Hi. I'm new to the forum and received thyroid results yesterday which the endocrinologist says are normal. My symptoms are extreme anxiety/nervousness, insomnia, some night sweats, dizziness at times and spaced out feelings. My results are as follows:
Free t4 16.2 (range 10.0 - 19.0)
Tsh 0.27 (range 0.50-4.00 Doctor says result is not 'sufficiently low'
Free t3 3.9 (range 3.5-6.5)
Tsh receptor antibodies < 0.10 (range <0.55)
Anti thyroid perioxidase <28 (range <60)
Anti thyroglobulin <20 (range <60)
Can anyone tell me whether this is 'normal'. my symptoms tell me it's not.
If I am not mistaken, this is what is referred to as subclinical hyperthyroidism. Sometimes patients can experience symptoms of hyperthyroidism due to adrenal problems which causes increased cortisol production and in turn affects the thyroid. Do you have thyroid nodules or goiters? A lot of people find a natural approach helpful by taking specific supplements like Bugleweed, Motherwort, lemon balm, & Melissa. Please keep us posted on how you are feeling.
Hi Lana, when I was diagnosed my T4 was only 0.1 over normal and my TSH was normal but my symptoms were over the top. I was lucky my GP (local doctor) looked at the whole picture and started treating me. The next blood test came in with T4 high normal but TSH of 0.06, my recent tests (after 2 months of treatment) are just within normal limits but my symptoms persist so even though my meds have been reduced my doctor won't wean me off them. So you definitely sound like you are hyperthyriod and I would be looking for a doctor who looks at the whole picture and doesn't dissmiss an abnormal result just because it is not low enough. I have started some suppliments because my vitamin D was a bit low (I think my thyroid has done this before but my former doctor didn't look at the whole picture and it took ages for me to get better with my very low vitamin D being missed due to normal limit range changes ). We have found no goitre, nodules and I have had no thyroid pain associated with thyroiditis. My advice would be to find a new doctor and re check your bloods because it certainly sounds like you are hyperthyroid.
Lana ... i would certainly ask for blood tests to be done again as your symptoms are increasing and becomming worse .. You very obviously are suffering Overactive Thyroid symptoms ... I have Graves' disease and had your symptoms as well as many others which were overwhelming me . i had three tests before eventually showing Graves' disease although i knew i was becomming very ill indeed. I am now Euthyroid... after taking Carbimazole starting at 20mg ... then gradually down to 5mg.... but it was through supplementing ...... that is ....supplementing all the vitamins , minerals and nutrients that my body had used up whilst i was running at 100 miles an hour with Overactive Thyroid disease !
Linda suggested
Motherwort
Bugleweed
and Lemon Balm
i used this to absolutely great effect
try buying it in tincture...liquid form, i bought all mine on Amazon
one bottle of each.. and mixed them together in equal quantities in a larger brown bottle with a dropper ( also Amazon   take around a teaspoonful but you can take 2 or 3 actually ... whenever you feel anxious .... it's important to take sublingually i.e. under the tonge for around a minute hold it there , as it is absorbed by the blood vessels there and work very quickly ..more than in the stomach
that will certainly have a have a calming effect on your being .. and hopefully the
yiu will feel better ...but you really should be treated by your doctor properly as you should not be allowed to suffer like this on your own insist on bloods being repeated and tested for antibodies
Hi lana1000, when I had similar thyroid values I would wake up nearly every night being sweaty, hungry, and nervous. The TSH level shows a daily variation with the maximum occurring around 3am at night. Concomitant with the rise in TSH the FT4 rises and this might cause your symptoms.
Like others have mentioned above you might want to try to lower your thyroid output without using medication. The things that I did include:
Eating a lot of goitrogenic vegetables and fruits.
Taking tincture of Motherwort, Lemonbalm, and Bugleweed.
Taking the supplement L-Carnitine (1000mg/day) or Acetyl-L-Carnitine (500mg/day).
Avoiding aerobic exercise during the evening hours.
To answer your question: Your lab values are not completely normal, nor are the symptoms that you are having. What your endocrinologist probably meant was the TSH is not sufficiently low to recommend medical treatment with anti-thyroid drugs.
Hi Linda. I have two nodules however the scan results are that they are not 'hot' and shouldn't be a problem. I was told to have another scan in two years to monitor them.
Thanks for your advice on the herbs. I will give them a go. It's the constant anxiety/nervousness that is causing the most grief. It never stops. This all came on suddenly two months ago and I'm struggling to cope, but will try the herbs you suggested.
Thanks Jenifer. It's hard to find a good doctor, a few I have seen said my tsh reading, whilst out of range, isn't low enough to cause symptoms so I get dismissed. The endocrinologist said the same thing so she came to the conclusion that it's not my thyroid causing the symptoms. It's so frustrating, but I will search for another doctor for another opinion. Thanks for your advice.
Thanks Madge. I certainly don't want to get worse as this is debilitating enough. I will seek out another doctor for more tests and get vitamins and minerals checked and try the herbs.
Thanks for your help. This is overwhelming and I'm struggling but hopefully there's a light at the end of the tunnel.
Thanks for your reply Dan. I have been having night sweats for the last 2 weeks also. I don't sleep well (max. 4 hours) and I need to be exhausted to fall asleep in the first place. I prefer not to take meds so I will take your advice on board.
The endocrinologist said that my thyroid was fine and the reading was not low enough to be causing the symptoms and sent me on my way. it's frustrating to say the least. Are you better now?
There is a light at the end of the tunnel ... you CLEARLY are suffering symptoms .. empower yourself and tell your Dr that you HAVE symptoms
And get a list on this site of all
HYPERthyroid symptoms
....If you can print it and take it with you .. tick the appropriate boxes that relate to your personal symptoms ... take someone who loves you with you .., and that should do the trick !!
Thanks so much Madge. I will search for the list and take your advice. I was not an anxious person before this and the sheer amount of anxiety/nervousness over everything (even when thinking about good things) is overwhelming. It's day and night. I can't concentrate or focus on anything.
Yes there is a difference between the two carnitines. The research study was done on Regular L-Carnitine at a high dose of 3,000 to 4,000 mg per day and all hyperthyroid patients benefitted from this by having fewer thyroid storms or not as strong storms if they did have them. I started on that dosage and it improved my TSH a little, then I experimented and added Acetyl-L-Carnitine and then took the Acetyl-L-Carnitine alone. Acetyl-L-Carnitine is very powerful to raise TSH but it is not without cautions. You have to monitor and adjust it very carefully otherwise you will go very hypo very fast. i also had a few other symptoms with the Acetyl that were not present with the Regular. All in all though, the Acetyl and vitamin D were very powerful in shifting my values. And again, if you try Acetyl do not go higher than 500 mg a day.
Hi Linda, I started acetyl-L-carnitine 500mg three days ago but I was wondering if I would be better to only take it alternate days to start with? My next bloods are due in two weeks I think and I am still on 5mg neo mercazole three times a day. My last bloods were TSH 0.61 (low limit 0.4) and T4 13.1 (high limit 19) I am also on a bone suppliment (calcium, vitamin D etc). I see you advise caution so is 500mg daily too much?
That's a good point you raise because your TSH, while not as high as you want it to be, is also not as low as some of us who when starting Acetyl had TSH's of less than 0.001. I think 500 mg every other day is a good idea in your case. Also pay attention to how you are feeling. If side effects, you can discontinue it. When I took it, my Free T3 and Free T4 fell right to the bottom of the range but my reason for taking it was to raise my TSH so I didn't mind that. I never had hypo symptoms. They never went out of range even when my TSH varied a lot but stayed at the bottom of the range so I was okay with those values being at bottom of range while I tried to get my TSH into a good place. Now they are about at mid range. I did however, not want my TSH to go higher than 2.5 and actually aimed for between 1.0 and 1.5 so if it hit 2.5 (and it did), my doc was always adjusting my meds dose downward and I would adjust my Acetyl. I am so glad you asked the question. Anxious to hear your results of your next blood test. Keep up the good work of monitoring your feelings while on it as well because as I said, while it did wonders for me and a lot of other people, unlike other supplements, this one is extremely sensitive and really needs that kind of monitoring.
While my thyroid values are still being regularly monitored, I do feel better now and very rarely wake up during the night. For the time being, I have even stopped taking the tinctures I mentioned above.
Btw, if you are planning to give the herbal tinctures a try, you should know that they come in different concentrations. I got the more concentrated ones (labelled 1:1) in vegetable glycerite (as opposed to alcohol). If you have more questions pls don't hesitate to ask.
I'm glad you're feeling better than before. Thanks for your advice on the tinctures. I will try them out. I can't believe how insane thyroid issues can be. This anxiety i have is debilitating.