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Can you help me, please?

Hello!
I am 25 (almost 26) years old female. Recently I've been asked by my doctor to do following blood tests.
TSH - 3.57 (0.4-4)
Free T4 - 1.09 (0.8-1.9)
Prolactin 7.78 (4.5-33)
Anti Thyroid Peroxidase - 110 (0-60)
Anti Thyroglobulin - 272.2 (0-100)
I also have some of the hypothyroidism symptoms listed in wikipedia such as weight gain, depression, anxiety, fatigue, sleepiness, cold intolerance. My doctor thinks I have Hashimoto's Disease. She suggested that I start taking levothyroxine (25mcg). I've bought Euthyrox, one of the two brands available in my country. My reaction to it was quite bad, I had very severe headaches. I usually use ibuprofen for my headaches so I tried it first. It couldn't help at all. After five days of endless headache I stopped taking Euthyrox. Gradually the pain subsided. I know that a great number of drugs sold in my country are fake. Is it possible to have such reaction to levothyroxine or should I blame my headache on possibly fake Euthyrox? Is it really necessary for me to take levothyroxine? I am really afraid of fake drugs as they may be harmful. Maybe I can do something else to help my condition.
I'd be really thankful for any advice that might help me. Thank you!
English is not my native language so I'm really sorry for any mistakes I've made.
Best Answer
649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
For English not being your native language, you do awfully well with it.

Your symptoms are definitely those of hypothyroidism and your antibody tests would be basis for a diagnosis of Hashimoto's Thyroiditis.   With Hashimoto's, the body thinks the thyroid is foreign and produces antibodies to destroy it.  The destruction, typically, takes quite a few years, but as it happens, your thyroid will continue to produce less and less hormones, as healthy tissue is destroyed.  

Yes, you're going to need to take thyroid replacement hormones, such as the Euthyrox, because you thyroid will soon, not be able to produce the hormones you need.

25 mcg is usually a good starting dose.  It takes 4-6 weeks for the medication to reach full potential in your blood, so it's not likely that's the cause of your headache.  If Euthyrox is a brand name, you shouldn't have any worry about it being fake. Some people do react adversely to fillers/binders that are used to keep the pills together.  You might talk to your doctor about trying another brand, since different manufacturers use different fillers and binders.  You might do well, with another manufacturer.

You might also ask your doctor about splitting the pills in half and only starting no half until your body gets used to having the hormones again.
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Avatar universal
Just wanted to supplement the good info from Barb with the following.  

I have no idea how hypothyroidism is typically tested and treated in your country; however, I expect that you probably face the same hurdles we have gone through at some time in our past.  By that I mean doctors that have the "Immaculate TSH Belief' and only want to use TSH to diagnose and treat a hypothyroid patient.  That absolutely does not work.  Some doctors are willing to test beyond TSH, but then only test Free T4 and use "Reference Range Endocrinology", by which they will tell you that a test that falls anywhere within the range is adequate.  That also is wrong.  The ranges are far too broad due to the erroneous way they are established.  Many of us say that symptom relief required Free T3 in the upper part of its range and Free T4 around the middle of its range.

A good thyroid doctor will treat a hypo patient clinically by testing and adjusting Free T3 and Free T4 as necessary to relieve symptoms, without being constrained by resultant TSH levels.  You can get some good insight into clinical treatment from this letter written by a good thyroid doctor for patients that he sometimes consults with after initial tests and evaluation.  The letter is then sent to the participating doctor of the patient to help guide treatment.  In the letter, please note the statement, "the ultimate
criterion for dose adjustment must always be the clinical response of the patient."

http://hormonerestoration.com/files/ThyroidPMD.pdf

So I urge you to make sure that you are tested for Free T3 and Free T4 each time you go in for tests.  Free T3 is the most important because it largely regulates metabolism and many other body functions.  Scientific studies have shown that Free T3 correlated best with hypo symptoms, while Free T4 and TSH did not correlate at all.  I also suggest that you should have a conversation with your doctor about all this and the letter above and find out if the doctor is going to be willing to treat you clinically, as described in the letter.  If not then you should try to find a good thyroid doctor that will do so.

Also, since hypothyroid patients are frequently too low in the ranges for other important areas such as Vitamin D, B12 and ferritin, it would be a good idea to test for those as well.  Whenever you have test results available please post results and their reference ranges shown on the lab report and members will be glad to help interpret and advise further.

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Avatar universal
Thank you very much!
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