Thyroid, autoimmune thyroiditis, Hashimoto's

My TSH was down to .81 and no one was worried about it. One doctor pointed out to me that TSH levels fluctuate.

 

My wife's ME started after a thyroid operation. Fairly recently we felt her ME might be complicated by her thyroid not being adequately managed, even though everything was supposedly in normal range. Having upped her T4 medication she has definitely improved somewhat, though the ME is still a major issue.

See https://www.s4me.info/threads/the-c...nt-2010-kansagra-et-al.4098/page-2#post-98562

 

Thyroid stuff is really interesting. However, I haven't kept up with it. If you search on-line then you'll probably find stuff linking thyroid function to ME/CFS e.g. see below*.

Ron Davis's son is pretty much low in everything.

Ron Tompkins (OMF - Harvard) in a recent interview highlighted that sepsis results in metabolic and immunological changes. So possibly chronic sepsis might affect thyroid function. I.e. changes in thyroid function in ME/CFS may be a consequence of ME/CFS [chronic sepsis] not the cause.



*“Low T3 Syndrome” in Patients With Chronic Fatigue ... - NCBI - NIH
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5869352/
by B Ruiz-Núñez - ‎2018 - ‎Related articles
20 Mar 2018 - Keywords: chronic fatigue syndrome, thyroid, “low T3 syndrome”, ... Disturbed hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, presented as mild ... interactions between both the HPA and hypothalamus–pituitary–thyroid (HPT) axes and ...... fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS): increased interleukin-1, tumor necrosis .

 

TSH is a bit of a blunt tool - from the Lapp paper posted earlier:-

Thyroid function tests.
TSH is least important due to HPA Axis suppression in ME/CFS.
Free T4 and/or total T3

there has been research re issues with glucocortinoids, and a higher prevalence of low T3 has been found in ME
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fendo.2018.00097/full
https://www.meassociation.org.uk/20...levels-of-key-thyroid-hormones-20-march-2018/

Given that a hibernation state has been postulated this does make sense.

My aunt uses daily temperature readings as a gauge for thyroid function ( she had a partial thryroidectomy in her early 30s) - I set up a spreadsheet for her that automatically graphs the input. The initial graphs were all over the place, it's a lot less variable now.

I have heard that TSH falls in winter ( cue for semi hibernation), so it may depend when you are tested.

 

@Amw66

Thank you for the note on Free T4 and total T3.

I don't feel TSH is the only thyroid test to be done, and agree Free T4 and T3 are a good idea to have tested as well.

There are panels of thyroid tests that can be done.

And, the basal body temperature provides, as I've been told, some indication of how your thyroid is functioning.

Apparently the autoimmune disease Hashimoto's causes much of the hypothyroid disease:

https://www.thyroid.org/hashimotos-thyroiditis/

 

As has already been stated, TSH means very little. Read up on T3 and reverse T3. Find someone who will test them.

Here are some sites I looked at in 2012. I do not know how many of them are still available.
Thyroid RT3
Stop the Thyroid Madness
Tired Thyroid
National Academy of Hypothyroidism
Paul Robinson
Endocrine Awareness Center for Health
Thyroid Science
Dr Rind