Periodically my body temperature drops into the range 35.4C to 36.5C. This can be caused by being in a cold temperature and not being able to get warm, or it can just happen. I think there may be an association with eating, it often seems to happen after lunch. It can also happen an hour or 2 after exercise.
Is this kind of fall in body temperature diagnostic for hypothyroid, or are there other conditions which may cause this?
There are conditions I have found which list temperature as a symptom, but it is usually raised, or, on follow up I find no specific data on the temperature effects of the condition (ie B12d).
I also struggle to sense correctly if my body temperature is hot or cold, often my partner disagrees with what I am feeling. ie I feel cold, she tells me I am radiating heat. Temperature stability seems to be an issue, I feel cold, I wrap warmer, suddenly I am sweating. Take off extra layer and again I am cold.
Bob
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Is this kind of fall in body temperature diagnostic for hypothyroid,
You can't diagnose hypothyroidism on low temperature alone. If you want to know if you are hypothyroid, you'll need to do a thyroid function test which includes
TSH
FT4
FT3
Thyroid antibodies
If GP wont do them, then do a private test with one of our recommended labs, most popular are Medichecks and Blue Horizon
OK, problem is my TSH level is considered normal @ 2.8 However, having just read this:
"Another interesting observation: Your serum Free T4 abruptly rises by about 20% when you fast for 12 or more hours. In clinical practice, many patients actually fast for 12 or more hours because they also have their blood drawn for cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose level. This increase in Free T4 is misleading in the sense that it does not truly reflect what happens on a daily basis when you do not fast. You may actually be low in Free T4, but fasting will bring Free T4 in to the normal range. The reason for this abrupt increase in Free T4 after fasting is as follows: Fasting causes a decrease in the peripheral T4 to T3 conversion which causes a transient build-up of Free T4." (from "Hypothyroidism And Hashimoto's Thyroiditis: A Groundbreaking, Scientific And Practical Treatment Approach" by Sarfraz Zaidi MD)
Since I am diabetic, this test was done fasted, probably a period of 18 hours so a retest when not fasted may be called for. And if I understand this correctly, it will bring down my TSH.
I ask the above question more because I want to see other conditions that may cause temperature depression, then I can evaluate whether their symptomolgy is a better fit to me before I jump on it being hypothyroid and all the battles that will ensue (I have 2 daughters, one diagnosed, the other trying to get a diagnosis, I am fully aware of the problems they have had and are having with the NHS).
Probably both are hypothyroid, one is diagnosed and on levo, the other has most of the symptoms, TSH apx 4.8 and is trying to get a therapeutic trial of levo. The first had a huge struggle to be diagnossed as here TSH was in the same range, but is now so much better with treatment.
Diagnosis for diabetes is an easy one
Yes, just been reading about the antibodies, test is now on my bucket list...
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