hypothyroid for 10 years plus

[id22]

i never ever go to the doctors but in 2001 i couldnt ignore my symptoms any more virtually every hypothyroid symptom i went to gp informed him i thought i was hypothyroid

anyway he reluctantly tested me and surprise surprise i was very very hypo he asked me how i was still functioning??

anyway went on lethothyroxine starting at 25 building up in about 6 months felt good but it all went downhill from there after various increases in doses up to 125mcg and still feeling cold and falling asleep he decided my bloods came back showing i had to reduce which he did for 2 occassions back down to 75 then i get a phone call from the practice stating an error was made and i should have increased instead of decreasing dose(i did tell them my symptoms were at there worse again but noone listened )

anyway returned straight back onto 125 bloods taken in dec2012 told again they were ok but recently went to doc as falling asleep cold and fainting asked her for T3 she looked at the previous results and was amazed as they were not normal

tsh was 50 t4 was 0.4 dont know any of the rest she told me she would not consider t3 until my t4 was increased and told me to increase thyroxine again to 150 and see her in 6 weeks fed up feeling ill want to get better any suggestions

[helvella Administrator]

May I check a few things?

Are you taking your levothyroxine on its own, away from food, drinks (other than water), supplements and other medicines? That is, at least two hours between any of these and taking the levothyroxine tablets.

The trouble is, lots and lots of things interfere with absorption of levothyroxine and could be stopping you from absorbing it properly.

Are you taking any other medicines? If you are taking iron or calcium supplements leave four hours gap.

Do you eat a fairly standard diet?

Also, have you been tested for vitamin B12, folates, iron/ferritin and vitamin D? Being low on any or all oft hem is common in people who are hypothyroid - and all can have bad effects.

Rod

[id22 in reply to helvella]

i am on no other medication i swapped to taking my thyroxine at night in dec last year after reading it may improve things

eat a standard diet but cant loose weight unable to go to the gym in last 6 months as no energy cant go swimming as cant bear the coldness of the water

go to the steam room to get hot!!

DONT know but was told last year i was not anaemic

sorry but getting actual result from gp difficult as all i get is normal or abnormal

[shaws Administrator]

If you can get a copy of your blood test results complete with the ranges, as labs differ throughout the country and post again and someone will comment upon them.

You may well be undertreated and this is a link which I think you will find informative. Cursor to question/answer January 25, 2002 and there are other topics at the top of the page. Some links within the articles may not work.

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

[Jackie]

Hi You need regular blood checks for the thyroid. You always need TSH, T4 and Free T3, ask for a copy for receptionist, with ranges. You may also need some T3. It often lowers the tSh and helps lots of the symptoms, especially weight. You should feel well with the correct treatment. You also need the other tests surrounding t thyroid disease, Diabetes, similar symptoms as autoimmune and hormonal, cold I find worse than with thyroid.Ferritin/iron. B12 + Folic acid, Glucose ( for Diabetese) Vit D ,hormonal, if low calcium test before treatment. are the most important tests, but there are others.

I hope this helps.

Jackie

[Hashi_since_age9-1988]

T4 0.4? what are the ranges for that. I've never heard of it so low before.