Is my levo enough?

[shyanne]

I have thyroglobulin antibodies of 284 and my last three tsh tests were 5.6, 5.6 and 5.4. Doc has started me on 25 levo for 3 month trial but after 2 weeks feel no better is this normal? Will it take 3 months until I see an improvement?

[Hennerton]

25 is a low dose and I hope he does not intend to leave you on it for the whole three months. I suggest you make an appointment and ask if you can increase it to 50. I think there is a view that this low level dose is not helpful, because it stops your own thyroid from producing any hormone, so you are worse off than before. Perhaps someone can add to that, as I cannot remember where I read it. Dr Lowe's archives maybe? Sorry. Whatever, I think you would benefit from more but maybe your GP will want to leave it another week or so. They like to start slowly...

[Ansteynomad]

Absolutely right. Your body will recognise the input of thyroxine and pull back from producing its own, ignoring the fact that 25mcg is not even a starter dose if you are under 60 and do not have any signs of heart disease.

25mcg turned me into a zombie. Second time round I started on 75mcg and saw benefits from the very first dose.

There is published research which says that if you are under 60 and have no signs of heart disease it just prolongs the agony starting on 25mcg and working up - start on 100mcg and drop if necessary.

You need an increase and then further increases at 6 weekly intervals until your TSH drops to around 1 and your FT4 is in the top 25% of the range. Then you should feel a whole lot better.

[shyanne in reply to Ansteynomad]

Thank you so much for your advice, my sister takes 150 a day and she thought 25 was very low to start with. I'm on holiday from work until 6th Jan so will be interesting to see how I feel when getting up at 6am & working full time. Thanks again for your support.

[Heloise]

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