Help with bloods please confused.com

[Shona64]

Hi not been on here for ages but tune in daily. I have been on Levo 250mcg since April this year and felt fantastic even lost over a stone in weight. Feel great with T4 about 28 (10-19). Felt tired past month with more hypo symptoms. Pulse 60-70 . Bloods now show T4 at 31 and FT3 6.95(3.3-5.2). I feel gutted as GP in a panic. I emphasised that I have no hyper symptoms but didn't even look at me !!!. Awaiting advice from Dr S whom Iam under. Anyone experienced this and do I ignore reference ranges as we never know what our normal is ?. Thanks love to you all xx

[Clutter]

Was your TSH tested? Would help if you could post it. Apart from that I'd plump for feeling good and try not to be sucked into the numbers game.

[Shona64 in reply to Clutter]

Yes my TSH always below 0.1and was never reliable for diagnosis. I agree not getting sucked into bloods but GP so ignorant about this disease it's scary

[Jane104]

I only ever felt reasonably well on levo when T4 was above range and TSH low or suppressed. I think the consensus is that if your T3 is in range then it's not a problem, as long as you have no symptoms of over stimulation (ie hyper). Some of the symptoms can be similar to hypo though, so perhaps as your T3 is above the range you may be slightly over replaced? You could try reducing your dose slightly for a month and see if it makes a difference?

[siannie]

Hi.

Ditto . I'm just like you . Dr s gradually put me up to 200 from 100 over the past 3 months . I

had a blood test done 2 weeks ago and gp panicked , my free thyroxine was 31(12-23) and free t3 8.4(4.1-7.9).

However like you I felt amazing but without the weight loss. Gp decreased my meds to 150 . I still feel ok but not as great as u was on 200. The only thing I do suffer with us getting hot !!

I had another blood test last week and my results showed the my levels had dropped but only slightly. He wanted to reduce again or gave me the option to continue for another 6 weeks and repeat bloods then .

I pick up my results today as I am seeing dr s on Thursday. Will be interesting to hear what he thinks.

Will let you know

[shaws Administrator]

Your GP is afraid there will be a backlash if something happens to you.

Before the thyroid gland blood tests came into force, that's how patients were treated - enough medication to make you feel well with relief of symptoms.

This is a link t oDr Lowe and cursor to the question dated July 15, 2006

tinyurl.com/pkhdbld

[Hidden]

I am of the belief that symptoms are of way more importance than results in a test tube. I don't believe there is any kind of test (blood or urine) that accurately shows a patient's thyroid status. If you still have symptoms there is clearly still something wrong. Blood test results can be misrepresentative because a number of things. This could be related to adrenal, vitamin or mineral levels or some other deficiency, infection or interference factor. Jane x