After many years of suffering with severe depression chronic fatigue - my psychiatrist ( who I have to pay for) suggested I see a private endo and made a referral for me. I have my first appointment with this endo on Friday. Is there anything I need to mention (specifically ) apart from my obvious symptoms.
I am currently taking 150mcg thyroxine which my Gp wants to reduce as I had a blood test ( which I wasn’t expecting ) and my tsh was under normal range. ( I had taken my thyroxine that morning ) when usually I don’t take it the morning I have my bloods done.
Any advice would be appreciated. I am desperate for some improvement in my symptoms as an array of anti depressants have not relieved my depression.
Many thanks 😊
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Desperate-Suzi
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Get them to do an insulin stress test. This will show how your body reacts under stress and what hormones work and is the only way to see if you have growth hormone deficiency. I had this done 3 years ago and they found out I have hypopituitarism. My pituitary gland doesn’t work so therefore I take various different hormones. I also had depression and no quality of life. I had an mri before they did this as it was thought I had a pituitary tumour but didn’t, luckily they persisted and did the stress test. It will show cortisol levels too. I always get a call from my gp after a blood test telling me my tsh is low and I am over medicated, however with a pituitary problem they should know to disregard tsh readings!!!
I'd get the tests done again - privately if necessary - with tsh t4 and T3 - so you have all the right info (plus your report on your current symptoms) when you see the Endo. Obviously don't take your meds before the test! 😏
When you speak with your Endo in Friday request a T3 test along with T4 and TSH. You might not be converting very well. Low T3 can cause depression as well as many physical symptoms.
You could also do the DIO2 gene test through Regenerus Laboratories. They will check if you have this faulty gene. If it’s positive which means you are a very poor converter T4 to T3 then you’ll definitely need T3 medication. I did this and now have T3 which has transformed my life. This gene test is simple to do costs £165 approx if you have the test plus a qualified person to call you interpretating the result. I’d never heard of it before I joined Thyroid UK nor had my GP! It’s been a life saver for me being prescribed T3.
T3 can only be prescribed by a psychiatrist or an endocrinologist. So there lies to issue that T3 can effect you mentally as well as physically.
Looking at a previous post of yours,your T3 is too low!!
Thankyou I will take the gene test - I’m happy for you that you have got a result and are feeling better - it’s so debilitating being exhausted with no motivation. I’m a single parent and I have to force myself to do what’s right for my son life’s just so hard x
My cardiologist didn’t know about prescribing T3 when I saw him after a multitude of heart tests. They thought I may have had bradycardia but it was under medicated thyroxine.
I think some are worried about it if you are taking high doses. Mine was fine with my prescription and that it made me so much better than I’d been in years.
That’s great news. My heart pains really reduced once I started on NDT, they had become progressively worse on Levothyroxine monotherapy worse than before treatment and they were not great even then. I am sure I had problems because of unstable T3 levels as my thyroid croaked and then inadequate T3 on T4 only hormone replacement. I don’t need any endocrinologist to accord or tell me otherwise.
We always recommend getting FULL thyroid and vitamin testing...ideally do so BEFORE consultation (as usually cheaper) plus important to test early morning before eating or drinking anything other than water and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test
But not enough time to do that now
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 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 .
Last dose of Levothyroxine 24 hours prior to blood test. (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).
This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip)
Is this how you do your tests?
Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or thyroid antibodies or all relevant vitamins
Tell GP to give you another test and tell him/her that your results are wrong due to you taking your thyroid hormones shortly before the blood test. (I doubt the majority of doctors are aware that TSH is highest early a.m. and drops throughout the day.)
Wow! this is ringing so many bells with me. Sometimes I get a sensation under my sternum and at the base of my throat, especially when tired towards the end of a busy day. This is unsettling as it is almost similar to the arrhythmia I got before having a pacemaker.
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