endo

[Raf063]

first visit to endo, she was a little shocked that treatment only started last year when tft showed there was a problem 6 years ago

[Treepie]

Does your post have a point?

[Raf063 in reply to Treepie]

if treatment started 6 yrs ago big possibility would not of developed thyroid auto immune disease

[Raf063 in reply to Raf063]

my gp was only concerned of high colesterol and kept putting me on statins

[Treepie in reply to Raf063]

See Dr.Malcolm Kendrick on statins.I stopped taking them.

[Hidden in reply to Treepie]

Me too

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Raf063]

How much Levothyroxine are you currently taking?

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested. Also important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially if Thyroid antibodies are raised

Bloods should be retested 6-8 weeks after each dose increase

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and fasting. This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)

Last Levothyroxine dose should be 24 hours prior to test, (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).

List of hypothyroid symptoms

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

The aim of Levothyroxine is to increase the dose slowly in 25mcg steps upwards until TSH is under 2 (many need TSH significantly under one) and most important is that FT4 in top third of range and FT3 at least half way in range

All four vitamins need to be regularly tested and frequently need supplementing to maintain optimal levels

NHS guidelines on Levothyroxine including that most patients eventually need somewhere between 100mcg and 200mcg Levothyroxine.

nhs.uk/medicines/levothyrox...

Also what foods to avoid (eg recommended to avoid calcium rich foods at least four hours from taking Levo)

High cholesterol is linked to being hypothyroid

nhs.uk/conditions/statins/c...

If you have an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism), treatment may be delayed until this problem is treated. This is because having an underactive thyroid can lead to an increased cholesterol level, and treating hypothyroidism may cause your cholesterol level to decrease, without the need for statins. Statins are also more likely to cause muscle damage in people with an underactive thyroid.

[Raf063 in reply to SlowDragon]

i am 100 , they put me straight on 100 saying they needed to boost me, made me so ill, levels are ok at the moment so I am told but have no faith in gp anymore

[MissGrace in reply to Raf063]

How is that so - that you wouldn’t have developed autoimmune disease? My understanding is that if you have hashis, you have hashis. You might not have felt so bad. But how could being given Levo have stopped it? I’m no expert - I’m interested in what you are suggesting. Can you expand? 🤸🏿‍♀️🥛

[Raf063 in reply to MissGrace]

given statins instead of levo, untreated underactive thyroid can develop thyroid immune disease, you don't give statins until thyroid under controll

[Hidden in reply to Raf063]

Why give statins at all? Underactive thyroid is one of the main causes of high cholesterol?

[shaws Administrator in reply to Hidden]

Few doctors seem to know anything other than adjusting dose according to the TSH and are willing to give prescriptions for 'symptoms' rather than sufficient thyroid hormones to relieve them.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Raf063]

Once we have autoimmune thyroid disease, we have it for life. We can get it under control by taking Levothyroxine and improving vitamins and addressing food intolerances....but the disease is still there

Once you have been on 100mcg for 6-8 weeks recommended to get FULL Thyroid and vitamin testing

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 tested. Also very important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Presumably you have had thyroid antibodies tested and know you have Hashimoto's?

Low vitamin levels are extremely common with Hashimoto's

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and fasting. This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)

Last Levothyroxine dose should be 24 hours prior to test, (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).

Is this how you do your tests?

Private tests are available. Thousands on here forced to do this as NHS often refuses to test FT3 or antibodies or all vitamins

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have special offers, Medichecks usually have offers on Thursdays, Blue Horizon its more random

Come back with new post once you get results and ranges and members can advise on next steps

As you have Hashimoto's Are you on strictly gluten free diet?

[Raf063 in reply to SlowDragon]

I have asked gp for the above tests to be done but they wont test vit d, folate etc. can not afford private testing yet, not on gluton free diet

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Raf063]

Links about autoimmune thyroid disease and low vitamin D

Yet still most Hashimoto's patients struggle to get NHS to test vitamin D

All Patients with autoimmune thyroid disease should have vitamin D tested annually and certainly on diagnosis of thyroid disease

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/286...

Vitamin D deficiency is frequent in Hashimoto's thyroiditis and treatment of patients with this condition with Vitamin D may slow down the course of development of hypothyroidism and also decrease cardiovascular risks in these patients. Vitamin D measurement and replacement may be critical in these patients.

endocrine-abstracts.org/ea/...

Evidence of a link between increased level of antithyroid antibodies in hypothyroid patients with HT and 25OHD3 deficiency may suggest that this group is particularly prone to the vitamin D deficiency and can benefit from its alignment.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/300...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Our results indicated that patients with hypothyroidism suffered from hypovitaminosis D with hypocalcaemia that is significantly associated with the degree and severity of the hypothyroidism. That encourages the advisability of vit D supplementation and recommends the screening for Vitamin D deficiency and serum calcium levels for all hypothyroid patients.

Same applies to low B12 - extremely common in hypothyroid patients

All patients who are hypothyroid should have B12 tested

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/186...

There is a high (approx 40%) prevalence of B12 deficiency in hypothyroid patients. Traditional symptoms are not a good guide to determining presence of B12 deficiency. Screening for vitamin B12 levels should be undertaken in all hypothyroid patients, irrespective of their thyroid antibody status. Replacement of B12 leads to improvement in symptoms,

You can get vitamin D tested here via NHS postal kit £29

vitamindtest.org.uk

[Stourie in reply to Raf063]

Before I was diagnosed hypo my cholesterol was 14.85. Started levo and raised to 100 after a few months . Cholesterol was checked again and it was down to 4.6 The only thing I was doing differently was taking my levo. Not on that now though. Jo xx

[SlowDragon Administrator]

See from your other posts you are a joiner....so assuming....male

100mcg is a low dose for a man

Guidelines are 1.6mcg per kilo of your weight

Very important to regularly test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12.

[shaws Administrator]

Your endo has no need to be surprised as thousands seem not to be diagnosed - their TSH has to reach 10 first of all, when in other countries if it goes above range (around 5) people would be prescribed. Not one could diagnose me with a TSH of 100 and I eventually had to diagnose myself.

[greygoose]

I really don't think that's quite right. Un-treated hypo can cause many problems but I don't think it causes autoimmune issues - Hashi's. Either you have Hashi's or you don't. Were your antibodies tested six years ago? If not then you cannot assume you didn't have Hashi's at the time.

I suppose it's possible that you can be hypo and un-treated, and then something else triggers the Hashi's - like taking iodine, or endocrine disrupters in body-care products, or something - but I really don't think that just being hypo and un-treated for six years would cause you to have Hashi's by itself.

[silverfox7]

The other thing to realise is that 90% of us have Hashi's and 10 % don't so you aren't on your own or a minority