I’ve been feeling pretty rubbish for years now, since a year or so after having half of my thyroid removed due to a goitre. I’m convinced I’m hypothyroid and I’ve had a few tests done over the years and a full thyroid and vitamin check with medichecks a few years back too. I’m overdue another private check and been holding off because of Covid, but I went for some tests through my GP and these are the results.
My TSH looks within range and my T4 borderline (again). Do you think I need to do anything about these levels? When the GP says nothing needs doing because they are within range (which they will), are they right?
I’m rubbish at translating these numbers 🙈, so any advice will be gratefully received 😊.
Many thanks in advance
TSH - 2.36 (range 0.27 - 4.2)
T4 - 11.8 (range 11 - 25)
B12 - 451 (range 180 - 900)
I’m mainly confused by the midrange TSH but low T4, is that normal?
I’ve always been within range, often borderline / low on some things, but never been on medication.
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Lianne_e
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Recommend getting FULL thyroid and vitamin testing
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 GP 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 .
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
Your t4 looks to only be 5.71% through the range which is low but really you need to follow Slowdragons advice and have t3 and vits etc. Without them you really can’t see the full picture.
I see that your tsh doesn’t appear to be stimulating your t4 but again without more testing it is impossible for people to advise you further.
Is there any chance of getting more bloods done do you think? x.
A fully functioning working thyroid would be supporting you on a daily basis with trace elements of T1.T2 and calcitonin plus a measure of T3 at around 10 mcg plus a measure of T4 at around 100 mcg;
T4 is a storage hormones and needs to be converted by your body into T3 the active hormone that the body runs on : Synthetetic T3 - Liothyronine is said to be about 4 times more powerful than T4 with the average person needing utilise around 50 T3 daily just to function.
Hypothyroidism symptoms are caused by too low a level of T3 just as hyperthyroid symptoms are caused by too high a level of T3 thyroid hormones.
There is a full list of all hypothyroid symptoms on the Thyroid uk website - maybe it might help if you to tick the symptoms you are dealing with so to show your doctor that you are currently not on enough medication to eradicate your symptoms.
Your ability to convert T4 into T3 can be compromised by low vitamins and minerals, especially ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D - these may well be in the NHS ranges but not at a high enough level to assist someone without a thyroid convert and utilise T4 well.
Some people can get by on T4 only, some people find T4 doesn't work as well as it once did, and some people find they need to take both T3 and T4 thyroid hormones to restore balance of these two vital hormones and at a high enough level to be acceptable to the patient and restore health, well being, and give you back your " you " :
The thyroid is a major gland responsible for full body synchronisation including your physical, mental, emotional, psychological, and spiritual well being, your inner central heating system and your metabolism.
This is where I started a few years ago when I found myself reading of people similar to me and felt I wasn't alone and my symptoms validated and started my reading and turning some things around for myself.
First and foremost we need to see the full thyroid blood test result and ranges, along with the aforementioned vitamins and minerals. Just start a new post and you will have everything explained to you and advised of what you can do to resolve anything that looks untoward.
If your doctor is unable to help you just go into the Thyroid uk website who are the charity who support this amazing forum and you'll find private companies who can even come to your house and take your bloods.
P.S. Looking at the few results you have given, we generally feel better when our T4 is in the top quadrant of the range, so I think 18 would be midrange and you may very well find you'll feel better when you build up into the low 20's. - this is turn will lower your TSH down to 1 or under.
The TSH, once on any form of thyroid hormone replacement is the least important measure of anything, though, sadly, in primary care it does seem to be the only blood test many people are dosed and monitored on.
You haven't a full functioning thyroid anymore, and you should be dosed and monitored on your T3 and T4 blood tests with the intention being to keep both T3 and T4 balanced and at a high enough level to restore patient's health and well being.
Hiya all, thank you so much for your help and responding to my post.
I tick so many of they hypothyroid symptom boxes but my GP just won’t listen to any of it. All I get back is “your results are within range so normal and no action is needed”. I’m so tired of it. Getting through the day is bad enough without being made to feel like it’s normal to feel 20 years older than your age, wiped out and like rubbish and to be a chubby, thin haired version of yourself with rubbish skin! I’m just fed up now. My ranges were in the high end before my thyroid op, so that was my normal, but now that I’m on the bottom end they just refuse to see how that’s an issue because it’s in range. I feel like they think I’m making it up.
I have had the full check with Medichecks in the past, I’ll have to get them done again. Hopefully something will show up that I can do something about myself, because my GP isn’t interested
So, first step is to get the full thyroid blood test and vitamins and minerals measured and then post results and ranges back up on here in a new post and you'll be taken through all the steps you need to make to take back some control of your health and well being.
We've all been there, but you do have one very big advantage over most of us, in that, as you know where your levels were prior to surgery, you, at least know where you are trying to get back to :
Thank you, I’m just looking into the tests, there is a lot more choice compared to when I had them done last. I’m leaning towards the Horizon one at the mo because they include the cortisol test. Need to decide if I need to go for a blood draw or if a finger prick test is enough too. I’m definitely going to get an order done this week though.
I’m also waiting to speak to my GP tomorrow, my most recent test shows that my cholesterol is up (7.2 and has always been low). When I phoned earlier I spoke to the receptionist who said that the doctor has checked them and all results were normal and no action needed. I’ve raised a concern because 7.2 is definitely not normal and it’s worrying that if I hadn’t asked for the actual numbers and trusted the “everything normal” rubbish, then I wouldn’t have known about the raised cholesterol at all. The receptionist said that when tests come in the concerning ones should be red, but all mine are black, so the doctor wouldn’t have noticed! So basically telling me that the doctor doesn’t actually look at any of the numbers at all and just skims the results for red text! If it was that simple, we may as well have the results sent straight to us, we can all look for red writing 😡. Sorry, starting to rant 🙈🤣
Well I think the receptionist is saying it how it is, and this is the problem and why many of us are on here having to sort ourselves out.
The computer highlights any numbers outside the given range - but the ranges are generally too wide to pick up what we need to be looking for - and computers do not " do joined up thinking " or doctors appear not to be able to do " dot to dot " or do joined up thinking
And yes, high cholesterol is yet another symptom of hypothyroidism and if you know what you are looking for and understand what the thyroid actually does, you would intervene before things get any worse on paper and more numbers come back in the red, requiring action, if they ever do ?????
I don't think there are any additional guidelines in primary care for people who haven't a thyroid : and unless your doctor shows a special interest in thyroid health we are very much at the mercy of computer printout advise being recited to us by the doctor.
I have only ever used Medichecks as it was the only company offering a home nurse visit in my area, to take my blood, as at that point in time I was pretty much housebound.
Glad you have a choice and are taking back some control for yourself.
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