Is it my thyroid?

[geordieclaire120573]

So I've posted before about having thyroid symptoms and doctors not listening saying nothing wrong. Thyroglobulin antibodies 154 range 115. And thyroid peroxidase 36 range 34. TSH 132. Range 0.27- 4.2. Free T3 4.51 range 3.1-6.8. Free thyroxine 13.5. Range 12-22...I ended up in a&e with chest pains. Fast heart rate. Shaking. Had ecg and blood tests. My heart markers were raised slightly...had d dimer checked for clots. Was discharged with them saying could be inflammation in chest. I did query that I had booster two wks ago...anyway I've demanded another go to c me face to face to get to the bottom of my symptoms. Go has said will retest my free thyroxine as it's at low range. Can thyroid cause problems with heart etc and my symptoms. Especially palpitations?

[greygoose]

Is that TSH really 132? Sure you haven't missed out a decimal point?

[geordieclaire120573 in reply to greygoose]

Haha yes 1.32

[greygoose in reply to geordieclaire120573]

Ouf! That's better! lol

Yes, thyroid problems can greatly affect the heart. So can nutritional deficiencies, as humanbean has said. Have you ever had your nutrients tested?

You have Hashi's, according to your antibodies. But, so far, that doesn't seem to have affected your thyroid very much. No doctor will diagnose you with hypothyroidism with those results, even though your FT4 is a little low. Mainly, they only look at the TSH, and your TSH is great! And your FT3 is higher in range than your FT4, percentage-wise - which isn't surprising with a failing thyroid, although I doubt many doctors know about that. But, the upshot is: you aren't hypo at the moment.

However, with Hashi's, all that can change suddenly. Do you know how Hashi's works?

[greygoose in reply to greygoose]

How many thyroid blood tests have you had? Has your TSH ever been any higher than that? Or has it ever been very, very low? How about FT4/3?

[humanbean]

I ended up in a&e with chest pains. Fast heart rate. Shaking.

This is a personal anecdote that may be completely irrelevant to you.

I have hypothyroidism. But when I got severe chest pain, fast heart rate (tachycardia), breathlessness and various other unpleasant symptoms, not just once but repeatedly with no evidence of heart attack or blood clots anywhere in or near my heart I got no joy from doctors either. They decided that I had "non-cardiac chest pain", and although it wasn't said to my face directly it was implied that I was either suffering from anxiety, or a mental disorder, or hypochondria.

I actually had extremely low (below range) iron and extremely low in range ferritin (iron stores). I got little help with my low iron and ended up learning how to treat myself. It took a long time to improve my iron with supplements but at some point I realised that my episodes of chest pain were getting further and further apart, lasted less and less time, and eventually they stopped completely and haven't returned.

The reason why my iron was so low was because I had had a GI bleed for several years which was getting worse and worse. It took three hospitals to find the cause - what was described as a "giant polyp" that was bleeding. After it was found and fixed you would expect the information to end up in my GP records, but it was as if the whole situation was brushed under the rug, because it never appeared in my records. Luckily the hospital that found the polyp did give me a copy of the paperwork so at least the existence of the polyp can't be denied.

I will never trust a doctor on the subject of my iron (or any other nutrients for that matter) ever again.

From this link : thatorganicmom.com/iron-def...

the symptoms of iron deficiency anemia:

Blue sclera (white part of eyes can take on a bluish tint, similar to the look of skim milk)

Chest Pain

Cold hands and feet

Depression

Dizziness/lightheadedness

Fainting

Fatigue

Hair Loss

Headaches

Irregular heartbeat or heart palpitations

Irritability

Pica (persistent pattern of eating non-food items including ice, glue, paint, sand, dirt, clay, starch, etc.)

Pallor or pale skin (oxygen-rich blood is scarce and is being diverted away from skin to major organs)

Light areas inside of the eyelids, mouth, and cheeks

Whitish and sore tongue

Pounding or “whooshing” in your ears

Sensitivity to cold (low body temperature, unable to get and stay warm)

Shortness of Breath after simple tasks such as climbing stairs, walking short distances, doing housework

Tachycardia (rapid heartbeat)

Weakness

Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) (tingly or twitching legs that move uncontrollably, especially at bedtime)

Skin color can be a gray-green or pale yellow

Brittle nails, or nails with ridges or depressed areas

In the UK, if you can't get your doctor to test your iron and ferritin with an iron panel then it is possible to get it tested with a private iron panel with a finger-prick sample of blood. No doctors involved, and results will be sent back to you, usually via email or via online account.

[geordieclaire120573 in reply to humanbean]

I had a private test and said my folate was low. So I'm on folic tablets..omg those side effects r horrific

[humanbean in reply to geordieclaire120573]

Folate is not connected with iron or ferritin (iron stores).

There is a stronger relationship between folate and vitamin B12. The body needs folate in order to make use of vitamin B12.

When folate is low folic acid is not the best way of improving it for reasons given in these two links :

takecareof.com/articles/ben...

chriskresser.com/folate-vs-...

The best supplement for raising folate is methylfolate which can be bought without prescription and is available from sites like Amazon or many sites that sell supplement.

If there is a chance your iron and/or ferritin are low you would need to get the appropriate testing either from your doctor, or possibly from private finger-prick testing.

The best private test I know of is this one:

medichecks.com/iron-tests/i...

There is a discount code for Medichecks giving 10% off listed on this page:

thyroiduk.org/help-and-supp...

[geordieclaire120573 in reply to humanbean]

Yeh I got a medichecks test my vitamin b12 was high and folate low...I've had anemia before and I have same symptoms. Awful dizziness

[Buddy195 Administrator]

Last month you stated your TSH was 1.32, so a decimal point is missing.

Just checking, have you ever been prescribed thyroid medication?

[geordieclaire120573 in reply to Buddy195]

No change and symptoms r worse. GP said I can get repeat tests in 8 wks

[radd]

geordieclare120573

The heart has a huge requirement for thyroid hormones and particularly the right amount of T3. Many members have suffered cardiac issues either before becoming medicated with thyroid hormone replacement or when medication wasn't dosed quite right.

I take it that TSH of 132 is a typo as in your last post you advised TSH was 1.32, previously 0.9, together with very low FT3 & FT4. I explained that TSH normal behaviour is to inversely correlate with thyroid hormones levels, ie FT4/FT3 go down & TSH goes up.

Therefore, you seem to have some disconnect within the thyroid signalling system that your GP might not recognise as possible Central Hypothyrodism that requires further investigations. You also have Hashimotos evidenced by elevated thyroid antibodies.

You are exhibiting classic hypothyroid symptoms and said you were going to seek help from a private endo. What happened?

Regarding you heart issues you may like to read this reply I gave yesterday to another member.

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[geordieclaire120573 in reply to radd]

I've been in hospital two with symptoms...seen a different go today and he said will retest me in 8 wks for thyroid...I've got to have a 24 HR holster trace for heart. Ohh and he said I might have post covid pots

[radd in reply to geordieclaire120573]

goerdieclaire120573,

Obviously there are some people who suffer from quite debilitating dysautonomia but there is also a good number of members including myself who have received a suspected diagnosis of one of the various forms with POTS probably being the most common, only to recover when thyroid hormone became optimised.

[geordieclaire120573 in reply to radd]

That's what I think... related to my thyroid...I feel so awful at the moment suffering with horrible dizziness like vertigo

[radd in reply to geordieclaire120573]

Oh poor you ☹️.

Eight weeks is a long time to wait for another thyroid test. There has been many thyroid issues related to COVID. Are your health issues since COVID or do you feel you had thyroid problems before.?

[geordieclaire120573 in reply to radd]

I've had thyroid symptoms since Christmas but covid has definitely made things worse

[klr31]

Yes.

[shaws Administrator]

I have lost faith completely in the majority of doctors. Especially when my GP phoned to tell me there was nothing wrong with blood test. I cried as I felt so very unwell. In fact, my TSH was 100 and GP still made that statement.