I am a 23 y/o female, recently diagnosed as having a hypothyroid. The only symptoms I have are secondary amenorrhea and a small lump (pea size + mobile) to the side of my neck . I have not put on weight, feel tired or the cold etc.
My TSH level is 64, and T4 8. It seems I have purely been diagnosed by my blood test. I am waiting to have a second blood test to look at my thyroid antibodies.
Has anyone had a similar experience to me? Is this diagnosis accurate? Shall I start the treatment?
Any advice would be great.
If your. TSH level is really 64 then you have a totally dis functioning thyroid, mine went to 66 and I had it removed, it was as hard as wood the surgeon said and tested positive for Hashimotos. Do you mean your TSH is 6.4 which mine periodically went up to each time they increased the thyroxine dose. A T4 of 8 is also well below the minimum range of 12-22. I am amazed that you are not feeling tired, it could be your young age, my problems started around 60.
The TSH value went from 64 up to 73 in a week when I asked for a repeat blood test. What is Hashimotos and would there be a chance I have that? I didn't feel tired and I was still able to work and exercise every day. Since being on levothyroxine I don't feel any different. Not sure whether to ask for a different opinion?
If you search online for symptoms of hypothyroidism you will see that symptoms often start very slowly, until for example like me, you start falling asleep when driving. T4 is the required substance in the pill they give you, and T4 is the serum level in the blood test, which should be a figure of 12-22 (the testing lab usually specifies the normal range as equipment varies). I always have to specifically ask for a TSH and T4 level test, and then ask for the actual figures obtained and keep a record. If your TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) is 73 it is possible that your thyroid might still be producing enough T4 but working very hard and may grow. When my TSH hit 66 the doctor said I must feel terrible, but actually I didn't feel anything. My thyroid was only removed when it grew large and pushed on my windpipe, so ask for a T4 blood test and also a test for excessive antibodies.
we all have antibodies in the blood of course (<60 normal, 60-100 raised, >100 excessive). My doctor said that at some time I may have had the flu, or a food intolerance, that caused excessive antibodies to be formed. Some of these wrong antibodies can work against your own body, one is arthritis, another destroys the thyroid gland slowly, there is a long list. The thyroid gland antibody is called Hashimotos desease. In my case I also have an antibody that is destroying my salivary glands and most of my symptoms are associated with this.
ask for the T4 and excess antibody tests, then monitor this each 6-months to start taking medication when symptoms appear.