BLOOD TEST serum free t 3 level 3.7 [3.8 - 6.0 low serum free t4 level 18 pmol/L [8.21 ] serum free t sh level 0.01L [0.35 -3.50

[JAN86]

I have had hashimotos for the last 20 years doctor said tests was ok i told him i still feel tired and seem to have a foggy head he seem to think i am depressed so wants me to try fluoxetine which is prozac dont think i want to go down that road did ask if some t3 might help he said no as it is fine and i am 61 and have severe osteoporosis i wonder if i go and see a endo i am now on 125gms lethoxine

[Moggie]

Did you not point out to him that your FT3 level was BELOW the reference range???? and your TSH level was also outside the range, if I am reading it correctly the L just after this result means LOW - you need to see an endo because your GP does not know what he is looking at.

Moggie x

[JAN86 in reply to Moggie]

i did tell him my ft3 was low but he just said everthing was fine and i was depressed

[shaws Administrator in reply to JAN86]

You may well be depressed with a low T3. This is the active hormone we need in ALL our cells to be able to function normally. The brain contains the most.

Maybe your GP has low T3 as well, as he doesn't really know what's going on with regard to your thyroid gland.

He can add some T3 to your T4 if he wishes. Obviously T4 (levo) isn't converting efficiently to enough T3.

[JAN86 in reply to shaws]

thank you

[Moggie]

I'm afraid that until you get more forceful with him, or see another doctor, your health is not going to improve. If he can bare face lie to you then how can you trust anything he says anyway.

Go and see another doctor at the practise to see if you get a more positive response and if you don't I would be asking for a referral to an endo.

Moggie x

[Marz]

I think GP's are paid a bonus of sorts when they prescribe Anti-depressants - just stand your ground and go by the people here who know better - like Moggie and Shaws....

[Clutter]

Please see another GP, yours is NOT treating you properly. Having said that my endo was content to leave me with low FT4 and FT3 below range last year. I bought T3 online and self medicated. After improving my health myself, endo now prescribes T3 in addition to T4.

[archipoeta53]

I find that St John's Wort helps with depression without the awful side effects of prescription anti depressants.

It boosts your seratonin uptake.

[JAN86 in reply to archipoeta53]

Have you tried this and did it upset meds

[archipoeta53 in reply to JAN86]

I don't know whether it upsets meds. It's not one of the indicated side effects. I tried it, and it works extremely well, and quickly, for me. It has been used for centuries as an antidepressant and is regularly prescribed by doctors in Germany, which is how I found out about it.

[JAN86 in reply to archipoeta53]

Thank you

[shaws Administrator]

This is an extract from Dr Toft of the British Thyroid Association. Tell your GP it's from an article in Pulse Online with advice. Print it and send to your GP before your next appointment, to discuss with him the addition of T3. Your T3 is lower than your GP's range and you would feel better if it was near the top range. You will see Dr T's range is different but many labs have different ranges and that's why it's important to include them in posts.

6 What is the correct dose of thyroxine and is there any rationale for adding in tri-iodothyronine?

The appropriate dose of levothyroxine is that which restores euthyroidism and serum TSH to the lower part of the reference range – 0.2-0.5mU/l.

In this case, free thyroxine is likely to be in the upper part of its reference range or even slightly elevated – 18-22pmol/l. Most patients will feel well in that circumstance.

But some need a higher dose of levothyroxine to suppress serum TSH and then the serum-free T4 concentration will be elevated at around 24-28pmol/l.

This ‘exogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism’ is not dangerous as long as serum T3 is unequivocally normal – that is, serum total around T3 1.7nmol/l (reference range 1.0-2.2nmol/l).

Even while taking the slightly higher dose of levothyroxine a handful of patients continue to complain that a sense of wellbeing has not been restored. A trial of levothyroxine and tri-iodothyronine is not unreasonable. The dose of levothyroxine should be reduced by 50µg daily and tri iodothyronine in a dose of 10µg (half a tablet) daily added.

[faith63]

Natural only contains t4 and t3 and trace amounts of Calcitonin, which is not enough to effect bones. T1 and T2 are converted in the Liver abd GI and are not made in the Thyroid Gland, so not contained in desiccated.

[faith63]

Look up the drugs on the manufacturers websites..they say they only contain t4 and t3. I'm not able to take NDT, because it flares up my Hashimotos. My body doesn't convert t4 to t3 well, so again, NDT, does no good for me..it has too little t3. T3 only, gave many people their lives back, after the other treatments failed. It is all a very individual thing.