Recently on the Thyroid Health forum (see link to “Forum”, right-side of this page), a member asked a question in regard to “co-morbid conditions”, which I explained was another term for “related conditions. I took the opportunity in my reply on that thread, to list what I believe are important blood lab tests for thyroid patients to have done, when they are experiencing symptoms that might indicate a co-morbid condition. Certainly they should also proactively make sure they are under the care of a doctor who is optimizing their thyroid disease treatment, so that inadequate treatment can first be ruled out as a cause.

Following below, is the edited reply I posted on the forum thread about conditions that can be co-morbid/related to thyroid disease and the blood tests that can detect them.

Co-morbid conditions are also called "related Conditions" and you can see lots of articles I have under several headings on the Thyroid Health website (left column of homepage). These headings include; “Related Physical Conditions”, “Related Emotional Conditions”, “Related Metabolic Conditions” and “Related Adrenal Fatigue”.

In most of the articles, I have suggestions for being tested for these related conditions.I will say in general that I feel thyroid patients should be thoroughly worked up on blood labs, such as getting a CBC (complete blood count) which checks for anemia and other blood abnormalities, an A1C (glucose average for 2 to 3 months), which checks for diabetes, a Lipid Panel (cholesterol, triglycerides) and a Metabolic Panel (kidney, liver, electrolytes).

I also believe adrenal hormone and sex hormone testing should be done to check for any imbalances that might be present in those, such as adrenal fatigue, menopause, hyperandrogenism (abnormally high male hormones in females) and PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome).

If a patient has inflammatory symptoms like joint/muscle pain, blood tests that check for systemic inflammation (significant-widespread) and systemic autoimmunity should be ran, such as ANA, ESR, CRP and Rheumatoid Factor. These can help detect autoimmune arthritis, connective tissue diseases, Lupus and other autoimmune diseases.

If a CBC reveals anemia, the vitamin B-12 level should then be tested and I feel is a good idea to get B-12 tested regardless because low B-12 is the cause of pernicious anemia (also caused by autoimmune disease) and can go very low before it is revealed in the CBC as anemia.

These are just some suggestions but the most important thing is to tell your doctor about any unresolved symptoms you're having and to also search/research online, about conditions that might be responsible. This helps you discuss possible testing needed, with your doctor. Despite what some believe, many doctors like this type of cooperative input by their patients and may help them to zero in on the cause of the unresolved symptoms you are experiencing.