Is this ok ?

[Pennyb8]

Does this look ok ?

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Pennyb8

Not all of them are OK.

Are you on thyroid meds? If so you are undermedicated to have a TSH of 6.2

If not on thyroid meds then your over range TSH confirms hypothyroidism but you may not get a diagnosis until TSH hits 10. However, if you have symptoms of hypothyroidism, with TSH between 4 and 10 you may get a diagnosis of Subclinical Hypothyroidism and a trial of Levo. If you are tested for thyroid antibodies and they are positive, again you should be prescribed Levo.

thyroiduk.org/tuk/about_the...

The 'UK Guidelines for the Use of Thyroid Function Tests' state that, "There is no evidence to support the benefit of routine early treatment with thyroxine in non-pregnant patients with a serum TSH above the reference range but <10mU/L (II,B). Physicians may wish to consider the suitability of a therapeutic trial of thyroxine on an individual patient basis." If your TSH is above the range but less than 10, discuss a therapeutic trial of thyroxine with your doctor.

Subclinical hypothyroidism (where there are elevated TSH levels, but normal FT4 levels, possibly with symptoms) has been found in approximately 4% to 8% of the general population but in approximately 15% to 18% of women over 60 years of age.

Subclinical hypothyroidism can progress to overt hypothyroidism (full hypothyroidism with symptoms) especially if there are thyroid antibodies present.

If thyroid antibodies are found, then you may have Hashimoto's disease. If there are thyroid antibodies but the other thyroid tests are normal, there is evidence that treatment will stop full blown hypothyroidism from occurring.

Dr A Toft, consultant physician and endocrinologist at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, has recently written in Pulse Magazine, "The combination of a normal serum T4 and raised serum TSH is known as subclinical hypothyroidism. If measured, serum T3 will also be normal. Repeat the thyroid function tests in two or three months in case the abnormality represents a resolving thyroiditis.2 But if it persists then antibodies to thyroid peroxidase should be measured.

If these are positive – indicative of underlying autoimmune thyroid disease – the patient should be considered to have the mildest form of hypothyroidism.

In the absence of symptoms some would simply recommend annual thyroid function tests until serum TSH is over 10mU/l or symptoms such as tiredness and weight gain develop. But a more pragmatic approach is to recognise that the thyroid failure is likely to become worse and try to nip things in the bud rather than risk loss to follow-up."

You may have a fight on your hands.

Vit D is recommended to be 100-150nmol/L by the Vit D Council, the Vit D Society and Grassroots health. So yours is low and needs supplementing with D3 along with it's important cofactors Vit K2-MK7 and magnesium.

Ferritin - although not low it's generally said mid-range is best. You can raise your level by eating liver/liver pate/black pudding/iron rich foods regularly.

You could do with B12 and Folate testing.

[Pennyb8 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thankyou

I have COPD and angina and have medication for both now but still not feeling great weight gain of 3 stone and so tired

Doctor has changed my meds but agreed to re test bloods in 3 months which after reading your reply will push for

Many thanks

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Pennyb8]

Penny

Doctor has changed my meds but agreed to re test bloods in 3 months

Is that thyroid meds? Do you have a diagnosis and are on Levo? If so and you have had an increase in dose, then 3 months is too long to wait for a retest, that should be done 6-8 weeks after a dose change, another increase if necessary and another retest 6-8 weeks later, and repeat until TSH is around 1 with FT4 and FT3 are in the upper part of their reference ranges if that is where you feel well.

Are you using a steroid inhaler for your COPD? If so keep it well away from your thyroid meds, also your angina meds should be at least 2 hours away.

[Pennyb8 in reply to SeasideSusie]

No meds for thyroid at all doc says it fine . Change of meds for COPD and heart

I will insist on re test for thyroid though even though doc says it's fine

Weight gain and extreme tiredness just is not caused by my copd

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Pennyb8]

Penny

I think it would be a good idea to have thyroid antibodies tested. There are two types Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) and Thyroglobulin (TG). If either of these are over range then that is autoimmune thyroid disease and along with your raised TSH and symptoms you should hopefully get a diagnosis. You may just about be able to get TPO done at GP level if you push hard enough, although TG antibodies are generally done at Endo level.

You could always do your own private test for the full thyroid panel, and if you haven't had B12 and folate done then I'd go for the full thyroid panel plus important vitamins and minerals. You can get a private home test to do by fingerprick (or venous blood draw if you prefer, at extra cost), and this one is excellent value at the moment

medichecks.com/thyroid-func...

I would push for a diagnosis of Subclinical Hypothyroidism anyway and a trial of Levo. Tick off any symptoms of Hypothyroidism you have and present to you GP

thyroiduk.org/tuk/about_the...