I have had underactive thyroid for 20 years I was on thyroxin for two years I still felt I'll then I was put on armour thyroid and bingo I fe!t so well at last. But now my Dr has said I will not be able to get it on prescription anymore and he is very worried about my blood test results. Here they are
Serum tsh level 0.01 my/l
Serum free t4 level 22 pmol/l
Serum t3 level 22.3 pmol/l
The last one t3 he was very worried about and checked me for heart tremour as he said he would hospitalise me but didn't .
Now I have told to go without any thyroid treatment for 4 weeks then another blood test to see what's going on I am very worried about my health is that level too high and will I never get armour thyroid again. Look forward to your advise thank you
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hawthornefairy123
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Hawthornefairy, Do you have the lab ref ranges to go with your results? Your T3 does look high but a four week abstinence seems to be an overreaction.
How much armour have you been taking? It's true that FT3 result looks high but it might just mean you're T3 resistant (i.e.,you need more T3 than one might expect to feel well). I take it you don't feel overmedicated at all?
Hello I take 2 grain a day and I have been feeling so well loads of energy my Dr wanted to send me to hospital and I said no I feel so well he replied you are not at all well . he is a very good Dr but I'm just wondering if they want to save money and prescribe the cheaper stuff but at the moment I'm not to have anything for four weeks he want all of it gone from my body
As your TSH has been suppressed for a very long time it will affect your pituitary. Consequently if your fT3 and fT4 are brought back to within the reference intervals your TSH will still be very low. This happens to treated Graves' Disease patients. Your doctors should not use the TSH to assess you, in your case it will not be meaningful. Beware that many endocrinologists are not aware of this 'blunted thyrotrope response'.
I have been very well on armour thyroid felt great yet Dr says I am very unwell he says armour is not licensed for UK if I become I'll he can be sued for prescribing it does anyone else have trouble being prescribed armour thyroid thank you
The doctor is being very silly. Armour is not licensed because it was being used long before licensing was invented for meds, o was grandfathered in. He is allowed to prescribe it, n fact he is allowed to prescribe anything which will benefit his patient. There is an article about how he can prescribe on the thyroid uk website.... thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/treatm...
Yes unfortunately it is quite rare to be prescribed NDT nowadays (brand name Armour being one) - it's almost always synthetic Levothyroxine (cheap & 85% don't complain) so your're rare!
Even though NDT has been used successfully for over 120 years.....
personally I would fight tooth and nail to continue if the natural hormone suits you, which it does many folk, although they can but source and buy their (my) own
One thing - you didn't take meds immediately before your test did you? this may give a false reading, a 'spike'.
Another thing is the Saatchi bill (I think that's what it's called) basically, in my limited understanding, it means GPs will be given freedom to treat as necessary (not as drug companies recommend) well that's what would be good anyway J
Many people have to buy Armour on the internet because their GP will not prescribe it or refuses to continue prescribing it because it is unlicensed for UK use. Your FT3 is three times over most FT3 ranges I've seen which suggests that you are very overmedicated.
Thank you for your reply. I did not take tablets before blood test but feel I must have taken too higher dose. Not looking forward to 4 weeks without any medication as 18 years ago after 3 days my body seized up in spasims but Dr says I have to go through this to get a true reading on blood test to see what my body will do without armour thyroid he says I feel well because armour is doing all the work my body should do as hypaphalmus is not working I know I spelt that wrong sorry
Just over 2 weeks without any thyroid medication and no aches yet but losing my energy and my brain is so woolly its very worrying how your brain can suddenly dip like this its not my imagination I just can't think of words or names it causes confusion its horrible. Still 2 weeks too go then another blood test I am defiant!y going to demand armour again as I felt so well with it when I was on thyroxin I felt terrible
Hawthornefairy, The brain is a huge feeder of T3 and lack of T3 will cause loss of cognitive function and lack of energy. As you are experiencing these hypothyroid symptoms it seems likely that your FT3 has decreased considerably.
There's absolutely no reason why your GP can't order a thyroid function test now, rather than wait another two weeks.
Cancer patients have to be off T4 for 4 weeks but are allowed T3 for two weeks prior to RAI. In that 2 week period off meds TSH is expected to rise to >30. Research shows that TSH >20 can can impair driving reactions more than being over the drink driving limit.
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