Good evening everyone. I was diagnosed hypothyroidism 2 weeks ago not sure of my levels, but found records of a test I had 4 years ago before my recent diagnosis. Would someone be able to explain what this means as I haven't taken any notice of it until now
Thank you 😊
Hello Lucy
Your result is 4 years old and shows no ranges but it would seem if I guess the ranges your thyroid was struggling and a diagnosis of hypothyroidism could have been made then.
I'm guessing again that this didn't happen as you haven't mentioned any medication that you maybe taking.
In order to receive considered opinion about your health issues you will need to supply a full thyroid panel including your TSH, T3 and T4, antibody, and ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D blood tests.
Your doctor may help you with these blood tests but if not you can arrange themselves and pay privately. Full details are on the Thyroid uk website, and once with the results start a new post with all the information including the ranges and people more able than myself will talk you through any issues that need attention.
There are two main private blood test companies, Medichecks and Blue Horizon and I've noticed that Medichecks is offering a discount this month on the ThyroidUltraVit blood test which covers all you need to have actioned.
Thank you so much pennyannie. I have been on levothyroxine for 2 weeks with my recent diagnosis 4 years ago I had the results shown, but test after that came back normal range. Out of interest and with my confirmed diagnosis I dug out an old record and wondered what it meant
Lucy60
Was that a private test?
Am I right in thinking the reference ranges for TSH was 0.27-4.2 and for FT4 it was 12-22?
Yes it was a private test, as my mum was diagnosed with thyroid and thought me and my sister should all be, but I truly don't understand the results
Your TSH was over range but even so diagnosis isn't normally made until TSH reaches 10 in the UK.
However, your FT4 was below range and in that case, coupled with an over range TSH, you should have had a diagnosis of hypothyroidism and levothyroxine should have been prescribed.
Were there any doctor's comments that came with the results? Did you not notice they were outside of the ranges? Did you have any symptoms at the time? Did you not discuss them with your GP at the time?
It would be a good idea to from now on to always ask for a print out of your results and keep a record. This will prove invaluable in the future.
When having thyroid tests we always advise:
* book the appointment for no later than 9am
* fast overnight from evening meal/supper the night before
* drink only water befe the test, no tea, coffee, etc
* last dose of Levo should be 24 hours before the test
This gives the highest possible TSH and lowest FT4 which are necessary when looking for an increase in dose of Levo or to avoid a reduction in dose.
Retesting should be done 6 weeks after starting Levo, dose adjustment if necessary. After any dose change a retest to check levels should be done 6-8 weeks later.
Further testing should have been done after this result
TSH was high and Ft4 below range
Thyroid antibodies and vitamins should have been tested
As outlined in your first post
There's another part MIU/ 0.27 -4.2
Pmol/1 12.0 -22.0
I can not get my head round the jargon and never been good a maths
Thank u for your help
Those are the reference ranges, which is what I mentioned in my first reply. Reference ranges vary from lab to lab so we always need the ranges with results to be able to interpret them.
You don't need to be good at maths, it's easy enough to see if your result lies within the range or if it's out of range.
It can be confusing when you first start this journey, but stick around and things will get clearer.
I'm not too good at maths either and found all the information on here overwhelming at first. But keep reading and things start to fall into place after a bit.
Do you feel any better yet? Thyroid treatment is a long slow process.
Some people begin to feel better nearly straight away, some actually feel worse. That's usually because you aren't on enough thyroxine yet. Some feel better at first then gradually worse, which means you are almost ready for another increase.
Increases have to be slow or it would be too much of a shock to your body.
You will need another test in 6-8 weeks, then you should be able to increase again.
Hi jnetti
Thank you so much for your reply.
It's a bit of a long story. I had a private thyroid test 4 years ago as my mum was hypothyroid. I was slightly raised as photo results show. I went for a 2nd test at my gp and results came back normal so I assumed all was okay. I didn't push anything as I had some life changing events going on in my life at the time. I was looking after a very sick friend going straight to work everyday to look after her .
I do not have the same GP and went along for routine blood tests and my hypothyroidism showed up then. I've been on levothyroxine for 2 weeks and boy could I feel a brain fog lifting and realised that I had put my symtoms down to getting older, busy life. I didn't know what brain fog was until I came on here. I've just been extremely forgetful, not feeling greatly cognitive and not myself. This my 2nd week on levothyroxine has been a tab more troublesome. I have has insomnia where I'm not worried about anything just wide awake until 3am and have to be up at 5.45am for work so ive been shattered. Im hoping that my dosage is sorted as this could be the issue too much/too little.
Thank you so much for your kind words as this has made me feel better. I'm sure I will begin to understand what the levels mean soon
Hypothryoidism can cause insomnia too! I've been waking up far too early lately, for no obvious reason. But as I'm retired it doesn't matter so much!
"I went for a 2nd test at my gp and results came back normal "
As you are probably beginning to realise, "Normal" just means within the official range. Which may or may not be normal for us as individuals!
Hi Lucy
Has your doctor told you to go back in 6-8 weeks to be retested? Usually we start on a low dose and build up to what is right for you. It takes a full six weeks to get each new dose fully into your body and then we test and see if results show we are still undermedicated so then we get an increase, usually 25 mcg and the whole process repeated till you find a dose that’s right for you. It can take 3-6 months to complete this so it’s not an instant fix. Things more very slowly in the Thyroid world so often patience is required! But any worried or anything you don’t ubderstand tgen shout out abd we can help. You will soon start to understand what is happening.
Thank you silver fox. My Dr told me to come back after 4 months and after reading on here it seems far to long to wait to check how things are going. Great to have people to chat with on here. As I am pretty much in the dark with it all. All I know i am starting to feel more like myself with the levothyroxine. Need to get the insomnia part sorted as it's playing havoc with my work.
I hope that you are well
So cruel to treat you like that and unnecessary. Hopefully when you find the dose for you your sleep may improve-fingers crossed.
Thank you for your reply. I have booked an appointment with my Dr in a couple of weeks to talk things over as I was just sent away with the perscription. I'm going to ask for a blood test a the 8 week point.
I hope that you are doing well with your dosage
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