Test results

[Pinebunny]

I finally got my test results which are:

TSH 1.43, free T3 4.75 in range 3-5 and free T4 11.2 in range 7.5- 21

Surprisingly my GP asked what I wanted to do from here and I said I can check the interpretation on here. She seemed quite happy that you 'probably know more than her' ...

Can someone help me with them?

[shaws Administrator]

I am glad your GP is co-operative. The most important question is 'how do you feel?'. If well you are on an optimum dose. If not, a small increase would be in order.

There is no thyroid history on your profile but I looked down a couple of posts and see you are on levo, so you have been diagnosed.

If you've been hypo for a long time and still have symptoms, I would ask the GP to prescribe 10mcg of T3 for a 50mcg reduction of levo. Also, email [e-mail] and ask for a copy of the Pulse online Article. Refer question 6 to your GP where she will see that we can have a very low or suppressed TSH to feel better plus the addition of T3.

[Clutter]

Pinebunny, if you are still symptomatic ask for a 25mcg increase in Levothyroxine. That should bring your TSH down to just above or below 1.0 which is comfortable for most people, and should improve your FT4 a little without sending your FT3 over range.

[Pinebunny in reply to Clutter]

I am a bit confused- one of you says increase 25mcg and the other reduce by 50mcg?

[Clutter in reply to Pinebunny]

Pinebunny,

I'm not convinced you are optimally medicated with TSH 1.43 and FT4 11.2 which is why I advised increasing Levothyroxine (T4) by 25mcg. Your FT3 is high in range so it doesn't appear that you are having difficulty converting T4 to T3.

T3 is 3 x more potent than T4 so it is usual to reduce Levothyroxine by 25mcg for every 10mcg T3 added if you are already optimally medicated. Many GPs won't prescribe T3 without recommendation from an endocrinologist or other specialist.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/204...

[Spareribs]

Well done for getting your results!

Shaws is suggesting you could try adding T3 (if you have a co-operative GP) and therefore lower the T4 (Levo) as T3 is 4 times more potent.

Clutter is suggesting you try an increase of Levo if you are still symptomatic.

You may want to visit the main TUK site for more info...

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

J

[Pinebunny]

ok, I understand, thanks everyone x

[Pinebunny]

Thanks. I have not felt well for a couple of years but it has got decidedly worse in the past 6 months. I never put it down to my thyroid as before coming on here a couple of weeks ago, I believed the 'normal' results and blaming myself for the weight increase even though my diet and exercise indicated I should be losing weight. I had no idea that others were having the same problem! At the moment I feel dreadfully ill but I have had repeated chest infections for the past 3 months and pneumonia so it's hard to say.