My 82 year old mum has been asking for a trial of thyroxine for over a year but her GP says she’s normal. She suffers from a variety of hypo symptoms including no reflexes in arms or legs, fatigue, low mood, apathy etc.
She is due to see for a private endo (one who helped me) next week so I organised bloods for her. I’m now really questioning whether she’d be wasting her money seeing him (something she can’t really afford) as the blood results came back today and her FT3 and FT4 levels have risen and look really good. She has had thyroglobulin antibodies for at least a year though so could it be the result of a Hashi flare? Or maybe not as her antibodies have fallen slightly?
These are her results firstly from a year ago and secondly from today:
CRP was 2.29 now 0.51 (<5)
Ferritin was 231 now 135 (13-150)
Folate was 19.01 now >19.8 (3.89-26.8)
Active B12 was 198 now 200 (37.5-188 but she supplements)
Vitamin D was 96.5 now 81.6 (50-175)
TSH was 2.95 now 2.3 (0.27-4.2)
FT3 was 3.82 now 4.8 (3.1-6.8)
Free thyroxine was 15.6 now 18.1 (12-22)
Thyroglobulin antibodies were 265 now 173 (<115)
Thyroid peroxidase antibodies were 17.8 now 19.5 (<34)
She’s recently seen an NHS rheumatologist who examined her thoroughly and declared her to be in excellent health for a lady of her age. He ordered bloods and a urine sample but we haven’t had those results yet. He suggested (kindly) considering seeing a psychologist for the low mood and anxiety.
Any thoughts much appreciated:
1. Could the surprising rise in FT3 be due to a Hashi flare?
2. Do you think it’s still worth seeing the endo? I feel it is, even if it’s just to completely rule out a thyroid problem despite the fact it’s a lot of money.
Huge thanks in advance for support, advice etc