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underactive thyroid

Posted , 4 users are following.

rachel03291
rachel03291

Tsh 1.19. T4 17 4weeks ago 

yesterday 

tsh 0.64. T4 18 

feel terrible and dnt no why dont feel normal but cant explain why does any one no why I could be feeling this way have felt very anxious too

0 likes, 21 replies

21 Replies

  • marey
    marey rachel03291

    Posted

    are you taking thyroxin? or other thyroid med?
    • rachel03291
      rachel03291 marey

      Posted

      Hi

      yes I am on 50mcg levothyroxine been takin it 10 years now but felt ill for the past 5 months 

  • Jill6969
    Jill6969 rachel03291

    Posted

    hi Rachel .. Do you take any supplements? A lot of different vitamins make our thyroid work. Sometimes our gut doesn't absorb enough from our diet so we need some extra. Common deficiencies are vit B12 and D3. Also our ferritin needs to be quite high. Have you had any of these levels checked?
    • rachel03291
      rachel03291 Jill6969

      Posted

      Hi jill

      yes iv had all that checked my ferretin is 50 people have told me its low but doc said its ok as my iron in normal my t4 seems to be getting higher every few months

    • marey
      marey rachel03291

      Posted

      suzanne...

      do you think this ferritin reading for rachael is ok?

      and her T4 level? ...now 18.00    (from 17)

      mine is 16.2 pmol/L i see the normal range is stated to be between 12.00 - 22.00 pmol/L

      so thats ok for both of us?

      Do you have your free T3 readings rachael?

      T3 normal range is said to be 3.10 - 6.80 pmol/L ....mine is 4.0 so is within range

    • suzanne00
      suzanne00 marey

      Posted

      Well, I'm not totally sure of which tests Rachel's had and what the ranges are, but it sounds like in spite of not feeling right, they are being found to be in normal range, right? I do think that we have to listen to our bodies too, and not forsake them for blood test results.  So if that were me, and I had investigated a number of alternative hypotheses about why I might be feeling anxious and not normal, and still wondered if it was too much thyroid, I might try a trial of a little less and see how I felt.  As I mentioned in another entry here also, when my practitioner added more T3 and less T4 for me, I felt better, had fewer palpitations and anxiety, etc. So sometimes we have to work a bit to figure out what's wrong and how to fix it. 
    • marey
      marey suzanne00

      Posted

      brilliant...thanks suzanne!

      very helpful without being too directive ...so rachael hope you can see how others are thinking and like me ....in uk....you're also wondering if we have compounding pharmacists and someone to prescribe inorder to direct for appropriate dosages?

      there is an english guy who blogs about how he sorted his hyper thyroid. he got well...but his labs don't make any conventional sense and he ignores them....think he may have had a partial ablation tho.

      sorry i can't remember his name but if it comes back to me i'll post it as a resource x

    • rachel03291
      rachel03291 marey

      Posted

      Hi marey

      my docs have never said anything about my t3 so dont know if iv had it checked 

    • suzanne00
      suzanne00 rachel03291

      Posted

      Also Rachel--Have you tested your thyroid antibodies?  If there is tissue destruction there may be hyperthyroid symptoms developing as thyroid is released from the cells.  Probably worth getting checked and if positive, looking at diet and lifestyle to try to correct. --Suzanne
    • marey
      marey rachel03291

      Posted

      i think both you and me would benefit from a definitive list of labs that we might ask for.

      so shall we try to compose one !! Lets think:

      TSH

      T3

      T4

      C Reactive Protein

      ANTIBODIES

      (a list of these is needed. eg TPO, )

      Various mineral balances eg pottasium/sodium

                                                    calcium/magnesium

      Vit - hormone D

      My serum calcium is a bit low at 2.10 mmol/L  

                                         normal = 2.15 - 2.60mmol/L

      I asked for RT3 but my GP said there was no such thing!!

      ie he doesn't know about it!! But you could still ask or ask a new practioner if you decide to change or can find a naturopath.

      Also I have now seen all my lab results and note that in Feb 2013 I had raised ANTIBODIES for TPO. Thyroid peroxidase

      The note on the lab report beside this result advises of the need for an annual review. But that wasn't done....and on 8th August 2014 I had a TSH reading of 5.1 mu/L...but no antibody readings...however my CRP was down to 1 mg/L (normal range = 0.00 - 5.00mg/L) but presumeably the ideal reading is zero indicating we're not reacting to anything!          I had a prior raised reading but can't find that on my notes and a lower TSH reading of 4.5 also can't be found...but that was erroneously considered to be normal (lab  results are skewed by a majority of sick people. ideal Tsh is apparently around 1.00 but its got to depend on how we feel?).

      Need to hunt out a definitive list of antibodies...Have seen one somewhere...a blog?

       

  • suzanne00
    suzanne00 rachel03291

    Posted

    Hi Rachel--Am I missing something?  Those tsh and T4 levels are both in normal range, right? Have your T3 levels and reverse T3 been checked to see if you are making the conversion to active thryroid?  If all of your thyroid readings are normal, have you considered other causes of feeling bad?  Can you describe your feelings more?  --Suzanne
    • rachel03291
      rachel03291 suzanne00

      Posted

      Hi suzann

      my symptoms have been 

      palpatations

      feeling nervous 

      feeling sick

      fluttering feeling in neck and chest

      Had a 24 hr heart monitor on and showed a few eptopic beats waiting to see. Cardioligist next month 

      how iv been feeling for 5 months just isnt me at all 

      thanxs

    • marey
      marey rachel03291

      Posted

      oh goodness...you've got to take control of this!

      i have prob a cardiac pre-disposition as both grandparents died young from this...

      yes i get the odd palp...am on 25mcg levo...but when i stopped taking levo my tsh went up from 4.5 to 5.1...and i now have a small goiter but i'm not very good with supplements so haven't got it together yet with a good regime. are you taking any?

      think i'll stay on 25mcg levo til i've clearly worked out another way...then will try to reduce.

      x

    • suzanne00
      suzanne00 rachel03291

      Posted

      Hi Rachel--I get heart flutters too, and have had many medical tests over the last few years to explore this problem. I personally found adding magnesium and fish oil helped my heart to settle down (it was wildly irratic for a time).  It does seem worth considering whether you are getting too much thyroid supplementation for your body. Are you also having trouble sleeping?  When I was having some extra fluttering last year, my practitioner lowered the T4 and increased the T3 that I am on and it helped and I felt better, too. Do you have thyroid antibodies?  I do think that we can often decrease our need for thyroid supplementation by improving our diets and taking appropriate vitamins and minerals. Supplements like that can also help with anxiety and not feeling well. Have you had your vit. D levels checked?  B-12 levels?  I would encourage you to get a thorough work-up in blood tests since you aren't feeling well. Also, consider if there's any particular stressors that have come up in the past few months that could account for how you're feeling. I think that you may need to look both closely and also cast a wide net with nonspecific symptoms like you are experiencing. Look at thyroid supplement levels more closely and possibility that these might need lowering, but also consider possibility of other causes.  --Suzanne
  • marey
    marey rachel03291

    Posted

    something immed occurs to me...as you are taking thyroxin....your body may be making adjustments. you were just over 1.00 ...an optimal reading but perhaps now you'll be able to reduce your thyroxin...?  which is great! well done!! so like jill i'm wondering if you've been taking care and paying special attention to yourself by may be taking supplements? well its working....and you could prob reduce your thyroxin espec if you're feeling anxious.

    but there's no need to be feeing anxious....you are doing great!

    with or without supplements your body has kick started more thyroid hormone....

    • rachel03291
      rachel03291 marey

      Posted

      Hi marey 

      thanx for replying

      my doc wont reduce my thyroid med but I do think I would feel better not takin as much my doc is rubbish 

    • marey
      marey rachel03291

      Posted

      my goodness rachael....can you change your doc?

      but meanwhile cut your tablet in half and YOU decide for yourself what you feel. to me it sounds like you're going hyperthy

      i'm looking into a regime to get off thyroxin and onto a 'natural regime' suzanne sent me the link...would love to follow along with others...happy to stay on your thread. xx

    • rachel03291
      rachel03291 marey

      Posted

      Hi marey 

      I am going to change docs I think I have felt crap for too long now 

      I would love to come off thyroxine altogeather im just hoping that my cardioligist agrees with me that my thyroxine is causing my eptopic beats 

      iv been so scared when I have the fluttering in chest and neck but iv spoke to people with underactive thyroid who get these flutters too.

    • marey
      marey rachel03291

      Posted

      do you have any anti-body readings? TPO and others?

      can i take back the suggestion that you change docs at this point ...they are all trained in the same way. it may be less stress for you to stay where you are for the mo. but you could ask the cardiologist if he would order antibody testing for you....cardiac features can be autoimmune related (but then he may not be of that mindset either). But he is able to order them for you...so you could say how very grateful you would be for antibody testing and how it would put your mind at ease. Try to get him/her on side...whilst ensuring you get what info you need...to take elsewhere if you prefer ...thereafter perhaps. But they are pretty much all the same. 

      a naturopath might be able to help you.

      however since you are seeing a cardiologist...who may do an EEG and frighten the life out of you....(i prob need an EEG from a conventional perspective).....try to hang on to the reality that you can be in control of your health and don't let the system cut you into little bits....quite literally...as a nurse i've seen this....instead since the cardiologist will write back to your GP/MD  (ARE YOU UK?) to report back his findings...sometimes even leaving you out...i see from my notes that I had raised antibodies a year ago now and a specific note from the lab saying....monitor annually for TFT's ....thyroid function tests...but this hasn't happened. (Instead I took myself off gluten and my CRP dropped) but I don't know my latest thyoid antibody markers...Suzanne just asked me for them...so I'm quite angry!! sorry going off track.

      at this point anti body testing would help you.

      My thyroid peroxidase antibody level was 245 .00iu/mL

      Normal is                                                    <34.00

      so i was very inflammed....and prob still am as am having symptoms...in my case sluggishness and brain fog.

      hope this is some help to you with respect to finding your way around the system and asking the most helpful kind of questions. thyroid uk are very helpful and are a supportive group. xx so="" i="" was="" very="" inflammed....and="" prob="" still="" am="" as="" am="" having="" symptoms...in="" my="" case="" sluggishness="" and="" brain="" fog.="" hope="" this="" is="" some="" help="" to="" you="" with="" respect="" to="" finding="" your="" way="" around="" the="" system="" and="" asking="" the="" most="" helpful="" kind="" of="" questions.="" thyroid="" uk="" are="" very="" helpful="" and="" are="" a="" supportive="" group.="">

      so i was very inflammed....and prob still am as am having symptoms...in my case sluggishness and brain fog.

      hope this is some help to you with respect to finding your way around the system and asking the most helpful kind of questions. thyroid uk are very helpful and are a supportive group. xx>

    • rachel03291
      rachel03291 marey

      Posted

      Hi marey 

      im in uk .

      im just hoping their is nothing wrong with my heart but I really think its thyroid related so fingers crossed .

    • marey
      marey rachel03291

      Posted

      Yes lets hope so!

      I was so upset with my GP...well and angry...that he didn't follow my anti body readings. There was even a note beside the result saying Thyroid UK advise to follow these .

      If it wasn't for suzanne I would have been none the wiser.

      I am so grateful to her!!!!!!

      Now I'm onto it and trying to discover what is causing this inflammation. Have quit gluten and am now trying to keep off dairy...have started making coconut milk...its delicious!

      There are tests to locate allergens but positive results don't usually show up til things have got really bad...well I'm sure that like me you're not going to wait around for that to happen!!

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