Newbie Intro and brief background

[LunaMa]

Hi everyone, I’ve joined the forum this week after experiencing multiple hypo symptoms for years. I also have a number of other conditions - asthma, Bronchiectasis, Psoriatic Arthritis and anxiety. I’ve had two “borderline high” (Drs/lab definition) TSH readings of 6.8 (which “righted” itself) and 6.1 in the last couple of years, but as the readings were not over 10 they wouldn’t do any further tests or start treatment.

I’m now seeing a more sympathetic GP in the practice who is checking the TSH level again and, if it is still in the ”borderline” range, will start treatment. I should get the results on Thursday but I am also doing my own tests via Medichecks (thyroid ultravit), as I’m concerned that the TSH will have dropped again. I hope that by the time I see the GP I’ll have the Medicheck results and with info gleaned from this forum, will be able to have an informed discussion. Any tips will be gratefully received!

LunaM

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

LumaMa

One of the best tips, when looking for a diagnosis, is when booking thyroid tests, we advise:

* Book the first appointment of the morning. This is because TSH is highest early morning and lowers throughout the day. If we are looking for a diagnosis of hypothyroidism, or looking for an increase in dose or to avoid a reduction then we need TSH to be as high as possible.

* Fast overnight - have your evening meal/supper as normal the night before but delay breakfast on the day of the test and drink water only until after the blood draw. Eating may lower TSH, caffeine containing drinks affect TSH.

* Leave off Levo for 24 hours before blood draw, if taking NDT or T3 then leave that off for 8-12 hours. Take after the blood draw. Taking your dose too close to the blood draw will give false high results, leaving any longer gap will give false low results.

These are patient to patient tips which we don't discuss with doctors or phlebotomists and tests should be done this way every time so that we can compare results accurately.

Also, testing TSH alone is not enough. It is a pituitary hormone. The pituitary checks to see if we have enough thyroid hormone, if not it sends a signal (TSH) when hormone level is low - in that case the TSH will be hgh. So really need our hormone levels checked as well - FT4 and FT3. And to see whether we have autoimmune thyroid disease we need thyroid antibodies checked - Thyroid Peroxidase and Thyroglobulin. Autoimmune thyroid disease - Hashimoto's - is the cause of about 80-90% of hypothyroidism.

[LunaMa in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks for getting back to me. I’ve already had the tests done at the surgery and didn’t know about the fasting aspect, but will bear that in mind for the medicheck ones. Thanks again

[LunaMa]

It’s so frustrating as I’m really symptomatic and struggling - it feels like every cell is screaming for help.

Thanks for responding. I totally get your user name!