Hi Nichola. Am I right that you don't yet have a diagnosis and are currently not taking thyroid hormones?
Although your results are within range, your TSH is toward the higher end of the range and your T4 results are toward the lower end (suggesting you may be showing some symptoms of hypothyroidism). Your free T3 is smack bang in the middle of the range and I suspect it is only that high because conversion is making up for the fact your thyroid is not producing quite as much as it should. I am not a doctor or an expert but I would not be at all surprised if you had symptoms with these results.
I notice on your profile that you have a thyroid nodule. Have you had this investigated? Could this be part of the reason you are not producing enough thyroid hormone?
You are unlikely to get a diagnosis on the NHS with these results, however many of us will understand that you probably feel awful with such results. If you can find a sympathetic NHS doctor near you, you might be able to persuade them to give you a trial of thyroxine. If not, another option is to go private although that can be too costly for a lot of people.
If you decide to wait and see, keep getting your TSH tested regularly by your GP and keep an eye on any trends. I suspect, if you left things, you would find your TSH rising although I am not medically trained and I am only going by other people's experiences.
Basically, you are not going mad - it is probably your thyroid making you ill, but you will have a hard time convincing an NHS doctor of that
Keep these results safe and keep all future ones too. As soon as you spot a trend that might help to add weight to your argument for a trial of thyroxine.
Louise has a list of sympathetic doctors. You could email her about it. louise.warvill@thyroiduk.org.uk
It may be that you need to see a private endo eventually, but as your TSH is gradually increasing you shouldn't have any trouble with one of them prescribing on a trial basis to see if it helps.
You could show the results to your GP and point out that your TSH has increased significantly and would like another TSH test in 6 months to see if this trend is continuing as something is clearly wrong and you do have a nodule. If your TSH continues to rise, you may be able to persuade them to try thyroxine.
Have you been referred to an endo about the nodule? What did they say about it?
I see a endo every year for scans, for some reason i have been called in earlier in may without a scan which is odd, im going to explain in may that my tsh in over a year has gone up considerably, i think last year it was 0.97 then went to 1.1 so it is definatly going up, i just cant handle the fact that i seem to be hitting brick walls!
My symptoms has also been worse since giving up smoking just over 9 weeks ago, also my heart scan came back, left and right ventricular mildly inpaired but i was sinus tachycardic, i just want a ending to all this or at least a answer x
I would try and persuade the endo to try thyroxine to see if it helps with your symptoms. Your TSH seems to be steadily increasing which is common at the start of hypothyroidism.
It also seems that there might be a link between stopping smoking and the onset of hypothyroidism in people with an underlying, previously undetected thyroid condition. I have no links to any evidence, I just remember reading about it somewhere.
Do you take your pulse at home? It might be wise to start doing that. You might just have "white coat" syndrome so your heart rate and/or blood pressure rise when you are having it taken due to a mild anxiety. My dad has the same thing so he takes his blood pressure daily and his cardiologist goes by those readings (although he does always take it at the appointment anyway). Your tachycardia may actually be temporary because of anxiety. If they are really concerned I would imagine they would do a 24 hour continuous monitor to see what is happening.
Do persevere. I think you will get there in the end. Let us know how you get on at your next appointment.
Thanks, ive had extreme anxiety for over 18 years and i do suffer from palpatations, ive had high blood pressure alot which the gp has never understood, ive heard about giving up smoking also (didn't believe it) thought i was just getting rid of the toxins.
Also back last year my b12 was at 245 ive been told that it should be at least 500 plus, im going to order the private b12 to see where i am with that also.
I just feel im in a bad place at the moment and am getting nowhere, i need to be stronger for my children x
I know that feeling But you are doing all the right things. Hopefully it won't be long before you find a doctor who will listen to you and treat you accordingly.
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