I had an incidental finding on my bloods of 10.3 (range 12-22) of Free Thyroxine
TSH at 2.39 (range 0 .27 to 4.2
These results have been occurring since 2018 practically identical yet when the 2018 one was repeated it had went back into range free Thyroxine 12.9 or something lowly.
Another GP just repeated bloods on Friday.
I dont know what to expect?
This different GP also mentioned he looked up December 2020's bloods which said I had the TPO of someones thyroid that would go kaput in the future.
No idea what it all means. I'm negative for a.n.c.a and antineuclear antibodies.
Red and white blood cells ok.
If anyone can please help. I can barely type this.
Have a disabled child af home.
Thank you.
Katie.
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Well, the reference to TPO antibodies means it’s more than likely you have autoimmune thyroiditis or Hashimoto’s as we tend to call it around here.
But… the low FT4 with a TSH that isn’t rising to prompt your thyroid to make more thyroid hormone sounds like you may have a pituitary issue as well.
I’m so sorry you’re feeling so rubbish. I’m glad you’ve found us as hopefully what you read on this forum will help you get the very best out of consultations with your doctor from now on.
Your doctor should be investigating whether you have secondary hypothyroidism (sometimes called central hypothyroidism). If they aren’t, I’d query why not.
The treatment is just the same as for primary hypothyroidism (which is what most of us have—the majority is caused by Hashimoto’s). The treatment is a daily dose of thyroid hormones to replace what your thyroid should be making.
If your thyroid has been poorly functioning for a long time (which it sounds like it has), you’ll probably have a whole bunch of additional problems to deal with now due to the poor gut function that hypothyroidism causes: constipation, deficiencies in Vitamin B12, folate, iron and Vitamin D.
If you have a good doctor (and they’re getting harder and harder to find) they’ll test your levels of all of the things I’ve mentioned above to see whether you need treatment for any deficiencies found.
Thanks so much. So he apparently tested the TPO in Fridats bloods, its holidays where I live in N.Irekand so my results will probably come to me around Thursday.
Yes I wondered why the TSH wasnt raised away up trying to stimulate more thyroxine as I understood that 3 years ago that when one is low usually the other is high to try and stimulate production.
My Mum was diagnosed Hashimoto's in her 20's after child birthing my sister and I back to back.
They know very little other than they take their thyroxine (Sister has been underactive since about 4 years ago.)
I feel like I'm back at the point where instead of treating the symptoms I'm being treated by the numbers on the tests.
I've also had Private tests in Neurology for all the pins and needles I've been having and twitches and that, thibkingbit was neurological when this could be Thyroid.
I'm pretty peeved off the TPO wasnt brought to my attention when it was concerning.
My thyroid 1st went under in 2018 and this is almost 3.5 years.
Oh and GP said the 10.3 was borderline where that seems (under range to me)
Otherwise why have a range of 12 to 22.
Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to reply to me , much much appreciated.
Yes, it’s most definitely under range and very likely to be causing a problem. Because T4 isn’t even the active version of thyroid hormone—it needs to be converted to T3.
Unfortunately many GPs/family doctors have a very poor understanding of thyroid problems. It’s not their fault, they get taught in medical school that hypothyroidism is easy to treat—you prescribe a little white pill, keep the TSH in range and any other problem that your patient has is another condition completely (except oddly, that other condition often can’t be identified or is proclaimed to be depression, fibromyalgia, ME, or something to do with being a woman—PMS/perimenopause/menopause or old age (pick your stage of womanhood ).
Except, hypothyroidism isn’t always that simple (it is for some but the others find their way to forums like this, often after years of feeling unwell and being fobbed off by their doctors). Ideally, doctors would know that many patients treated for hypothyroidism need their TSH under 1.0 and both FT4 and FT3 high in range to feel well. They don’t. They look only at TSH and if that’s in range, even though the range is commonly accepted to be much too wide, it can’t be the patient’s thyroid (or their dosage of thyroxine) causing the problem.
And secondary hypothyroidism is commonly missed by GPs because it’s not as easy to spot—it requires a bit more thought. I think many GPs assume FT4 would be much lower if it was a pituitary problem (but if it was, you’d probably not be able to get out of bed to visit the doctor in the first place…). They don’t seem to realise there can be shades of grey—that pituitary function can be slightly off and that that’s enough to leave someone feeling really unwell.
Re the pins and needles—that too can be an under active thyroid issue. But it could also be low Vitamin B12/folate issue—hopefully your doctor has tested both? Again, the range for B12 is too wide—people often exhibit neurological deficits with B12/folate levels at the bottom of the range—so doctors will tell you the blood test was normal when it wasn’t!
From here on, it’s worth asking for a print off of your blood tests—you have the right to have them and it’s good to keep track of how things are changing over time.
While none of us here are medically trained—we’re a peer to peer support group—there are many here who are great at interpreting blood tests and what the issue might be, so when you do get your mitts on your results, do please feel free to post them and to ask for advice.
‘’you prescribe a little white pill, keep the TSH in range and any other problem that your patient has is another condition completely (except oddly, that other condition often can’t be identified or is proclaimed to be depression, fibromyalgia, ME, or something to do with being a woman—PMS/perimenopause/menopause or old age (pick your stage of womanhood ).’’
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 with autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto’s or Ord’s thyroiditis)
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 .
If/when starting on levothyroxine……blood should be tested 6-8 weeks after each dose change or brand change in levothyroxine
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)
Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or all relevant vitamins
If TPO or TG thyroid antibodies are high this is usually due to Hashimoto’s (commonly known in UK as autoimmune thyroid disease).
About 90% of all primary hypothyroidism in Uk is due to Hashimoto’s. Low vitamin levels are particularly common with Hashimoto’s. Gluten intolerance is often a hidden issue to.
Thanks so much SlowDragon for all of this. Especially the private links to tests! I think Ol probably need to head down that route at some point. I will come back when I have the results!
It did yes! I'd let a pig lie with me here in the gutter anytime, I'd stroke her belly and she could stroke mine! If we could both sing we would sing a song, maybe I'd promise her never to eat bacon again 🤩
I love these kind of antidotes!
I am still in the gutter today, I had a crisis nap and my hubby took our son out.
I'm headachey for the first time in over 3 years.
The chronic fatigue is overwhelming, yet you have made me laugh.
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