I was wondering if I can get your help & wisdom on my resent thyroid blood test results please.
I discovered 3 years ago that I have slight hypothyroidism (during IVF treatment) and felt much better once my levels were below 2.5 (recommended for successful pregnancy). My question is - I gave birth last month and just had my bloods taken to test my levels post birth. During pregnancy & IVF treatment my levels stabilised to around ~1.0 to 1.5. Post birth (I’m also breastfeeding) the results are now TSH 0.13 Free T4 21.0
Should I worry my TSH has dropped? I’m obviously tired with a newborn and so any new symptoms would be hard to define! Your thoughts and wisdom would be much appreciated. I’m wondering if I need to lower my dose of levothyroxine - and might help with tiredness! I’m currently on 75 micrograms which I was on before I became pregnant.
*For more background info - I had been on 50 micrograms of levo (upto Nov last year) before it was increased to 75 as my TSH had risen to over 5.0 during IVF hormone treatment last year. *Note - I am no longer on any hormone medication post pregnancy.
Thanks in advance for taking time to read this!
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Happyspanielmomma
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Congratulations on safe arrival of little one ….well done
Just testing TSH and Ft4 is inadequate
Bloods should be retested 6-8 weeks after each dose change or brand change in levothyroxine……or after giving birth
For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested.
Very 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 and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test
This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip)
Is this how you did your test
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). Ord’s is autoimmune without goitre.
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 too
Hi I think if you are within the reference range then I wouldn’t lower your dosage, at least certainly not yet. Your body isn’t currently in a state of any permanence best to keep things as they are. If you get hyper symptoms then see your doctor but otherwise I would stick to your current dose as you don’t appear to be over medicated. X
Hi, it’s really important to make sure you’re not over medicated or under medicated as both are harmful to your heart especially in long term. I’ve had my dose lowered and I have to say I was nervous to do so as I’ve always felt better on the low side myself but I had gone under the lowest the nhs likes you on and us gone to doctors with a whole load of symptoms which I’d never linked to thyroid at all but which have now reduced in intensity sine my dose was altered from 100 to 75. Based on my weight the ideal dose might be 88 but I’m feeling good on 75 so will stick at that. My range of weird things I was really suffering with was on and off nausea with severe vomiting every few weeks, constipation literally felt like my body had ground to a halt aka gastroparesis, I had odd breathing like I couldn’t get full breaths which was really upsetting actually, constant yawning, high anxiety, itchy, odd taste in mouth, aches and stiffness in legs when I got up in morning like an old lady. I could not believe it when my dose reduced that these issues started to reduce and then have pretty much disappeared. I was also getting heart palpitations and had to stop for tests going for a walk if it was a steep 200m uphill. My take on all this is that my dose has been wrong for me for a couple of years and there was a build up of adverse effects overtime till I literally felt I was falling apart. The thyroid is such an important body function. By the way a big readon I think my thyroid requirement dropped was cos I stopped smoking, pretty much gave up caffeine and dairy all of which interfere with absorption of thyroxine. One other thing to note is that too much thyroxine doesn’t help you lose weight and I was struggling to lose weight after I put done on thru covid since I lowered my dose my body is functioning much better I have more energy can walk up steep hills and have lost a few pounds. Sorry to ramble but it’s not always the same symptoms with thyroid as when I first got diagnosed it was huge weight gain massive depression very cold and very tired all the time, I couldn’t think straight or focus properly. You do need to review at least annually anyway, with moving house and covid I missed 2 years test results hence why I got myself physically in a mess with it. Take care.
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