I went to my GP today following my visit to the Endo (wrong one but never mind). The Endo was very specific in his letter that it was not menapausal issues causing my symptoms and that they were 'highly suggestive' of thyroid disease and suggested that I could be referred to a general endo. The GP went through the letter and said - well we could try you on a 3 month trial of levothyroxine - 25mg and see what happens but otherwise he did not think it was worth sending me to another endo. When I had the audacity to ask if I could have the pure? thyroxine he said no as he was giving me what everyone else in this country takes!! When he said I don't know what we will do if this is not effective - I said then we will have to up the dose won't we!
So, Ok I have gotten this far and now have some questions.
The blood results which came with the letter said - Pituitory TFT
TSH 1.80 (0.35-5.5)
Free T4 11.1 (10-19.8)
I thought he was doing the T3 one for me butit doesn;t look like. Any ideas about these results.
My TSH was 2.7 4 wks ago (this was the blood test that was taken about 6pm) The above bloods the endo did were drawn about 11am 2 wks ago. ?????
So good and bad news really. 25mcg has rarely improved anyone's symptoms. I wouldn't see this doc again if I was you, how rude! and how wrong he is. Lots of people have Eltroxin, have a word with your Pharmacist if you would prefer to take this.
Would you prefer to see an Endo? who knows, it may or may not help as it depends on how helpful the Endo is. Sorry to sound so negative but they vary quite a lot.
As it is a trial of thyroxine I take it that the doc hasn't arranged for you to have free prescriptions?
You may have read this but take your thyroxine with water and avoid food and other drinks for at least half an hour. Don't be tempted to increase the dose yourself, you need to be taking the 25mcg for at least 6 weeks. Ask away if you need anything else, wonder if someone else knows what pituitory TFT is?
Thanks - unfortunately, he dispenses within the surgery. I am going to register with the practice in the next town as there are about 6 GPs to choose from.
I did not pay for this prescription, the receptionists were not really sure what to do as it was a trial so just said to not to pay.
AS for the Endo bit well I am not sure - all the horror stories I read - I think I will wait for now.
My only confusion at the moment is that I had ordered an adrenal supplement which should be here today - having read that it helps if adrenals - if they are a bit shot - are working a bit better so any thyroid meds work better?? Has anyone taken the adrenal supplements and thyroxine together - will it do any harm????
TFT means thyroid function tests but this can mean just the TSH to many docs!
Everyone is different and so some people do well on one brand and some people do well on Eltroxin. However, some people don't do well on Eltroxin so bear this in mind.
TSH fluctuates all the time. It has a circadium rhythmn and so changes throughout the day. It's best to try and get tested at the same time of day to stop the fluctuation.
For some people 25mcg helps but for others, they need 50mcg before improvement is seen. Best to keep a diary, rating symptoms from 1-10 so that you can see the smallest improvement and then show your doc. Docs like evidence!
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