Advice for my pregnant daughter

[Charlie27612]

Hi my daughter is 33 and 14 weeks pregnant, gp has been testing her on and off for more than a year re her thyroidI have hashimotos and she has informed the gp we have a lot of family members with it

Although she has a lot of symptoms especially tiredness and hair loss brittle nails she has lost a lot of weight in the last year she now weighs 7st, she has had bloods done again this week, could someone tell me what these mean as her tsh is borderline ?

[greygoose]

I wouldn't have said her TSH was borderline anything. It's low, but we don't have enough information to know why. What time of day was the blood draw for this test? Has she had antibodies tested? That should have been tested straight off as you have Hashi's.

FT4: 16.5 pmol/l (Range 10.5 - 22.7) 49.18%

FT3: 4.6 pmol/l (Range 3.5 - 6.5) 36.67%

Her FT4 is more or less normal (euthyroid), but her FT3 is very low, so one would have expected the TSH to be higher than it is. But, if she has Hashi's that could explain it because the TSH is a slow mover, whereas the other readings can jump around.

[Charlie27612 in reply to greygoose]

By borderline I meant just on the end of the green going into yellow, this test was done at hospital antenatal so not early morning about 2.30 in afternoon, I dont think shes had antibody test either is that usually done on the nhs? I will pass on info to her thankyou for your reply

[greygoose in reply to Charlie27612]

Well, her TSH would have been low-ish at that time. The best time for the blood draw is before 9 am because that is when the TSH is at its highest. And that is important because it's all doctors tend to look at.

Whether or not antibodies are tested seems to depend on the doctor and his depth of knowledge and understanding. Or maybe the lab sometimes vetos it, like they do FT3, I dont know. But it certainly can be done on the NHS. Although they only test TPO antibodies unless the TPOab is absnormal - which is a nonsense in itself! But that's the NHS for you. She should definitely ask for them to be tested because it's important to know due to the way Hashi's behaves.

[Charlie27612 in reply to greygoose]

Thankyou for your help

[greygoose in reply to Charlie27612]

You're welcome.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Tiredness and hair loss suggests anaemia

Brittle nails low B vitamins

Weight loss coeliac disease or gluten intolerance

She needs full iron panel including ferritin, B12, folate and vitamin D tested

And coeliac test

Request GP test these

But first check when Vitamin levels were last tested

All thyroid testing should be early morning, ideally just before 9am, only drink water between waking and test (and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test )

This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip)

Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or all relevant vitamins

Post all about what time of day to test

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Testing options and includes money off codes for private testing

thyroiduk.org/testing/

Medichecks Thyroid plus BOTH TPO and TG antibodies and vitamins

medichecks.com/products/adv...

Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes BOTH TPO and TG antibodies, cortisol and vitamins

bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...

Medichecks and BH also offer private blood draw at clinic near you, or private nurse to your own home…..for an extra fee

Only do private testing early Monday or Tuesday morning.

Tips on how to do DIY finger prick test

support.medichecks.com/hc/e...

Test her thyroid antibodies now and 2-3 months after baby is born

[Charlie27612 in reply to SlowDragon]

She went to see gp today, hospital did fbc, iron and ferritin all ok, shes had b12 checked as I have pernicious anaemia also other family members, she had coeliac checked (family also has)🙄 Gp said to ask for thyroid antibody test at hospital, midwife has started her on folic acid too, she takes pregnacare as well .she was anaemic last year but took iron tablets for a few months

With my experience there is a huge difference in these lab results what nhs consider 'normal' and what is optimum is vastly different. Thankyou for your help, hopefully she will get more help from hospital than gp

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Charlie27612]

Suggest you find out what the actual test results are and ranges