Am I looking for trouble or is my hub a suffering hypo too?!!

[Guest guest]

Can anyone give any wisdom on this please?

My husband never complains unless he is nearly dead (ie when he had polymyalgia

rheumatica I had no idea until he told me he was having difficulty getting out

of the car & out of his chair!) he is fully recovered from this by the way, it

was a few years ago. He just doesn't complain. He does often say how he is fed

up of always being tired. He always goes to bed for a sleep after lunch to be

able to get through the day. He is 69 however but nevertheless has always been

very active and is young at heart. He still does a fair bit of heavy physical

work.

He has asked for his blood results for a few years now so I had a look at them.

From what I have learnt here about the TSH reference range being too high, I

suspect he may have an underactive thyroid.

RESULTS:

2005 June TSH 3.96 (3.0-5.0)

2005 November TSH 3.53 (0.04-5.0)

2010 January TSH 4.79 (0.35 -5.5)

2011 July TSH 5.36 (0.35-5.5) T4 13.2 (10.0-19.8)

These seem to be creeping up.

Are these normal at his age?

Also ALL his results over the years show low haemoglobin (just below ref range

for men) and low Red blood cells, low haematocrit, low lymphocytes. His

cholesterol is a bit raised (he refused statins), and he has antihypertensive

drugs for high blood pressure (which is well controlled).

He also suffers with gout and small vessel disease. His urate was always raised

for this reason and his ESR. He is now being treated for this so his urate

should be normal and the constant gout attacks indifferent joints has stopped.

I took his temperature (under tongue with mercury thermomether) two mornings

this week and was amazed it read 36.3C and 36.2C. He does not feel cold (that

is MY problem!)

I would appreciate an opinion. I don't want to bark up a wrong tree and cause

him angst for nothing.

Many thanks,

[Guest guest]

He needs to be referred to an endocrinologist n, most

definitely. His serum thyroid function tests show that he is definitely

suffering with hypothyroidism.

The best way to do this might be to get him to write a letter to

his GP, something along the lines of…

Dear

Doctor ****

As

I have been suffering with symptoms of what I believe could be hypothyroidism

for a long time now, and because these symptoms are getting worse, I am now

determined to do whatever is necessary to find the cause, and hope that you

will work with me.

The

present symptoms I am suffering are (here, list all of your symptoms and list

your signs. You can check these against those under ‘Hypothyroidism

Symptoms and Signs Checklist).

My

basal temperatures before getting out of bed in a morning and before having

anything to drink for the last four mornings have been (here, list these if

they were 97.8 degrees F (36.6 degrees C) – or less.

(If

this applies…)There

are members of my family who have a thyroid and/or autoimmune disease and I am

aware this can run down the family line (here, list those members of your

family and their relationship to you).

Please

would you arrange for me to have a FULL thyroid function test to include TSH,

free T4, free T3, TPO and TgAb?

I

understand there are specific minerals and vitamins that should be checked to

see whether any of them are low in the reference range that stop thyroid

hormone from being fully utilised at the cellular level. Would you please

arrange for my levels of iron, transferrin saturation%, ferritin, vitamin B12,

vitamin D3, magnesium, folate, copper and zinc levels to be tested? (If your

doctor doesn’t know about these, or tries to tell you there is no

connection, please copy out the references attached to show your doctor that

there is a connection).

Please

would you make these results available to me together with the reference range

for each test done? (If any are shown to be low in the range, these will

need to be supplemented before the thyroid hormone will work).

(You

do not have to give any reason to a doctor why you want these results. Also,

doctors cannot withhold any information that is in your medical notes under The

Date Protection Act 1998).

Because

of my last thyroid function tests showed my TSH is above the top of the reference

range and my free T4 is very low, please would you refer me to an

endocrinologist for a second opinion.

Please

would you add this letter of requests to the information in my medical notes?

Kind

regards

*********

RESULTS:

2005 June TSH 3.96 (3.0-5.0)

2005 November TSH 3.53 (0.04-5.0)

2010 January TSH 4.79 (0.35 -5.5)

2011 July TSH 5.36 (0.35-5.5) T4 13.2 (10.0-19.8)

1 of 1 File(s)

MINERALS AND VIT. TESTING.doc

[Guest guest]

Hi , well his TSH is to high it should be about 1.0 -1.5. needing to lie down after lunch could point to low thyroid. but also could be low testosterone, which could be linked to a low thyroid. could you get a adrenal test done first? just to make surethat they are OK. the one in our files is the best as it tests four times a day instead of one. my feeling is that he could benefit from some sort of hormones , but which one`s ,? that is the question. get his FT3/FT4 tested also. angel.

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I had the same with my husband. I will give you a summary of

what happened.

He was approaching 50, sleeping a lot and feeling dead tired.

I did not know that he was feeling soo tired until after by the way.

I thought it was because he was working hard in a physical job.

He also is a 'Hot to the touch' person.

I was cleaning out the car and found a printout of his last blood test

which was taken about 6 months before. It stated TSH of 3.7.

Thats when the warning bells started to ring. I started taking his waking basal

temp and it was consistantly low.

Now, because he did not want to go to the doctor about it I asked him if he was

willing to try a small dose of NDT. He said yes and I

made sure he was aware of the symptoms of being hyper, and taking

his basal temp every morning.

He is now on 2 grains and only recently has he admitted how tired he felt

before. He has also been on anti-depressents on and off for the past 20 years.

He is now slowly decreasing the dose of these without

feeling any ill effects.

I just hope you have a good GP who will listen to what he has to say

and treat or refer him appropriately.

Kind regards,

Tina

>

> Can anyone give any wisdom on this please?

>

> My husband never complains unless he is nearly dead (ie when he had

polymyalgia rheumatica I had no idea until he told me he was having difficulty

getting out of the car & out of his chair!) he is fully recovered from this by

the way, it was a few years ago. He just

[Guest guest]

Hi Angel,

Yes I got his adrenals tested when I did my own recently, it actually came back

in normal range (mine didn't!). We had not suspected thyroid though as after

all, it was supposed to be me that was ill!

I wasn't confident to say it definately was his thyroid when I saw his results.

He has agreed to follow this up at his GPs but I haven't managed to get him to

make the appointment yet, but I will, & go with him!

I hadn't picked it up before because I just did not know the situation re the

TSH & thyroid - this group is literally a life saver.

Cant wait to get us both sorted out, meanwhile I'm finding it very difficult.

Thanks Angel, appreciatedx

>

> Hi , well his TSH is to high it should be about 1.0 -1.5. needing to lie

down after lunch could point to low thyroid. but

>

> also could be low testosterone, which could be linked to a low thyroid. could

you get a adrenal test done first? just to make sure

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Tina.

A big thank you for sharing that!

I am on his case now! Just need to get him first of all to his GP - have been

trying to educate him and I know he would love this awful tiredness to go.

Its strange how it affects people differently. His basal temperature is

fractionally lower than mine but I am sooo cold I have to exercise as a priority

to feel anywhere near human before I can face the day & often just jump up &

down etc before going to bed so that I am not freezing. He is the one who turns

the heating down & wears a thin shirt while I am in long johns in the

summer....shhhhh!

There must be SO MANY people suffering that could be helped, its criminal.

Best wishes,

x

>

> Hi ,

>

> I had the same with my husband. I will give you a summary of

> what happened.

>

> He was approaching 50, sleeping a lot and feeling dead tired.

> I did not know that he was feeling soo tired until after by the way.

> I thought it was because he was working hard in a physical job.

> He also is a 'Hot to the touch' person.

>