Hi there, just had my TSI results back (see photos).
This is part of my new overactive thyroid diagnosis last week. I’m stumped as not having huge amounts of symptoms but hey ho.
I’ll add my other results too for the full picture. But is this now confirming a Graves diagnosis? I did lose half a stone but the weight is going back on daily now without taking any medication.
I have been prescribed 10mg Propanolol twice a day and 30mg Carbi-something once a day but haven’t started them yet.
I've just deleted some of your replies (to your own post) which contained images of your results. The reason is that they contain the name of a person - your GP, I assume.
This is not allowed.
For your original post, I have edited the image to obliterate the name.
There's nothing wrong with posting images but they need to be free of practitioner names and, ideally, other personal information.
Please feel free to repost without the name. Or type the results in (including reference intervals - ranges).
These results do indicate Graves'. You should start the propranolol and carbimazole straight away.
Smoking is very bad for Graves'. There is some evidence that selenium supplements may help reduce the effects of Graves'. It's not conclusive but it's reasonably cheap and safe so makes sense.
Thank you. I do t smoke so that’s one less worry I guess!
Hello there :
Graves is a poorly understood and badly treated auto immune disease for which, currently, there is no cure and something has triggered your immune system to turn and attack your body rather than defend it and quite what and why is the 64 million $ question.
i was diagnosed when age 57, and had never smoked in all my life and the symptoms tht took me to the doctor was one of insomnia.
The thyroid is the victim in all this and not the cause and everyone's journey with Graves is unique to them - though stress and anxiety seem to be common factors - and all mainstream medical can try to do is make you as comfortable as possible while we wait for your immune system response to calm down.
Graves is said to be life threatening if not medicated and all the AT dug, either Carbimazole or Proplythiouracil ( PTU for ease of speech ) do is block your new own daily thyroid hormone production and slowly your over range T3 and T4 levels will fall back down into range and your symptoms hopefully relieved.
Much like putting you into a holding position, like that of a plane waiting to land.
The AT drug will likely be regularly titrated down as your T3 and T4 reduce as you do not want to fall too far through the T3 and T4 ranges as then you may experience the equally disabling symptoms of hypothyroidism.
The thyroid is a major gland and the controller of all your bodily functions including your physical, mental, emotional, psychological and spiritual well being, your inner central heating system and your metabolism - so symptoms can be diverse with some just plan odd - but think another common symptom is exhaustion from doing nothing, maybe eating for England and loosing weight ?
The most recent research we have suggests that the longer the patient stays on the AT drug the better the long term outcome for the patient :-
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/338...
You might like to read around on Graves as it will be in your best interest to have some understanding and suggest you take a look at the Elaine Moore Graves Disease Foundation forum - maybe starting at self help section on alternative and more holistic treatment options and the suggestions on relaxation and stress / life work balance.
P.S. I'm with Graves but post RAI thyroid ablation back in 2005 - I knew nothing then and my research only started some 10 years after this treatment option which I deeply regret.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/306...
My thyroid journey is detailed on my profile page should you be interested - just press the face icon alongside my name.
I am prompted to reply to you, Pennyannie and to Lady with the baby, as I am also Graves’ patient but sadly the damage of a thyroidectomy in 2006, has already been done and like Pennyannie, I wish so much that I had known how difficult life without a thyroid would be and had fought harder to keep it.
My saviour has been to start on Liothyronine alongside Levothyroxine but it is still the best kept secret for anyone contemplating either thyroidectomy or RAI. You, lady with the baby, will be fed the usual story of the “ little white pill” this being Levothyroxine, the standard treatment after a thyroid is destroyed by whatever method. It will be tossed into the conversation quite casually and you will probably believe it is all you need. Perhaps it will be but eventually you may realize your health is suffering and now you will know that an additional treatment is available to you. I suggest you that as you go down the road of a misbehaving thyroid, you keep in mind the knowledge that Liothyronine exists ( best kept secret of the NHS) and before any drastic treatment, do extract an assurance from your medical team that you will be offered it on the NHS if it is found that you need it.
Please see my reply to you and Pennyannie regarding Liothyronine treatment.
I hope all goes well for you and with this marvellous site, you will never lack knowledge and advice on how to deal with any problems you encounter.
Having been refused both T3 and Natural Desiccated Thyroid by the NHS in 2018 I self medicated both and have been much improved taking NDT for the past 5 years.
It is odd how different we all are, so I suppose it is no wonder that the NHS gives up on us. I tried natural dessicated thyroid and could not get on with it but the moment I took my first tiny dose of T3 it was like a miracle. My body was starved of it, from six years of my poor T4 conversion and I know it sounds silly but I immediately noticed a difference. Did you have the same reaction with NDT?
I purchased 1 box of Uni Pharma T3 and a trial pack of Thyroid S as I thought I owed it to myself to give all option a go and then decide for myself which one suited me best.
I started by trialling 6.25 mcg T3 - with a reduced dose of 100 mcg T4 - and yes I too had that light bub moment with my brain being turned back on again ad my head not heavy on my shoulders
I liken the introduction of T3 as like the wick on an old Ascot water boiler having been repaired / replaced and now the boiler was firing on all cylinders and working well.
I did find myself a bit turbo charged which dropped off as the hours went past and stayed with it, introducing a second dose of 6.25 T3 - 8 hours later - and 3 days later felt very unwell with even my bed sheets hurting where ever they touched my skin - I had a horrible headache, wouldn't, couldn't drive my car - and it was all a bit scary so just stopped the T3 and waited it out.
In the initial excitement I purchased some bulk T3 from Mexico which gave me the most dreadful of all headaches when I tried again to introduce T3 and couldn't find any more Uni Pharma T3 in the usual trusted place.
I went back on T4 for a couple of weeks and started NDT and it was much softer on my body - and with what seems like a constant much more subtle feeling of wellness.
I only seem to need a small dose of NDT - at around 1 + 1/2 grains so around 13.50 T3 + 57 mcg T4 - and I very much doubt I would have worked this out for myself doing a T3/T4 combo as at the time I was working on the assumption that I needed around 100 mcg T4 with around a 10% top up of T3 :
I doubt I'd have trusted myself long enough to find this dose for myself with synthetics - working on the assumption that synthetic T3/T4 strength correlates closely to that of NDT - ??
Hope that makes sense - getting past my best before time - yes, I do fade about now, but then I'm 76 and up at 5/6 am so maybe that's ok - I still mow my lawns and have my little car and independence back - so all things consider I'm doing ok.
Details on profile page if interested.
we are of the same age, approximately, and like you I am up and out walking at 6am. But I crash early and am reading in bed by 10pm. But I could never have managed this without T3. Nevertheless I still feel I am not the person I was before thyroidectomy. I don’t have the courage to take off in my car and drive to new places alone but other friends have blamed it on Covid, so maybe there is something in that theory. We got used to going nowhere and now don’t want to leave our sanctuary. As for unipharma, it is definitely the best T3 and costs a few euros. Why cannot the NHS buy this instead and save themselves millions? It’s all a mystery…
I too am not the same person as having had to force myself to read up when the NHS just shrugged their shoulders and when referred to as a conundrum when I was living with the known consequences of drinking the RAI the last straw in trusting and believing they were there to help me get better.
I'm undiagnosed dyslexic and realise now I have been hypothyroid since a child - and though tested twice throughout my life presume my TSH reading never reached the dizzy heights to qualify for a diagnosis and medication.
Now with sufficient T3 my dyslexia is not as challenging if I stay focused and I feel much stronger having back some control of my health issues at this point in time.
I absolutely agree on your last statement but I think we are asked not to discuss it on this site. Should love to be able to chat about it over a cup of coffee…
Deleted as suggested - you shouldn't have asked - but maybe I misunderstood -
let's blame my dyslexia - !!
P.S.
Meant to add that when metabolism is running too fast as in hyperthyroidism or too slow as in hypothyroidism the body struggles to extract nutrients through food - no matter how well or clean you eat - and these can tend to nose dive through their ranges compounding your health issues even further.
Ask that ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D are run and post the results and readings back on here, in a new post ( as it is new information ) and you will be advised where these need to be to be optimal and support you through this phase of Graves Disease.
Thank you. Can I just request blood tests from my GP?
I would hope so :
Mainstream medical see Graves as ' life threatening ' so I think it fair to say they need to be seen as covering their backs - you can only ask - don't get stressed if the computer says ' No ' :
Use one of the private companies listed on the Thyroid UK website - thyroiduk.org I know it's wrong as we have / had an NHS - but what you certainly do not want is more stress and anxiety at this point in time.
Actually maybe the results are in all these blood tests you posted which I confess that I skipped through as I've been busy doing other things and just remembered what I forgot earlier when I had to go out !!
And I deleted several as they contain the GP name.
Ok - so in light of that fact I may have seen blood tests that are now not there -since my first reply to you was early this morning -
Can you see any readings/ ranges on your current blood tests reports for the core strength vitamins and minerals of ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D ?
Just Ferratin….
Ok then 208 is high in the range - but in the range :
It is very common when first diagnosed that our body is upset and struggling and this can be expressed in our inflammation being high which in turn can lead to a high ferritin.
Do you see an inflammation reading there - probably written as CRP ?
Is that the Serum C Reactive Protein in the Ferratin screenshot above?
Yes - well spotted :
So there you see your Crp is under the range but you are with some inflammation so this could well explain the highish ferritin :
Most of us need to arrange our own blood test readings and the companies we mainly use tends to have a ferritin range of 13-150 hence my original comment.
Your ferritin results gave a range of 10 - 291 - so a very different range - rule of thumb for vitamins and minerals is generally to be a good 50% through whatever range is detailed.
This is another issue we have as there is no standardisation of ranges as it all depends on the laboratory machinery used.
So, if i haven't missed you, sleep easy, if that's at all possible as both these results are in the ranges - and ok - good night :
Is there any point in getting a Hashimoto's diagnosis?
Very new to this! Is this normal? 
New hypothyroid diagnosis and weird symptoms - is this "normal"? 
Getting a diagnosis of hypothyroidism
