Hello. I am new and I have questions :-)

[Guest guest]

Hi

I am Lynne. I am 43 and mum of two wee ones - 3 and 6. I have been a member for

a couple of weeks, but I have been waiting for my results before posting. I

have them now, and I also have a puzzle.

I have been feeling exhausted, very cold, horrible headaches, real difficulties

in focusing on my work, I told my Dr that my head feels too heavy for me to hold

up some days and I am crabby with the kids. Some days I fall asleep on the sofa

when I am 'playing' with the kids. I have put on lots of weight, but I have

been eating lots as I am ravenous most of the time.

I have had a nodule on my thyroid and general swelling (goitre??) for around 15

years. Although all of my levels were 'normal' (I must see if I can get them to

find out how 'normal' they were) at this time, the surgeon decided that I should

have a thyroidectomy. Thankfully, I told him that I would keep my thyroid if it

was working well. He wasn't impressed and I didn't see him again...

During my pregnancies, my thyroid was overactive with my first and underactive

with my second. Pregnancy is odd as hCG has lots of homology with TSH and this

can cause some effect on the thyroid. I have to say, that the weeks and months

just after the birth of my first child was the only time in my adult life when I

have felt truly great and not tired.

Anyhow, to get to the point of my recent results, my Dr tells me that I have

iron deficient anaemia and has given me ferrous sulphate. He also told me (and

I know that you will appreciate this!) that 'my thyroid levels were just hanging

on in the normal range'.

They only test for TSH and fT4.

TSH - 0.1 (0.3 - 6)

fT4 - 15.1 (9.0 - 24)

Last years' results (just found out today)

TSH - 1.02

fT4 - 16.1 (ranges as above)

Clearly, I am not in the (wide!) normal range for TSH, but I expected to be at

the top and hypothyroid. I even had all of my reasoning/arguments ready.

Could I be feeling so dreadful with anaemia?

Am I hyperthyroid? Could this be caused by the anaemia? Should I give the iron

tablets a chance to see how I feel when I take them?

I am totally confused.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I do hope that it makes sense...

Lynne

[Guest guest]

hello lynne and welcome

the short answer is yes, either b12 deficient or iron deficient anaemia would be

making you incredibly tired ...i'm not well up on what a good daily dose of iron

is but make sure you take it with vitamin c because that will aid absorption and

impede constipation.

i think it would be a good idea to be checked for antibodies ...anti tpo and

anti tgab...if either are positive that would be diagnostic of hashimoto's

autoimmune thyroiditis; if you do have hashi's it is often the case that the tsh

goes up and down like a yo-yo depending on whether you are currently under an

attack.

your results certainly don't indicate hypER ...some of the signs for hypER would

be agitation, anxiety, palpitations, fast heart rate, sweating and raised

temperature.

apart from having a good level of iron and ferritin for your body to use thyroid

hormone (your own or exogenous) you also need to have good levels of b12,

folate, magnesium, copper, zinc, and vit d3...if any of these are low your

cellular uptake will be inhibited.

did the surgeon give you a reason for wanting to remove your thyroid or did he

just want some practice good for you for resisting, it is always better to

keep all our body parts but they do seem to like to remove tonsils, thyroids and

appendixes! (should that be appendices i wonder!!).

it's a shame you weren't tested for free t3 because that may be low despite the

free t4 result ...zinc and selenium are vital for the conversion process.

trish

>

> I have had a nodule on my thyroid and general swelling (goitre??) for around

15 years. Although all of my levels were 'normal' (I must see if I can get them

to find out how 'normal' they were) at this time, the surgeon decided that I

should have a thyroidectomy. Thankfully, I told him that I would keep my

thyroid if it was working well. He wasn't impressed and I didn't see him

again...

[Guest guest]

Hi there, yes you could be hypothyroid. you seem to have hashimoto`s this is autoimmune and pregnancy triggers it sometimes. i was like you tired and going back to bed so tired all the time .could not look after my kids. had slow hypo due to autoimmune thyroiditis. my last test says only 3.85 so no treatment under the NHS. could you get a referral to see our Dr p or Dr S?? doctors don`t treat hypo very well so you will need to fight for treatment.angel.

[Guest guest]

> TSH - 0.1 (0.3 - 6)> fT4 - 15.1 (9.0 - 24)> > Last years' results (just found out today)> TSH - 1.02> fT4 - 16.1 (ranges as above)> Could I be feeling so dreadful with anaemia? > Am I hyperthyroid? Could this be caused by the anaemia? Should I give the iron tablets a chance to see how I feel when I take them? Hello Lynne,

No, those figures do not suggest Hyperthyroidism and yes, anaemia could cause those symptoms and you should wait and see if you feel better when your iron levels have been brought up.

However.... judging by your symptoms you might indeed have a thyroid problem. Please ask your GP to test (in addition to your ferritin/iron status) your folate, magnesium, zinc, copper, Vit B12 and Vit D3. If you were low in any of those (just like with low iron) your body would not be able to utilize the thyroid hormone your thyroid gland produces and that could make you feel awwful as well.... -also - most important - please ask for an thyroid antibody check.... you need TPO and TgAB tested. If you were positive in either or both of those, that would be diagnostic for autoimmune thyroiditis (Hashimoto's disease) regardless of any thyroid function test figures.

With best wishes,