Recent diagnosis of hypothyroidism

[Kip4]

Hi! I was recently diagnosed with hypothyroidism, June 2018, have been put on 50mg of Levothyroxine, had my blood tested 6 weeks later and my doctor tells me my thyroid levels are now normal. Is is normal for me to feel tired by 2pm in the afternoon and yet be wide awake during the night (it’s currently 4am), Grumpiness, feeling low, irritable leading to self doubt? Will I ever lose the stone I put on? Will my hair/nails ever stop being brittle?

I will take my time to read posts but would welcome any comments on how best to manage my symptoms based on previous experience, thank you!

[shaws Administrator]

First, welcome to our forum and am sorry you have hypothyroidism.

Words not to accept when we return to surgery re thyroid hormone blood tests are:-

"normal, fine, o.k. and you don't need any increase"

Once upon a time all doctors knew ALL of the clinical symptoms, nowadays they only look at the TSH and T4. Definitely not good enough for us, the patient we want to be symptom-free and feel well.

It is now a big learning curve for you to recover your health back to normal - 'normal' doesn't mean that your bloods are within a range (they do to doctors) but we need 'optimal'.

First - you were diagnosed in June. You are on 50mcg of levothyroxine -a starting dose. and back to normal health and have no clinical symptoms? According to your GP?

These are some helpful hints:-

All blood tests have to be at the very earliest possible, fasting (you can drink water) and allow a gap of 24 hours between last dose and test and take afterwards.

This helps the TSH to be at its highest as that seems to be all the doctor looks at (maybeand maybe T4 also). Make your next appointment weeks ahead so you do get the ealiest one.

Ask for B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate next time..

Always get a print-out from now on from the surgery and make sure the Ranges are stated. Ranges are in brackets after the results.

The aim is a TSH of 1 or lower. Thyroid Stimulating Hormone comes from the pituitary gland which tries to flag up more hormones from the thyroid gland when it is failing to produce sufficient thyroid hormones.

A Full Thyroid Function Test is:

TSH, T4, T3, Free T4, Free T3 and thyroid antibodies If antibodies haven't been checked ask for these at your next appointment which should be every six weeks until TSH is 1 or lower. Some doctors mistakenly believe that if TSH'in range' (even up to 5 is fine). Not so.

Always get a print-out of your results and post for comments.

If you didn't ask for a copy of your present results/ranges ask for one and put them on a new question.

[Kip4 in reply to shaws]

Thanks for such a detailed response, really appreciate you taking the time! I definitely feel more armed for my next visit to question my GP/ obtain my full results. I’ll defintely post my results for further support. I’m not due till October but will book during September and get things moving. 😊

[SlowDragon Administrator]

First thing is, do you have any actual blood test results? if not will need to get hold of copies.

You are legally entitled to printed copies of your blood test results and ranges.

UK GP practices are supposed to offer online access for blood test results. Ring and ask if this is available and apply to do so if possible, if it is you may need enhanced access to see blood results.

In reality many GP surgeries do not have blood test results online yet

Alternatively ring receptionist and request printed copies of results. Allow couple of days and then go and pick up. They can no longer charge for printing out, rules changed after May 25th 2018

Come back with new post once you have results for TSH, FT3 and FT4, plus have you also had thyroid antibodies tested. Plus you need vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 tested. Add results and ranges if you have them

Low vitamin levels are extremely common when hypothyroid so should be tested and may need supplementing

All thyroid tests should be done as early as possible in morning and fasting and don't take Levo in the 24 hours prior to test, delay and take straight after. This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, GP will be unaware)

Always take Levo on empty stomach and then nothing apart from water for at least an hour after.

Many take Levothyroxine early morning, on waking, but it may be more convenient and possibly more effective taken at bedtime.

verywell.com/should-i-take-...

Other medication must be at least 2 hours away, some like HRT, iron, calcium, vitamin D or magnesium at least four hours away from Levothyroxine

Many people find Levothyroxine brands are not interchangeable. Once you find a brand that suits you, best to make sure to only get that one at each prescription. Watch out for brand change when dose is increased or at repeat prescription.

Many patients do NOT get on well with Teva brand of Levothyroxine. Though it is the only one for lactose intolerant patients

[Kip4 in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you for taking the time to to comprehensively reply to my post, really appreciate your response. I shall bring my next appointment forward, get detailed results and be back to post and gain further support from you! 😊