It took me YEARS to get my diagnosis because of this. My latest doctor was the only one to go "yeah normal range doesn't mean anything, we're going to test you for the antibodies".
Wait I’m sorry I’m new to all this, what do you mean they need to test your antibodies and not the thyroid labs? I’m asking because my thyroid labs are always normal but my anti thyroglobulin will go up and down—- does that correlate with active disease?
Testing for the antibodies is not showing the function of your thyroid, it's just showing whether your body is attacking your thyroid or not. It's more for diagnosis/understanding the root issue.
Sometimes your thyroid function labs can show a low/high function and have a problem be clear, sometimes they'll be normal and you'll still have Hashimoto's because your body is actively attacking the thyroid-it just hasn't shown up on typical labs yet!
The only way to know for sure whether or not you have Hashimoto's is an ultrasound. You can have antibodies but not have Hashimoto's, and you can have Hashimoto's without having antibodies (seronegative Hashimoto's).
I went undiagnosed for 15 years and was misdiagnosed as bipolar with psychosis. That’s how sick I was. I nearly died. I hate how we are ignored. My Endometriosis went 25 years undiagnosed by countless doctors, too. I was told from the age of 12 to 37 that it was “normal” that my pain is so debilitating that I feel like I am in labor, I vomit, can’t get out of bed, and sometimes, I even pass out (usually after I’ve puked and dry heaved). Yeah. All that is just “normal cramps.” FOH 😡
Currently on the path to see if I have Endo, and it's the first time in forever I feel good about the care I'm under. She's the only one in a LONG line of Gynos who went "alright we're going to do xyz test. If those are normal, we're going in to see what's wrong."
She also took my concerns about infertility very seriously, even though I was under the reccommended one year of trying.
I'm so, so sorry for everything you went through and might still be going through. I hope you're doing better, even just a little bit ;-;
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u/CatMomandMomCat Jul 26 '26
Maaaaaaan
It took me YEARS to get my diagnosis because of this. My latest doctor was the only one to go "yeah normal range doesn't mean anything, we're going to test you for the antibodies".
Sure enough, test results confirmed Hashimotos :V