Hashimotos?

[alice602]

Hi all, I've suspected for a while that I could have an underactive thyroid. For the last 6 months - 1 year I've been very fatigued, had muscle aches and pains, no sex drive, random irregular periods, brain fog etc. When I went to my GP I asked for a referral to see a fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue specialist but they needed to do blood tests first. I had glandular fever 3 years ago and have never felt fully back to normal for longer than a month or two since then.

I had a blood test a couple of weeks ago and the doctor told me that I have antibodies in my blood which attack the thyroid gland but that my thyroid hormone levels are fine. I'm not sure what this means, or if it will get worse and need treatment? The doctor I saw wasn't really very helpful and was more focused on my depression (which I keep under control with antidepressants) and he ended up doubling my dose. I'll give it a try but not sure if it will really get to the root of the problem. He suggested I exercise more which made me want to cry because I'm in way too much pain just walking up a flight of stairs let alone a full on work out.

[goolarra]

Your TPOab is elevated, which would indicate Hashi's.  Your FT4 looks good and is high enough that it shouldn't be causing you any symptoms.  Unfortunately, your doctor didn't test FT3, which is the test that correlates best with symptoms.  I think you should get that tested so you have a more complete picture of what your thyroid is doing.    

[alice602]

Thyroid peroxidase antibody level - 30.70
0.00-5.61
Serum TSH level - 2.13
0.30-5.00
Serum free T4 level - 14.5
8.80-18.80

[gimel]

Please post the reference ranges shown on the lab report for those tests.  Results should always be compared to ranges.

[alice602]

Picked up my results today:

Thyroid peroxidase antibody level - 30.70
Serum TSH level - 2.13
Serum free T4 level - 14.5

[goolarra]

If you have elevated thyroid antibodies (do you know which ones?), that would indicate Hashi's.

Please post the results of your "fine" thyroid tests so we can see if your testing was adequate and if your doctor's assessment of "fine" was accurate.  Reference ranges vary lab to lab, so they have to come from your own lab report.  

We can have antibodies for years, or even decades, before they do enough damage to cause labs to go out of range or to develop symptoms.  Some people never do develop symptoms, but it sounds like you might have a few already.

Depression is a symptom of hypothyroidism.

If you have the lab results, we can tell you what we see.

[gimel]

We can better answer if you will please post your thyroid related test results and reference ranges shown on the lab report.