Preparing for 1st thyroid panel

[Shoey1]

Hi,

I'm still going through the official diagnosis with a private endocrinologist and haven't had any specific instructions for how to prep but have seen some posts on the forum and wanted to check for any advice.

Just for background, I've suffered with hypothyroid symptoms since puberty, over 30 years ago with no success in a diagnosis. Where I'm at now is kind of by accident, I was shown to have levels of TSH too high to go ahead with IVF treatment abroad, but which would be read as normal by a GP here (4.05).

The endocrinologist raised my levothyroxine to 75mcg from the 50mcg prescribed by the IVF clinic and booked me in for blood a month hence, which is this coming Monday.

I'm currently 9 weeks pregnant and taking a prenatal vitamin supplement. I just wanted to check on advice on how and when to take medication and supplements prior to bloods, specifically because I'm pregnant and don't want to cause any problems there. Will the supplement interfere with vitamin level readings? And also, any questions I should be asking of my endocrinologist when I go back to discuss the results.

P.s. I'm sort of expecting to need a rise in meds as I feel terrible and, separately, the bloods taken at my antenatal booking in appointment have come back needing to be redone for thyroxine, though they haven't put any levels on.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Shoey1

Always advised here, when having thyroid tests:

* Blood draw no later than 9am. This is because TSH is highest early morning and lowers throughout the day. If looking for a diagnosis of hypothyroidism, an increase in dose of Levo or to avoid a reduction then we need the highest possible TSH

* Nothing to eat or drink except water before the blood draw. This is because eating can lower TSH and coffee can affect TSH.

* If taking thyroid hormone replacement, last dose of Levo should be 24 hours before blood draw, if taking NDT or T3 then last dose should be 8-12 hours before blood draw. Adjust timing the day before if necessary. This avoids measuring hormone levels at their peak after ingestion of hormone replacement. Take your thyroid meds after the blood draw. Taking your dose too close to the blood draw will give false high results, leaving any longer gap will give false low results.

* If you take Biotin or a B Complex containing Biotin (B7), leave this off for 7 days before any blood test. This is because if Biotin is used in the testing procedure it can give false results (most labs use biotin) so check your pre-natal supplement.

Any supplements should be taken after the test on the day.

These are patient to patient tips which we don't discuss with phlebotomists or doctors.

My pregnancies came before I was hypothyroid so have no personal experience to pass on but I understand that TSH should be below 2.5 for a successful pregnancy. ThyroidUK has a couple of articles on their main website which you may find helpful:

thyroiduk.org/having-a-baby...

thyroiduk.org/having-a-baby...

[Shoey1 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks so much for your reply. I'm just of to see if I can change the appointment time on this advice.

I can never eat first thing and have gone totally off coffee, so at least I'm getting something right!

I'll make sure I don't take the levo until after the appointment. It's so strange that none of this is explained by the endocrinologist. I've waited so long to find out what my symptoms are I don't want to mess this up.