Hi ...can someone tell me what this all means plzI've never asked or posted anything about myself before ..just been in the background reading and trying to understand about it all ..Had hypothyroidism for about 4 yrs now and I'm on 75mg since I was diagnosed...
I'll try n make this as short as I can...
Lost faith in docs as they didn't listen to me when I pleaded that something was wrong with me as I had never been ill in my life before..... I ended up in a psychiatric hospital for 3 days having a massive anxiety attack and also felt suicidal ....I'm 100% feel better than I did then but ...from what I've read most of my symptoms from hypothyroidism should have disappeared....
Also I have white patches all over my body which I've found to be linked to having hashimoto...is this true? Plus if so what steps do I take next ....
Thanks for the long read ...sorry .
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Shez36
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Thankyou so much for the reply ..My doc has put my dose up to 112mg...
Which I've just calculated what you said and your correct...my weight is 11 stone which means he's put me on the correct dose and I've got to have a blood test in 6 weeks..
I've never had my thyroid antibodies tested as far as I'm aware...
I do believe I have hashimoto's because of this on my skin .....
What I've researched is that it looks like I have....
idiopathic guttate hypomelanosis .
I thought about going on a Gluten free diet but by what I've found is that it's all so expensive to buy and I'm a single parent who's disabled so im on a low budget
Do I need a coeliac blood test even if I get a thyroid antibodies test?
Would it not show up in that?
I just dnt want to go in the docs n ask for these test and he tries to tell me I dnt need one of them..
You say about my poor kidney function ?
Is it poor?
As last year I was really bad in pain and in bed for around 3 months...
When I had my bloods done recently I asked for my blood test last year and and my creatinine was 100....
I tried to do a bit of research and by what I could make out my level wasn't good...
So I asked about my kidneys this time and he said they were normal???
So are they not??
I just have no faith whatsoever in the docs anymore.....I feel like you have to tell them what to do...
When I got diagnosed they didn't say anything just take these tablets and find info on Google about it ....
Then I ask for my results and I say I'm going to Google my results etc and it's ' an eye roll and then its 'don't Google'
One rule for them n one for us...
Also I buy my own vitamins which stretches my budget out...
Can I ask my doc for vitamins?
Also do they have to do these blood tests? Can they refuse?
If I find out I have hashimoto's what difference does it make? Is my treatment the same?
initially for first week or two suggest you initially only increase to 100mcg daily before increasing to 112.5mcg
Going from 75mcg to 112.5mcg in one go might be a bit to large a jump to cope with
Which brand of levothyroxine are you currently taking at 75mcg
Many people find different brands of levothyroxine are not interchangeable
Levothyroxine is an extremely fussy hormone and should always be taken on an empty stomach and then nothing apart from water for at least an hour after
Many people take Levothyroxine soon after waking, but it may be more convenient and perhaps more effective taken at bedtime
No other medication or supplements at same as Levothyroxine, leave at least 2 hour gap.
Some like iron, calcium, magnesium, HRT, omeprazole or vitamin D should be four hours away
(Time gap doesn't apply to Vitamin D mouth spray)
If you normally take levothyroxine at bedtime/in night ...adjust timings as follows prior to blood test
If testing Monday morning, delay Saturday evening dose levothyroxine until Sunday morning. Delay Sunday evening dose levothyroxine until after blood test on Monday morning. Take Monday evening dose levothyroxine as per normal
Kidney function
GFR highlighted in red
GFR is the rate your kidneys working …..currently too low hence in red
The GFR is reversibly reduced (by about 40%) in more than 55% of adults with hypothyroidism[40] due to several reasons
There is a reversible reduction in the kidney to body weight ratio in hypothyroidism, where the renal mass almost doubles with treatment. Hypothyroidism results in a reversible elevation in serum creatinine due to the reduction in GFR
The high TSH result, and the low fT4 result, are both showing that your dose of levothyroxine is not enough and needs to be increased .
Contact your GP , they should increase dose to 100mcg , and should retest TSH and fT4 after 6 weeks on increased dose .
You can expect to be feel symptoms of hypothyroidism with those current results.
They are showing your thyroid hormone levels (T4) are to low , and as a result your TSH is too high (TSH = Thyroid Stimulating Hormone ~ this is not actually thyroid hormone , it is a message from your brain to your thyroid, to asking it to try and make more T4 .. when T4 is too low, TSH goes up... TSH is usually around 1 or 2 )
Your Symptoms should improve once your fT4 level is higher , and your TSH is lower, but this will take a few weeks after the dose increase, so don't expect to feel much better in the first few days .
GP should be aiming to keep TSH under 2/ 2.5 ish .. and some people will need it a bit lower than that. healthunlocked.com/thyroidu.... -list-of-references-recommending-gps-keep-tsh-lower-in-range
White patches on skin can be Vitiligo .... this is an autoimmune condition... it is not directly caused by hypothyroidism ,but it is related .... most hypothyroidism is caused by an autoimmune condition .....and if you have one autoimmune condition , it is more likely that you get others .
Thankyou so much for the reply....My doc has put my dose up to 112mg and I've got to have a blood test in 6 weeks.....
I've been thinking of getting T3 and adding it to my thyroid meds....
Would this help my levels and my skin condition....
Also frm what ive researched ive got idiopathic guttate hypomelanosis...
Which does make me think I've got hashimoto's.....
I did ask my doc a few years ago about my skin and she didn't know what it was ....I gave up then and thought I'd do my own research which all leads to hashimoto's....
Frm what I read on several thyroid discussions is that there no help and the docs don't know much about it .....
Do I ask to see an endo? I think it's called and what help would I get frm them..if any?
I just don't want to be fobbed of and go through all appts and they feed me a load of rubbish...
I try to find all the information I can and arm myself with amo before I attend any appts...
After the docs didn't listen to me at the start of all this I gave up and started my own research....took vitamins and just got on with it..
What I found was that hypothyroidism affects all your organs but it bothers me about my heart as my mum n nana both died with things to do with their heart...
As a single parent with a 13yr old i want to do as much as I can do prevent anything happening to me and if I can supplement and help my thyroid I will
I also have high cholesterol....Will taking T3 help this too
Some people do need a bit of T3, but you are too early in the process to know if you need it .
Taking it if it's not needed will complicate things for you ,and will lead to the doctor lowering your dose of levo again which isn't going to be helpful at this point ..... so it's far better to follow the process of increasing levo first , once you have been on the increased dose for while and had repeat blood tests to see if it needs adjusting further , then when you are are on a dose which is giving good fT4 and TSH results consistently.. and have made sure vit B12 / Ferritin/ Folate /Vit D are optimal ... THEN if you still are not feeling well, you can get fT3 tested to see if it's low . (you may have to test fT3 privately as GP's are often not allowed to test fT3 in hypothyroid patients , the lab wont let them, admin on here can give info on how to test privately .. doesn't have to be massively expensive , eg there is an NHS postal/ fingerprick test for under £30 which does TSH + fT4 + fT3. (prick finger , drip blood into test tube, post to the lab in exeter, they send results to you)
Getting levo dose correct should lower the high cholesterol. (low thyroid hormones ~both T4 and T3 ~ cause raised cholesterol , so taking T3 would lower it too , but same as above ... wait to see if correct levo sorts it before considering the more complicated route of T3)
interesting find about the name of the skin condition with very small white patches .... looking at it , i think that's what i may have on my feet ~ to hadn't found a name for it before .. i'd assumed it was a variety of 'small' vitiligo.
as far as i know thyroid hormone levels have no impact on these sort of autoimmune skin conditions , so taking T3 ( or levo) is very unlikely to have any effect on it , I think you're stuck with it .. don't think anyone has found a cure for them .....lots of people on here have vitiligo (or variations of it) , and i don't remember anyone ever saying fixing their thyroid hormone levels has improved it.
it is most likely that you do have autoimmune hypothyroidism (it is by far the most common cause of hypothyroidism in uk) . "Hashimoto's " is just one form of it which has an enlarged thyroid gland ( goitre) , there are other forms of autoimmune hypothyroidism that do not have an enlarged thyroid (Ord's Disease/ Atrophic Autoimmune hypothyroidism ) ... GP's usually call all of them "Autoimmune hypothyroidism" ... they don't use the term' hashimoto's' very often, because , strictly speaking, it only applies to those with a goitre.
The way they confirm autoimmune hypothyroidism is a blood test for thyroid antibodies. TPOab ( thyroid Peroxidase antibodies) ... about 90% of people with autoimmune hypothyroidism have raised TPOab ... a few people with autoimmune hypo don't have TPOab but have another one (TGab ~Thyroglobulin antibodies), and a very few people don't have either TPOab or TGab).
Your GP may have already tested TPOab at diagnosis and not told you .. they don't always bother mentioning to patients that the cause of their hypothyroidism is autoimmune , they don't always test for it if the hypothyroidism diagnosis is already obvious , because it makes no difference to the treatment offered . (there is no treatment available for the autoimmune part of the problem .. the can only treat the resulting hypothyroidism ~ by replacing the thyroid hormone that the damaged thyroid can no longer make enough of).
So ask GP if TPOab have been tested already. (NHS don't test for TGab) .
Just to add re is Gluten free expensive. Pasta GF is a little more. Bread is definately expensive. However these foods are GF so you can buy at budget pricez:, eg Potatoes, Rice, Qinoa, most vegs, eggs, fruit, hardcheese, check softcheese labels, milk. Check youghurts labels some are GF free. Drinks like Tea, coffee, squashes & carbonated are GF. Some alcohol beverages are not. Again check them. Usually beer, lager are NOT GF.
So no it does not have to cost more but to keep if cheap you will have to avoid breads & biscuits, cakes, crumpets etc You can buy GF versions but they do cost more. Always check label ingredients.
The skin condition sounds like Vitiligo. Your GP can check for this with a Woods lamp.. There are other skin conditions that can look simular and can be treated. So don't assume it's Vitiligo. If it is Vitiligo there are specialist treatments on the NHS so you would need to be referred to a dermatologist to discuss options. Dont let them fob you off.
Lastly glad your GP has increased your levothyroxine that will definately help. Make sure they recheck bloods in 6-8weeks. Ask for copies of all blood tests. It is your right. Post on here and people will feedback.
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