thyroid misery

Seaneh

Hey lads, since First being diagnosed and put on Eltroxin in December I've had 3 blood tests and all of them keep coming back "in range", so I've never had my dosage upped from 50mg, problem is, I still feel like ****, and not, er, even **** is becoming a problem again.
One of my original symptoms was mild to annoying constipation and well, it's back again the last week or so. And then there's all the other stuff, feeling achy, tired, no motivation etc.

What questions should I be asking my doctor? I know there are other tests that can be done but I have no idea what to ask and I don't want to just be a pain in the arse going in and talking about stuff I don't actually have a notion about.

Also, does anyone know of a good Doctor in Athlone or Galway and of a good Endo ANYWHERE who specialises in or has a good knowledge and treatment record for Thyroid patients? I don't know if you're allowed post names of Doctors or practices in thread so if not feel free to pm me.

Cheers.

dura01

Hi All,
On the weight loss front of things, My endo upped my Elthroixin to 150 mg per day as blood results still showed 13.5 and he said they should be on the upper end of the scale around the upper limit of 20 or so. The first couple of weeks suffered from the usual side effects. I have started on the Patrick Holford Low GL Diet and have cut out sugar all together, and I have lost just over a stone in weight in the last 5 weeks and still losing weight and I havent started to excerise yet.
Really happy that I have started to lose weight after such a long peroid of weight gain and only seeing the scales go in one direction
UP

dura01

dura01 wrote: »

Hi All,
On the weight loss front of things, My endo upped my Elthroixin to 150 mg per day as blood results still showed 13.5 and he said they should be on the upper end of the scale around the upper limit of 20 or so. The first couple of weeks suffered from the usual side effects. I have started on the Patrick Holford Low GL Diet and have cut out sugar all together, and I have lost just over a stone in weight in the last 5 weeks and still losing weight and I havent started to excerise yet.
Really happy that I have started to lose weight after such a long peroid of weight gain and only seeing the scales go in one direction
UP

:):):):):):)
Anybody else have good weight loss result
:D:D:D:D:D ,

dura01

dura01 wrote: »

Hi All,
On the weight loss front of things, My endo upped my Elthroixin to 150 mg per day as blood results still showed 13.5 and he said they should be on the upper end of the scale around the upper limit of 20 or so. The first couple of weeks suffered from the usual side effects. I have started on the Patrick Holford Low GL Diet and have cut out sugar all together, and I have lost just over a stone in weight in the last 5 weeks and still losing weight and I havent started to excerise yet.
Really happy that I have started to lose weight after such a long peroid of weight gain and only seeing the scales go in one direction
UP

:):):):):):)
Anybody else have good weight loss result
:D:D:D:D:D ,

CathyMoran

spurious wrote: »

The more I read about various people's treatment and experience with different endos and doctors, the more I am convinced they haven't a clue what to do with thyroid people.

For the small number that fit into the 'take the Eltroxin and you'll be grand' category it's fine, for the rest of us I don't think they have any appreciation of how complex the effect of a non (or over) working thyroid has on all the other hormones.

It's not the 'glamour' disease (with all the associated funding and investment) that diabetes is, so it gets left to chug along with the 'take the Eltroxin, you'll be grand' approach.

I must admit that having type 1 diabetes and graves (now underactive and on eltroxin), pernicious anemia, sarcoidosis...that the thyroid issues are totally ignored.

missloulou

Hi all,

Hope you are all doing well. I thought it was time I joined the group, was diagnosed with Graves Disease/Toxic Thyroid back in September, was put on 20mg Neomercazole immediately, saw consultant who doubled the dosage for a month then told me to swap to 50mg Eltroxin, which ended up being entirely wrong making me excessively overactive, not to mention hair falling out too

Went back to consultant in December who corrected my meds, so now on 40mg Neomercazole and 50mg Eltroxin daily. Was fine for ages but now I don't know how I feel. I am delighted the shakes and palpitations have stopped, and that my eye has stopped bulging but I am bitterly cold every single day, so much so that my hands go numb up to the elbow, I get dead legs nearly every single day. Thankfully I am going to see my consultant on Tuesday and I can't wait to see him.

Is anybody else finding this weather a sheer misery?

Sorry for the moany first post:o

Wyldwood

Welcome missloulou. Sorry to hear you've been on the thyroid rollercoaster but you're not alone, many of us here have had the hyper to hypo trip over and over while trying to get the medication right. It's a delicate balancing act and very individual so you will have to keep changing the dose to find what works for you. Don't let the docs fob you off with the "bloods are normal range" routine and make sure you get a copy of your blood results so you can see when you felt well & on what dose. You're always welcome here for a moan, there's great support from a lot of very sympathetic people.

Good luck with the appointment on Tues. & yes this weather is miserable for those of us who are on the hypo end.

Kloecor

missloulou wrote: »

Is anybody else finding this weather a sheer misery?

Sorry for the moany first post:o

YES! I've never had such a problem with cold weather before I went hypo, not it actually hurts and stings when it's cold, and it doesn't seem to matter how much layers I put on. I'm wearing two tops and two big jumpers under a warm fan and full heating and still feeling miserably cold when everyone else says they're warm. I feel your pain!

lerrview

hi there ,
i had underactive thyroid for years had a baby last year she just gone one in feb when all of a sudden started feeling horrible sweats clammy hands nervous palpitations which are awful thinking heart is going to stop so ended up in hospital where they confirmed i was overactive that was 2 months ago and im still feeling crap im on 100mg eltroxin now and inderal for the palpitations i also am taking xanax to relax me when i start paniking its an awful thing and i feel im not living as dont want to go out in case i feelsick im missing out on so much and am sick of been sick

angeleyes44

dura01 wrote: »

:):):):):):)
Anybody else have good weight loss result
:D:D:D:D:D ,

Yes im hitting a 2 stone weight loss with slimmersworld .i'm due for a blood check next week.:)

angeleyes44

lerrview wrote: »

hi there ,
i had underactive thyroid for years had a baby last year she just gone one in feb when all of a sudden started feeling horrible sweats clammy hands nervous palpitations which are awful thinking heart is going to stop so ended up in hospital where they confirmed i was overactive that was 2 months ago and im still feeling crap im on 100mg eltroxin now and inderal for the palpitations i also am taking xanax to relax me when i start paniking its an awful thing and i feel im not living as dont want to go out in case i feelsick im missing out on so much and am sick of been sick

Is your doctor doing 3 monthly blood tests?as it can take awhile for the levels to even out .i know how you feel i get lke that i have certain things i go to and i dont get panic attacks but others and i have to have someone with me or i wont go out at all.
Try just to go for out for 5 minutes walk around where you live a couple of times a day thats how i started going out again.

Orla K

angeleyes44 wrote: »

Is your doctor doing 3 monthly blood tests?as it can take awhile for the levels to even out .i know how you feel i get lke that i have certain things i go to and i dont get panic attacks but others and i have to have someone with me or i wont go out at all.
Try just to go for out for 5 minutes walk around where you live a couple of times a day thats how i started going out again.

Panic attacks is related to blood sugar as is adrenal issues(common with thyroid issues) Lower sugar/carb helps and if you feel an attack/shakiness carry around some glycerine it's used in baking but it doesn't require pancreas to digest it so it shouldn't mess up your blood sugar.

I also ended up on the floor in the post office before christmas, looked drunk too:( and there wasn't even a que so I wasn't in there long. I'm a bit better now but I know I'm craving too much sugar lately so on the 1st of april I'm going to do the 21-day sugar detox it's either going to be awesome or awful. There's group ones starting the first day of every month so I'm going to go for that.

Amazingfun

I went to see my doc today and she is keeping me on 75mcg of Eltroxin since my last tsh reading in February was 2.5, down from 30 last Autumn.
I had queried whether or not I should raise it a bit since I am now ready to resume a weightlifting program at my gym, and I had read a few fellow thyroider's blogs who said they found they sometimes needed to take a higher dose on workout days, but she said that "medically this doesn't make sense", and that if I found myself slipping back into hypo symptoms (something I really really want to avoid!), then just to come back to her for a blood test asap and we can adjust my meds---otherwise I am 'good' now until August.

Now, I am feeling miles better, no question. My hair loss has stemmed and I no longer have a strange affection for Nurofenplus, lol.....something I was taking daily for nearly 4 years, give or take, so that alone has been miraculous for me really (not to mention saving me money!). It's stunning to realize how long I have been suffering with the consequences of an untreated hypo condition, and how many things are clearing up just by taking the eltroxin alone. One example is cold sores: I got them frequently for years, sometimes multiple outbreaks in a single month accompanied by a swollen neck, fever, sore joints, etc......and I have not had even ONE outbreak since I started the eltroxin last October! Now maybe there is another reason for that, and maybe they will return, but it sure seems to be related to talking thyroid replacement

So I too am starting a focused run where I am going to do my weightlifting and stick to a gluten free/sugar free eating plan and see if it makes a dent in my two stone weight gain, because despite all the amazing effects I have noticed so far since getting treatment, my weight is a bit lower, but not by much at all, so I need to really put some effort in and see how things go.

Anyways, good luck to all who post here, let's keep fighting the good fight!

cltt97

I'm not having a good time at the moment, my skin feels super dry (especially my face), my hair seems more dry than normal, I'm more achy than normal, I feel a bit more comatose than normal, so overall I feel more hypo than normal. Coming up to my time of month, too, so there seems to have some PMT arrived on the scene as well, as my mood is awful. So am really just moaning, as things were going well for a while but I feel like life has been zapped out of me again lately. Off for a blood test on Tuesday. So for Tallaght now one needs a referral from a consultant or a specific reason for getting FT3, I got my GP's receptionist to investigate after not getting it the last time, so am going armed with my endo's blood test request letter. They won't do it on a routine basis anymore.

Wyldwood

cltt97 sorry to hear that you've taken a bit of a nosedive again. It's very disheartening to have a return in symptoms when you think you're beating it. Hopefully a slight increase in meds will help, if you feel you can tolerate it.

I'm actually feeling somewhat ok for the last 5 or 6 weeks. I have given up on my endo & gp. On my last visit to the endo in January he suggested that rather than the Eltroxin causing my cardiac symptoms I possibly had an underlying heart problem and should go back to the cardiologist I saw last year who wanted to do an ablation. I had a chat with a friend who is a doctor in the cardiology department of another hospital & explained my problems and he ran a stress test which showed my heart as being perfectly healthy (as did a 24hr Holter monitor test last year) and advised against ablation in my case. This friend suggested forgetting about the blood results for a while and just taking as much Eltroxin as I could tolerate. On his suggestion I am taking 12.5mcg three times a week and 25 on the other 4 days. I am tolerating this and have no nasty side effects nor am I feeling hypo so I'm sticking with this for the foreseeable future. I will tweak it up and down according to how I feel on his suggestion. I am also taking vit D3 drops.

Interestingly, I have noted that when under stress/worry for any reason I feel a bit palpy/shaky so stress avoidance is very important.
It's so good to have my old life back to a large degree but I know when my prescription is up for renewal my gp is going to want bloods done and won't be happy with results but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Right now I'm just glad I took things into my own hands and am feeling reasonably well.
Happy Easter everyone and hope this rotten weather changes soon.

lovelystuff

Cltt97 sorry you haven't been well recently. I have to say,this week I feel like I'm back to normal after a very rough 6 weeks where I felt back to square one! it just goes to show how even small differences in bloods can totally throw you off,also I really don't think the freezing weather helps at all!I'm hoping I can keep up the improvements for the next while as I'm about to hand in my PhD. Stress is a massive issue for me so ill have to watch it! Anyway I just wanted to pop in to say I hope you feel better soon,and mind yourself in the meantime

cltt97

Thanks ladies! Well, I suppose in a way it might be a good thing... considering all the problems I had with intolerance to Eltroxin it's a miracle that I feel like the meds have ebbed off again and I need to increase. For me I think T3 is the miracle drug, I think that I might even try and come off the Erfa and go T3 only eventually. I will see what the bloods show on Tuesday and keep you posted!

Boronia

Have seen Dr Bell a few times and have found her to be much more interested in the numbers than the symptoms. She told me that the TSH reading is the most important and that the TPO antibodies test is the only one needed to identify an auto immune disease....both of these statements are said repeatedly on many different websites not only to be old fashioned and out moded but insufficient for proper diagnosing of your thyroid difficulties. I have never had a Free T3, reverse T3, or the other antibody test Tgab (I think) done.....bloods done with local Dr always come back that these are unavailable.....apparently too expensive.
I dont really have much confidence in her.

Boronia

Sorry last post was in relation to a question from Aeternum 27-01-2013, 20:42 #779


"Just spotted this thread here and though I'd ask if anyone has any experience with Dr.Bell from Galway? I've been seeing her for 3 years but would like to know other peoples experiences."

BoneTired

Hi everyone,

This is my first post on these boards and i'm afraid it's going to turn out to be quite long. So here is goes...

I am a 25 year old female and I am a very quiet, shy and introverted person. I hate talking to people about how I am feeling. I've been suffering with the symptoms of what I think is Hypothyroidism since about 2007 and it has only been in the last 6 months or so that I have worked up the nerve to do something about it.

Part of the reason I dislike talking about how I am feeling is due to the fact that two of my siblings have been seriously ill in the past few years - one with meningitis and the other with cancer. Firstly, I suppose I feel that what I'm going through is nothing compared to what they had to face and ,secondly, I don't want to burden my family with more problems. I also don't know if I being paranoid but I feel like my GP nearly rolls his eyes when he sees another one of us walk through his door.

Last September I decided that I would get my blood work done as I had been reading up on my symptoms online and it seemed to me that I could potentially be hypothyroid. My results came back normal with a TSH level of 2.74 (0.27-4.20) and Free T4 of 16.0 (10.5-22.0). I explained how I was feeling to my doctor but he just informed me that based on all my blood tests there was nothing wrong with me (cholesterol level below normal etc) and sent me on my way.

I have the following long, long list of symptoms:
-Extreme tiredness - can sleep for 10 hours and still feel like a zombie but I also have trouble falling asleep
-Extreme coldness especially in hands and feet (I have taken to carrying two hot water bottles with me in the car and around the house)
-Depression/Hopelessness
-Mood swings
-Irritability and total lack of patience (This is actually getting quite bad to the point that my boss asked me if I needed to go and talk to somebody)
-Bad memory/forgetfulness
-Feeling of being "spaced out" or not fully with it
-Being really clumsy - dropping things and walking into things (which has become a running joke at work)
-Headaches - sometimes wake up with one
-Fine, brittle hair particularly at the front
-Really annoying twitch/tic in right eye
-Dry, sore and itchy eyes
-Swelling/puffiness around eyes
-Nausea - to the point that if I'm walking I have to stop or else I'll vomit
-Dizziness- especially when I stand up or turn around. I sometimes experience this along with the nausea when I first wake up and have to lie still until it passes.
-Sinus infections
-Feeling of something in throat - particularly annoying when I'm lying down as it feels like something is pressing on my throat. I find myself making some delightful noises while trying to "clear my throat" throughout the day or just before speaking
-Feeling hoarse before speaking and feeling as if I'm speaking in a really low deep tone which is kinda painful
-Short bursts of stabbing pain in front of neck/throat
-Swollen neck glands - I also experience the pain of swollen neck glands without the swelling (weird?)
-Ringing in ears
-Itchy inner ears and throat
-Pain and weakness in both hands and wrists, especially my right
-Extreme pain in shoulder joints - it likes to alternate
-Dry skin on face, hands, arms and feet. Eczema on legs and shoulders.
-Constipation
-Irregular, painful periods that result in me getting cold sweats, vomiting and fainting or just lying on the bathroom floor too weak and dizzy to move.
-Cramps in hands, legs and feet
-Lack of appetite in the morning and then ravenous in the evening/nighttime - sometimes the smell of food in the morning is enough to make me physically sick and then in the evening it's the total opposite, i feel sick to my core if I don't eat something
-What I think is hypoglycemia - getting the shakes, cold sweats and blood draining from my face and then having to drink or eat something before feeling human again
-Gastrointestinal (GI) Problems

I know it's a crazy long list but what I don't understand is that I have been into my doctor at different times with a number of these symptoms and he has sent me off for a battery of tests for individual symptoms (hands, headaches, GI problems etc) but never seems to look at them as a whole.

I'm getting so fed up with it all that the last time I was in to see him he asked me if I thought I was depressed. I didn't know what to say because I think I may be a little but I have never been the happiest of people and the fact that I feel barely human and that I don't feel life he's really listening to me is hardly helping.

This past week I have been diagnosed with gallstones and I've been told that I will need to have my gallbladder removed in the next few weeks as the pain is becoming almost unbearable.

Since this happened I decided to go back into my GP and get everything sorted at the same time. This time I went to see the female doctor as I feel like I'm talking to the wall with my usual doctor. I decided to write down everything that was bothering me and after a brief glance at this she decided I might have low levels of cortisol and tried to put me on medication without even doing any tests. I had to talk her into doing them by agreeing to think about taking the medication! She told me this might help with some of the symptoms I am experiencing but didn't seem to be bothered about what might be causing the rest. So I'm back in on Friday for the results and I'm afraid if she doesn't find anything out of the ordinary she'll either offer me the cortisol medication or tell me yet again there's nothing wrong.

I know this post seems almost like a novel and I'll be amazed if anyone bothers to get to the end of it. I suppose I feel like this is the only place I can really vent without any judgement or pressure and say what I want freely. I also don't think I've ever written the words "I feel" so much either!

Wyldwood

oh BoneTired you are going through hell. Feel free to come on here and vent anytime you like there's always somebody sympathetic here.

It's very difficult to be sure that it's your thyroid that's causing all your symptoms as everyone is different when it comes to thyroid problems. While reading your post my instinct was to tell you to print off the list of symptoms you posted and take it to another gp but it seems you have already done that but maybe trying a different practice might help. If you wanted to post whereabouts in the country you were somebody might be able to recommend a sympathetic gp.

Wait for the blood results before you do anything as your adrenals may be part of the problem. Post back after you've seen the doc later in the week and let us know how you get on. Meanwhile read through this thread (I know it's very long) there's some great advice re diet and supplements that may help you.

Good luck with the doc.

cltt97

Hi Bonetired, yes sounds like you're having an awful time and with the amount of symptoms you're having there could be all sorts going on... I think your GP's instinct to try cortisol is not a bad one, but it was wise to request a test. The only thing is though that the kind of test you really would need is an ACTH stim test - if she is correct and your adrenals are exhausted you need this kind of test to check for it. You would be amazed though what low adrenal hormones can do to you, a lot of the symptoms you're describing will fit the bill! Often thyroid and adrenal glands are affected together and thyroid won't work unless adrenals are fine. In any case, I would be worried about the hoarseness and lump in throat part, so I would push for an ultrasound to see if there are nodules or anything and if you are worried that there is still a problem with the thyroid you could ask for an antibody-test. People can be euthyroid and still have the auto-immune disease. Have you ever had any antibody tests done, such as ANA etc? I assume you've had all the usual suspects tested such as folate, ferriting, B12, Vit D, etc?

Amazingfun

Very interesting article via the "Thyroid Sexy" facebook group :


http://med.miami.edu/news/new-miller-school-study-points-to-importance-of-overlooked-hormone-indicato/

Sample of piece:

In the laboratory study, the Miller School research team focused on the role of an enzyme called Type II deiodinase (D2) produced in the hypothalamus and pituitary that converts the less active T4 to the highly active T3 hormone. “The question is important for clinicians, because plasma T4 must be converted to T3 in order to be detected by the pituitary gland and decrease TSH secretion,” Bianco said. “We wanted to understand the relative roles played by pituitary versus hypothalamic D2 in the thyroid hormone-mediated feedback mechanism.”

Using new mouse strains developed at the Miller School as an experimental model, Bianco and his team found that inactivating the D2 enzyme in the pituitary gland produced major changes in TRH, TSH and T4 levels, but did not affect T3 levels in the plasma. “This finding clearly shows that the body’s endocrine system is wired to keep plasma T3 in the normal range,” he said. “It also points to the importance of T3 as a clinical indicator in the follow-up of hypothyroid patients who are being treated with levothyroxine.”

Bianco noted that clinicians today, following guidelines set by the American Thyroid Association, use TSH and T4 levels in the blood as the key indicators of thyroid health of hypothyroid patients treated with levothyroxine. “Only rarely will physicians obtain T3 levels directly in the diagnosis or treatment of hypothyroid patients,” he said.

BoneTired

Hi guys,

Got my blood results today and everything is normal. I asked what that means for me since I'm still experiencing all the symptoms I listed above and the reply I got was, "Well, I've done a full body NCT with the bloods and everything seems perfectly normal". I then asked her if I'm just supposed to accept all these symptoms as part of my life and just grin and bear them because that doesn't sound like much of a life to me.

She sat there a looked at me for a few seconds and then asked what was bothering me the most so I said tiredness, being frozen to the bone all the time and the mood swings/irritability. She seemed to latch on to the irritability and started asking me who I was directing it at, how long have I been like that, has it gotten worse lately etc. She then asked me about my social life; do I have many friends, do I talk to them about how I'm feeling, do I go out with them or do I isolate myself and keep my feelings bottled up. I explained to her that while I have lots of friends I don't often go out with them as they mainly tend to wind up in the pub and because I don't drink I find it very hard to enjoy myself in that environment especially when they've had one too many.

As I said in my previous post I'm quite a shy and quiet person and don't feel comfortable sharing some of the things that are going on in my life with everyone I know. I may not be confiding in a lot of people and I may not be out painting the town red but this is me, it's the way I am and I've been this way for as long as I can remember. It doesn't upset me and I'm not lonely because of it. I think I'd describe myself as an introverted person. My mother always says that I live in a world of my own and to be honest I prefer it that way.

I know this post has gone completely off topic but I was so upset today after coming out of the doctors office that I need to share this. What's bothering me the most is, first off everything was normal and she was happy to send me on my way but when I questioned her and she asked me the above, she decided I might be depressed. One minute I'm fine and the next I'm depressed? Because I was looking at her expectantly(and not leaving her office), hoping that she could shed some light on why I am still experiencing all these symptoms when everything is "normal", did she decide she had to give me some answer?

This was my third visit to her and she doesn't even know my name let alone me. For example, she was looking through her computer today to find my blood test results, asked me my name twice, then opened up the file of someone who has the same name as me and proceeded to ask for my address. I told her and she said, "no, it says ....... here". I assured her that I knew my own address and that she must have the wrong patient file. I know my memory is not the best lately but for God's sake even I can manage to remember where I live. She also tried to convince me that I suffered with knee pain after I told her she had the wrong person.:rolleyes:

So my question is this: how can she just decide I'm depressed? She doesn't know me from Adam and she's basically saying that my personality is wrong or flawed. She wants me to go for counselling to bring me "out of my shell" and be more confident. Plus, she wants to put me on medication. I had to get up and leave because what she was saying to me was like a physical blow. I was just sitting there listening to her go on about counselling while thinking to myself that nothing had changed. I was going to leave feeling the same way I as when I came in and it was crushing. I felt totally empty when she told me the results were normal. I thought and hoped that I would have some concrete answers and that a huge weight would be lifted off me and for that not to happen was devastating. I ended up breaking down in tears and leaving the doctors office without a printout of my results.

I feel like s**t but to tell me that I'm depressed and that's what's causing all my problems just seems wrong to me. I don't feel ashamed at the prospect of being diagnosed with depression. At this stage I just want everything sorted out and to feel well again. It's just that, based on the fact that she doesn't even know me, how can she say I'm depressed? If anything this whole situation is making me depressed.

Oh, I nearly forgot, there was absolutely no mention of low levels of cortisol today or the medication she was pushing at me during my last visit.

P.S I live in Galway

Wyldwood

OK BoneTired, first thing is don't despair at the way you were treated & don't give up.
Many, many of us hypo people have gone through the "you're suffering from depression/anxiety" diagnosis, it's a common response from the medics to hypo symptoms unfortunately.
You need to ring the surgery first thing Monday morning and get a copy of all your blood results - don't take "normal" as acceptable. Make sure they have the ranges from the lab on there as well. What's normal for one is totally out of whack for another. For example my TSH is up around 8 at the moment and I feel quite well, this would have most hypos on the floor. Most people seem to feel well with a TSH of less than 1 which would have me in cardiac arrest!
Once you've got your results I would promptly do a bit of research into local doctors (hopefully someone here will be able to advise you, I'm in Cork so no good),ask around or ask in the local pharmacy to see if they know a doc who is interested in thyroid problems. Make an appointment with the new doc and take it from there.

Amazingfun

Quick question for anyone around:

How can you find out if your hypo diagnoses is because of Hashimotos or another cause? I (as you know) have been taking iodine (but have stopped recently) and am reading now that if you have Hashis this isn't a great idea maybe? Truth is, I don't know what I have beyond "hypothyroidism". I have always had a lot of autoimmune-type things going on at various stages, even since childhood, allergies, alopecia, psoriasis, cold sores, etc.....so maybe Hashis makes sense?

I am going to the Doc this week for a blood test and so I wondered if I have to ask anything specific from her in order to find out?

Thanks to anyone who can assist

cltt97

you need a TPO antibody test

Greendiamond

Amazingfun wrote: »

Quick question for anyone around:

How can you find out if your hypo diagnoses is because of Hashimotos or another cause? I (as you know) have been taking iodine (but have stopped recently) and am reading now that if you have Hashis this isn't a great idea maybe? Truth is, I don't know what I have beyond "hypothyroidism". I have always had a lot of autoimmune-type things going on at various stages, even since childhood, allergies, alopecia, psoriasis, cold sores, etc.....so maybe Hashis makes sense?

I am going to the Doc this week for a blood test and so I wondered if I have to ask anything specific from her in order to find out?

Thanks to anyone who can assist

I am no expert but I think if your TSH is high but t3 and t4 is normal they will test for antibodies and if they are present that woud indicate an auto immune issue. In the beginning TSH can be high with no change to t3 or T4 that's why doctors will retest a few months after the first high reading of TSH to see if its 'true' hypothroidism or if its caused by an auto immune issue. I am only starting out on the thyroid path so am open to correction on the above !

lovelystuff

Just on this issue,my antibodies came back negative but I'm being fully treated,not sure if this means my hypothyroid will go away at some point? My consultant is generally quite vague

Amazingfun

cltt97 wrote: »

you need a TPO antibody test

Thank you. I am guessing I have to ask for this as I am looking now at my blood test results from the Mater, and there is no reading for that on here.
Neither is there any T3 of any description.

I do see "free T4" and TSH . At the time my TSH was just below 30 (29.47 range .35-4.94) and my T4 was 10 .4 range 9.0-20.0 so perhaps that indicates something? Or not

At least I know what to ask for now so thanks, whether or not they will do it is another thing I suppose!