Help for a 70 year old lady

[dodge1979]

My mother is 70 and has been on T4 for 30 years on the same dose 100mg of T4

Symptoms at the moment

Anxiety

Depressed

Swollen feet (can’t touch them)

Weight loss

Morning sickness

Dizziness

Falls

Shaking hands

Gp only does TSH test

Range 0.38 - 5.35

Result 0.85 mlu/L

I don’t think she should be on 100mg ?????

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

dodge1979

Gp only does TSH test

Range 0.38 - 5.35

Result 0.85 mlu/L

I don’t think she should be on 100mg ?????

What dose do you think she should be on?

It is impossible to get a full picture of thyroid status from TSH alone. It's not a thyroid hormone, it's a pituitary hormone. The thyroid hormones are FT4 and FT3 and these are what tell us our thyroid status and if we are under or over medicated.

Anxiety and depression can be underactive.

Weight loss and shaking hands can be over active.

But think what all those symptoms can also suggest, there can be many reasons for all of them, is the GP investigating?

You asked about this 3 months ago (mom was 66 then???):

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

but you didn't respond to any of the replies you received.

I suggest your mom gets a full thyroid panel with one of our private recommended labs, and while she's doing that then test the key nutrients as well (dizziness can be low B12). Test includes:

TSH

FT4

FT3

Thyroid antibodies

Vit D

B12

Folate

Ferritin

Come back with results, including reference ranges and we will be able to help.

Comparable full Thyroid and Vitamin test bundles as follows:

Medichecks ADVANCED THYROID FUNCTION medichecks.com/products/adv...

Check this page for details of any discounts: thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

or

Blue Horizon Thyroid PREMIUM GOLD bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...

Check this page for discount code thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

Both tests include the full thyroid and vitamin panel. They are basically the same test with just a few small differences:

Blue Horizon includes Total T4 (can be useful but not essential). Medichecks doesn't include this test.

B12 - Blue Horizon does Total B12 which measures bound and unbound (active) B12 but doesn't give a separate result for each. Medichecks does Active B12.

Total B12 shows the total B12 in the blood. Active B12 shows what's available to be taken up by the cells. You can have a reasonable level of Total B12 but a poor level of Active B12. (Personally, I would go for the Active B12 test.)

Blue Horizon include magnesium but this is an unreliable test so don't let this sway your decision, it also tests cortisol but that's a random cortisol test and to make any sense of it you'd need to do it fasting before 9am I believe.

Both tests can be done by fingerprick or you can pay extra for venous blood draw. If she wants to do the fingerprick test and has never done one before then I have some tips I can post, please ask if you want them.

[dodge1979]

Ok thanks