Update and test results

[Guest guest]

Hey all, it's been a while since my last post and I thought it was

time for another update.

I'd been on the 50mcg Thyroxine for about 8 weeks with varying

results. At the start I felt good and went through a great period, but

towards the end I started to feel pretty rubbish again. Last week I

had some new blood tests with the following results: (I managed to

persuade the kind nurse who took my blood to test for FT3 and Ferritin

at the same time, which she was happy to do without checking with my

doctor first). I've included the reference ranges which are different

depending on which lab did the tests, some were from Cromwell

Hospital, most from Ealing Hospital.

TSH: 4.25 miu/L (0.27 - 4.20) -- it was 3.19 in August 08, down from

6.97 in June 08.

Free T4 (Thyroxine): 17.36 pmol/L (12.00 - 22.00) -- it was 10.60

pmol/L (7.50 - 14.41) in August 08, and 16.30 pmol/L (12.00 - 22.00)

in June 08.

Free T3 (Triiodothyronine): 5.6 pmol/L (4.0 - 6.8) -- it was 1.3

nmol/L (1.3 - 2.7) in August which was the only other time it's been

tested (with a different ref range, is there any way to convert one

result to the other?).

Ferritin: 101 ng/mL -- up from 55 ng/mL (24 - 336) in August 08.

Serum Cholesterol: 6.7 mmol/L -- up from 5.69 mmol/L in August and 5.3

mmol/L in June (it's been 5.7 ish for the past few years).

So the results were not as encouraging as those from August -- the TSH

is going in the wrong direction, although the FT3 and FT4 numbers seem

okay. My Ferritin is getting better with the iron supplements. The

cholesterol was the big surprise, that's a major jump for me -- my

total cholesterol had remained at around 5.7 for years. My doctor

seemed very surprised by this result as I have a pretty good diet, I

exercise plenty each week, I've cut my drinking to very reasonable

levels, and I don't smoke anymore. Given that I'm fitter than I've

been in years I hoped my cholesterol would be lower.

When the doc gave me my results I already knew that they wouldn't be

good -- I'd been feeling rubbish for the two or three weeks before

that, with chest pains, sore muscles and just generally feeling like

my system was not in a happy place. I'd starting falling asleep in the

middle of the afternoon at work and felt really under the weather.

So the doctor's put me on 75mcg Thyroxine now (I've been on 75mcg for

a week now and feel a little better, although I suppose that's mainly

psychological as it can't have kicked in yet), and I need to go back

in six weeks for more tests. I don't understand why my TSH is going up

again, and why my cholesterol has jumped up so dramatically after so

long. Aren't these numbers supposed to be going down if I'm getting

more T4 in my system?

My doctor is unable (or unwilling) to give me any answers to these

questions, and says that my chest pains and aches are " probably just

muscular " . I'm really beginning to understand the frustration you all

express here, I'm finding the mainstream medical system devoid of any

real answers and apparently unwilling to even discuss it with their

patients.

Thank god for this forum.