I had the following results today, but annoyingly I dont have some of the normal ranges. My doctor kindly printed the list for me but its a bit gibberish for me!
Folate = 5.6
Ferretin = 87.4
B12 = 440
The above I haven't the clue what are the normal ones.
TSH 0.21 previous ones were 0.04 > 0.43
T4 14.8 previous 20.2 > 17.5
Calcium 2.29 previous 2.37
Now ..I don't have thyroid glands at all and I can't get it around my head why he wants to drop my Levo to 50mcg per day now , what is it that I am missing because with my logic I think I should take higher doze of levo??? Or Am I completely wrong? We compromised and I'll take 75 one day and 50 next.
I have recently noticed that I have a very sore throat where then glands used to be and I can almost hear them screaming for thyroxine! Last night at 7pm I took extra 25mcg tablet and it almost took the pain away completely.
I am also referred to eye specialist because recently I have developed kinda 'heat haze' travelling across my both eyes which is totally annoying. I got Viscoter drops. Thennnnn ( the list is endless lol ) I got 10mg Propranolol beta blockes as I got this racing heart problem too. I had the 24 hour heart monitor done and thankfully it was normal.
So are these 'happy days' ? Not sure, at least I am normal weight !!!
Than you for any answers :o)
Marja x
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ThyroidHell
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I can say that your ferritin is fine and if the range for your B12 test is something like 190 - 900 then this needs to be a little higher (approx 600 - 700). Your FT4 looks low but I'm sorry I don't know about your calcium as this has such a small range and without your actual range I wouldn't like to comment on that and the same goes for your folates.
He still thinks your TSH is too low and that's why he wants to drop your to 50mcg's daily and also a racing heart can be a sign of over medication but I would stick to 75mcg's daily if I were you as you still have symptoms.
Can I ask what make of levo you are taking please as a change in brands might suit you better and bring your FT4 up a bit.
Yeah it was slightly low but if its low shouldn't I have bigger dose of thyroxin? I got 2 lots of tablets 50mcg are brand called Almus and the 25 mcg is by Mercury Pharmacy. Arghhh I am fed up with this because I myself don't know enough of this condition as it is. My doctor said today that it took him a year to understand this thyroid business himself. I like my doctor a lot and he is so helpful but I wish I had some more knowledge myself. :o(
Your doctor is going mainly by your TSH and as far as he is cncerned this indicates that you are on too much medication.
What you have now got to work out is why your levo is not raising your FT4 levels.
What you must remember is that these tests are only measureing the thyroid hormone in your blood and not in your cells - which is where it needs to be for your symtoms to ease.
So lets start from the beginning and check things off one by one.
Do you leave at least two hours between eating and drinking anything (except water) and taking your levo and if you are taking any iron or calcium (which includes milk) do you leave at leave a four hour gap. Do you keep all other medication, like your beta blockers, or any supplements you are taking four hours away from your thyroid medication.
I dont know what time you take your thyroid meds but could you try taking them last thing at night, if you dont already, as it is believed to absorb better overnight with no food or drink to hinder it but no food or drink, except water, for two hours before.
Did you take your thyroid meds before your blood tests - which could be giving you a false reading.
Have you had your vitD tested - if not then I think this should be your next step.
It is not always a good idea to take two different brands of levo as tis can cause problems and make you feel ill.
Your are already on beta blockers and this could be making your doctor nervous regarding your low TSH and this is why he is taking no notice of your low FT4. Its a shame he did not also do your FT3 as this would have given him a clearer picture of what is going on. It's good that he actually took the trouble to educate himself on thryoid illness but I dont think hr knows as much as he thinks he does or he would have answers for you.
Have you still got symptoms and if so what are they - are you confusing thyroid symptoms with low vitamins (which is what I did).
Ok , I take my levo at 5am with water , I do have coffee shortly after and at 8.30 I have porridge at work. I don't take any supplements as I was waiting these bloodtests to see if I needed any which looks like I don't.
I do take 2 co-codamols and 1 Omeprazole 7 am. I have had back surgery and the painkillers get me through the working day nicely. I have hiatus hernia and acid problem hence the Omeprazole. I did try for a month taking the levo at night but the problem was that we have our evening meal around 7pm ( family of 5 and they arrive home just before that) and I thought 2 hours isn't enough time to get an empty belly enough for it to be effective. I can't keep my eyes open rarely after 9pm :o( .
I did not take my thyroid med before the blood test this time , I did though with the september test and TSH was 0.43 and T4 17.5 .
I haven't started with the beta blockers yet but will tonight as the heart race is terrible around 9pm just before I fall asleep. I had 24 hour heart monitor on 2 weeks ago and the results which I got today were apparently okish ( 90 beats per min when I get this racing episode) and thats laying in my bed and lasts about 2 mins.
I could of course buy vitD and see if it makes any difference.
The main symptoms with me are the tiredness, dry eyes, nose, mouth which wakes me up at night. Now I also have sore throat in the thyroid gland area where the scar is and feeling strangled again.
I haven't got thyroids anymore. Right was removed 30 yrs ago and left last june. Both had nodules. Left had 7 and right had one huge one. Before last June I have never been on any thyroid medication although looking back now I am sure the remining left wasn't working prober.
I know my symptoms are not as severe as some members and I am thankful for this. I am not overweight at all and I work everyday. I do have my osteoarthiritis and fingers are bending all directions etc lol but would be nice to get this thyroid business sorted once and for all or at least in some accectable condition.
Moggie thank you very much for bothering to reply and try to help me :o)
I would honestly try night time dosing again as you are having coffee (a real no no with thyroid meds) to soon after your meds. You are then having porridge (with milk which contains calcium) within four hours. It was my endo that warned me about the milk so I do take great store in this.
A woman stomach takes 2 hours to empty after eating so eating at 7 and then having your meds at nine would be fine - you can only but try.
I think the worse thing you are doing is taking two lots of medication within two hours of taking your meds and one of them is a stomach acid medication which is a real problem when taking thyoid meds and is another good reason to try night time dosing again - as long as you can move your beta blockers to early evening dosing. Night time dosing may also reduce the fast heart rate and if you take the beta blokers at about 5pm and your levo at nine then this could be enough to solve that problem. Did you know that your heart rate always seem worse when you are in bed because your mattress acts like a sounding board and amplifies the sound, which then makes the problem seem worse.
I too have a hiatus hernia and acid trouble but I am looking to reduce this with diet and not meds, which I have refused. Did you know that low stomach acid, which many thyroid patients suffer with, causes similar symptoms to excess acid.
I definately would not supplement with VitD unless you have been tested first as taking vitd when you do not actually need it can be dangerous. Do you not think your GP would test you for it?
Maybe think about what I have said overnight and if you have any more question reply to me tomorrow and we'll go through it.
Moggie x
p.s. Your welcome to any help I can offer so no thanks needed but its nice that you offered it.
I dropped the stomach medicine now to afternoon as its not important really what time I'll take it. I tried to be without the omeprazole one week and scrapped that as my gut got swollen and I looked like 6 months pregnant.
I am thinking now changing to evening with the thyroxine too. Interesting to know about the mattress and I know what you mean because when I lay my head on the pillow the bounding pulse is really bad!
I am taking all advice on board as its time to start acting on these , now I need to plan a timetable.
I took my 1st beta blocked last night and I slept through the night withour waking up and of course I didn't have the fast heart beat either. Considering I woke up 5 times the night before it was wonderful to wake up feeling really good . The blockers are the lowest of the strenght so not so worried about it either.
My next blood test is in early April and I'll ask about the vitD test too and T3 would be handy too.
Your welcome - they wanted to put me on beta blockers as I too have heart troubles (erratic/fast/missing beats) but I refused them, along with the anti acid, as the GP described them as a sort of sedative and said that they would slow me down and I cant have that as I am in full time employment and have to be up at 6.15 every morning.
Glad you got a good nights sleep last night, there is nothing worse that being deprived of sleep is there, and lets hope a new medication timing plan will see an improvement.
Yes please do ask your GP for a VitD test and I would be interested to know the results when you get them, and also how or if changing your med times has helped at all.
but thought you would have already had a Vit D test with Osteoporosis???
50-75 doesn't seem a high enough dose for Total Thyroid hormone replacement?? - Lots of folk report palps due to being undermedicated - in my case it was due to no medication after a partial op. Best of luck J
I agree with you there, before I had my last thyroid removed I was never on any medication and I had the palpitations then so yeah I recon I should have been on meds years ago really. I don't think I'll drop to 50 though as its deffo too low!
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