Blood test results in (finally)

Results in from last week. I'm on 37.5 t3 and 75 t4. I understand that I'm seeing some of the t3 implications here (low tsh and t4) but is the t3 high enough? I left out my morning dose of meds, which would make it about 24 hours between last dose and blood draw.

Ft3 5.7 pmol/L (3.8 - 6.8)

Ft4 7 pmol/L (7.5 - 21.1)

Tsh 0.05 mlU/L (0.34 - 5.6)

These results look okay to me. Feeling PANTS though. Recent b12 and ferritin results are low, so maybe that's why I'm not well?

When I felt really well in Oct, my results looked like this (note different ranges as test was done by a different lab):

Ft3 5.7pg/mL (2.0 - 4.4)

Ft4 8.5 ug/dL (4.5-12.0)

Tsh <0.005 (no units specified) (0.45 - 4.5)

Also worth noting that if I remember correctly, the latter test had to be taken unexpectedly when I had already taken my morning dose of meds, thus the high/low results. I was taking 125 t4 and 25 t3. Later that month I returned to the UK from a long trip abroad and seemed to go hypo again (constipated and tired), and I haven't felt well since.

Any thoughts? All contributions welcome. x

12 Replies

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puncturedbicycle

in reply to Hennerton

4 years ago

Thanks Hennerton. Gosh, that is quite a combination. Good luck to you. I do hope it makes you feel better.

No I haven't tried ndt but my mum feels very well on Armour. Maybe I'll tweak the t3 a tiny bit, add in another quarter of a tablet. I don't have any hyper symptoms (not even borderline diarrhoea, which is my telltale sign) so I feel pretty safe giving it a go. I've been taking it all at once in the morning which is working pretty well. I do get tired in the afternoon, but I don't have the ups and downs all day so I don't second-guess my dose every day, which I kind of did when I took a split dose.

Don't despair - my hair got quite thin and came back brilliantly on levo alone once the dose was high enough, so it can be done (it's virtually the only thing levo ever did for me). Once you find a good combo of meds you might get lucky. I continue to lose too much hair, but it seems to be growing in like billy-o so my scalp isn't showing. I have loads of tiny baby hairs in my hairline, esp at my temples, but hey, it's hair, so as long as it keeps coming in I am grateful.

in reply to Aurealis

My blood was drawn around 10am. Their earliest appointment is 9:30; mine was 9:35.

Thanks for your input. T3 was so good for me when I started taking it that I'm often inclined to take more to feel better but it doesn't work that way. I had wondered if I needed a little more t4 as it had been virtually halved last time meds were adjusted, but I began to tweak it upward and haven't noticed a difference. I used to feel very anxious when my t4 was reduced but I don't feel a lot of generalised anxiety now. My agoraphobia is pretty bad, but it waxes and wanes so it's hard to know whether or not it's my meds.

My pulse doesn't react to subtle changes so it's hard to know when I'm on too much or too little meds. It is already generally 80ish bpm and I worry about it being much higher. My gut is a pretty reliable barometer and so far no diarrhoea, so that's something.

The thing is, I feel so bad now, if I raise my dose and still feel bad - or eventually feel worse - I will worry that I've overdosed, even if that's not the case.

I do hate the way t3 makes the tests so difficult to read. I'm really confused.

T3sortedme

Puncturedbicycle - the above from Hennerton shows how we are all a bit different and so have to try things over a period to find what works for us. I was on T4 and that did not work at all even when TSH was 0.05. I added T3 and reduced T4 and felt a lot better (mentally especially) but still not right. I went to T3 only and was very quickly well. It seems that my body made reverse T3 (rT3) from the T4 which blocked access of normal T3 from getting to the cells to generate energy. T3 is a big discipline though - same doses at exactly the same time every day without variation. So that worked for me. But that did not work best for Hennerton who is better with some T4 and is just as likely the case for you.

It does take time to work out the best for each of us. I just described 4 years work in my case! When you change a dose, take at least 3 or 4 weeks before the next step as everything takes time to settle and the body's other cycles to adjust. If you move too quickly you will get confused as to what works. You need long enough each step to know if on average it made you feel better or worse (or it had no effect). I go entirely from how I feel over a period and not from blood results as T3 messes all that and it does not really tell you what is in the cells in any case. If you get a virus e.g. cold ignore how you feel for a few days before the cold shows and a few days after. Also stress and high activity levels can make us feel more hypo.

If you were abroad for a while, have you considered if you have picked up anything e.g. amoebic stuff from water etc. If you were well before and not now, it is worth considering

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