My thyroid bloodwork results

Hormones
1

Hi,

Hi all. I recently visited the doctor after a lot of reading onlline. I discovered that I at some times experience a lot of the symptoms of hyperthyroidism. Here are the results that I got a copy of to take away. 

sample type: SERUM

T4 free: 14   pmol/L   8 - 22

TSH: 1.98   mU/L   0.35 - 4.94

T3 free:  5.73   pmol/L   2.63 - 5.69

What do you all think? The symptoms that I have include; palpitations, some skin dryness, nervousness/anxiety, face/neck/chest flushes (sometimes the hands also for some reason), trouble sleeping, some sleepwalking also, heat intolerance, sweaty feet, hands are a little moist most of the time, have never gained much weight however I eat a lot of food and am almost always hungry. I get the odd twitch in random places at times. I have had most if not all of these symptoms as long as I can remember. Up until my early 20s I was very active, the heat intolerance issue was always there. Face/neck/chest would become very red, radiating extreme heat at times.

I am 25 years old male, 70kg and 6ft 3in tall. My weight has remained at this level since I stopped growing, only ever a little more when more active (muscle).

Any advice appreciated

Best

James

2

I am in the same position and have exact same symptoms as you. I have been to see consultants galore but they all say I'm 'normal' I and struggling because the symptoms are ruin f my life. The one that bothers ME is excessive sweating and the flushing and the increased palparations.

I had my tests done and the last one I had done was TSH 2.0

Just wanted to say your not alone, I still think my thyroid is playing up because they are the exact same as the thyroid symptoms.

Do you ever feel like you have sone thing in your throat preventing you from breathing properly? I get this all the time.

3

Thanks for the reply and the kind words Samantha. Glad to hear there are others out there like me. Sometimes have the throat feeling you mention but I think only when in a very anxious situation, public speaking would be one of these. After giving my doctor the symptoms that I had, I asked if he would prescribe me some Propranolol. He did so on the first day, giving me 80mg extended release to be taken once a day. I feel better, calmer I think. My heart is beating slower, although I did not have a very high resting rate initially. I know that most hyperthyroid patients have very high resting rates, this is one symptom I only get in highly anxious situatinos such as speeches etc. I presume that you do not have a goitre? The fact that so many of these symptoms can be related to anxiety alone is tricky. I have some anxiety but nothing too extreme. I know that it cant just be anxiety as the heat intolerance symptoms (flushing of face, neck chest hands) also occur during sports and other intense activities. I also forgot to mention that my memory has never been the best, foggy as some may say.

 

4

Sorry to hear of your difficulties.  The main trouble with thyroid symptoms is that there are also other causes of the same symptoms.

I had a high resting heart rate when I was diagnosed with Graves' Disease because I also had a below normal (practically zero) TSH and slightly high Free T4.  

Generally the doctors say that the TSH is the only truly reliable test.  Until I had the Graves' Disease, I was always cold, slow, gaining weight, etc.  I felt like I had finally become normal and was diagnosed with the GD.  Then I had to take Anti Thyroid Drugs which made me feel much worse than I had ever felt before.

When I finally began getting the GD under control, my husband, who had always been sensitive to the heat, etc. began getting a very fast heart rate, and mainly shortness of breath.  He had a normal EKG (or ECG) and the doctors ruled out his heart.  They wanted to put him on antidepressants, but I wanted his thyroid checked first.  I was very surprised when it showed he was hypothyroid. 

He continued getting worse and the doctors didn't know what was wrong even at the emergency room.  After his 3rd trip to the ER when he was truly very close to dying, he was finally admitted to the hospital and allowed to see a cardiologist.  He had heart failure.  He is now on a lot of medication but is doing very well.

The foggy thinking was something that plagued me when I was given the ATD, and quite often associated with being hypothyroid, but I have heard it being associated with hyperthyroidism as well.

Actually, heat intolerance is also a symptom associated with anxiety.  Other causes can be drugs, caffeine or tobacco use, and a few more medical causes.

Perhaps the best approach is to do what you can to eat right, practice deep breathing techniques, and keep pursuing the cause of your symptoms with the doctor until you get the help you need.

5

Hi James

very strange readings. Your TSH is normal but your FT3 is high. I would expect the TSH to be lower than it is as you seem to be T3 toxic. Have you had a thyroid scan done as you may have a nodule or thyroiditis? Does anyone in your family have thyroid disease?

my readings when i first got sick were like yours but TSH was 0.6 so doctors wouldn't help even though my resting heart rate was 145bpm and i lost 10kg weight. They said my TSH was In normal range. After 3 years of hell my TSH went to 0.0 and they finally prescribed PTU. Now on that for 4 years and i still feel awful.

TSH alters throughout the day so it's best to get blood taken when you feel at your worst. Do you get episodes of feeling ok then ill intermittant ly throughout the day.

What was your doctors comment on your results?