should t3 be added

[thyroidnodules]

I had been on 50mcg levo and then asked for a blood test - readings as follows

tsh was 3.7 (range 0.2 - 4.5)

t3 was 1.2 (range 0.2 - 4.5)

last t4 was 13.00 (range 9 - 21)

I am now on 75mcg which the doc was reluctant to give me as he said I was "in range".  I had to bully him into giving me the 75mcg.   However, do you think I am converting or  should I take t3.  am also considering taking NDT but do not know where to get it.  do you think NDT would help with weight loss as I am gaining at an alarming rate - I take supplements of d3, b12, b complex, magnesium, zinc, vit c, vit k, probiotics and evening primrose oil - any suggestions would be appreciated

[shaws Administrator]

The usual dose of thyroid hormones which used to be given to hypo patients was between 200 and 400mcg of NDT. It was gradually increased till the patient was well and no blood tests were invented then. Your dose of 75mcg is too low for you as the aim is a TSH of 1 or lower. Your GP doesn't know too much and like many of them, believe that once the TSH reaches in range, refuse to increase levo. This is wrong and the patients' symptoms are then diagnosed as something other than due to hypo, but are prescribed for the clinical symptoms anything else but and increase.

This is an excerpt from another link:

What our study shows is that the TSH level is not an accurate gauge of a patient’s metabolic rate. This finding is consistent with what we regularly see when we do metabolic evaluations for patients. We often find that a hypothyroid patient on T4-replacement—with an "in range" TSH level—has a metabolic rate that’s abnormally low. Often, the patient’s metabolic rate is severely low, sometimes as much as 50% below normal.

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

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

I think your FT3 is low because your FT4 is low (and your TSH is quite high in range). I think a good first step would be to raise your Levo dose to see if it lowers your TSH and increases the FT3 and FT4, you will then get a better picture if you are converting.

You say you are taking certain vits and mins. Have you had your B12, Vit D, ferritin and Folate tested? These need to be optimal for thyroid hormone to work properly.

You posted 3 months ago that you obtained some T3 and asked for guidance using it. Did you start taking it, what has happened since?