I have been on slimming world for nearly 3 weeks and not lost an ounce. I am following diet correctly as I have been on it before. My thyroid tests are abnormal and seen the replies posted on here following my posting of test results it appears I may have underactive thyroid. My GPhas told me to come for repeat test in 6 months ( this will be the 4th test in 15 months).
I've a Drs appointment in 3 weeks as I wish to discuss. My question is (if there is an answer) if he puts me on Levothyroxine will this help me to lose weight?
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Ninapark
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Hi Ninapark. There's no background to your symptoms etc on your Profile. It is easier to read some history as it gives us a picture before we respond as it woud take some time to read all previous posts.
Doctors in the UK seem to have been directed not to diagnose someone if the TSH hasn't reached 10. In other countries we'd be diagnosed if it goes above 3 with symptoms.
If your GP is testing he should test TSH, T4, T3, Free T4, Free T3 and thyroid antibodies. If he doesn't you don't have the full picture. I also think they've been directed that TSH and T4 are all that's needed.
However, we have several labs that do home pin-prick tests and it may be wise for you to get your own. The procedure is:-
To be well-hydrated a couple of days before blood draw. It should also be a fasting test (you can drink water) and has to be at the very earliest as TSH drops throughout the day - these are finger pin-prick blood draws.
if you were taking thyroid hormones you'd allow a gap of 24 hours between last dose and test and take afterwards.
I think the GP may only do the TSH and T4 which isn't sufficient to diagnose unless TSH was over 10.
Unexplained weight gain is probably the first symptom that some members have. If we complain to GP they assume we eat too much but the fact is that, if hypo, our metabolism slows right down thus causing weight gain. When we begin taking thyroid hormone replacements, usually levothyroxine, it can raise our metabolism and weight begins to reduce.
I think you know that all blood tests for thyroid hromones have to be at the very earliest possible (TSH is highest then) and may mean we get a diagnose or not. GP should also test B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate. deficiences also cause symptoms.
I will state I'm not medically qualified but was also an undiagnosed hypothyroid person.
You are hypothyroid. Has GP not diagnosed you? He should have as your TSH is .5 under 10. With a TSH of 9.5 you should have been diagnosed and prescribed 50mcg of levothyroxine to start with increases of 25mcg every six weeks until TSH is 1 or lower.
Make a new appointment and ask for 50mcg levo and this should be increased every six weeks by 25mcg until TSH is 1 or lower (not somewhere in the range). You also have antibodies and treatment is the same as hypothyroidism:
thyroid per oxidase ABS 336 ku/L (0.0-34.0) means you have an Autoimmune Thyroid Disease, called Hashimoto's or hashi's.
Thank you I have an appointment (made by my own choice, Dr did not ask to see me just said repeat tests in 6 months) as I wish to discuss these results rather than blindly follow what another GP has advised. Also I’m having quite a few muscle cramps in my thigh and as I say unable to lose weight currently
2 over range results for TSH, the second one being just 0.5 short of the magic number 10 where doctors in the UK will diagnose hypothyrodism, and your GP only wants to retest in 6 months. Disgraceful!
Over range TSH but below 10, with FT4 in range is classed as "Subclinical Hypothyroidism". When antibodies are also present then Levo should be started.
Dr Toft, past president of the British Thyroid Association and leading endocrinologist, states in Pulse Magazine (the magazine for doctors):
Question 2:
I often see patients who have an elevated TSH but normal T4. How should I be managing them?
Answer:
The combination of a normal serum T4 and raised serum TSH is known as subclinical hypothyroidism. If measured, serum T3 will also be normal. Repeat thyroid function tests in two or three months in case the abormality represents a resolving thyroiditisis.
But if it persists then antibodies to thyroid peroxidase should be measured. If these are positive - indicative of underlying autoimmune disease - the patient should be considered to have the mildest form of hypothyroidism.
In the absence of symptoms some would simply recommend annual thyroid function tests until serum TSH is over 10mU/l or symptoms such as tiredness and weight gain develop. But a more pragmatic approach is to recotnise that the thyroid failure is likely to be come worse and try to nip things in the bud rather than risk loss to follow up.
Treatment should be started with levothyroxine in a dose sufficient to restore serum TSH to the lower part of it's reference range. Levothyroxine in a dose of 75-100mcg daily will usually be enough.
If there are no thyroid peroxidase antibodies, levothyroxine should not be started unless serum TSH is consistently greater than 10mU/l. A serum TSh of less than 10mU/l in the absence of antithyroid peroxidase antibodies may simply be that patient's normal TSH concentration.
You can obtain a copy of the article by emailing Dionne at
tukadmin@thyroiduk.org
print it and highlight question 2 to show your doctor.
Also, print off this list of signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism, tick any that you experience, to show your GP
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