I’ve been having symptoms of a out of whack thyroid for a while now and have my bloods done every 6-8 weeks. My antibodies always come back negative and up until now my TSH has always been between 1.4-2.2.
My white blood count seems to drop every so often as though my body is fighting something and then the other symptoms worsen.
Also my cholesterol has been elevated and at its worst 6 weeks ago was 7.3!...which again suggests slow thyroid function.
My Free T3 and T4 are always low..my results today were T3 at 3.4 (range from 4) which has gone up from 2.6 6 weeks ago. T4 was 10.5 (range 9-) and it was 11.5 6 weeks ago but my TSH has gone from 1.8 to 3.8 in the space of 6 weeks and I have no idea why.
I have started adding more iodine based supplements lately and reintroduced seeds and gluten feee oats (I was on AIP) so I’m not sure if this has anything to do with it.
Also I had the blood test first thing in the morning, fasted and after a pretty bad nights sleep so does this impact TSH levels?
I’m at the point now where the doctor will more than likely prescribe me something as this is my second low T3 result he has seen (he wouldn’t take notice of the private test I had myself) but I’m just wondering is the TSH jump much of a concern or is this my body trying to just level out after anorexia and no periods. I have now had 5/6 regular periods, I feel more energised, less fatigue, better moods, skin, less digestive issues etc...but my weight is slowly still creeping up. Anyone have any ideas as to what May have caused the TSH rise and what I can naturally do about it?? Thanks so much!
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Eggy22
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Iodine was once used by doctors to treat hyperthyroidism by reducing the effectiveness of the thyroid.Unless you are tested deficient in iodine I would not be supplementing with it. It can mess with your thyroid!
Hi, thank you for your reply. Ok, so I guess it would make sense given that it’s been in the last few weeks or so that I have been taking a multivitamin with iodine in. I also eat fish daily and seaweed so possibly am overdoing the iodine. Is this something that will rectify itself if I stop the iodine supplementation? I’ve always managed to keep my TSH relatively stable so this has thrown me somewhat.
Do you know if there are any tests I could have done to see if I am overdoing vitamins and minerals? Thanks
Hopefully it will rectify itself. It will take time for your body to heal in the long term. The GP can do vitamin tests. SeasideSusie is well versed in vitamins maybe she will advise.
The reasons why multi's aren't recommended here are because they tend to contain too little of anything to help low levels or deficiencies, they usually contain the cheapest, least absorbable and wrong form of active ingredient, and ingredients that we should test for before supplementing, i.e. calcium, Vit D, iron (and iodine already mentioned). They usually contain zinc and copper and we Hypos often have an imbalance of these anyway so need to know levels before supplementing.
Did you research licorice root before supplementing? Unless it is deglycyrrhizinated licorice it can raise cortisol level.
None of those supplements should affect thyroid tests but take them after any blood test on the day rather than before.
The tests I listed above are the important ones to test.
Ok thank you. I think I’ve reached a point now where i question whether the supps are helping or hindering but at the same time I’m a little scared to just stop them in case I then feel worse.
Yeah I have read up a little on licorice and only take it very occasionally.
I have tweaked my diet a little now and will start to lower my supplement intake now! Hopefully when I re-test in 6-8 weeks things will have improved! Would love the weight gain to stop too!
So your free T3 and t4 are always low ..? That would indicate you need a dose increase unless you're feeling good already. Clearly your tsh is plenty high enough to allow an increase.
Do heed the advice to avoid iodine and multivitamins. Better to focus on what you're deficient in (thyroid hormones, but D or whatever).
Yeah my T4 has always been the lower end of the range that docs use so because it’s not flagged as ‘abnormal’ and my TSH has always been in ‘normal range’ they have refused to medicate me. I had paid to have a private test done to test full thyroid panel and it clearly showed that my T3 was low but the doctors wouldn’t use this test claiming they didn’t know how credible it was!
I ended up having to beg the consultant to do a T3 test through the NHS but he did so reluctantly saying ‘you don’t have a thyroid issue!’ Funnily enough, this came back lower than normal on both occasions, so I was right to keep pushing for this and he was wrong. I have been having these symptoms for so long now and no medication at all, hence me using supplements to try and improve things that way.
Oh sorry I thought you were on meds. Wasn't quite awake. So your T3 is under range and your t4 at bottom of range - maybe they will start you on meds I don't know. You could try selenium to support your thyroid if not.
Yeah, it’s very frustrating that I have been telling them for a year that my thyroid is the issue and they have just dismissed me. I have a supplement called T Convert by Nutri Advanced and that has selenium, copper, zinc, magnesium and gum guggul in.
Can you possibly give us the correct ranges, please. It is impossible to interpret the results with any certainty if we don't have the full ranges. Ranges vary from lab to lab, so we need the ranges that went with your results - a top number and a bottom number.
Having said that, if your Frees have always been below/bottom of the range, and your TSH no higher than 3.8, you're probably looking at Central Hypothyroidism. Something doctors know nothing about, and have probably never even heard of!
With Central Hypo, the problem lies with the pituitary (Secondary Hypo) or the hypothalamus (Tertiary Hypo) rather than with the thyroid itself (Primary Hypo). For some reason, your pituitary isn't producing enough TSH to stimulate the thyroid to make adequate amounts of hormone. With such low Frees, you would expect the TSH to be higher.
Central Hypo is only treated in the same way as any other form of hypo - i.e. Thyroid Hormone Replacement. But, the complication is that the pituitary makes a lot of other hormones, as well as TSH, and these could be low, as well. So, further testing is needed.
The difficulty is in trying to make a doctor - be he GP or endo - take the suggestion of Central Hypo seriously. They believe it to be rare, so don't bother to test for it. But given the number of cases we see on here, it's not as rare as all that!
I would suggest you do some research of your own before bringing it up with the doctor, so that you know what you're talking about and can avoid being fobbed off.
So, your problem at the moment is not why your TSH has suddenly risen, but why hasn't it risen before, and even higher?
Free T3 3.6 - 6.4 my results 3.4 (up from 2.6 6 weeks ago)
Free T4 9-24 my results 10.5 (11.5 6 weeks ago)
TSH 0.2-5 my result 3.8 up from 1.8 6 weeks ago.
My TSH has been between 1.3-2.2 in the last year
T3 and 4 have always been around the same in that time with some small increases but then back down again...usually when my white blood count goes down too so it’s like my body keeps fighting something which is putting a stress on my body.
I’m almost certain it’s a pituitary issue...my back story, I became anorexic when my mum died two years ago. I just lost so much weight so quickly without even trying and it was that bad my periods stopped for 8 months so my pituitary gland switched off it’s function to prioritise my survival. My female hormone levels were that of a menopausal woman. Now they are back in ‘normal range’ and I have had periods for the last 9 months and 5 29 day cycles which is great for me. So something is clearly shifting in the right direction in that respect.
But my thyroid levels are still not rising to an optimal level for me and I don’t know what more I can do. I even managed to lower my cholesterol from 7.3 to 5.4 in 6 weeks, which is a challenge with thyroid issues. Surely if my pituitary is now recognising that I’m healthy enough to reproduce, I would think that all it’s other functions would be improving too. I’ve even had a brain scan and it came back as normal pituitary structure.
If I have to take medication then I don’t feel that is addressing the root cause, meaning I will be dependent on them for life. There is a reason this all started in the first place so surely once that is addressed, other things should gradually level out?
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