Hashimotos and bone loss

[montague53]

Hi, I have hashimotos, antibodies are 259. I have been sick for two years since having a full hysterectomy. I know have curvature of the spine cervical and lower back bone pain. Is bone loss and disorders related to hashimotos and what can i do to help myself before it gets any worse.

[NWA6]

Hi Montague. You need a little more info here for members to comment. So you have Hashimotos? When were you diagnosed? What are your previous FT4/3 TSH results? What medication do you take? Were you well before your hysterectomy?

But a basic answer for Hashi’s and bone loss is to be adequately medicated.

[montague53 in reply to NWA6]

Hi Paula6,

I was diagnosed just over a year ago, and I was given 50mcg of Levothyroxine and my T4 levels hardly changed and I felt awful, could hardly get out of bed. I started to take NDT and my results got better, my T4 went up to 13 and I started to improve. I take Thyroid S which I sourced myself. I felt this worked really well at first but now feel that it is not working properly as all the symptoms have come back.

This is my latest results.

TSH is 0.01

T4 is 10.4

T3 is 3.1

TPO antibodies 259.

[NWA6 in reply to montague53]

Hey 👋So when you were on Levo and your T4 didn’t rise were you not offered more Levo? 50mcg is just a starting dose and it’s not unusual to need an increase after your first 6wk trial and/or subsequent increases in the first year from diagnosis.

I’m no expert on NDT and I’m taking a guess at your results because you’ve not added ranges but your FT3 doesn’t look good, on the basis of my own lab range (3.5-6.5) you really need an increase in NDT.

With Hashi’s it’s always evolving, for some in the early days or when subclinical one can get periods of really Hypo before the body rallies and we can also feel Hyper but usually we just feel really symptomatic, then get medication, feel good, then as the condition worsens we need extra medication and so it goes. There can be long periods of stability and we feel comfortable and symptoms can creep up slowly so we second guess the warning signs. This is why blood tests are a good way to monitor our condition. Even when well, sometimes esp when feeling good we should have a blood test because it can show our ‘sweet spot’ which is individual to all of us.

Have you tried and increase yet?

[montague53 in reply to NWA6]

No, I wasn't offered anymore meds. Is FT3 the same as just T3, because the Dr says it was a wee bit high. My TT3 was also 3.1. I'm very new to all this and am really not clued up on it yet. I have had a bad B12 deficiency and have been taking injections, so have been focusing on this much more and didn't understand how much my hashimoto's was affecting my health until recently. This has all happened at once so am a bit overwhelmed at times trying to work out whats going on with my body. I was super healthy 2 years ago and my health just went right down hill.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to montague53]

Free T3 is FT3.

Total T3 is TT3.

T3 - without anything else - could be either.

Possible reference ranges

Total T3:

0.9 to 2.5 nmol/L

Free T3:

3.1 to 7.5 pmol/L

Typically, if you had both done at the same time, Free T3 would be about three times larger as a number. (But the units for Total T3 are one thousand times bigger than those for Free T3.)

It would be extraordinary to have the same number as a result for both FT3 and TT3. As you can see from the sample reference ranges, 3.1 would be very slightly high for Total T3, but would be at the very bottom of range for Free T3.

This is because we typically have around 300 times as much bound T3 as free. And TT3 measures bound and free. FT3 measures free only. That is, by far the majority of the T3 in our blood is bound to proteins.

[montague53 in reply to helvella]

HI helvella, thank you for all that great information. I will phone G.P. and get a proper print out so I can understand results better.

Many thanks x

[Angel_of_the_North]

Bone loss is related to hysterectomy more than Hashis

[montague53 in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

Hi Angel of the North,

Yes I know, but I think I have a combination of all my hormones being really low. I had an early menopause at 44. I'v recently been wondering if I have a problem with my pituitary gland.

[NWA6 in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

Agreed 🤗