Do I have underactive thyroid

[TJ196841]

I constantly have felt exhausted which comes and goes for about 5 years now - In 2005 I was diagnosed with an overactive thyroid and was given Carbimazole for 12 months - the levels dropped and eventually was taken off this drug.  I moved house and doctors and have since been having underactive symptoms - my levels are anything from TSH 1.8 - 6.3 and in England this is normal - my last test was on 1/6/2010 and it was TSH 2.4 Antibodies >25 again this is considered normal.

My symptoms are : breathlessness from going upstairs at home, exhaustion, foggy brain (I work in accounts full time), hypoglycaemia, swelling of lower part of legs by the end of everyday since 12 months ago.  I also have a (L) kidney cyst (4cmx4cm) which was diagnosed Jan 2009 no treatment necessary. I have enlarged goitre which has been with me for about 10 years it swells from time to time - I was told it had nodules but no treatment necessary.

I lost 2 thirds of my hair in 2007 went to doctors but was told it was stress - it has since grown back.  

As I am at the end of my tether and really feel that I am not being taken seriously - I need some advice and support that its not all in my head and I'm making it up.

I would really appreciate some help please - I have also put on weight (I know who hasnt - but I have always been on the larger size since having 3 children but have always slowly put on weight - I have gained half a stone in less than 4 months).

[TJ196841]

Just rang the doctors and they inform me that despite my gp requesting me to have TSH with the comments T3 and T4 also please - this test has not been done - the receptionist keeps telling me that the TSH 2.4 and TPO Antibody >25 are both normal - I think the pathology dept has just run TSH saw it was normal and didnt bother doing the T3  and T4 as its a waste of time :(

[TJ196841]

Wow there are quite a few tests - my gp informed me that she requested T3 and T4 but they havent come back yet - I will update you when I have these.  As far as gp's are concerned if the TSH comes back in normal range they wont do any further tests as you are well aware - the neck does appear to swell up and down - especially when i wake up I'm swollen - my eyes face and hands as well as neck are all fuffy in the morning. The antibodies they did were just named thyroid antibodies I'm sorry I dont have any further information except that it was >25 and the ranges for this is (0 - 33).
Thank you for taking the time to speak to me :)

[Barb135]

Have you had any labs, besides TSH and antibodies (which antibody test)?

You need to have a free T3 and free T4, as those are the actual hormones the body uses.  Those are the ones that will tell you whether or not you are hyper.  

There are different antibody tests to have done.  There is thyroid peroxidase (TPOab), thyroglobulin antibodies (TGab), and Thyroid Stimulating Immunoglobulin (TSI).  TPOab and TGab are the ones used to diagnose Hashimoto's Thyroiditis; TSI is the one used to diagnose Graves Disease.  Do you know which one you had done?

If you "were" hyper, now are hypo, I would recommend trying to get all of these tests done, as it is entirely possible to have both Graves and Hashimoto's.  

If you have nodules on your thyroid it is also possible for these nodules to leak hormone, which could swing you back and forth between hyper and hypo.  There is no way to control this leakage.

You have a some symptoms of being hypo, but some symptoms of hyper and hypo can be the same.

I would certainly say that TSH of 6+ is hypo, but TSH should never be used alone to diagnose a thyroid issue; so without the FT3 and FT4, it's almost impossible to say. If you've had the other tests done, please post the results along with the reference ranges; since these ranges are lab specific, they will need to come from your own lab report.  If you haven't had any other tests done, I would recommend that you get them, then make sure you get a copy of the lab report.  You can post results and reference ranges here.