Hashimotos advice

[Butties]

Please help. My tsh is 1.5 & t4 is 12.9 my doctor has told me that this is normal but I'm just concerned that she should also be testing T3 & antibodies. Ive had 2 thyroid operations in the last 5 years. The 1st for a goiter and the 2nd to remove a 2cm nodule that showed indeterminate cells. Would levothyriodine help regulate my thyriod and slow hashimotos?

[Lalatoot]

No point in keeping testing antibodies. You know you have them. Ft3 is not currently tested routinely. This is OK for most folks as they respond well to standard treatment.

Levothyroxine will not slow your hashimotos. Levothyroxine provides the hormones that we no longer get from our damaged thyroid.

[Butties in reply to Lalatoot]

Thank you for your reply.

[Lora7again in reply to Lalatoot]

I think there is a point to testing your antibodies. Mine are 4000 at the moment and very high and they are causing me symptoms because I am under attack. I am taking selenium and vitamin D spray to try and reduce them.

[Roadrunnergreg in reply to Lora7again]

Autoimmune diseases inc hashimoto's often has a critter element in the mix, usually candida or Epstein Barr, need to test for which critter is attacking the thyroid and get that under control, then if alls well things should/could stabilise inc thyroid function...

[Hidden in reply to Lalatoot]

Sorry, but how do you know that most people respond well to standard treatment and therefore do not need to have their FT3 levels tested....? I doubt that is true, especially on forums such as this one which many join precisely because they DO NOT feel well on standard treatment (levothyroxine).

[greygoose]

'Normal' just means 'in-range'. But, it's where in the range the result falls that is important. However, as you haven't given us the ranges, we can't tell you how good or bad your FT4 is.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Low vitamin levels are extremely common with Hashimoto's

What vitamin supplements do you currently take?

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

Ask GP to test vitamin levels

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and before eating or drinking anything other than water .

This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)

Is this how you do your tests?

You will need to test FT3, FT4 and TSH together privately

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

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

[Butties]

Thanks for the advice. I don't take any supplements on a regular basis. I have a healthy diet and go to the gym 3-4 times a week. Naively I thought this would be enough. I will make an appointment with my gp and ask for a further blood test. I just want to stay healthy and avoid losing my thyroid function.

[Lora7again in reply to Butties]

Good luck with getting your Doctor to test your T3 and antibodies. My Doctor requested them with my recent blood test and the Lab refused because my TSH was in range at 0.70. The Lab then decided to do a liver function and a cholesterol test even though my Doctor didn't request them!

[kildareD]

I've just bought the book 'Taming the beast Hashimoto..it is very informative

[Butties in reply to kildareD]

Thanks. I will have a look at that now 👍