Thoughts on bloods please

[Val-55]

hello ,thought I would ask you opinion of blood tests .My daughter who has been struggling to get well after diagnosis of Hashimotos about 2 years ago .She is in Bristol and has recently changed Dr Practice .They gave her a full through check,,amazing !!!

TSH 0.060 Range (0.27-4.2)

Free T4. 25.8 (12-22)

Free T3 5.5 (3.1-6.8)

This was 3 months ago and she was told to reduce 100 Levo to alternate with 75 ...She now feels and looks dreadfully , puffy and tired out .She was holding her own ,not brilliant but coping, I didn't think she looked that well ! she is Gluten free. Hhas got app tomorrow for blood test .I have sent her copy of pulse report to show Dr .I suppose her TSH was low but Dr panicked as looks like T3 was good ! Do you think she should ask for a trial of T3 or pos a change to Armour ,I'm wondering if that would help and make the difference ! I think she takes fish oil though I'm not sure what else , what should she take , she is 24 .Thankyou Val

[Hidden]

hi there, other people here can advise better, but yes armour is worth a try. I've had Hashimotos hypothyroidism & pernicious anaemia 16 years and was ill on levothyroxine for 11 years was horrendous. Things are better on Nature throid , from nhs.

Hope she changes and gets on top of it.

Take care

[anjh-blue in reply to Hidden]

Jobeth

do you think it would be better to try NT than combo of T4 & T3....

[Hidden in reply to anjh-blue]

Hi Ndt is far superior as it has all your body's needs.Levo & synthetic t3 is a great step up from just Levo. I've tried all three and from my experience Ndt is the very best.

Take care

[Val-55 in reply to Hidden]

Some Endo,s do prescribe NDT still is it worth asking rather than adding in T3 first ? It seems everyone reacts differently to treatments and the slog is finding best for you, Touch wood I've been ok on T 4 for 10 years but my daughter it's not working for .Waiting for hospital app for her hope not too long .Regards Val

[Val-55 in reply to Hidden]

Thankyou, she has an appointment with Endo hopefully will suggest other options rather than just T4 Regards Val

[anjh-blue]

hello Val-55

My 18yr daughter suffers with Hashi's same thing with her bloods TSH low T3 4.5 normal range. GP advised to drop lavo from 150 to 125. Still waiting for improvement. Had the DI02 test ...waiting for results - if positive I will ask endo if she can try T4 & T3 combo although if neg or pos... I will ask anyways. My daughter has been roller-costing with her meds since her diagnosis at 12yrs.

I would ask your GP if she could try combo T4 / T3.

best of luck.

[Val-55 in reply to anjh-blue]

thanks ,it is so difficult to balance , especially in youngsters all seems more aggressive will try t3 combo if possible .Val

[greygoose]

Hi Val, They dropped her dose because of the low TSH, which is totally ignorant of them! Her FT4 may have been a bit over-range, but her FT3 isn't, and that's the one that counts. The problem is, she isn't converting very well and needs her TSH and FT4 like that in order to get enough T3. But doctors Don't know that!

The next question should have been 'why isn't she converting?' And that could be due to nutritional deficiencies. Has she had her vit D, vit B12, folate, iron and ferritin tested? All these need to be at least mid-range in order to convert properly - B12 even higher. So, seems to me that would be the next step.

If nothing turns up there, would T3 or NDT help? Nobody can really answer that question because we're all different. Plus she has Hashi's, and NDT doesn't work for all Hashi's people. It can make things worse - yes, I know a lot of Hashi's people do very well on NDT, but what works for one is not necessarily going to work for the other. Plus NDT is difficult to get prescribed because NHS doctors know nothing about it. So, seems to me, it would be easier to try and persuade them to add some T3 to her Levo. You might have a struggle even doing that, but it's Worth a try. If they won't agree, you'll have to consider buying your own...

Hugs, Grey