Hello lovely forum - I’ve been reading your posts for two weeks while I get used to sipping my morning hot water!
I finally got a diagnosis of Hashimoto’s in January. Can I ask for help in untangling the results below? The endocrinologist was lovely, but didn’t give me any explanations. Now I have a diagnosis, I’d like to do what I can lifestyle-wise as well as with medication to try to recover.
A bit of background that you can skip if you want to go straight to the test results:
I’m 56 and used to have lots of energy. I have been unwell for a few years and it has been getting worse. It started up about 6 years ago (c. 2018) and I put all the symptoms down to work stress and perimenopause. At that point it was mainly fatigue, poor sleeping, anxiety, occasional psoriasis, and (two!) frozen shoulders. IBS-C raised its horrible head again 5 years ago in 2019 and put paid to intermittent fasting and size 10 jeans (I also had it throughout my twenties but probably didn’t do myself any favours then with borderline eating issues). HRT for symptoms (progesterone, I think) played further havoc with my digestion and did nothing to help other symptoms, so I took it from 2020 to 2022, but then weaned myself off it. In 2021, I officially added depression into the mix, not helped by my dad’s end stage Alzheimers, and went on to 20mg Prozac. Amazingly that helped the IBS-C a bit and did level out my mood. I managed to stay working full time and am not sure I’d have managed to without it. From 2020 onwards the muscle and joint aches started to get worse. I’d hold on to the banisters and the wall to get downstairs in the morning and would waddle like a duck when I got off a sofa or chair. Muscle and joint pain started waking me frequently at night, particularly in my lower legs, feet, hips and hands. I tore my plantar plate under the toes of one foot, simply taking a step while walking to work. It hasn’t healed properly since and I have had to spend the last two years in Hokas as any other footwear is crippling. Since 2023 things have just got worse. Sleep is pitiful and if the legs or hip didn’t wake me 4 times a night the bloating and stomach distress would. I struggle to manage at work, memory, concentration and motivation is atrocious – and I put this all down to chronic sleep deprivation, but now wonder. From being a (slow, but cheery) half marathon runner 10 years ago, I have turned into a cabbage, with bad back, hip, knees and feet and spend much of my spare time in bed, where I no longer even concentrate well enough to read a decent book. Nearly a year ago (April 24), a GP finally sent me for a broad range of blood tests (looking for rheumatism markers I think), which returned a TSH of 5.3 and FT4 of 15.2. She advised retesting in a few months, which I did in December 24. This time TSH was 11.7 and Free t4 11.5. The GP tried to start me on 100mcgs of Levothyroxine immediately, but I do like to know just a bit about what is going on in my own body, so, I was lucky enough to be able to use my husbands BUPA to see an endocrinologist who has done more thorough tests and an ultrasound of my thyroid and confirmed Hashimoto’s. He would like me to take 50mcg of Levo until a next blood test at end of March, so that is what I am doing. He also recommended an OTC Vit D spray. He said everything else is fine. I’ve been on both for 2 weeks. I’ve also binned the gluten just in case that is behind the auto immune response (I did eat a lot of wheat). I asked the endocrinologist about gluten and he said there is no research evidence, but a lot of his patients tell him they feel better for binning it. It’s too early to tell if any of this is working, but I am hopeful I might get some of my bounce back for the first time in several years.
…Oh and, I’ve had an Oura ring since Sept to try to get a handle on my health. My HRV ranges from mid 20’s to high 30’s, but on the 15th day of Levo I woke up to notification of an HRV of 54. I’m afraid I ruined that later that day with some lovely red wine, but if Levothyroxine results in visibly better HRV, then I may well be a fan!
Blood test results from endocrinologist visit:
Thyroid function:
• TSH: 10.50 mU/l (range 0.27 – 4.20)
• Free T4: 12.1 pmol/L (range 12 – 22)
• Free T3: 4.6 pmol/L (range 3.1 – 6.8)
• TPO: 95 IU/mL (<25)
• Thyroglobulin Antibody: 103 IU/mL (<40)
Vitamins:
• Vit B12: 512 pg/ml (range 191-663)
• Serum folate: 4.3 ng/ml (range >3.8)
• Serum iron: 17.8umol/L (range5.8 – 34.5)
• Ferritin: 50ng/ml (range 13-150)
• 25 )H-Vit D(Vit D2 + D3): 47 nmol/L (range <25 = deficient; 25 – 50 = Insufficient)
Cholesterol and hormones:
• LDL cholesterol 3.7 mmol/L (<5.0)
• Hormones all menopausal, with Testosterone = <.4 nmol/L (range .1-1.4)
• DHEA: 8.0 nmol/L (range 3.1 – 33.0)
• Adrenocorticotrophic Hormone: 10.5 ng/L (range7.2 – 63.3)
• Cortisol: 442 nmol/L (range 133 – 537)
Thank you for any explanations, insights or tips - am still desperate but at least I’m hopeful again!
latest blood results
Blue Horizons Blood Results for Thyroid - Please help
Can you help me understand my results? Doc too busy
Results
Any advice on what to do now, please, following my latest test results? 
