Does anyone here have an underactive thyroid?

melbury · 22 March 2008 at 8:34PM

Thanks so much for all of the information you have posted - it is very reassuring. As you say everything seems magnified at night when everyone else is asleep, it is so scary.

Have been reading loads today on the internet about Hashimotos / underactive thyroid. Seems that the synthetic thyroxine doesn't work for everyone, which is a bit depressing, will just have to wait and see. Apparently doctors are quite happy once they get you within the right parameters for TSH level even if you don't feel any better and I find that quite frightening.

Found a couple of sites that unreservedly recommend the natural porcine thyroid supplement - say it works much better - but I don't really know anything about it.

Thanks again,

melbury · 22 March 2008 at 8:36PM

Forgot to say, these are my latest blood test results, not very good reading:eek:
TSH 64.47
Free T4 3.6
Free T3 1.8
TPO Antibodies 235

:eek:

Does anybody understand what the TPO antibodies figure means?

Many thanks.

jeannieblue · 22 March 2008 at 8:48PM

I'm sooo hoping my sis gets online soon. I'd buy her a lap top if I could!

She has loads of info as she intends to 'beat this regardless' and she has been looking at sites in US. They seem so more forward thinking and less tied up in red tape than here!

Glad you are reassured, she still rates the book highly, it has helped her alot.

cantcope · 22 March 2008 at 8:54PM

I dont know what the readings mean but having been on 150mg of thyroxine for the last 8 years i wouldnt worry too much about your readings. The doctor will adjust your medication as he/she sees fit. It took me about a year to get on the correct dose and its only ever changed twice on the 8 years. (once when he mixed my results up with someone elses :eek:).

I found i suffered with depression for the first year or so quite badly but this seemed to clear once i felt better in myself, my weight dropped, i could stay awake more than a few hours and i stopped ripping my legs to pieces where they itched so much. years on I hardly ever notice any symptoms. I've only in the last 6 months felt very tired again and generally unwell but have just this month been diagnosed with MS so now i have both to contend with. I'm surprised i'm awake lol.

Stay strong and be comforted that you are not alone. This is relatively common and you will be surprised when you start talking about it how many people you know suffer with the condition. When i first found out there were 3 other women just in my office of about 50!

Feel free to pm if you want answers to any questions as this can affect so many things. Hopefully you will have ben given some literature (just dont scare yourself).

Best Wishes x

noonesperfect · 22 March 2008 at 11:44PM

I've gained a fair amount of weight, have dry skin, my nails are weaker than they were, I'm lethargic most of the time and often forgetful. I seem to feel the cold more, but can also boil up (though no obvious flush) in bed occasionally.
Mostly I sleep quite well, but can wake at 3am only to be up for the rest of the night. Or sleep for 9 hours (given the chance! usually wake after 7hrs though).
Just lately my heart has been fluttery and my pulse has been faster than usual for me (about an extra 15-20 bpm).
Everything in the "gynae" departmart working as it should, sorry if too much info.
Does that fit in with anyone else's symptoms?

jeannieblue · 22 March 2008 at 11:56PM

Meanhwile, off the subject of Mel - my thyroid is ok - I think - but if flick back a few posts you'll see why I've interferred on this one. My sister swears by the Dr Barry book which she says will sooooo help everyone - bound to be on Amazon, tho I've not looked

back to some fun with MrsE on the sun one....

cantcope · 23 March 2008 at 12:14AM

Hi "Noonesperfect". yes they do sound like some of the symptoms (that i had) although they could be caused by any number of things. I slept for over 20 hours at a time and went from a size 8 to a 16 in less than a year. My skin was so dry i scratched it off in my sleep until i bled. My hair thinned dramatically and my periods were very very heavy. I thought it was normal to wear a jumper in the summertime. However, i now rarely suffer with any of this and my weight is stable.
A simple blood test will put your mind at rest.

TomsMom · 23 March 2008 at 12:14AM

melbury wrote: »

Found a couple of sites that unreservedly recommend the natural porcine thyroid supplement - say it works much better - but I don't really know anything about it.

Natural porcine thyroid supplement (piggy pills!) - Armour Thyroid or Thyroid USP. From USA. It is a combination of T4 and T3 made from pigs' thyroid, fairly close to the human ratio of T4 : T3.

Natural thyroid was successfully used to treat thyroid problems long before synthetic thyroxine was invented.

Most NHS GP will not prescribe this, preferring the tried and trusted route of synthetic thyroxine. Some GPs who "think outside the box" when patients don't do well on thyroxine may be willing to prescribe it.

If you want to read about it you can google it or I have some links but it is best if you give thyroxine a chance to see if it works for you, it works for the majority of people. Most people can make T3 from the T4 (synthetic thyroxine) they take. A few people find their bodies do not make this conversion. That is when the addition of T3 or changing to Armour Thyroid can help.

To be within "normal" limits:

TSH 64.47 - needs to be below 5 (normal range roughly 0.27-4.20)
Free T4 3.6 - needs to be up to at least 11.8 (normal range roughly 11.8-24.6)
Free T3 1.8 - needs to be up to at least 2.8 (normal range roughly 2.8-7.1)

Everybody is an individual so we each feel best at different points within the ranges but "most" people feel best with a TSH of <2, FT4 in the upper quartile (around 19/20) and FT3 in balance with FT4. Some people only feel really well with FT4 at top of range and TSH suppressed whereas some people feel fine with results in the middle of the range.

lifecatalyst · 23 March 2008 at 12:05PM

melbury wrote: »

Forgot to say, these are my latest blood test results, not very good reading:eek:
TSH 64.47
Free T4 3.6
Free T3 1.8
TPO Antibodies 235

:eek:

Does anybody understand what the TPO antibodies figure means?

Many thanks.

Melbury, i can't find a reference range for TPO antibodies but the reference ranges for other Thyroid blood tests (copied from www.thyroiduk.org) are

TSH = THYROID STIMULATING HORMONE
This hormone comes from the pituitary to stimulate the thyroid gland into making more hormone. TSH rises when the thyroid is struggling.
The approx. reference range for this test is 0.4 to 4.5.

TT4 = TOTAL T4
Thyroid hormones bound to proteins. TT4 lowers when the thyroid is struggling.
The approx. reference range for this test is 50 to 160.

FT4 = FREE T4
Thyroid hormones not bound to proteins. FT4 lowers when the thyroid is struggling.
The approx. reference range for this test is 10 to 24

FT3 = FREE T3
T4 converts to T3 and is the only thyroid hormone actually used by the body’s cells.
The approx. reference range for Free T3 is 4 to 8.3

Hope this helps

It does take time to feel better, i'm told increases in Thyroxine take a month or two to show up on blood tests & it's usual to increase dosage gradually.

It might be worth joining one of the specialist Thyroid forums - i found these very helpful at the beginning. Also it's worth keeping in mind that the people who feel fine on treatment won't often be found on these forums, so on reading them it's easy to believe that everyone is struggling!
L

juno · 23 March 2008 at 9:24PM

I was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid about 6 months ago, and I'm on levothyroxine. Initially I started to feel better, but now I feel as bad as before. I had blood tests recently though, and they said they were fine.

Does anyone here have an underactive thyroid?

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