I have no idea if anyone will have the answer but I had some bloods taken as I have been having very painful, heavy periods and the doctor wanted to check it was not my thyroid. I got the results and they are within the normal limits but they have changed over the past 3 years and i was wondering if anyone can tell me what this means, if it is significant and if it could be effecting my periods. In November 2012 it was 1.200uUI/ml, in Oct 2013 it was 1.400 and this month it is 2.440uUI/ml.
Any advice would be gratefully accepted. Obviously i will also be going to te docs to discuss results but don't want to look silly when i go in. Thanks
hi chezza
normal prarmeters are said to be between
0.27 - 4.20
however modern interpretation is that we shouli aim for readings of 1.5 of less
Hi, First thing to say is that heavy periods can be a symptom of underactive thyroid. I assume you mean your thyroid tsh was 1.2 then 1.4 and now 2.44. The tsh is high when you are hypothyroid and low when you are hyperthyroid. However it is not as simple as that. the Normal range now is around 1-3 that's approx. I am sure someone on this site will give you exact figures. Yours does seem to be rising but still within range. Sometimes patients present to their gp's
with many symptoms but test results are within range. The trouble is that doctors tend to treat blood test results not patients and their symptoms. That said you don't mention any other symptoms apart from the heavy periods. Try googling Thyroid uk there is a lot of information there to guide you and help you intepret blood test results. Have you had your vitamin D checked. I say this because my TSH was always around 2.8 but over two years has gone from 1.7 to .9 during this time I have been taking Vit D3 as I was found to be low. I have read this could be the reason. I don't know what other reasons could cause your tests to
go up. Good luck with the doctor let us know how it goes.
Thank you so much for replying. I did have my vitamin D level checked and it was flagged up as low (it was 17).
Hello again, 17 does seem low I think mine was 39 and it gradually went up over 2 year period being treated with 2.200 i.u each day. It has gone over to over 100 so I am now taking the vd3 everyone day on gps advice. I am not a doctor but maybe that is why your thyroid result has changed. You need to ask your gp about your vit d level and whether you need to supplement. Good luck.
oh dear 17 is rock bottom
< 30 nmol/L - insufficiency
30 - 50 - inadequate in some
>50 - sufficient
>250 - potential for toxicity
a good make to buy is pharma nord if you're in europe...i'm UK
D3 together with vit K2 is said to work well.
old units were ng/ml...might this explain anything?
to convert from new to old divide by 2.5.
hello libra lady...may I ask please if taking vit D was all that you did to lower your TSH...? I'm really very impressed...
congratulations....do you per chance have any tips or tricks to offer both chezza and myself?
very best wishes and extremely grateful thanks for this amazing information!!!! thank you again
marey
and chezza thank you so much for the question. i used to have very painful periods ...as did my daughter....maybe i was hypo as a teen?
I sincerely wish you well and would very much like to follow you both on this thread if i may... so keep it coming? are either of you thinking of going to the conference in oct? i would love to meet up with a buddy or two! yes good luck at the docs ...there are prob other tests you could ask for too...i'll try to get back..when is your appointment?
Thanks so much for your advice. I will see my GP next week.
I live in France so all of my results are in French and i have to try and interpret them (hence the 1.400uUI/ml). i have no idea if these are different to the UK etc as I have only been tested over here and have no experience of Thyroid or Vitamin D. I will see the GP on Tuesday. I will keep you posted and hopefully come back with good advice. Thanks for being kind and taking a interest.
Hi Marey, I have been hypothyroid for over 20 years, now aged 66. My yearly result was always around 2.6 2.8. Probably a bit higher than desirable. I broke my wrist in March 2012 and had a dexa scan and was diagnosed with osteopenia and low vit D. My TSH is summer 2013 was 1. something an dsummer 2014 .9 something. I can't remember the exact numbers unusual for me because I normally make a note. I have had a lot of other health problems over the last year. It was not until this year that I asked for the result and saw the changes over the last 2 years. I have done nothing else so it must be taking the Vit d3. I take Solgar Vit 3. It was on prescription but not I have to buy it. I was just has surprised that the TSH had gone down I did begin to wonder if it would go too low. As I mentioned my gp has halved the dose now. Hope this helps.
halved your thyroxin? this is very good! well done again with the vit d i am really inspired!
and to you chezz...bon chance!....i also used to live in france...such a lovely place xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi Chezza, As your TSH has changed over time it could mean that you are heading towards hypothyroidism but maybe not. Blood tests for thyroid should be done at the same time of day each time to avoid variations in the results. eg. if you have a test done in the morning - after fasting, it will give a different result to a test done later in the day after eating breakfast and maybe lunch.
As you are complaining of heavy painful periods I may have an answer for that. My daughter (who does not have a thyroid problem) had heavy very painful periods which were debilitating. Just by chance she started taking sublingual B12 tablets and the painful periods disappeared.
People who are hypothyroid are often low in B12 and their ferritin levels (stored iron) may also be low but with the range. I am taking thyroxine and I try to keep my iron at optimal levels to keep joint pain away even though my test levels appear ok. I have no joint pain.
Thanks so much Sketchy. This is something else I will look into as every month is a constant battle! Thank you.
Hi No I have not halved my thyroxine am on 125mg have been for many years. Just that the TSH results have gone down which must be because of taking Vitamin D3. I have a doctors appointment on Monday and I will mention it again. Hope this clears things up.
Yes it is best to have a fasting blood test every time. Uusally surgeries want this as they usually check other things as well, blood sugar, chlolesterol etc. I do not take my thyroxine until my blood test is done.
I was never told anything about this it is something I learned over the years from reading books and help help groups etc. What do others do?
Good luck Chezza
good luck with the appt ..your GP will surely be pleased! he's aware of the lower desired results than in the past? might other supplementation allow you to lower the dose? ever wanted to get off thyroxin? am curious as there was a chap trying to do it on this site from NZ....but i lost contact.
i'm new to this and am thinking about iodine, iron selenium and zinc....but am not conscientious enough...at mo..still trying to get all the ingreds together! maybe the brain fog slowing me down x
Most Gp's seem to know very little about hypothyroidism. You have to educate yourself. I did not know that low vitamin D can sometimes go hand in hand with it. The low level only came to light after breaking my wrist and a dexa scan showed osteopenia (not bad enough to be osteoporosis). I read up on it when I found my TSH was lower than previous blood tests and came to the conclusion this was the reason.
As you know most gps go strictly by blood test results so when my test was 2.8 or so my gp would have thought that was fine and also thinks the level in fine now. I have other medical conditions so any symptoms I may have over the last couple of years could be from these apart from the hypothyroism. As I say will mention to gp next week and see what she says.
Hi chezza, I'm in the same boat as you and I'm in France! It's so hard getting the french docs where I live to understand that their tsh ranges are out of date! In 2012 I was 2.18 2013 2.51 now 2014 I am a 3! Well I need an appointment with an ent in toulouse soon for another biopsy on my 2.4 cm nodule! Ohhh the joys! Where are you in France? :-)
Hi all,
Welcome Charlotte!
Sorry to hear your TSH is rising. I did get mine down but no particular relief from the brain fog...but then after that success I did go on to experimenting with supplementation alone.
Instead now I'm going to focus on getting my TSH DOWN with levothyroxine...to reduce the thyroid inflammation. My TSH went up to 5.1 !
I had been wondering about trying desiccated thyroxin from the pig....but think this may have been a red herring? Anyone know anything about it? The main thing is to have SOMETHING that lowers TSH and reduces thyroid inflammation.
Am hoping that by getting back to thyroxin I can get the TSH reading down...but more particularly that my symptoms of brain fog wil resolve..this and the apathy I feel are the worse part of it for me. Anyone else?
The vit D suggestion I have re-read...thanks libralady. Thats an amazing success you had. I do have vit D but wasn't taking consistently. It seems to be hard to overdose as the upper limit is quite high but blood tests will ensure i don't go over so I won't worry about that.
Hi Marey
With regard to the Vitamin D3 I should have mentioned that when I saw my gp and mentioned the TSH coming down and taking D3 she said there was no connection and that TSH levels do vary. I think this is just another thing that gp's don't seem to know. On my dose of 125mg for years the Tsh result each year was around 2.6, 2.8. It is only since starting the d3 that is has come down. No change in the levothyroxine dose. So yes I am convinced it is connected and have read on line the same. Because the blood results showed a vitamin D level of well over 100 my gp has reduced my vitd3 dose. I was on 2200iu daily now it is every other day so halved. It will be interesting when I next have a blood test which won't be until around May 2015 to see not only what the vd levels are but more importantly if the TSH had gone up. Surely that will be proof enough if they have.