I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Disease in 1996. Luckily my GP screened for the antibodies as my T4 was borderline; purely because his daughter had been diagnosed with it. At the time I was passing out all the time, I had developed psoriasis, I had brain fog, depression and a host of other symptoms. They improved fractionally when I was given Levothyroxine to control high TSH levels. Long story short, I was eventually put on combination Levothyroxine and Liothyronine as my health continued to be a problem. As my health problems still persisted, my endo said that I should be overdosed to 0.1 tsh, which seemed to keep me ok (difficult to tell as I also developed a kidney infection, which needed major surgery in the meantime, plus the issues below). Last year a locum GP decided to cut my liothyronine dosage in half - I was so ill I could not work and my hair fell out in big patches; my Endo refused to see me and now claimed that it was acceptable for my tsh to be 0.5 despite my debilitating symptoms. Thankfully in Sept, a GP put me back onto my full liothyronine dose, my health has improved and my hair is mostly growing back.
Alongside all of this is a lifetime of anaemia. I nearly died at 14 years old and spent 10 days in hospital with suspected Leukaemia. Since then I have needed constant iron supplements to prevent anaemia (tablets made me ill, so I eventually used liquid iron), until 2009 when supplements made no difference whatsoever. I have since had intravenous iron infusions when my ferritin levels fall below 100ug. (That's another battle with GP's, and NHS referral systems, who insist that level is ok, despite my blood consultant saying otherwise; I have just found UK guidance which identifies those with underlying chronic conditions should be treated as deficient at 100ug ferritin, not 30ug as per the healthy population, can pass on if anyone wants it.) Last year, my ferritin count dropped drastically in 3 months without any known cause. It has only done this once before, and each time I had the classic symptoms associated with anaemia, despite having what is considered a high to normal ferritin count (way above 100ug) and regular haemoglobin. I was on my knees. Has anyone else had the same?
Little has been done to establish why I have iron deficiency. I had a coeliac test in 2009; however I wasn't told that I needed to be eating gluten in order for the test to work. I had stopped eating wheat because of its link to thyroid health and an earlier blood test had identified a wheat intolerance. I am being retested now. I began eating wheat a week ago and have had muscle pain and stiffness ever since. I have also been doing research myself, as I don't exactly trust the medical profession to come up with the answers. I have come across a condition called Autoimmune Metaplastic Atrophic Gastritis, which links chronic iron deficiency to Hashimoto's Disease. Has anyone with both Hashimoto's and chronic iron deficiency been diagnosed with this condition? If so, what treatment was advised and did it help?
My B12 readings were always 'normal' up to my kidney surgery. in 2018. I was anaemic following a renal pelvic bleed during surgery. They didn't give me a blood transfusion because of my chronic blood problems, and didn't want to do anything without my consultant, who was on leave ! My ferritin levels were high because of the inflammation following surgery anyway. 6 weeks later my ferritin levels were still way above 100ug, but my anaemia was no better. Eventually they discovered I was lacking in b12. I haven't been told that this is an issue again, though I don't know if they even check. I noticed on one post that other supplements can give false readings for B12?
Finally, my Endo suggested that I have HRT, long before the menopause, because of my poor response to my thyroid medication. I didn't notice much difference. My GP has just swapped me to a patch, at the same time liothyronine was reintroduced. My brain has gone 'Zing', back to life. I am sure I am feeling better than before, so not sure if it is the patch or the lio. I have been having bleeds on the patch, having a scan next week, so not sure if I need to stop them. I wondered if anyone else had found them really beneficial, or not?
Sorry, lots to say as I have had over 4 decades of dealing with this !
Does The Thyroid Affect Potassium Levels?
Anaemia test results
Follow on from Sister's results......
Asking GP for iron panel test
Banging my head against a brick wall
