I have been having problems since July last year, I had a period of hyperactivity and losing weight then it switched to gaining weight and feeling cold and tired all the time. I also have hearing loss and have been offered hearing aids. My ana was abnormal so I saw a rheumatologist who thought I had thyroiditis. The right side of my thyroid is swollen. All my bloods are now normal including the thyroid antibody test, my thyroid tests have always been normal. My thyroid is still swollen and hurts and makes my ears hurt. Any advice? Do I leave it to see if it goes down or go back to my GP? I'm 45 female and had pcos (full hysterectomy and had benign intracranial hypertension which went into remission 5 years ago.
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Loki123
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Who decided your bloods were normal? The rheumatologist?
Doctors claim that any test result that is within the reference range is "normal".
If I use ferritin (iron stores) as an example...
If the reference range was 13 - 150, doctors would say that a result of 13 or 80 (roughly mid-range) or 150 are all "normal" because they are all in range. Some doctors go even further and say that a level of 10 or 155 is normal too, because they are "close enough".
The person with a result of 13 will feel a huge amount worse than someone whose result is 150, although the person with a result of 80 would probably feel better than both.
The same kind of mangling of the word "normal" goes on with thyroid function test results too.
You should ask the receptionists at your surgery for a copy of your blood test results from the last couple of years, including the reference ranges and post them on the forum, then ask for feedback. Don't accept hand-written or verbal results, you need to get them printed out from your medical records.
People on this forum generally care about having optimal results and how people feel rather than just having a result which is within range. Doctors simply don't seem to care about how patients feel - if they complain but their results are in range then the patient is assumed to be attention-seeking and/or mentally ill.
That transient hyperthyroid phase before becoming increasingly hypothyroid is typical of Hashimoto’s
First thing is, do you have any actual blood test results? if not will need to get hold of copies.
You are legally entitled to printed copies of your blood test results and ranges.
The best way to get access to current and historic blood test results is to register for online access to your medical record and blood test results
UK GP practices are supposed to offer everyone online access for blood test results. Ring and ask if this is available and apply to do so if possible, if it is you may need "enhanced access" to see blood results.
In reality many GP surgeries do not have blood test results online yet
Alternatively ring receptionist and request printed copies of results. Allow couple of days and then go and pick up.
Important to see exactly what has been tested and equally important what hasn’t been tested yet
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
Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially if you have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) diagnosed by raised Thyroid antibodies
Ask GP to test vitamin levels.
You will need to get full Thyroid testing privately as NHS refuses to test TG antibodies if TPO antibodies are negative. Many people only have raised TG antibodies...and as result struggle to get hashimoto’s diagnosed by NHS
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)
Private tests are available. Thousands on here forced to do this as NHS often refuses to test FT3 or antibodies
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
If antibodies are high this is Hashimoto's, (also known by medics here in UK more commonly as autoimmune thyroid disease).
About 90% of all primary hypothyroidism in Uk is due to Hashimoto's.
Low vitamins are especially common with Hashimoto's. Food intolerances are very common too, especially gluten.
So it's important to get TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested at least once .
Hi, I've been gluten intolerant for 9 years now and also have a dairy allergy. I'm not so bothered about the blood tests it's the fact that my neck hurts especially when pressed. The rhematologist told me my thyroid tests were normal, that was the second set of bloods I've had. My anti nuclear antibody test was abnormal which he said could have been affected by the thyroiditis. My sister has an unspecified autoimmune disorder so they wanted to rule that out.
Thanks for the advice, I'm going to pop back to my GP and see where I go from here.
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