So, I got blood results back yesterday and i'm totally surprised to see a possible thyroid issue. I've always had a lot of trouble losing weight, but i never suspected that my body might have been the issue.

So here are my symptoms:
-joint pain (this might be another autoimmune issue according to blood work; sent to my rheumatologist)

Autoimmune disorders like to travel in packs, and thyroid autoimmune disease (Hashimoto's) really likes to travel with other ones - PCOS, celiac, and arthritis are its favorite traveling buddies.

Joint pain is very much a symptom of hypothyroid though.

My blood work is as follows:
TSH: 1.10
Free T3: 3.9
Free T4: 1.1
Thyroid Peroxidase Antibody: 36.1 <II=== this is what raised a flag w/ my GP

So your levels are actually ok, not really that low. BUT - this is a snapshot in time, and these levels might be too low for you.

The TPO antibody test generally means you are positive for Hashimoto's, which is an autoimmune form of hypothyroid. You can have low levels without necessarily having Hashi's, but with your symptoms it sounds likely.

There are things you can do to lower your antibody levels, which will stop their attack on your thyroid. Your free T3 and free T4 should be a bit higher, but because they aren't crazy low you might be able to "fix" this without meds. One of the primary suggestions is going gluten-free - many people find this relieves symptoms within weeks or even days. If you suspect celiac at all, make sure to get tested before going GF as you need gluten in your system daily for a month to get the test.

Anything you can do to help calm down your immune system will help - accupuncture worked well for me, as did yoga and other stress management tools.

Vitamins and minerals: you can have decent free T3 levels, but if you don't have enough Vit D then your body can't actually actually use it and you'll have hypo symptoms. Most N. Americans are seriously deficient in Vit D so I'd go get tested (optimal levels are 60-80, not just 30+). I'd also look at taking a selenium supplment (or just eating 1-2 brazil nuts daily). Probably would also get Vit B12, iron, and ferritin levels tested. Possibly zinc and copper supplements as well.

That's a REALLY low Vit D. I take 4000 IUs to get mine up from 41! Many ladies in your position take 10k IUs daily (under doctors supervision) for a while, to bring it up. It can possibly take months.

Iron - I would most definitely look at a supplement or dietary changes. If you can't get this level up, I would look at getting tested for celiac and/or going gluten-free (testing first, if you plan to do it).