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[PurpleinGreece]

Hello all. I'm posting on behalf of my daughter. She is 36, recently had a baby and has Hashimoto, (diagnosed in Dubai and confirmed in Greece - NHS told her she didn't have an issue). She also has a nodule on her thyroid that was investigated in Greece and found to be benign. She had her dose of Tirosint increased from 50mg to 75mg daily the last time she saw a doctor in Greece, at the beginning of September. Additionally, she put on a lot of weight during pregnancy and put on more weight during breast feeding for 6 months. On weaning off breast feeding she was left with considerable weight gain. She has pretty much given up hope with NHS in UK and recently paid for private Thyroid test in Greece. Her results are as follows:

T3 1.10 ng/mL

T4 81.0 ng/mL

TSH 1.30 mu/mL

Anti-TPO 108 IU/ml

Anti-TG 5.00 IU/ml

We think her Endo is quite old school, so we would really appreciate your comments concerning her results as we are very new to dealing with Thyroid issues - especially as she was told in UK that she didn't have a problem.

Many thanks in advance for your kind help!

[Buddy195 Administrator]

Welcome to the forum PurpleinGreece and congratulations on the new baby in the family.

Can you please add reference ranges for the above tests (in brackets after results) as these can vary between laboratories.

Were key thyroid vitamins tested (folate, ferritin, B12 and vitamin D)? Having these optimal supports thyroid health.

[PurpleinGreece in reply to Buddy195]

Hi Buddy195, many thanks for your reply. Please find the reference ranges included below.

In addition to the below, please see the vitamin results too.

Folate 14.8 ng/ml >5.38

Ferritin 36ng/mL 10 - 291

B12 464pg/ml 211-911

(D not tested - presumed forgotten by lab).

Thyroid function results and ranges

[Buddy195 Administrator in reply to PurpleinGreece]

With ferritin low in the range, I suggest your daughter tries to incorporate iron rich foods in her diet to try and raise this further. I also have low ferritin at the moment and am trying hard to have vitamin C alongside iron rich food to aid absorption. It’s also worth asking for a full iron panel to try and understand the low ferritin. We don’t recommend supplementing iron without having full iron panel results.

Your daughter certainly has room for an increase in thyroid medication. Many members are fine increasing from 75- 100mcg, but I like to make changes very slowly and would try 87.5mcg as an initial step, moving to 100mcg when well tolerated. With any adjustment, do ask her to retest thy levels 6-8 weeks after being on a consistent dose.

Has she ever trialled a Gluten Free diet? Many with Hashimotos (myself included) have found this helpful. It may be worth asking for a coeliac test whilst still eating gluten. Although I’m not coeliac, I (like many others on the forum) am certainly gluten intolerant.

[PurpleinGreece]

Thank you very much for the feedback. Its very helpful. My daughter does much better on a gluten free and lactose free diet and has been diagnosed with food intolerances to both in the past.

I was also wondering if her T3 was sufficient in relation to the T4, to ensure that she is converting enough. Could I also please have an opinion on this. I can see that the lab hasn't picked up on her low level of T3, but could this be an issue?

[helvella in reply to PurpleinGreece]

I think you meant to reply to Buddy195

Is it usual to test Total T4 and Total T3 in Greece? By far the majority of test results we see these days are Free T4 and Free T3. The Total results are affected by things like oestrogen - that have a direct effect on the binding protein rather than on the amount of T4 or T3!

[Buddy195 Administrator in reply to PurpleinGreece]

Do you have results of previous thyroid blood tests (including FT3/ FT4)?

An increase in Levothyroxine will hopefully improve thyroid blood levels and alleviate adverse symptoms. This medication works well for the vast majority of members with hypothyroidism. Getting ferritin higher in the range should also help.

Combination treatment (ie adding Liothyronine )is only advised if a higher dose of Levothyroxine does not sufficiently raise FT3 (ie conversion issues are evident).

[Fluffy01]

Sadly, I am awaiting tests to confirm Thyroid result from a clinical trial health check. So won't know for several months. Sorry.