Latest results are T4 = 27 and TSH = < 0.02. Currently on Thyroxine 200 mcg daily. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I still feel totally worn out and have awful aches and pains in my joints but especially knees and feet. Not lost any weight at all which is really depressing me !!!!!
Don't know where to go next !: Latest results are... - Thyroid UK
Don't know where to go next !
same , no weight loss , so irritating. Feel so low In myself. We have to keep going...xx
You haven't said what the ranges are for those results but you are looking to be overmedicated with those numbers and a dose of 200mcg is quite high. The symptoms you have can easily be Hyper as they are much the same as Hypo.
Been there myself recently and a reduced dose has seen the end of fatigue, aches, dizziness and balance problems.
It is important for you to get the ranges for your blood test results as labs differ and it makes it easier for people to comment. Your TSH does look a bit too low. For you to feel a bit better, maybe your GP will add some T3 to .a reduced T4. If you get the booklet from Amazon by Dr Toft, your GP may take notice:-
amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...
Also do you always take the same make of levothyroxine from the chemist or do you get different ones each time. Sometimes the fillers/binders in meds don't agree with us. Thyroxine itself is only a hormone and shouldn't cause problems unless it is too much or too little.
Have you spoken to your doctor? Pains in joints could be something else, like arthritis or vit D deficiency? As the other's say, most likely possibility overmedication. Being hyper is exhausting, as your heart is working overtime. Muscle wastage makes us weak and achy (we lose muscle before fat). And many of us hyper's put on weight rather than lose it.
Your results may be showing a high circulating T4 (blood) level with a suppressed THS level, but your tissues my not be able to translate T4 into the usable T3. This means that although you are choc-full of T4, you are still effectively - and symptomatically - hypo.
This may be from a number of reasons, such as the mechanism to change T4 to T3 is not working, or your cells don't take it up because the receptors are blocked by reverse T3. You might try reducing the T4 and increasing the T3 - but T3 is around 4 times stronger than T4, so you would need to titrate the dose. For example, if you were on 100mcg of T4 (synthetic - levothyroxine), then 25mcg of T3 would be the equivalent thyroxine dose.
Alternatively, you could try natural dessicated thyroxine (NDT) but good luck with trying to get that on an NHS prescription. All advice about NDT and its prescribing can be found on this forum.
I was on T4, stable for many years until overwhelmed by stress which indirectly caused problems with my either being able to turn T4 into T3, or with the uptake; I've not got to the bottom of it yet. I went on to NDT with some improvement, but now have T3 added in and for the 1st time in 6 years I'm starting to feel better. It's taken several months of reading and asking questions on here and then trying out different doses and regimes (as elimination tests almost), but the effort is worth it.
Good luck - you'll find your path.