I have been on 50mg Levo since july & wondered how often should blood be tested for correct dose? as feel very tired & achey all time

[Perri]

I last had blood tested in september & nurse said it was fine & would not refer me to speak to GP, feeling very frustrated as have been struggling with Rheumatoid Arthritis for years & only just been diagnosed with hypothyroidism too.

[shaws Administrator]

Once diagnosed and put on levo, your blood should be tested every 6 weeks and increased.

Always demand a copy of your thyroid gland blood test results for your own records and also to post them on a question if you have a query. You must also have the ranges as labs differ.

If you haven't already had a Vitamin B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate ask for these to be done as the first two in particular are usually low.

It usually takes a few months to begin to feel better when your dose is raised. Some people may feel well on 50mcg but if you still have clinical symptoms meds should be raised until you feel better.

50mcg is usually a starting dose. You have to read and learn as much as possible about hypothyroidism as you will find many GP's are not knowledgeable and tell you that you are fine as your TSH is o.k.

If you cursor to the question re a low dose of levo, dated April 22, 2007 you can read the response.

web.archive.org/web/2010103...

[Perri in reply to shaws]

Thank you, I have an appointment on monday to have my blood checked & will ask for a copy of results. will also find out if I have had vitamin B12, Vit D, iron,ferritin & folate tested.

[Hidden in reply to Perri]

We tend not to believe 'fine' when we don't feel fine - (my recent TSH was 4.57 which was ignored as 'normal' - again) but I found Vit D really helped my aches (actually realised I had been in pain for years - joints just crunched along) but still tired so sorting B12 too - we tend to be low in vits/minerals as everything slows down with HypoT inc digestion & therefore absorption of vital stuff before hormones will work properly- btw 'full bloods' doesn't mean they test Vit D & B12 (I asked & was refused these, so did my own) maybe GPs do test irons 'tho. Good luck Monday J

[Perri in reply to Hidden]

Thank you, I am with you on the crunching bones!

[Marz]

RA is auto-immune as I am sure you know - so it is possible you have auto-immune thyroiditis - Hashimotos - as auto-immune conditions can come in clusters. It would be helpful to know this so you could ask for your anti-bodies to be checked - anti-TPO and Anti-Tg. If you do have Hashimotos then it is important to look at ways of improving the health of the gut and cutting out or cutting down on gluten and other known allergens.

There is a great deal of information out there - including on the Thyroid UK website. I have Hashimotos and Crohns so have a bit of experience Had the Crohns diagnosed at 27 and Hashimotos over 40 years later !

You really need to know what your blood results were and with their ranges. Maybe time to speak to that nurse again ! Post here and we will all help.....

[Heloise]

This may fill in some blanks for you from the STMM website:

stopthethyroidmadness.com/m...

Since you are new to hypothyroidism but have auto immune conditions, this short video might interest you as well. youtube.com/watch?v=nZ_CP7l...(Not working as expected?)

[Ronnie63]

Hi peri

I've just seen this. I'm normally just on the RA site but thought I'd let you know I've had hypothyroidism for at least 20 years, so anytime you want to explore the connection let me know:-))