My Daughter is really struggling

[Deb59]

Hi Everyone,

Over the last few years my daughters thyroid has not been stable and has caused her many problems, chronic fatigue, weight gain, brain fog etc. She had been on thyroxine 125 - 150 mcg, then last year added 20mcg liothyronine. The t3 did help her control the Tsh levels but did not improve quality of life. The thyroid has not been able to be stabilised for more than 3 months at a time.

We did wonder if the thyroixine was not helping her so she is on a trial of Nature Throid, but we really need your expert help to find a good balance for her and your expertise on Nature Throid as we and her dr hasn't got a clue!

My daughter was put on 1 1/2 grains of nature Throid and 75 mcg of thyroxine. After a couple of weeks, she had symptoms of hypothyroidism. The Dr put her on 3 grains plus 100 mcg thyroixine. Again showed signs of hyperthyroid so was reduced to 2 grains and 100mcg T4- Her latest blood test which was taken in July:

Free T4 15.0 pmol/L 12-22

TSH 6.85 mU/L 0.27-4.20

FT3 4.9 pmol/L 3.1-6.8

Over the last 2 weeks my daughter complained of a racing heart and trembling hands in the morning and more weight gain. After the latest results and symptoms of the racing dr has put her on 1 1/2 grains and 125 mcg thyroxine to reduce T3.

Due to the higher than normal resting heartbeat (20 beats higher than normal), decided to stop all medications for a few days to see if the racing heart and palpitations stop. This is where we need your expertise help on the right dosage or change of medication, as the latest results show hypothyroid but presenting a mixture of hyper and hypo symptoms, again with fluctuating results.

I am ordering from blue horizon the thyroid plus 15 - is there any other blood tests that I should order?

Many Thanks in advance for your help, we really appreciate it.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Deb59

Has she ever had thyroid antibodies tested?

The Thyroid Plus15 is an expensive test and a long wait for the rT3 test to come back, and it's probably not needed anyway. rT3 generally tend to be present when FT4 is over range.

The Thyroid Plus Eleven (or Medichecks Thyroid UltraVit) is usually enough unless you particularly want the magnesium (generally everyone is low) and the Insulin and HbA1c and those can be done for £39 each with Medichecks.

[Deb59 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Hi Seaside Susie, yes her antibodies have been tested and were high. I will look into medichecks - thanks.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Deb59]

Debs59

yes her antibodies have been tested and were high

Then she has autoimmune thyroid disease aka Hashimoto's (if it was TPO and/or TG antibodies) and that is the reason her thyroid isn't stabilising and she is having a mixture of hyper and hypo symptoms.

Who is this doctor she is seeing, an NHS one? They don't seem to know about Hashi's and her thyroid meds are being messed with big time.

Hashimoto's is where antibodies attack the thyroid and gradually destroy it. The antibody attacks cause fluctuations in symptoms and test results.

Most doctors don't understand about Hashi's so your daughter needs to read, learn, understand and help yourself where Hashi's is concerned.

She can help reduce the antibodies by adopting a strict gluten free diet which has helped many members here. Gluten contains gliadin (a protein) which is thought to trigger autoimmune attacks so eliminating gluten can help reduce these attacks. You don't need to be gluten sensitive or have Coeliac disease for a gluten free diet to help.

Supplementing with selenium l-selenomethionine 200mcg daily can also help reduce the antibodies, as can keeping TSH suppressed.

Gluten/thyroid connection: chriskresser.com/the-gluten...

stopthethyroidmadness.com/h...

stopthethyroidmadness.com/h...

hypothyroidmom.com/hashimot...

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

Hashi's and gut absorption problems tend to go hand in hand and can very often result in low nutrient levels or deficiencies. When you have the results of the private test, post them in a new thread for comment.

[TheaW]

Your poor daughter. Thank good ness she has you! I have been seeing a functional medicine doctor privately who is clouded up to thyroid and hashis and very sympathetic. If you are interested let me know and I’ll pm you the details

[Hidden]

It sounds as though her doctor hasn't a clue on dosing. I only take NDT and have no thyroid. Hopefully when her blood test results come back you can put them on this site including the ranges and wait for the answers.

It's certainly an odd mix no wonder the poor girl feels bad, it's a good job she has you to help her.