Just want to run these thyroid blood tests by the good folk on here, they are not mine they are for my cousin who is having trouble getting diagnosed :
TSH.... 0.18.....range...0.30...4.50..mU/L
T3...13.9..range 3.10... 6.80..pmol/L
No T4 done
Liver function abnormal, inflamed gal bladder, high blood pressure, she's lost around 1 and a half stone in weight has tremors, as she put it shaking like a dog outside in winter..
She has been on coronary care for 3 days they discharge her a few days ago with propranolol she had tachycardia, looking at those blood results I'd say she's hyperthyroid, but they have not bothered about the T3 or TSH results, they are fixated on her liver, gal bladder, but any specialist worth his or her salt would be a bit concerned about those thyroid bloods.. She spoken to an endocrinologist over the phone about a month ago (before this stay in hospital) and the endo just fobbed her off saying her bloods were OK.. 🤷♀️
Any feed back would be appreciated 💖💖
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birkie
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Clearly she’s hyperthyroid.....or early stage Hashimoto’s
For full Thyroid evaluation she needs TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested.
Also EXTREMELY important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12
Essential to test Trab or TSI antibodies for Graves’ disease
Low vitamin levels are extremely common, with Hashimoto’s and Graves
Ask GP to test vitamin levels and thyroid antibodies
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)
Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or thyroid antibodies or all relevant vitamins
Hi slowdragon please you responded💖This poor lass as been through hell this past 5 months, she's been to numerous specialist paid private for some, one in London, but obviously they never did her thyroid bloods, as you are aware I was very hyperthyroidism eventually being diagnosed with graves, so when she said she'd lost weight was shaking ect I immediately told her to get thyroid bloods done, she did but endo said they were OK.. She had them tested again in hospital (I told her to make sure they do a full thyroid pannel, obviously they didn't do T4, but they didn't do T4 on me either, and I was hyperthyroid, she is being sent to a specialist in liver/gal bladder problems 🙄 I've told her they are barking up the wrong tree!! I just hope they do some more thyroid bloods and link it together as to why she is so ill, unfortunately she is one of those people who believe everything the specialists say, I also told her if nothing gets done by the specialist to get her own full thyroid pannle done by medichecks ect... Its so disheartening to see even now specialists can't see what's in front of there eyes.. Neither me you or anybody else on here have gone to university for 5 or more years to train to be specialists, but we can clearly see those blood tests indicate hyperthyroid.... No wonder we don't have much faith in these people 😞😞
Yep I thought the same, I should know I was diagnosed in 2018 eventually being graves, but it took my gp nearly 2 years to Diagnose me he kept saying it was the menupause, and when he did take blood he only did TSH...and always told me they were OK.. I requested my gp and hospital records last year, I found several TSH the ones my gp did on 2 it said SEE DOCTOR!! Because they were suppressed, the others were well below range, he never saw me or bothered about the TSH blood test, I lost my thyroid because of my gp, 😠.. I don't want this to happen to my cousin she has a young daughter and is struggling terribly, its so wrong😠😠
Well, luckily she’s got you in her corner (although I bet you wish you felt a bit better in yourself and more up for a fight. Hopefully soon, eh? ❤️ xx). I guess all she can do is to keep pointing out the obvious until a doctor takes notice. Maybe she could do the rounds of all the GPs at her surgery—see if she can find one with even half a brain cell?
I wish it was just thyroid issues doctors are crap at. After nearly a year of trying to see a doctor about various pain and mobility issues and being fobbed off with phone calls, my Dad, in desperation, finally referred himself privately to the orthopaedic surgeon who replaced one of his hips about 12 years ago. The surgeon decided it probably wasn’t arthritis in other hip but thought it would be a good idea to do an MRI.
That MRI has now revealed a large mass in his bladder.
I can’t tell you how angry I am. I know Covid has made things difficult for GPs but my father isn’t the sort to make a fuss. And I genuinely don’t understand why, given the symptoms, his GP Surgery have refused him a face to face appointment all this time. It’s just rubbish.
Hi jazzw💖I'm so sorry to hear about your dad, 😢 a similar thing happened to my dad he went back and forth to his gp.. Not a man to bother the doctor either but he kept loosing his voice so his boss told him to get to a doctor, he did, to be told he had laryngitis, he thought OK.. But after a month of getting no better he went back again laryngitis, this went on for 6 months him going back, then the gp got nasty with him, my dad said just send me to a specialist please, he did, found throat/lung cancer he died 😢 I wanted to smack his gp in the face 😠
I know it can’t be easy to be a GP—there’s so much for them to know, and some symptoms are so universal it must be really hard to gauge when something’s more serious than the simple explanation.
Hi jazzw💖I totally agree it must be hard, but when you present yourself to your doctors surgery and see the same gp.. As I did he should have seen with his own eyes I was very ill, over the period of time I saw him I'd lost over 2 stone in weight was shaking, and vomiting, its the old naritive.. You go to the doctors you say I've lost my right leg, the doc is fixated on your results it says you have 2 legs, he fails to look up from his computer to see how you actually look 🙄
I guess it could be the liver issues are leading to the elevated thyroid levels. Also, the usual initial treatment for being hyperthyroid (in the UK at least) is antithyroid treatment, which can lead to liver problems and must therefore be used with caution in anyone already suffering from liver problems. You may find this article interesting: academic.oup.com/qjmed/arti....
Whatever the cause, T3 levels which are double the reference range could lead to tachycardia and shakes, although the propranolol will probably help with these.
I’m not saying your cousin doesn’t have a thyroid problem, but it may not be the main issue and could be a side effect of something else. Maybe it’s worth making a list of all symptoms and test results and getting the specialist to explain how they all fit together, or why some abnormal results are being ignored. It would be helpful for your cousin to have someone with her at her next appointment to help her ask the questions and remember/note down the answers.
Hi valerian 💖She's been hyper for a number of months now, she is now showing more signs of hyper symptoms, she had 2 sets bloods done by her gp but they only did TSH.. They were below range, her gp didn't respond to them.. As my gp didn't when I had several below ranges and 2 suppressed ones🙄 it was only when she was admitted to hospital that they did the T3, TSH.. I feel her liver/gal bladder are the result of the elevated T3 and low TSH.. Because when I was diagnosed my T3 was 24.2, and my TSH was suppressed,, BUT that was a result of my gp not diagnosing me, I had a abnormal liver blood test to, I was put on anti thyroid meds but could not stomach them.. I eventually went in to thyroid storm, then had thyroidectomy, I think they are looking in the wrong direction they should be looking at her thyroid blood work in relation to her liver/gal bladder blood tests, it's unbelievable that they are missing them.. I've given her a lot of info on hyperthyroidism, symptoms and blood work, the only problem is she is believing what these people are saying to her and not challenging them on the thyroid results, I know how she's thinking because I was the same in the beginning, I'll try my best to help her all I can 👍👍
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