Help with levels (Hypothyroidism)

[melanieh515]

So I have been recently diagnosed with Hypothyroidism and put on 50mcg of Levothyroxine. Some of you lovely helpful people suggested I request my blood test results and post levels so here they are:

Thyroid hormone tests (May 2016):

Serum TSH level: 5.7 (range 0.27-4.20 mu/L)

"please call to discus. Is the patient on hormonal contraception?"

No I am not, I am actually trying to conceive! Doctors are aware of this.

Serum free T4 level: 11 (range 12-22 Pmol/L)

"make appointment"

Vitamin D:

Serum 25-HO vit D3 level: 86 nmol/L

"Improved"

My antibodies were not tested in May but they were back in Feb, this is what it says...

Thyroid Peroxidase level: 33 (negative)

T3 has not been tested.

Any advice of the above would be greatly appreciated.

Confused as I do not have a autoimmune condition but my TSH as I understand is quite high?

Have been told to come back in 3 months to check levels.

[Treepie]

You need to have yournbloodbtested in three weeks.Your TSH is to high and needs to be 1 or below and your T4 is too low.

As a bloke I have not studied issues re conception and pregnancy but others will respond as I believe thyroid health is extremely important for women in your circumstances.

[melanieh515 in reply to Treepie]

Thank you for advice. Am going back on the 22nd will insist on blood test in the next few weeks and have to decided to hold off trying to conceive until levels are much lower.

[sweetsusie in reply to melanieh515]

Go as early in the morning as possible for the blood draw, melanie515. That's when the TSH level is the highest.

[Treepie in reply to melanieh515]

If you lok to the right on the sitenfor the subject list there is "pregnancy" ,so lots of posts.

[Lucky14]

I'm no expert at all but i too was trying to conceive for a while with no joy, i had asked to be tested for thyroid disease at the time as i have a strong family history of thyroid disease, however i was dismissed at the time because basically i wasn't "big enough", any way i managed to conceive, only to miscarry at 11 weeks, as did my sister at 7 weeks. After my sisters miscarriage it was noted her thyroid medication was far too low and it was upped. She successfully went on to have 2 healthly children. After my miscarriage i went to see a different doc who did do a thyroid test and it came back borderline., but as i had such a strong family history she agreed to treat me. I cant remember the first dose, think it was 50mg but it jumped up to 100 quite quickly i then found out i was pregnant again and my amount was increased again and i was monitored. Now i have 2 healthy girls. (I'm currently on 200mg). My advise would be don't leave it 3 months, go back after 3 weeks and explain why you want re-checked, it does take a while for the medication to kick in but 50mg is not a big dose. Good luck x

[melanieh515 in reply to Lucky14]

Yes I have the same problem. I am about 20 lbs overweight but I don't look noticeably so.

Sorry to hear about your loss. I believe I had a very early miscarriage, thankfully in the very early stages. My doctor knows about this and I think I have only been put on Levothyroxine in the first place because of ttc.

I have now found out my levels are far from optimal for ttc/pregnancy:

TSH 5.7

T4 11

They didn't check for T3.

Thyroid Peroxidase 33 (negative I believe)

Am going back on the 22nd to ask for a repeat test and to check T3 and increase dosage if needed. Have no choice but to hold off ttc until my levels are much better.

Thank you for your advice.

[LiaDiGee in reply to melanieh515]

Melanie, I can't understand why they have not checked your T3. It is essentially the most important number to check. It is the active hormone which nurtures all the cells in your body.

If you are on a medication like Synthroid, the hope is that the T4 that is provided will convert to T3. Some people have difficulty with that conversion and they are not getting the benefit from the drug.

I'm in the US and was on Synthroid for 15 years and last year through a lot of research I decided to switch to a NDT (Natural Dessicated Thyroid) because you receive direct T3 along with the others. The type I take (Armour) is pig thyroid which closely matches our own. I didn't like taking a synthetic drug like Synthroid and I don't think I was coverting properly. I finally feel better on a dosage of 240 mg of Armour.

Please have your T3 tested, it's very important

[HASHISmom34]

Hi. T3 levels are most important. Make sure along with you TSH and T4 free they check the T3 free also.

[melanieh515 in reply to HASHISmom34]

Yes, I will insist on this when I go back in two weeks thank you