairy-free. To be specific, this involves giving up foods which include, or are made from, any kind of animal milk. It has nothing to do with giving up eggs.
Thanks for that, I just put Esr on for reference, that is t very low for my Esr since this all started years ago, In this time I am never below 25 and as I am usually having mini flairs of retinal vasculitis or muscle, joint pain, and such it is often around 54-60..with it reaching around 128 when I was first rushed into hospital... What I like about seeing the Esr, although I know it does not confirm where or what problem is, is that it is kind of proof I am not making it up /imagining there is an issue.. I am really sensitive and aware of what my body is doing but gos and my previous rheumatologist dismiss stuff easily or not listen.. Pregnacare does contain biotin so really good to know that re stopping before blood tests. I am wary of changing diet too much at this stage as I don't really want any symptoms to be dampened until I have confirmed diagnosis, also due to not being able to work properly since January, our cupboards are literally bare for 2weeks a month while we wait for husb thankands next wage... Things are dire to say the least. Yes I did miss type the range for ferritin should have been 24-400...i will blame brain fog as I double checked them all before hitting enter! Thanks for you time x
I forgot to mention that you should get your vitamin D tested too. If your GP hasn't done it or won't do it you can get it done with a finger-prick sample through the post :
Yes, I can't see in my 15 pages of test results that they have done vit D.. Due to that being Sjorgens I have become photosensitive my vit D was low a few years ago when I had it tested.. When trying to conceive actively I took a high dose vit D supplement, but it was quite pricey so have not been taking it for a while so will ask for them to test so we can see where we are with it.
Hashimoto's affects the gut and leads to low stomach acid and then low vitamin levels
Low vitamin levels can affect Thyroid hormone working
Poor gut function can lead leaky gut (literally holes in gut wall) this can cause food intolerances. Most common by far is gluten.
According to Izabella Wentz the Thyroid Pharmacist approx 5% with Hashimoto's are coeliac, but over 80% find gluten free diet helps significantly. Either due to direct gluten intolerance (no test available) or due to leaky gut and gluten causing molecular mimicry (see Amy Myers link)
Changing to a strictly gluten free diet may help reduce symptoms, help gut heal and slowly lower TPO antibodies
I have Sjogrens (and other autoimmune), and find BSSA (British Sjogrens Syndrome Association), are a great support and very knowledgeable. You can Google BSSA, phone he line, become a member, attend support groups..
Thank you...the more I read about Sjorgens it seems it is often seen with hashimotos so it all seems to fit.. Seems like it has taken forever to get to here and I am breaking point so great to see there is support out there x
I know, sjogrens was identified in my blood test 9 years before I was told.
I collapsed, so many symptoms! Utter, utter fatigue! I also kept telling medics, its my thyroid... I fought long, and hard, GP no help whatsoever.
I got an ultrasound of thyroid and found I was hashimotos after seeing a Dr in London. Only then could I begin researching. I came to HU, learned a lot! Also joined BSSA and joined their membership.
I am nearly 3 years diagnosed (face to face), and just coming through the worst of it.
I've spent a lot of money, time, and effort. (No GP was going to do that for me).
I can honestly say, HU members, BSSA members, teach us more, in terms of treating, managing, and coping.
You are correct, we have to manage, treat, and cope with hashimotos and Sjogrens together. I really believe we can't do one without the other.
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