Name of blood test

[Yellup1]

Hi Peeps

What’s the name of the blood test that determines if or how much / how efficiently , you are converting your T4 into T3 ? I’m going to see Dr Simon Aylwyn who was recommended and want to know if he does it .

Thanks .

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Yellup1

There is no one blood test that tells you whether you convert well.

First of all you must be on LEVO ONLY, to know how well you convert.

You test TSH, FT4 and FT3 from the same blood draw. You need TSH to be 1 or below to give the highest possible FT4 level. If FT4 is high and FT3 is low then you are a poor converter. If they are reasonably well balanced then conversion is fine.

[Yellup1 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Ah thanks Susie , but I’m already taking T3 so we won’t know then , thanks anyway .

[fuchsia-pink]

If you're seeing an endo - whether NHS or privately - it's always worth getting blood tests BEFORE the consultation so that you've got the results to discuss with them. If you're seeing an endo on the NHS they may prefer to do the tests with the NHS - I ring the endo's sec a few weeks before the appointment for a blood form

Please let us know how you get on x

[Yellup1 in reply to fuchsia-pink]

Don’t worry I’m doing them first on the NHS and will take them with me . 😊

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Yellup1]

Rare NHS will test everything

You need

TSH

Ft4

FT3

Vitamin D

Folate

Ferritin

B12

Do you have Hashimoto

Are you gluten free

[Yellup1 in reply to SlowDragon]

Not gluten free ( not cealeac as I’ve been tested ) and wasn’t hashimotos when tested before .

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Yellup1]

Significant minority of Hashimoto’s patients only have high TG antibodies

NHS refuses to test TG antibodies unless TPO antibodies are high

Have you tested both TPO and TG antibodies privately

About 20% of Hashimoto’s patients never have high thyroid antibodies

Request ultrasound scan of thyroid

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Paul Robson on atrophied thyroid - especially if no TPO antibodies

paulrobinsonthyroid.com/cou...

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Yellup1]

Only 5% of Hashimoto’s patients are coeliac

A further 80% find strictly gluten free diet helps or is essential

The only way to know if that includes you is to try it

consider trialing strictly gluten free diet for 3-6 months.

If no obvious improvement, reintroduce gluten see if symptoms get worse.

chriskresser.com/the-gluten...

amymyersmd.com/2018/04/3-re...

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

drknews.com/changing-your-d...

restartmed.com/hashimotos-g...

Non Coeliac Gluten sensitivity (NCGS) and autoimmune disease

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/296...

The predominance of Hashimoto thyroiditis represents an interesting finding, since it has been indirectly confirmed by an Italian study, showing that autoimmune thyroid disease is a risk factor for the evolution towards NCGS in a group of patients with minimal duodenal inflammation. On these bases, an autoimmune stigma in NCGS is strongly supported

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/300...

The obtained results suggest that the gluten-free diet may bring clinical benefits to women with autoimmune thyroid disease

nuclmed.gr/wp/wp-content/up...

In summary, whereas it is not yet clear whether a gluten free diet can prevent autoimmune diseases, it is worth mentioning that HT patients with or without CD benefit from a diet low in gluten as far as the progression and the potential disease complications are concerned

restartmed.com/hashimotos-g...

Despite the fact that 5-10% of patients have Celiac disease, in my experience and in the experience of many other physicians, at least 80% + of patients with Hashimoto's who go gluten-free notice a reduction in their symptoms almost immediately.

hypothyroidmom.com/how-to-l...

Eliminate Gluten. Even if you don’t have Hashimoto’s. Even if you have “no adverse reactions”. Eliminate gluten. There are no universal rules except this one.

[Yellup1 in reply to SlowDragon]

I don’t know Slow Dragon , you’ve given me loads of information here which I’ll refer to if need be , Thankyou , but I actually feel fine . I’m going to a new endocrinologist because my previous one retired and it’s for something completely different , not because I feel ropey as I don’t I feel good , but I don’t want to have my meds reduced . Anyway I’ll come back to the site if I have any more questions , I asked the question I wanted and Seaside Susie answered it . If the hashimotos issue comes up then I’ll talk about it with him but I’m self paying and I don’t have endless supplies of money to ask for ultrasounds . I haven’t got much left of my savings and I already have a lot on my plate ( look after disabled estranged husband ) and have been through a horrendous thing where all the residents in my apartment block had to leave and pack up within 6 days to live in hotels for 6 months while the freeholder bought us all out of our flats . Exhausting and horrendous and I’ve only got a little bit of money left and I feel ok . Sometimes a friend and I were saying recently , if one feels fairly well , it’s better to know less rather than more . I don’t want to look for more health issues to worry about and pay for . I eat gluten free where I can, but I live with estranged disabled husband who eats gluten so it can be complicated . One can only do what one can do in their circumstances . But thanks for the information which I’ll hang onto should I need it .

[Yellup1 in reply to SlowDragon]

Our building was a fire risk so we all had to evacuate the building which has since been condemned for demolition and live in hotels . Not been a great last few years one way and another 😕

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Yellup1]

Surprised you feel ok thyroid wise ……stress is notoriously bad for thyroid patients

Hope things improve for you

[Yellup1 in reply to SlowDragon]

Thankyou , I mean I feel ok on the dose I’m on and have done for a while under my last endo who retired . I’ve moved into new flat now three months ago so things have calmed down a bit now but the last year was horrendous . Sometimes what happens is a person can remain well during a stressful period then when it’s over , then they get sick or come down with something . I did feel pretty exhausted albeit relieved , when it was all over . I have acupuncture every three weeks at a low rate as I’ve known her 22 years and (she’s also hypothyroid) , so she keeps me ticking over too but unfortunately all my thyroid stuff ( seeing endos etc ) is private as when I first got diagnosed years ago I was quite ill at first with it and so went private as didn’t want to wait months and months on an NHS waiting list , so I’ve been private ever since . But I don’t have much money so I always worry that while I can just about meet the cost of the consultations , I can’t really pay for too much of the scans and tests privately as I barely have any savings so where possible I try to have those on the NHS . I have to be well to look after my disabled ex too who I still live with ! But it was really sweet of you to go through all that trouble putting up the links and giving me all that info as one never knows when one might need it . I’m just hypothyroid as opposed to hashimotos but nevertheless it can still make one under the weather as we all know . So again Thankyou so much 😊