Can anyone explain these results please. Am I hypo or hyper? I thought a low TSH indicated Hyper but because Antibodies present is it Hypo?
I am so confused . I paid to have these done myself as gps not interested in my symptoms, I showed my Gp a few weeks back, she ordered more tests but they only did TSH which was normal...1.73 (0.34 - 5.6)
This is what the Blue Horizons (test lab) dr commented abt the results....
"There is a slight elevation in the free T3 level. In the presence of a low thyroid stimulating hormone level (TSH), this suggests there may be too much thyroxine in the body . As the free thyroxine level is within normal limits, it would not surprise me to learn you are taking liothyronine (T3) instead of levothyroxine - is this the case?. If you are taking a form of thyroxine medication already, you may need to reduce your dose – a discussion with your usual doctor would be sensible. If not, I also suggest you make an appointment to see your doctor – at least surveillance of thyroid function would be wise, as it would seem in this scenario that an overactive thyroid gland might be developing.
The positive thyroid antibody result, however, increases the possibility of your having or ultimately developing autoimmune thyroid disease, such as Hashimoto's thyroiditis or Grave's disease."
I am taking no medication. At present my symptoms are very mild, I have a good diet, manage to take exercise and lately have felt generally quite well, Ive even lost a few pounds. My main symptoms are fatigue and headaches but again at present they're not too bad. The worst symptom that is present on a daily basis is overheating and near constant sweating...its awful and has a very negative impact on my life. I have had this since a teenager but I just know the Gp will say "well its to be expected at your age". Im 48
Should I just ignore the results then as my Gp is doing?
Thanks for any comments...
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My guess is that you are going through a "hyper" phase of Hashimoto's.
Your raised antibodies would suggest autoimmune thyroid disease aka Hashimoto's which is where antibodies attack the thyroid and gradually destroy it. Antibodies fluctuate and this can cause fluctuations in test results and symptoms so you an swing between hyper and hypo. The immune system attacks the thyroid, the attack causes the thyroid to dump a load of hormone into the blood and this causes elevated levels of thyroid hormone and a suppressed TSH. This is a "hyper" phase of Hashi's. Things eventually settle down. With Hashi's you can have both hyper and hypo symptoms.
However, to confirm whether or not you have Graves disease (overactive thyroid) you would need TSI/TRAb antibodies tested.
Yes, the hyper phase would cause symptoms of hyperthyroidism, but with Hashi's you can have symptoms of both hypo and hyper, which is why it's so confusing.
I'm not saying you definitely have Hashi's, my guess is that you do. But you would need to rule out Graves by having the Graves antibodies tested.
Ok thankyou....thats interesting to hear you can have symptoms of both at the same time...things make a bit more sense now! I don't suppose the Gp will run a test for Graves? am I within my right to ask for one?
Thanks....cant afford to pay for yet another test, is this normal that gps will just ignore results? is it ok for me not to have any treatment then, can I live with this or will it get worse over time?
Some GPs will accept private tests, some won't but they can be used to suggest your GP does further investigations.
I would suggest you do some research so you can discuss autoimme thyroid disease with your GP and suggest he refers you to an endo. However, the choice of endo will be crucial, you need a thyroid specialist and most endos are diabetes specialists who know little about thyroid. Also, many endos dismiss antibodies as being of little importance.
You can send for the list of thyroid friendly endos from Dionne at ThyroidUK
tukadmin@thyroiduk.org
Then ask on the forum for feedback on any that you can travel to. Replies will have to be by private message as we can't discuss individual doctors on the forum.
SeasideSusie...are these Thyroid friendly Endo's private then? Will I have to pay for them? How can I just choose and Endo if its on the NHS...am I able to do that?
They're not necessarily private. They're often NHS endos who also see private patients too. Send for the list, see who's in your area and who you can travel to, then ask for feedback on the forum before doing anything else.
overheating and near constant sweating...its awful and has a very negative impact on my life. I have had this since a teenager but I just know the Gp will say "well its to be expected at your age". Im 48
This is very unusual. An autoimmune thyroid condition would normally progress to much more severe symptoms than you have fairly quickly and not remain the same for over 30 years.
Are there any close family members with thyroid or autoimmune conditions which could indicate a genetic condition?
T3 is the active thyroid hormone which controls almost every cell in the body. Free T3 is the best measure of how much T3 is available for the cells to use. You Free T3 is above the top of the normal range, which would normally indicate hyperthyroid.
You can get a list of hyper symptoms on websites such as Thyroid UK.
Do you have high heart rate or high blood pressure and do your hands shake if you hold your arms out in front of your body? These are the common symptoms.
1. With high antibodies you would expect to see strong symptoms.
2. With your above range free T3 you could expect symptoms of hyperthyroidism.
3. Your overheating and near constant sweating for many years could indicate hyperthyroidism but you would also expect to see high heart rate, shaking etc.
The only recommendation I can make is to monitor your symptoms to see if there is any pattern. Take your basal temperature, in bed before getting up. Also take resting blood pressure and heart rate when you can, recording these over several weeks. If these vary a lot it may show if your thyroid hormones are fluctuating due to the autoimmune condition.
Thanks...yes it is confusing. I took basal temps for a month abt a year ago and always consistently on the low side..
So with an auto immune condition am I right in thinking its either Hashimotos or Graves . Hashi's causes Hypo and Graves causes Hyper symptoms...but someone said I can still be Hyper with Hashimotos?
Dr Broda Barnes was one of the greatest thyroid experts of the 20th century and dedicated more than fifty years of his life to researching, teaching and treating thyroid and related endocrine dysfunctions. He developed the basal temperature test and regarded a low basal temperature as an indication of hypothyroid.
Hypothyroidism does not however fit with your Free T3 result. The only explanation I can think of is thyroid hormone resistance, also known as impaired sensitivity to thyroid hormone. With this condition very high levels of Free T3 can be required to overcome the resistance. It is genetic, which is why I asked the question about your family in a previous reply. It can also cause many other health issues such as heart disease, cancer, autoimmune conditions, women’s health issues, strokes and mental health conditions.
What were your vitamin D, folate and B12 results, they are cut off in the photo
Hashimoto's affects the gut and leads to low stomach acid and then low vitamin levels
Low vitamin levels affect Thyroid hormone working
Your ferritin is a bit low, eating liver or liver pate once a week should help improve
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, sometimes 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
Like you I have been having awful symptoms of sweating for a number of years now since 2005😳 it started with sweating then progressed to vomiting I was diagnosed with overactiveparathyroid glands.ok I thought I can deal with this now 6 wks later and another blood test my so called levels ad returned to normal😤 but I was still sympomatic..after weeks of trying to get my GP to listen to me I left the sugery..joined a new one and was diagnosed with ME/fibromayalgia so for years I have had these symptoms on and off..in 2015 I was hospitalised I was vomiting blood.no causeway found..7 months ago I went deaf in my left ear.no cause was found..I have told both of the consultant's I thought I was attacking my own body..they ignored me..I also told my GP who also ignored me.now on the 21st sep I my symptoms took a massive turn for the worst..with the sweating I developed server shaking was very weak and fatigued..I saw a different GP she got blood off me their and then..it came back as overactive thiyroid gland (hyperthyroidism ) well I knew all along I had this because of my symptoms when I was attacking the thiyroid..belive me when I had blood taken it always came bk as within levels..but i never felt well..and because I'm 56 it was always put down to the dreaded menopause..thank god for that new doc at my surgery..I can now hold all the cards and demand something be done..it has been the most awful years living with this..I was put on carbimazole but had a bad reaction to it so now I'm on beta blockers until I see an endo..believe me it pays to pushave GPS I really don't think they know everything
Hope u get sorted especially when u have symptoms 😕😕😕
Wow, quite a joureny birkie, but a diagnosis at last, I do hope some correct treatment will make you feel better v soon. I was diagnosed with CFS/ME back in 2008 but I have always suspected my thyroid is partly to blame because of all the symptoms but tests always in the GPs normal range until I had these private tests done, but Gp (and Ive seen many) just dismiss the symptoms and go by the bloods...it seems we have to be our own doctors with these thyroid problems...Good luck!
I havent even a clue yet as to whether Im hyper or hypo...still confused and it seems the only way to find out is to spend money on tests which I cant afford...
I am in the process of asking for my resuits to be printed out..been on the phone now for over 15 mins trying to get threw talked about stress...😤😤😤😤😤😤😤😤
TSH testing arrived in the late 1960s and over the following twenty years thyroid blood tests became accepted as the total answer for thyroid diagnosis and treatment.
The terms Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and fibromyalgia did not exist until the 1980s when blood tests to diagnose hypothyroidism became standard practice. The diagnosis is used when thyroid blood tests are normal but there are hypothyroid symptoms!
Your diagnosis of CFS/ME supports the possibility of a thyroid problem
Hi there, im sorry to hear that your thyroid is out of sync, can i ask is your water fluoridated? Fluoride can have a terrible effect on your thyroid. Also are you aware of the Iodine Crisis? and how it affects your thyroid? I suggest you get this book, called the "Iodine Crisis" by Lynn Farrow. It might be in the library, or they might get it in for you.
Hi , as far as I know my water is not flouridated. But I know that back in 2011 I had quite a severe iodine deficiency, discovered by some private tests, i supplemented very carefully under supervision of a wholistic practitioner but then stopped going because of the cost and stoppped supplementing because it can make you Hyper I was led to believe. So Ive no idea of my Iodine levels now, though I did do a patch test back along and it was absorbed completly by my skin in quite a short space of time! There seems to be so much confusion and conflicting advice about all this thyroid stuff...I really don't know where to turn...
Turn towards your spirit and forget about any GP or endo unless he makes sense and explains what your problem is. When your T4 level is normal, as yours is, but your T3 level is low it usually means a conversion problem but your FT3 is high. Usually your T3 level is low when you have RT3 problems but yours is high. The definition of RT3 is that it is a metabolite of T4 (thyroxine) and when T4 loses an atom of iodine—a process known as monodeiodination , or T4 to T3 conversion—it becomes triiodothyronine (T3), the active thyroid hormone. I don't know if this has any relevance in your case but it does involve a loss of iodine, which you mentioned, so it could end up being relevant, in your case, even though most gps, and endo's, ignore it and refuse to test for it.
Every 'case' is special because every human being is special, to god, if not to most GP's & endo's, and you are a 'special' human being, as are we all, and so no one, absolutely no one, including endo's, specialists, etc. can 'diagnose' you simply by a TSH level, or anything else, including symptoms, although symptoms are the best chance of a correct diagnosis.
I hope I have helped you begin the process of finding your correct dose of medication but, remember, you are the one suffering, not the gp, not the endo, you and you alone must decide what makes you "feel better again." It's hard, as is this life for us all but take heart for if the world hates you it has hated me also and many others on this site, as well as others in this world, so you are far from alone. Remember, now, you are not alone, god is with you, I am with you, others here on this site have suffered just as you have and it is confusing, as is this life but you have friends, here and in places you will discover in the future, so do not give up, yet. Take heart and don't lose your hope, your faith and whatever else happens to you, let not your heart be troubled but also, never let your heart, your soul, be afraid, for it is yours as a human being, and no one, save god, can speak to your heart. May peace be with you always in your journey.
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