new member

[sambalam]

hi all, i've been reading through most of these threads with real interest. a few years ago i had my thyroid levels tested and yes, you guessed it, they were normal. i had been on depoprovera a few years before and was overweight, depressed and unhappy. the doctor determined that i was very low on estrogen and recommended that i use phytoestrogens to combat this, so i upped the intake of soy. fast forward to last year, i decided to give Atkins a go, to combat my reactive hypoglycemia and candida issues. it worked. while i lost some weight and felt well for a while, i would soon stall and go back to feeling really blah. while researching hypothyroidism for a friend i came across this forum and made use of the great links you have all posted. a lot of the symptoms rang a bell for me: intolerance to cold, dry skin, brittle nails, puffiness of face, pins and needles, frizzy coarse hair, low libido, heart palpitations, tiredness despite lots of sleep, fogginess. i've asked my doctor for a copy of the tests and took my temperature this morning: 35.3C = 95.5F Should I be taking my temp in the afternoon when it is at its highest?
i also went off the pill earlier this year in a bid to let my hormones balance and was going to go back on but wonder if i should wait until i have confirmed whether i do in fact have an underactive thyroid, does anyone have comments regarding this? also, i bought some maca root the other day. should i postpone taking this until i have finished taking temps as i notice some people mentioned it upped their body temps? if i have my thyroid levels tested again and they are 'normal' would maca root be enough to help me or is this dependent on trying and seeing how i feel? thanks so much for your help and advice.

[sambalam]

i got the test results from last year faxed to me, and emailed Thyroid Australia (http://www.thyroid.org.au/ for any aussies out there) and this was their reply:
You are in a tricky spot. Your symptoms are strongly indicative of developing hypothyroidism, Your blood test results with T4 below mid point and TSH of 2.00 are also suggestive of developing hypothyroidism, but are not at a level that would normally persuade doctors to start thyroid hormone replacement. The reason is that thyroid function test results like this are very common in people with no thyroid problem. You will need to persuade the doctors. I can suggest the following approach:
The presence of anti thyroid antibodies would support a decision to start therapy because they are conclusive indicators of emerging hypothyroidism. Taken together with your thyroid function test results and your symptoms, the antibodies would be persuasive. You therefore need to have tests for thyroid peroxidase antibodies and thyroglobulin antibodies.
People without thyroid disease who have test results like yours generally return to a better level (TSH around 1.0 and T4 at the midpoint) fairly quickly. If you can show that your levels are not returning to the better level and are possibly moving to an even higher TSH and lower T4, you will have a strong case supporting a diagnosis of emerging hypothyroidism. You should therefore have another thyroid function test in about a month. The tests you should have are therefore:
TSH
Free T4
Free T3
Thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPO Ab)
Thyroglobulin Antibodies (Tg Ab)

i feel somewhat vindicated now, and am preparing to go to my GP with a list of my symptoms, the response above and a request for the correct tests. my GP is pretty open minded and supportive so i don't expect too many problems from him.
by the way, i checked my temp yesterday aftenoon and it was 35.8C=96.4F and this morning was 36C= 96.8F. I am sitting at my desk at work with a scarf on, a bar heater and my hands & feet are still freezing.