Hi there,
I am bit confused as I got somehow different test results than I expected recently.
I have been having some symptoms from last year to this year such as extreme tiredness, cellulite, hair texture and nail texture got weaker, hair loss, loose skin, gained weight (around 12% body fat) with no change on diet and working out,depression, irritability, sensitive to cold, dry skin..all out of nowhere. I am size 4 and very petite and fit normally. My normal body fat was under 20% and by the time of the test it was over 30%. My eyebrows suffered loss too much I had to get it filled with microblading.
My GP suggested that I may have thyroid problems when I complained about the symptoms and proceed with a thyroid test (TSH and FT4) a month ago. Also I have a history of anaemia and my iron and ferritin levels were low so I was using iron supplements 210mg 3 times a day. Test results are below:
20 May 2016
FT4 12 pmol (9.0 - 25.0)
TSH 5.1 miu/L (0.3 - 5.0)
Serum iron level 20 umol/L (14.0 - 28.0) - This is after using the supplements for a while
So GP said the test results are normal and didn't do anything about it or didn't want to speak to me about on-going symptoms. Meanwhile I was going crazy with the symptoms so I bought thyroid support pills online and used them for 5 days and felt very nice before I broke out in horrible hives that wouldn't go away with regular antihistamines. I can include the ingredients later if anyone requests. Anyway I was scared even though I wasn't sure if it was due to pills or not and stopped using it since then. My hives took 6 days to go away (they come and go) and i still have some rash in the mornings or evenings after 2 weeks but it is way less than first week. Nurse suggested that it could be immune problem since they aren't going away. I did read that I wasn't supposed to use those pills if I have hashimoto's as it could make it worse so I was worried and arranged a private test to be done. Here is the weird thing: It took me few weeks to arrange a test and meanwhile my symptoms were disappearing. I started to lose body fat again, I was less depressed, my tiredness was 50% gone and my hair doesn't fall that much anymore (although I think this last two is due to increased iron intake). I was feeling like it is getting better for whatever the reason and maybe it is indeed hashimoto's as I heard it could cause fluctuating between hypo and hyper. Results are below:
15 June 2016
TSH - H 7.05 (0.27 - 4.20)
T4 Total - 134.1 (64.5 -142.0)
FT4 - 16.62 (12 - 22)
FT3 - 6.24 (3.1 - 6.8)
Anti TPO - 9.7 (<34)
Anti TgAb - 14.6 (<115)
Vitamin D - 62 (In sufficient 25-50, was deficient before, using supplement for a year now)
Ferritin - 64.9 (20-150)
CRP - 4.60 (<5)
Vitamin b12 - 289 (Insufficient 140-250)
Serum folate - 18.89 (10.4-42.4)
As you can see TSH level are even more increased and I just don't understand why I feel better when I should have felt worse especially considering how awful I was feeling when it was 5.1. It seems that I don't have hashimoto's too. I am around 4kgs more than my original weight and it keeps going up, but I thought I was gaining muscle as I am working out hard and could see some muscle forming. My last body fat measurement confirmed that I am losing body fat while not losing the kgs. I am still a bit low on the energy but not as much as a month ago.
So I am confused why would it differ this much in less than a month. Any advice please? Could this be something else like adrenal problem? Why would I have regular hives and swelling (I keep taking my rings off and putting them on between days as it doesn't fit some days and hard to take out) I haven't take this to GP yet as they are bit annoying to me and take too much time to give appointments.
Thank you everyone for taking time to read this mess.
Ps. thyroid disorders are very common in my family. My mother is hypo with goitre problem, grandmother may have thyroid cancer (her mother had thyroid issues too), my 2 maternal aunties have hypo and 1 paternal aunt has hashimoto's with nodules.