Blood test results

[Helen H]

I went to my doctor and asked for a comprehensive series of blood tests, especially thyroid tests, as I was convinced there was something wrong with me. I explained that I was depressed, cold and tired all the time, unable to lose weight, and had a recent painful problem with ovarian cysts. And the last operation I had, I reacted so badly to the anaesthetic, they had to give me six times the normal amount of anti-emetic.

She took a series of blood tests, and tested my blood pressure as well. About a week later, she rang up to say everything was fine except my cholesterol was a bit raised and I should start a low fat diet. I asked for the test results, and here are the ones I think are significant.

Blood pressure: 95/60
Cholesterol: total 5.58 (range 0-5)
HDL: 1.69 (range 1.0-1.7)
LDL: 3.54 (range <3 in Europe)
Triglycerides: .78 (range 0-1.9)
Glucose 4.5 (range 3.6-7.8)

Free thyrox 8.2 (range 8-21)
Tsh: 1.75 (range .5-4.2)

Everything else seemed to be mid-range except monocytes which were .19 with a range of .2-2.0

Does anyone have an opinion about these test results?

[Nancy LC]

Your TSH looks decent. The Free thyrox is hanging out on the low side but if you're restricting calories, that might be expected.

Personally, I'm convinced there's a lot of things other than thyroid that can cause those symptoms.

[Helen H]

If you can give me an idea where to start, I'd be grateful. I'm so tired of always feeling tired.

[Nancy LC]

Well, autoimmune diseases is a big one. It seems like they all have fatigue as a side-effect.

I personally got rid of my hypothyroid feeling issues by getting dairy and wheat out of my diet. I have sensitivities to gluten and casein. In turn, I think that helped me out with my autoimmune disease. But some of these food autoimmunities can act on the brain and cause depression, fatigue, brain-fog, memory problems even MS like symptoms.

If you want to be tested you can go to Enterolab.com. Or you can just try a dietary challenge.

I find myself feeling substantially better following a paleo diet as closely as I can.

Another thing that can make you feel really tired is Lyme disease. I'm sure they're other diseases like that that could cause the same effects. I still have not entirely ruled out Lyme for myself, but I felt so much better after going dairy free and gluten free I think I might not have it.

I wrote down all my symptoms, even ones that were really trivial sounding, and took it to my doctor. He did some testing and referred me to a rheumatologist. But the gluten thing I figured out myself.

[nawchem]

It think it would be beneficial to find a dr that is good with thryoid. Some people feel great with your tsh and some feel bad. You don't know what your free T3 is, sometimes in early thyroid disorders that goes down before T4. You should also be tested for thyroid antibodies to get the whole picture. I don't know how to find a good dr in Europe but I bet someone on this board knows. When my T4 was at the bottom of normal I felt a constant tired feeling in my head. Like I could get out of bed but I just didn't have the energy to feel motivated to do anything.

Don't eat lowfat. Try to get the gluten out of your diet like Nancy suggested because that type of food intolerances can cause autoimmune disease including autoimmune thyroid. You may save yourself a lot of illness stopping it in the early stages.

Get your thyroid checked again in 6 months, you maybe right at the beginning of a problem.

[Helen H]

Ok thanks. No, I won't go low fat. I did that for years and all I got out of it was gallstones, which went away (along with 40lb) as soon as I went low carb.

Being LC, I occasionally eat wheat bran, but no other wheat, but I do eat a fair bit of dairy, especially raw cheese.

What's the story with broccoli, cabbage, kale etc? I eat lots of those, should I stop or not?

[Nancy LC]

As long as you cook them they're fine.

[Annabel33]

The ovarian cysts, Helen... Have you been tested for PCOS?

[Helen H]

No, but from what I've read, I don't have many of the symptoms or signs of PCOS: normal amounts of hair, no difficulty conceiving, that sort of thing.

[Annabel33]

And what about adrenal stress? It mimics the symptoms of depression. Also called adrenal fatigue.

Have a google. :)