Hi, I’m 23 years old and for about 3 years now I have been suffering with various symptoms including:
- Tiredness to the point that I struggle to open my eyes in a morning and kind of feel like I’ve been hit by a bus when I first awake
- Daytime fatigue
- Brain fog
- Psoriasis
- Pale dry skin
It’s made my life a misery recently and I struggle to concentrate or hold proper conversations and I’m forgetful at work. Now I’ve been to the doctors numerous times and had blood tests however no one has ever told me what tests have been done (although I know I was tested for celiac), and everything has come back “fine, no further action required”. I’ve also been prescribed antidepressants even though I had these symptoms way before my mood dropped and anxiety started. Now I imagine my doctor will have tested thyroid function however I’ve heard that they don’t do an in depth search and was wondering if anyone knows if I could still have a thyroid issue even tho past blood tests for various things have come back normal. Just trying to find hope that I’ll find out what the problem is one day.
Would it be worth getting a full thyroid screening done privately? Or would I be wasting my time. Any help would be appreciated, and I know it doesn’t help that I have no previous test results to show.
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jordy124
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Thanks for taking the time to reply. I guess I’ll just have to hassle my GP and refuse to accept depression as a cause of my problems. Just lost hope with the doctors after being sent away with no help so took to researching online for help instead. Thanks again
Welcome to the forum! I've had a quick look at your thyroid part of the tests and it's a shame they didn't do FT3 as it doesn't then give the full picture. Has you have already has suggested to you I would ask your doctor to test Vit D, B12, folate and ferritin. These four help your thyroid to work better and they need to be optimal, not just in range. That could give us a lot of useful info and if you post these with the ranges we can advise on those. They tend to be low if your thyroid is struggling so addressing those will help your general health as well.
Labs have been denying T3 tests for quite a while now do you may eventually have to pay privately for tests, many of us do.
This forum is run by Thyroid U.K. and they have an excellent site with loads of info. This includes a long list of possible symptoms so it could be helpful to print off that and tick the problems you are experiencing to show your GP. You may have more symptoms than you think.
Unfortunately you didn’t test for Free T3 or antibodies, but based on your TSH and FT4 I wouldn’t be surprised if they came back good as well. Still, they’d give a better picture.
Off the bat your folate is below range and your B12, while still technically in range is low and needs supplementation. From what I’ve read, low B12 symptoms can look like hypothyroid symptoms.
You also need to get your Vitamin D levels checked.
Yes I agree with you there, I imagine they would come back normal too, but as you say it would still give a better picture so I think it’s definitely worth it just to see.
I don’t know why they’ve missed out vitamin D levels so I’ll definitely get that checked. Would you recommend supplementing folate and b12 or just waiting to find the cause of the problem first?
It may be eliminating the possibility of side effects of the medication you're presumably on for psoriasis. There may not be a perfect match but some of your symptoms are included in the link below (maybe Google for your specific medication?). You've made your 1st excellent decision by refusing antidepressants - well done!
Thanks for your reply. Despite my psoriasis being quite severe, I have managed to keep on top of it by only using topical treatment and have yet to take systemic treatment at all for it so I can rule that out as I’m sure topical treatment if used properly has little side effects that relate to my symptoms
Skin is our biggest organ and can often reflect the health of the gut. Do you have any gut issues ? Also having optimal VitD levels could help as it is anti-inflammatory - and a steroidal pro-hormone - so you need a level of 100+ ...
I have similar symptoms to you. I’ve found it harder to get out of bed recently but I usually put that down to the winter myself - a lot of people struggle to get out of bed this time of year!
As with the daytime fatigue - I can relate. It kicks in around 1pm and lasts till about 6/7pm for me. Brain fog, spaciness, word muddling, people talk to me and I can’t register what their saying etc and I just can’t be bothered to talk sometimes. These are lingering symptoms from a bad bout of stress I had a year ago. Have you experience severe stress in the past?
My folate is 4.7ng/ml (my lab Range is 3.9 - 26 though) so if your lab used my range you’d be ‘normal’ as I was. This is still low obviously, I’ve heard folate should be at least over mid range and optimal. It also helps b12 to work better - my active b12 was 93pmol/l (37 - 188) so I’m okay on that front.
My TSH hovers around the same kind of range as you as well, my past tests have been 2.73 and 2.08. My t4 has been at 14 and 17 also (same range as yours) and T3 at 5.36 - (3.10 - 6.80).
I’d advise to get a saliva cortisol Test as well and hormones (especially DHEA-S, Total Test, Free Test, SHBG, FSH, LH, Oeastrodiol, Prolactin and Vit d. These give much more of an insight.
My cortisol for example showed higher than normal in the morning and at 4pm before crashing way below at bedtime. I don’t think this is the cause but a symptom and simply proves my body is struggling.
My testosterone, free test, DHEA-S and all other hormones were good as well as my Vit d (80nmol/l so within range but could do with hovering around the 100-125 mark). My prolactin however is consistently high - 4 times in a row In fact, MRI was clear, no head injury and no medication so the only factor left is stress somewhere in the body which can effect it. Prolactin can also elevate due to thyroid problems (a type of stress i suppose).
Well done on avoiding anti D’s! I had about 3 offered my way and I shook my head at them. Unless you are severely and clinically depressed they are just a band aid and can make matters worse. They get handed out like sweets these days, it’s a nice easy way out for doctors and makes a nice profit for them also.
It’s unnerving to meet someone in a similar situation. Kind of feel like I’ll never get to the bottom of it, but like you say, folate and b12 both at the low end of the scale for me, this could definitely be the cause of my symptoms or a sign of something else.
Are they looking into why your prolactin is so high? Make sure to keep me updated on anything they find and I’ll be pushing for the same tests.
I’ll get request those tests next and see where I’m at. Be interesting to see if I fall into the same levels as you for those too
Jordy, just to add to the replies they did a lot of tests but missed out vitamin D as others have pointed out brain fog exhaustion paleness can all point to a vitamin D deficiency and it would be sensible to ask for cortisol and blood glucose Hba1C testing as well for rule out diagnostics, hope this helps!
Thanks, I’d of had no idea what sort of tests were missed and what tests to get next if I didn’t join this forum. I’ll definitely get these checked. Thanks again
You probably need to start exploring your symptoms then take appropriate action. Why are you so tired? The psoriasis tells me your gut is out of balance. Maybe try a quality probiotic and digestive enzyme. Do you take supplements? The B vitamins help sustained energy and they are good for the brain. How about minerals? Do you take a quality mineral supplement? Self educating is a good way to go.
I have not consumed gluten in over 6 years and still have psoriasis and exema which makes balancing the gut flora essential but not always easy. You are right about the autoimmune component.
You could go into a lab called Any Lab Test Now and get the full about $120...the TSH is about $50 but don't rely on just TSH. Then bring results back here and many can help lead you to appropriate doctors if necessary. Endocrinologists are gold and know how to keep us at optimal levels by looking at all T4 and T3 levels. You also could simply ask your doc to run TSH and FT4 FT3...most will only do TSH and that's ok for starters and to lead you in the tight direction but not necessarily the only parameter to test yo optimise thyroid function and improve symptom issues
Hi, thanks for the reply! I have accessed my test results for numerous tests and my TSH level is normal at 2.2 (0.2 - 4) and TS4 is at 18.3 (10 - 20) however my folate is below normal at 4.1 (5.4 - 24) and my B12 is at the lower end at 295 (211 - 911) calcium is also low. They haven’t tested for Vit D so others have told me to get that checked
Firstly If you are already taking anti-depressants fir a while don't just stop taking them suddenly but come off slowly. You are absolutely entitled to know exactly what you have been tested for and also for a full print out of your results. Only then can you start to get a handle on what is going on. You don't mention feeling very cold, hair loss and weight gain which would be typical of being hypo. So doctors for results . It's your life and your body so you have to take control even though a bit difficult when you feel down. Always good to take a friend or at least make sure friends know how you feel. (Easier said than done as you can feel silly and embarrassed when you have no diagnosis and it's all vague) Be brave and good luck. ( I was early twenties when I had strange symptoms but took years before diagnosis as no clue what to ask.and knew nothing of thyroids etc)
You can't depend on a GP to know anything important about thyroid. One sign that there is a problem with your doctor, is that he used the word "normal" without telling you what test(s) were done and what their numerical results were. If you have the resources, I highly recommend that you have the full panel TSH/FT3/FT4/rT3/TPOAb/TGAb. The *Ab antibody tests will rule Hashimoto's (the most common cause of hypothyroid) in or out. I would also urge you to carefully catalog all your symptoms; go to hypothyroidmom.com and search for her list of 300+ hypothyroid symptoms. If you can get a full panel done and post the results here, there are lots of people here who will help you.
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