Hello everyone, so today my GP phoned me to tell me that the bloods I had taken yesterday show that I have an overactive thyroid. I’m a little surprised that that was the results...basically I’ve had loose stools (sorry) for 5 weeks now, hence the blood test and other then the loose stools, difficultly sleeping and feeling a bit tired, I have absolutely no symptoms....not even losing weight and I was just wondering if that’s normal as I would of thought I would of had more symptoms if I have an overactive thyroid.
I am now waiting for my referral letter to see the specialist, so little nervous as not sure what to expect.
Sorry for the ramble and thank you for your time xx
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Pickles79
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Do have the blood results to share with us? We need the TSH, T4, T3 and antibodies if they were tested. You entitled to see these results because it is the law.
No sadly I don’t, I didn’t think to ask. The GP just said that I have an overactive thyroid and that she is referring me to see the specialist. Should I phone back and ask for them do you think?
Yes .. you need to ask for the results including the ranges so members can comment and give advice. Just to add I am hyperthyroid or I have Graves' disease and you can read my story on my profile page if you are interested.
Awww hello my lovely!!. It’s nice to know I’m not alone. It’s just so strange isn’t it, when you google it it seems we should be experiencing more than we are . My doctor told me she can’t prescribe my medication until I’ve seen the specialist so I’ve no idea what treatment I’ll be on.
My GP emailed the Endocrine Dept last Thurs and they have responded saying they will add me to their waiting list for clinic when they start up again and they gave my GP instruction on what to start me on. Perhaps your hospital will do the same.
I actually do have lots of symptoms, most I could explain away a reason but not the weight loss. Ive lost lots just being in lockdown and it was my weight loss that prompted me to ring the GP.
Mine did and I lost 3 stone but was told can’t be anything to do with thyroid as tsh is fine lol. Look at questions and answers on here, I learnt an awful lot which has helped me get t3 as I had a total thyroidectomy In 2018. You will soon realise that not every GP or Endo knows much about the thyroid whereas here you can ask away and get sensible answers. I can’t thank them enough. Good luck.x Are you on propranolol , I had that for the racing heart which helped.
No I cannot take beta blockers as I have asthma. I went on a diet in 2017 and lost nearly 3 stone by calorie counting and exercise. I have wanted to lose the last 2lb to reach exactly 3 stone for about 18 months!! Then last month I lost the 2lb! The following week I was thinking I might have put it back on but had lost another 1lb! I was thrilled. Following week I lost a further 2lb! Week after 2lb! It went on and now Im 13lb down. Within 6 weeks. After struggling for 18 months to lose 2lb. I knew there must have been a reason so I rang the GP!
This article talks about newer research showing beta blockers can help, even if you have asthma. "As for asthma, chronic use of cardioselective beta blockers doesn't seem to precipitate asthma attacks in mild or moderate asthma. A 2002 meta-analysis in Annals Internal Medicine showed that a single dose of beta blocker did reduce asthmatics' FEV1 by ~7.5% predicted, but this decrement went away with chronic use. They concluded "Cardioselective beta-blockers do not produce clinically significant adverse respiratory effects in patients with mild to moderate reactive airway disease ... cardioselective beta-blockers should not be withheld from patients with mild to moderate reactive airway disease.".
I'd just like to mention that I was put on a beta blocker when I was in hospital 6 years ago to have the lower left lobe of my lungs removed. My resting heart rate was about 100 bpm. And yes, I had asthma (still do.) I took myself off about a year ago due to concerns about how beta blockers affect hypothyroidism. sciencedaily.com/releases/2...
Best to ring reception and ask if they can do you a print-out of your results, which you will pick up at their convenience. You need to know exactly what was tested, and exactly what the results were. Just saying you have an over-active thyroid is meaningless in itself. If you don't understand the results, post them here and someone will explain them to you. But, if I were you, I wouldn't start any treatment until you are sure all the right tests have been done. Doctors can sometimes be a bit negligent about that, and in their enthusiasm, start you on the wrong treatment. So, we have to be careful about that.
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 for Hashimoto’s (hypothyroid) . Hashimoto’s frequently starts with transient hyperthyroid results and symptoms
Graves’ disease (hyperthyroid) is confirmed by TSI or Trab antibodies
Also EXTREMELY important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12
Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially if you have Hashimoto's or Graves
Ask GP to test vitamin levels
You may need to get full Thyroid testing privately as NHS refuses to test TG antibodies if TPO antibodies are negative
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 as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or thyroid antibodies or all relevant vitamins
Well, actually I am forever on VItamin D supplements because for as long as I remember every blood test I have has shown that it’s too low
Do you have the results for these Vit D tests?
Were you Vit D deficient originally?
How much D3 do you take?
Do you take D3's important cofactors - magnesium and Vit K2-mk7?
It's usual to take a dose of D3 to raise your level to that recommended by the Vit D Council/Vit D Society which is 100-150nmol. Once this level is reached then we need a maintenance dose to keep it there, often we need to supplement continuously, possibly adjusting dose seasonally so more in winter than summer. We should retest twice a year when supplementing, to ensure that we take an appropriate dose to maintain our level.
Hi - members are asking you about anti-body testing to confirm Graves. We have seen people posting here who have been wrongly diagnosed and wrongly treated. Too many Doctors diagnose overactive thyroid when the TSH is low - without testing the FT4 and FT3 and anti-bodies. Please make sure and read here as much as you can .. also keep asking questions.
Hi, I have just rang my surgery asking for the results and the receptionist won’t give them to me as I’m not medically trained so she’s getting the doctor to call me who will discuss the findings with me. I will post the results when I have them. I was actually just reading about Graves’ disease and also subclincal overactive thyroid which I wonder if mine is more likely to be due to the lack of symptoms
It could also be Hashimotos ... You are legally entitled to copies of all your results - and you do not have to be medically qualified to understand results. There are 100's of members here who can interpret for you if needed. Hope your GP makes time to phone - but you do need copies so you can monitor your own health and check what has been missed ! Keeping a Wellness File helps 😷
I do not understand the system that treats people like children - yet expects us to take responsibility for our own health ? I lived in Greece for 15 years until recently - there we kept ALL our own medical records - simple. Methinks it's about control - sigh !
There can be several reasons why you have developed an overactive thyroid, with the two most common reasons being either Graves or Hashimoto's Disease.
It's imperative that you blood is further analysed to identify which unique antibodies you carry as this will decide your course of treatment.
As your symptoms currently do not seem too disturbing I presume your doctor has decided to wait for further details before starting any treatments.
I'm with Graves Disease, and my symptoms were insomnia, dry gritty eyes and exhaustion, though I too had a loose bowel, but put it down to something I had eaten. There can be a myriad of symptoms, some disturbing whilst some, down right ' odd ' .
You might like to take a look at the Elaine Moore Graves Disease Foundation website just for some further information on autoimmune thyroid disease and for background reading until we know which antibody you carry and which autoimmune disease you have been diagnosed with.
Yes I think that’s exactly what they are really don’t . She did say she needs to do a further blood test before I see the specialist so I assume that’s the one which will look into things a bit deeper.
That’s very similar to my symptoms, I can’t sleep for toffee, tired and although my loose stools seem better, I am having a lot of stomach pains and gurgling which I wonder is due to my metabolism being affected.
Yes, you are absolutely right, your metabolism has been charged up - and that is why some people loose weight. Your body clock is running fast, so you maybe exhausted as though you've run a marathon, but you brain maybe telling you to run the marathon again.
Imagine a thermostat not cutting out when it reaches the required temperature .
There is a risk here, with a metabolism running too fast, or in fact too slow, in that your body will not be able to metabolise your food effectively and it will be a good idea to keep an eye on your ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D levels and maintain them at high, optimal levels.
Your thyroid is under attack from your own immune system.
The thyroid is a major gland responsible for full body synchronisation, including your mental, physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual well being, your inner central heating system and your metabolism.
So, when under attack, by your own immune system, the symptoms displayed and experienced can be diverse, some life threatening, and some just down right odd.
When I was diagnosed with overactive thyroid 7 years ago due to nodules, I had most symptoms but my weight was starting to creep up rather than down, my endo said that weight loss is not always the case but didn’t really explain why. I’m 66 now but when it first reared it’s ugly head when I was 29, my weight loss was rapid and I ended up having a partial thyroidectomy then. I find it really interesting on here that so many folk are able to decipher the TSH/T4/T3 and am attempting to work mine out but getting hold of past levels are proving difficult. I’ll follow your story with interest and good luck.
You are legally entitled to have copies of your test results. You do not have to give a reason. It makes posting here easier if you have your results with ranges - members can then support and suggest - rather than guessing Many surgeries now have on-line access to records so worth asking - enhanced access required for test results.
Thank you for that, I do online appointments and reordering of prescriptions so I’ll have a look around the website. I do feel that sometimes I’m palmed off with reasons when I see the endo, the last guy I saw thought I’d had my RAI six months previously, when in fact it had been 18 months and I had reminded him twice! I do feel as if I’m starting to go hyper again, if that’s possible after RAI. Would anyone know?
Ah so you are registered - I believe you will need enhanced registration to access test results - for which you will need ID.
The feelings of being Hyper can sometimes be confusing - and be Hypo symptoms. You really need those results ! Could you have Thyroid testing done privately through Thyroid UK - hundreds of us do.
I’m actually due to have my bloods done tomorrow morning at my surgery and these are sent to my consultant so he can check my three month bloods but I would gladly go down the private route, which would you say is the easiest company?
Medichecks - Ultravit - I think it's called. The Testing Link is posted higher up this thread by SlowDeagon. Also you can click onto the link I posted for you above - and then click onto ABOUT TESTING in the Menu on the left if the page!
It's my understanding that RAI is a slow burn, and I also read the level of the RAI dose somewhat questionable, and think ultimately the foregone conclusion is that you will become hypothyroid.
I think my thyroid finally gave up about 8 years after my RAI treatment in 2005.
You might like read up on the Elaine Moore Graves Disease Foundation website.
This lady is a medical technologist/researcher and had RAI for Graves in the late 1990's. Finding no help with her continued health issues she wrote a book, and now runs the most comprehensive website on Graves Disease and all it's vagaries.
Your Thyroid and How To Keep it Healthy is written by a doctor who has hypothyroidism. Barry Durrant - Peatfield writes in an easy, sometimes funny insightful way about all that the thyroid does - and we need to know all this and try and compensate accordingly.
I'm with Graves becoming very unwell some 9 years after RAI.
I was refused a trial of T3 because of my suppressed TSH.
I am now self medicating ad buy my own thyroid hormone replacements and much improved, and thanks to also this amazing website, have stuck myself back together a bit like Humpty Dumpty.
P.S. There are symptoms that can be attributed to both hypo and hyper - so it can get confusing :
T3 is the most important blood test result and if your T3 is in range irrespective of where your TSH is - your are not overmedicated/overactive or hyper:
Most people feel best when their T3 and T4 are balanced in about a 1/4 ratio with them both being in the upper quarter of the ranges.
It is acceptable for the T4 to go slightly over range if this gives the patient a higher level of T3 and therefore an increased level of wellbeing.
Good luck with everything. You can get so many different symptoms with different things. Sometimes it is hard to pin down which one is for which ailment. Hopefully you will get some answers from the Consultant. Do not be afraid to get in touch on here. We are here for each other. Do not apologise for saying 'loose stools' . I get those too at times. Do not be afraid of stating any symptoms you get. Keep your chin up.
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