Hi everyone, I have a respiratory condition and a member of that group, but after having my bloods checked my gp has put me on a very low dose of Levothyroxine(2.5mg) saying my results were slightly raised 5.5, which it was last year but wasn’t looked into further as it dropped down when I had further test for something else.
She didn’t go into any detail really just to have bloods done again in September. So joined the group for a bit more understanding ,my esr is also high. She thinks that is caused by inflammation from my respiratory condition.
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Heaven20
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I think maybe your doctor needs persuading to test rather a lot more than TSH—that’s the most “basic” of the tests to identify thyroid conditions and it doesn’t really tell you much except to flag up that your thyroid is struggling to keep up with demand to make thyroid hormones.
I think you must mean 25mcg as 2.5mg is 2500mcg which would be an enormous dose of levothyroxine.
25mcg is very much a starter dose and it’s very unlikely to be enough. It doesn’t “top up” your thyroid function (alas, it doesn’t work like that), so if you’re left on that dose for too long you will likely feel worse rather than better.
Your doctor should test your thyroid function every 6-8 weeks from here on (and not just TSH—ideally you’d need to know FT4, FT3 and it would be useful to know if you have thyroid antibodies). And your levothyroxine dosage should be increased to the point where it makes you feel better—often than ends up being at the point where your TSH is below 1.0. Being “in range” is meaningless for someone taking thyroid replacement hormone.
I wonder actually if some of your respiratory symptoms are actually due to low levels of thyroid hormone. If you’ve been experiencing anxiety or feeling low in mood, if you’ve had random aches and pains, if you feel tired much of the time—all those things are low thyroid hormone symptoms. There are something like 300+ hypothyroid symptoms, which isn’t surprising if you consider that thyroid hormone is needed for the functioning of every cell in your body!
Thanks for that, I will of course ask my gp for the full results after my next blood test and discuss it further, I have been tired and suffer with aches and pains in my joints which I put down to age, I have bronchiectasis which isn’t connected ,but as you say I have other symptoms, just haven’t been feeling myself for a while. Do you know what the result of 5.5 refers to? I think if it was a face to face appt I would have discussed further, but was a telephone appt. Thanks for your time .
Is that 25mcg of levo? This is a low starting dose. 50mcg is standard unless you have heart condition or over 65.
The 5.5 is likely a TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) result. Which isn’t a thyroid hormone. It’s a pituitary hormone. It rises when thyroid levels are low.
Was thyroid checked to see how low FT4 & FT4 the free thyroxine & free triiodothyronine. Both should be checked but NHS rarely do FT3.
Online access to results very helpful for tracking your levels. Do you have this?
Often hypothyroidism is caused by autoimmune thyroiditis also called Hashimoto’s - doctors just refer to it as under active thyroid as what ever the cause it’s treated by replacement hormone.
It might explain high ESR and you can confirm if it’s autoimmune by testing TPO & TG antibodies. Ask GP to test.
Ask your doctor to test folate, ferritin, B12 and vitamin D these are often low with hypothyroidism. Doctor might not agree vitamin D is often refused.
There are private options if you can’t get everything tested.
When you test ensure you fast overnight, book early draw, delay dose until after, leave off supplements containing biotin 7 days before, as can interfere with testing process. This ensure consistent testing & comparable results.
Yes 25mcg, having a repeat blood test in September, she said to start on a low dose in the meantime. I was diagnosed with high blood pressure last year so on medication for that. High cholesterol medication since my late twenties am now 63. I don't take biotin and always have a fasting blood test because of my cholesterol. My vitamin d OK at the moment, I will definetley ask about TPO and TG tests, that's very helpful information, I will come back to the forum when I know more, and will probably ask for more advice then, thank you for your reply.
Both high blood pressure and high cholesterol are also symptoms of hypothyroidism. Levothyroxine should lower those numbers over time. My symptoms were a mix of hyper and hypothyroidism. My blood pressure was very high. Since being on Levo, my blood pressure is steady at 117/75.
Hi there, I'm pretty sure my cholesterol is a separate issue as I've had that since I was in my twenties (hereditary) but maybe my high blood pressure could be connected to hypothyroidism.
Hi, yes I do get tired easy, but I was told by my respiratory consultant that bronchiectasis(which I was diagnosed with 5 years ago) can cause fatigue as can other things. It's a waiting game now until my next blood test. Thank you for your reply
Welcome! I am on 100/125mcg Levo so you are on a very ow dose. Your GP needs to do the full range of blood tests as mentioned elsewhere in reply to you. Good luck
Heaven20 - the only other thing I can advise is reading this site and reading as much as you can about thyroid care and health.
Thyroid care is nothing short of scandalous; you have to become your own advocate.
Yes I agree of course, after spending a few hours in A&E last year I was looked after. Its just certain illness which are hard to diagnose and its the patient that needs to inform their gp/consultant of all symptoms.Bronchiectasis is one of those that you have to regularly have to treat with antibiotics and it's hit and miss with getting the correct one.
At least now I have more information for me to discuss with my gp thank you.
I will ask my gp about it, but I'm sure a thyroid problem would have been detected before now, saying that I am on a high dose of statins and its not as low as I'd like.
Yeah I had thought my thyroid problem would've been seen 7 years ago. It was clearly on my blood work. 2015, my TSH was 8 something, but it was ignored by multiple doctors. My new doctor ran the test and my TSH was 13+. My statins were not lowering my cholesterol. My prior doctor was stunned, but didn't understand why. Hopefully, you get it figured out.
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