I am so happy I’ve found this forum, I have been lurking and learning a lot over recent weeks.
I previously had Graves, diagnosed by radioactive scan. Then subsequent to pregnancy was diagnosed hypo in 2013.
I have been on 50mcg Levo for several years, also on HRT several years.
I am looking for advice based on the blood tests attached. They were taken sound 9am with no medication in past 24 hours and no supplements etc for 7 days.
I got them taken as currently always very cold - worse than usual (I have Raynauds). Bradycardia -45bpm some days - I am not athletic! I am having more hair loss and my skin is dry and sore - nothing I try seems to help this. I’m also very tired.
I’d be so grateful if anyone could offer me any advice or suggestions before I go back and see GP.
Thanks in advance. I included all blood results they gave me as I’m not sure what’s relevant
Candy
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Candycanelane
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With serum B12 result below 500, (Or active B12 below 70) recommended to be taking a separate B12 supplement and a week later add a separate vitamin B Complex
Then once your serum B12 is over 500 (or Active B12 level has reached 70), you may be able to reduce then stop the B12 and just carry on with the B Complex.
If Vegetarian or vegan likely to need ongoing separate B12 few times a week
IMPORTANT......If you are taking vitamin B complex, or any supplements containing biotin, remember to stop these 7 days before ALL BLOOD TESTS , as biotin can falsely affect test results
In week before blood test, when you stop vitamin B complex, you might want to consider taking a separate folate supplement (eg Jarrow methyl folate 400mcg) and continue separate B12
Post discussing how biotin can affect test results
I'm a little confused - Graves is an auto immune disease for which there is no cure :
So were you treated with an Anti Thyroid drug and your Graves went into remission or did you have definitive treatment with Radioactive Iodine thyroid ablation and after some time pronounced hypothyroid.
Thanks for your response I was diagnosed with Graves by a really good Endocrinologist and took Carbimazole for several years.
Then on a subsequent blood test following my pregnancy I was diagnosed Hypo. Tbh I never thought much more about it after that. I was told it had gone into remission and then that I was Hypo -
OK then - I'm very glad you still have your thyroid and didn't get side-lined/ encouraged to get definitive treatment as what tends to happen to many Graves patients.
Graves tends to wax and wane throughout one's life and common triggers for this poorly understood and badly treated AI disease tend to be stress and anxiety.
It is essential that you are dosed and monitored on your Free T3 and Free T4 readings and not a TSH seen in isolation which is routinely all NHS doctors now seem to work to with an occasional T4 reading once every few years.
T4 - Levothyroxine is a pro-hormone and pretty much inactive until it is converted in your body into T3 the active hormone that runs all your bodily functions from your physical through your mental, emotional, psychological and spiritual well being, your inner central heating system and your metabolism.
No thyroid hormone replacement works well until your core strength vitamins and minerals - those of ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D are up and maintained at optimal levels - which we can advise you on once we see a full thyroid panel to include a TSH, Free T3 and Free T4, antibodies, inflammation and those vitamins s and minerals as detailed above.
Once diagnosed and on thyroid hormone replacement we generally feel best with a TSH well under 2 and more likely under 1 and towards the bottom of the range with a T4 up in the top quadrant of it's range with a T3 tracking slightly behind at around 60/70% through it's range.
Many of us are forced into arranging our own private bloods :
I see SDragon has given you all the necessary links - it's where we all start off and you simply start a new question on this forum with the private results and ranges and you will be talked through what it all means and your next best steps back to better thyroid health.
Thyroid UK who are the charity who support this patient to patient forum is worth dipping into where you will also find much more information about all things thyroid.
I'm with Graves but post RAI thyroid ablation back in 2005 and now manage lingering Graves, thyroid eye disease caused by the RAI amongst other things and hypothyroidism.
Sorry to hear of your own experience Pennyannie - but thanks so much for being so helpful and allowing your experience to benefit others. It is so amazing to have such a wealth of knowledge and kind people willing to share it on this forum.
I’ve been at both ends, skinny as hell and awake at 5am every day feeling my heart racing and now ready to sleep at any time, sluggish metabolism and slow pulse. But it sounds like luckily for me I fell into very good hands when originally diagnosed with AI issues.
It’s a shame good thyroid care seems such a lottery and down to an individual clinician level rather than being person centred and guideline/science based.
As already pointed out you need a full thyroid test to include....
TSH. FT4, FT3, vit D, vit B12, folate, ferritin and thyroid antibodies TPO and Tg.
Essential nutrients need to be optimised to support thyroid function
Symptoms are a very important part of diagnosis but medics rarely ask, " How do you feel?"
Your symptoms, including Bradychardia, suggest an underactive thyroid.
For good health every cell in the body needs to be flooded with T3 ( the active thyroid hormone) by way of an adequate and constant supply
Low ( cellular) T3 can cause problems almost anywhere in the body
One role of thyroid hormones is to promote oxygen delivery to tissues. So, if you have low thyroid hormone levels (hypothyroidism), your tissues may have low oxygen levels causing fatigue.....and more.
The scandal is that NHS thyroid testing is woefully inadequate and is causing misery for many patients leaving only the option of private testing for full thyroid testing
Make a list from the info you have been given and use that to make your case for more levo....and full testing
Have a look at my bio. I wrote it as a case study of under medication through medical ignorance. They can’t help it though as they all DON’T know the same stuff so think there is nothing else to know (if you follow my drift).
Hi - I wasn’t sure if I should link to this post by reply or do something else. I got more blood tests. The GP got it slightly wrong in that my hair is not coarse, it’s thin and falling out and I have significant slow pulse rate 40-50bpm.
Anyway I was hoping someone might have an idea or suggestion about this. I haven’t got private tests yet but I am organising those.
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