OMG..... I have overdosed on NDT Help please.

[Saorsun]

I was diagnosed Hypothyroid a year ago and put on 50 mcg of Levothyroxine. It did not help, I felt worse so started to research this illness.

Long story short....

I started to take Armour Thyroid, self medicating (as my Doctor would have nothing to do with it) and began to feel better but not great, I still had brain fog, no energy, no labido, confusion......

I was medicating by removal of symptoms and taking my temperature ( which never went above 36.2 at its highest). As I was not feeling so good I decided I should get blood test done privately. Oh dear me.....

Hear are my results.

Total T4 130. nmol/L. 59-154

TSH. 0.01. mIU/L. 0.27-4.2

Free T4 26.0 pmol/l. 12.0-22.0

Free T3 14.3. pmol/L. 3.1-6.8

Thyroglobulin antibody 407.6. IU/mL. 0-115 (negative)

Peroxidase antibodies 353.1. IU/mL. 0-34

My questions are

1) how long should I stop taking Armour for, should I get blood test before I start armour again and how often when on armour should I get blood tests done so that this doesn't happen again.

2) the report with the test results, obviously said I was hyperthyroid but it also said that my antibodies test pointed to Graves' disease, as I'm not really hyper what do you think regarding the antibodies test results.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

[Hidden]

Hang on, don't panic! There's probably no need to stop your Armour - those results aren't all that bad.

How do you feel? Do you feel hyper or hypo?

How much Armour are you currently taking?

Did you take your Armour just before your test?

[PinkNinja in reply to Hidden]

Same questions I was going to ask Timing of blood test can make a big difference to the results.

[Hidden]

You have not overdosed, so not sure why the need for the dramatic headline. The results are fine.

[PinkNinja in reply to Hidden]

This person is asking for help and reassurance. We know they are probably fine but they don't! A t3 level more than double the top of the range looks quite alarming even if it is ok for it to be that high for this person.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Please be a little kinder. I would have posted for help if my results looked like that and I would probably have panicked too.

[Saorsun]

I feel hypo, I take 4.5 grains Armour and I took my last dose of Armour 2.25 grains at 11.45am the day befor I took the blood test which was at 7.30am the following day

[Clutter]

Don't stop taking your Armour. You are over medicated but not hyper and need to reduce your dose. What are you currently taking? Increase and decrease in thyroid hormone replacement should be in gentle increments. You should start by decreasing 1/4 grain for 4 weeks and ideally have more bloods before decreasing further.

Thyroid Peroxidase antibodies (TPOAb) mean you have auto-immune disease (Hashimoto's). Thyroid Stimulating Receptor Antibodies (TRAb) and Thyroid Stimulating Immunoglobulins (TSI) are the Graves tests.

Have you had your ferritin, vitD, B12 and folate checked? These need to be highin range in hypoT patients to feel well and are often deficient or very low in range and can cause some of the symptoms you described.

[shaws]

My TSH was 0.01 or are you worring over the T3 result.

If you are taking Armour the best way to judge is 'how you feel'. This is a link which may be helpful and read the first question/answer:-

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

[nobodysdriving in reply to shaws]

I think Saorsun is 'worried' about both fT4 and fT3 being over range. I have to say that if no NDT was taken for over 20 hours that they do look too high to be honest. I am on 180mcg T3 daily and if I do not take any for 24 hours my fT3 is 'in range' (of course no point of testing fT4 on T3 only).

Like Clutter said above I also would advise a reduction, perhaps by half a grain rather than just a quarter and yes I'd look at vit B12, vitamin D, iron levels, adopt a gluten free diet (good for those antibodies!)

[PinkNinja in reply to nobodysdriving]

Agreed. And the thyroid hormones could be pooling rather than getting into the cells.

[Saorsun]

Thank you all so much, I did panic when I seen that the T3 and T4 were out of range, you have all put my mind at rest, thank you very much and I will follow your advice.

I am taking B12, D3 and Nutra Adrenal Extra, all due retesting and I have recently started glutin free.

Thanks again x

[nobodysdriving in reply to Saorsun]

you'll feel the benefits of the gluten free diet 'properly' after months (some lucky people feel straight away). No point in re-testing b12 if you are supplementing, do you have a result before you supplemented? vid D yes it's worth checking.

[Hidden]

don't forget most folk need less in the 'summer' months - seems you've peaked?? Main thing is how you're feeling, trust yourself if you feel a bit hyper reduce dose gradually (so I'm told anyway)

& getting those nutrient/vitamin/mineral levels up to spec helps oil the cogs - IMHO

J

[Hidden]

It looks like you are taking enough armour but still feel unwell. Maybe you body cannot utilise thyroid hormone because of lack of Iron. Might be worth getting your ferritin, vit D and B12 checked. There is also a blood test for iron studies you might be able to persuade GP to do.

My blood results were similar and I felt hypo, even worse with the thyroxine untill I was put on iron and vit D