Boring thyroid - please just give me your valued opinions

[itwillbebetter]

Have been battling for 18 months now - going round and round in circles and ended up with inflammatory arthritis diagnosis and menopausal complications plus fibromyalgia. BUT I am sure my thyroid is playing a part in all this but because I'm 'normal' GP will do nothing! I know I'm not optimal though and think this makes a huge difference.

TSH is varying between 3.02 and 3.98. and has been for the last year. Free thyroxine 15.8. No antibodies.

Mum has under active (on medication)

I feel crap. Exhausted, no interest in anything. Forgetful brain fog. Sometimes I can't string a sentence together. Dizzy. Constant sore throat. Nails became ridged almost overnight. Dry itchy skin. Terrible joint and muscle pain. Have put on 1.7 stone in last 18 months.

Only thing that doesn't make sense is iron count is high, along with really high uric acid, alkaline phosphate and cholesterol. Ferritin has been raised but now back to normal although I am on massive doses of anti inflams so think this may mask it?

Am I barking up the wrong tree or am I right to be questioning the possibility of medication for thyroid?

Could be, but also check vitamin B and D, quite often go hand in hand with thyroid. Actually defficiency in both B and D is very common.

TSH of between 3 and 4 is not normal. it is strongly indicative of a struggling thyroid. It should be below 2.

Had vit d checked last year. Gp said it was slightly low, think the number 50 rang a bell?

So any advice on how/if I should take this further wrt thyroid? If Gp thinks my levels are ok I'm a bit stuffed arn't I?

See another gp?

You could go private. Marion Gluck has a private clinic in London that deals with hormonal issues and thyroid problems.

TSH'normal' range is around 0.5 -5 but I feel rubbish unless below 2.5.

I started another thread recently about high cholesterol link if that helps.

I'd ask for a second opinion at the surgery or a referral to consultant to discuss.

High iron suggests inflammation, high cholesterol is a diagnostic for thyroid problems.

In other developed countries, the top of the range for TSH is 2.5 or 3. In an untreated individual, your TSH should be around 1 and your FT4 in the top 25% of the reference range.

Where I am, the range for vitamin D starts at 50 and you need to be over 100 to be replete.

Do some research and then go back and bang the table.