I initially went to the doctor for struggling to put weight on in Oct 19. Vit D and Thyroid were checked at the doctors, I had severely low Vitamin D levels (21) but Thyroid was ok (i guess now this is only the T3/T4 that was checked). I have just paid for it to be checked fully and results are:
TSH 6.82* (0.27-4.2) HIGH
T3 4.5 (3.1-6.8) OK
T4 79 (59-154) OK
Thyroid Peroxidase 299* (0-34) HIGH
Thyroglobulin 525* (0-115) HIGH
I am waiting on Vit D results to come back again as I have been taking this since Oct 19.
I don't have any major symptoms and function normally. Ideally I would want to avoid Levothyroxine so want to do all I can to improve it naturally. Any advise would be welcome.
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katrina_85
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Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but there's nothing you can do to improve this naturally. You have Autoimmune Thyroiditis - aka Hashi's - and you are pretty hypo. And, as the Hashi's slowly destroys your thyroid, you will get worse.
Your FT3 is not OK, it is too low, below mid-range. And, the T4 test is the wrong one. You need an FT4, and that is a TT4. So, it doesn't give you much useful information.
What have you got against taking levo? It is a bio-available hormone, it's not a drug.
Hi, Sorry my FT4 is 14.7 (12-22). I would like to try and figure out why i have this and try to fix it rather than taking a prescription for the rest of my life. I have only just got these results so will need to do research but thanks for the information re Hashi's.
I'm sorry but that won't work. You can't fix Hashi's - instead you will just feel less and less well as time goes on. Your TSH is much too high and free T4 is only 27% though range, with free T3 only a touch better at 37.8%. You need levo ...
If you had a broken leg, you would want it fixing, wouldn't you?
I understand people are wary of taking medication for life, but as greygoose says, levo is hormone, and your body NEEDS the right level of thyroid hormone to work properly x
The chances of you figuring out why you have Hashi's, are pretty much zero.
And, even if - by miracle - you did find the problem, and - an even bigger miracle - managed to fix it, you would still need to take levo for life, because those numbers are saying that your thyroid is pretty badly damaged. And thyroids do not regenerate.
So, all in all, I'm afraid you're stuck with some kind of thyroid hormone replacement for the rest of your life - which won't be very long if you don't take it, because you cannot live without thyroid hormone. Sorry.
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As your results suggest you are already pretty hypothyroid, likely vitamins are low
Hashimoto's frequently affects the gut and leads to low stomach acid and then low vitamin levels
Low vitamin levels affect Thyroid hormone working
Poor gut function can lead leaky gut (literally holes in gut wall) this can cause food intolerances. Most common by far is gluten. Dairy is second most common.
According to Izabella Wentz the Thyroid Pharmacist approx 5% with Hashimoto's are coeliac, but over 80% find gluten free diet helps, sometimes significantly. Either due to direct gluten intolerance (no test available) or due to leaky gut and gluten causing molecular mimicry (see Amy Myers link)
Changing to a strictly gluten free diet may help reduce symptoms, help gut heal and slowly lower TPO antibodies
While still eating high gluten diet ask GP for coeliac blood test first or buy test online for under £20, just to rule it out first
The predominance of Hashimoto thyroiditis represents an interesting finding, since it has been indirectly confirmed by an Italian study, showing that autoimmune thyroid disease is a risk factor for the evolution towards NCGS in a group of patients with minimal duodenal inflammation. On these bases, an autoimmune stigma in NCGS is strongly supported
In summary, whereas it is not yet clear whether a gluten free diet can prevent autoimmune diseases, it is worth mentioning that HT patients with or without CD benefit from a diet low in gluten as far as the progression and the potential disease complications are concerned
Despite the fact that 5-10% of patients have Celiac disease, in my experience and in the experience of many other physicians, at least 80% + of patients with Hashimoto's who go gluten-free notice a reduction in their symptoms almost immediately.
Improving low vitamin levels and looking at food intolerances will help improve symptoms.....but will almost certainly still need replacement thyroid hormones
I can absolutely see where you're coming from with this. Unfortunately as greygoose has said, there is no cure for Hashis. It's an autoimmune disease; your body has got a bit confused and has started to destroy your thyroid. You may feel ok now but you will at some point need thyroxine to replace what your body can't make. Which can be an overwhelming thought.
HOWEVER! there are absolutely things you can do to help your body. Start reading these boards and you'll see that changing your diet and supplementing are the two biggest things you can do to help yourself.
Try not to think of it as a drug or a medicine but that you are taking what you body has stopped making routinely.
If you stop taking it then you will start to feel poorly and gradually get more tired till you start to stop functioning properly
By this point it’s very serious and if you continue not to medicate properly then it could kill you. I can get as serious as that. But not of us ever what that to happen so we start by asking our doctors to help us reverse the downward slope so please get and take your medication. Also check your Vit D, B12, folate and Ferritin. These need, like your thyroid meds, to be optimal -often high in range but not over. We need to learn to understand so we can help ourselves but that is the beauty of this forum, many of us have been patients for many years and know how to help things work better. It’s a lot to learn when first starting out but that’s the beauty of forums, we can share our experiences and help each other along the way.
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