concerned/confused about test results - Thyroid UK

Thyroid UK

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concerned/confused about test results

Yorkie2a•

1 year ago•3 Replies

Hello new to group really, just had two sets of blood tests done the first ones came back

SERUM FREE 16.3

TSH 9.85

the second ones came back

SERUM FREE 17.1

TSH 9.79

Both TSH say out of range, my doctor says nothing to worry about come back in 2 months. I’m not happy, I can’t afford anymore weight gain. I was diagnosed with Graves’ disease nearly 11 years ago and had the rad. Iodine treatment. I’ve always foolishly taken the doctors word with results. Is there someone out there that understands results, I’m feeling really cold, tired exhausted, very depressed and dry eyes

Many thanks in advance

Yorkie2a

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Yorkie2a

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pennyannie1 year ago

Hello Yorkie and welcome to the forum :

So I too am Graves and post RAI thyroid ablation in 2005 and became very unwell some 8 years on from there and when I started to research Graves Disease via Elaine Moore Graves Disease Foundation - elaine-moore.com and fell into this forum when researching low ferritin.

It is essential that you are dosed and monitored on your Free T3 and Free T4 results and ranges and not a TSH reading which, generally, is all you get at the yearly thyroid function test farce.

T4 - Levothyroxine is a storage hormone and needs to be converted by your body into T3 the active hormone that runs the body and thought to be around 4 times more powerful than than T4.

In order for your body to convert well the T4 into T3 we need optimal vitamins and minerals especially those of ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D and so it is also sensible in the first instance to get these also run with a full thyroid panel. sometimes detailed as an advanced, full, thyroid blood test.

I had to pay to get the appropriate blood tests run and then saw the disparity between my T3 and T4 readings and started my own course of action as the NHS were not prepared to offer me any alternative thyroid hormone treatment options.

Your HPT axis - the Hypothalamus - Pituitary - Thyroid feedback loop on which the TSH result is based - is not working any longer as the thyroid has been disabled by the RAI - and this circuit loop now incomplete and broken.

Also with Graves Disease we can have antibodies ' sitting on " our TSH receptor sites which will lower your TSH readings and why we went ' hyper ' in the first place, but once the thyroid has been disabled by the RAI the is no engine to fire up any more as you have been switched from automatic pilot to manual and take your daily quota fuel in the form of T4 Levothyroxine.

If you go into Thyroid UK - thyroiduk.org this is the charity who support this amazing forum and where you can find private companies who can run the appropriate blood tests for you - some offering a nurse home visit which takes the stress, for me at least, out the whole situation.

Whenever you arrange a blood test you need an early as possible morning appointment -

fast overnight just taking in water and take your T4 for that day after the blood draw -

if taking any supplements - leave then off for around a week beforehand so we can see exactly what your body is holding on to.

T4 is a fussy hormone and needs to be taken on an empty stomach with a glass of water and you should wait around an hour before you eat or drink anything.

P.S. I'm presuming you are already taking T4 - Levothyroxine as I was started on T4 immediately after RAI thyroid ablation.

My TSH also swung up into the mid teens some years after RAI thyroid ablation while on T4 - and then dropped back down again to around 0.01 where I generally felt at my best.

P.S. Please ensure that what ever lotion, potion, drops or gunk you use for your eyes that it is Preservative Free - even those prescribed :