I've just had an appointment with the GP to talk about my concerns re: thyroid. He could not have been any more useless. He said my thyroid is fine (perfect actually!!!) and that my anxiety is making me worry, that my low iron is making me tired and my hair fall out and just keep taking the mountain of Ferrus Sulphate tablets they sent me. Book an appointment for the heart palpitations I'm having, oh and don't waste my money on private blood tests. He generously offered to do another blood test in 6 months to check my thyroid for my own peace of mind because I'm as healthy as ever he says.
ARGH.
Shall I just give up? Because nobody wants to take me seriously. Shall I just leave my thyroid to shrivel up and die?
I can't afford to go private 😞
Oh, and the best part? "Normal people can have high TPO antibodies and not have an autoimmune condition ".
🤯
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Mummybear0213
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Part of the problem is your TSH isnt high enough, although now your FT4 is very low. Likely you would have to wait for treatment when your FT4 drops below range unless you can work hard on vitamin levels which might help your TSH rise.
High Ft4 tends to lead to lower TSH regardless of how poor Ft3 might be
Hello SD
I wasn’t aware of this. However, looking back through my records to post TT when a silly young Specialist Registrar in Endocrinology gave me 200 mcg Levo, this is all too apparent. My FT4 was at 42 (12-22) with my FT3 at about 5. My TSH was suppressed. The woman was unaware of poor conversion and kept raising my Levo in an attempt to raise FT3
When I told the doctor how ill I felt, she told me I should go to GP as I probably had a virus!
I remember jimh111 making this point some time ago.
This is why I’m so frustrated in trying to make doctors understand that however much they try to raise TSH by reducing Levo or even stopping T3, nothing’s going to change.
We just end up under medicated and with TSH still suppressed!!
To make matters worse, after TT for cancer, we’re dosed with 60 mcg T3 for about 9 months
As someone who struggled with dire iron levels for much of my adult life I would say Iron Sulphate is possibly the most difficult iron supplement to tolerate. It gave me lots of digestive issues.
I found Iron Fumarate ( ferrous) much easier on the stomach and you can buy it otc in many chemists. If you dont get free prescriptions its cheaper to buy it this way. Having very low iron can make you feel dreadful. My ferritin was once 6.
You have been prescribed the nastiest and least well tolerated of all the iron tablets that your doctor can prescribe.
A better tolerated (although, admittedly, still not great) alternative is ferrous fumarate (FF). I think a lot more people tolerate FF than the ferrous sulfate (FS).
I found I tolerated FF better with food. Not ideal because it might slow down absorption, but I wanted to improve my iron without destroying my stomach lining.
The difference in price between FF and FS is tiny.
Ask your doctor to prescribe FF rather than FS to see if it makes a difference.
Looking at the BNF to get an idea of the price of each tablet :
The FF mentioned in the BNF by AAH Pharmaceuticals is £3.99 per 84 i.e. 4.75 p per tablet.
Note I didn't scour the BNF to check for the cheapest option, I just went for an option from a supplier starting with A.
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Note that iron pills of the kind that doctors prescribe (iron salts) can be bought in pharmacies in the UK without a prescription. I used to buy my ferrous fumarate 210mg myself. The last box of 84 tablets I bought (last year) cost between £6 and £7 for the box.
It would save money, of course, if you could persuade your doctor to prescribe FF 210mg rather than FS, just to see if you tolerate them better than FS.
.
There are other possibilities that many people do better with in raising their iron and ferritin but they are more expensive than the iron salts you are being prescribed, and they are heme or haem tablets/capsules. Do a search for posts mentioning "Three Arrows". Here's one :
The one I tolerated the best was Ferrous Gluconate, the downside is it contains the least amount of iron, but the upside is you can neck them down so can take more if needed, without the horrible side effects of Sulphate.
Few people ever mention having taken it, don't know why. Before the doses of all iron salts were dramatically reduced a few years ago people were told they could take up to six ferrous gluconate 300mg a day which would give them the same amount of iron as three tablets of ferrous fumarate 210mg or three tablets of ferrous sulfate 200mg.
For people who struggle with iron salts (which is most people) the lower iron dose of ferrous gluconate might be far better tolerated than ferrous sulfate or ferrous fumarate but whether it will slow down absorption for everyone I couldn't say.
The reduction of dosages for iron tablets was discussed in this thread :
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Frustrated!
So frustrated
Disappointing and frustrated 😩 
Getting a diagnosis - part 2!
