After 42 years on thyroxine I found theis website and in a belief my health was the best it could be I now realise it was not. I believed the exhaustion was just something my family and I had to put up with. With knowledge from this website and using blue horizon blood test I discovered my b12 was low and my GP now gives me injections which has made a vast improvement but armed with info from this site I decided to take one more step and check my reverse t3 which I had never heard of previously. My GP keeps me over medicated on 200 mg a day, without the 200 mg my pulse drops to 50 very quickly and I feel awful. Now wondering if it's a rt3 problem but not sure what to do about it, any help would be appreciated. Results are
TSH 0.005 Range 0.27 to 4.20
T4 total 162.8 Range 64.5 to 142
Free T4 28.15 Range 12 to 22
Free T3 6.91 Range 3.1 to 6.8
R T3 53 Range 10 to 24
RT3 Ratio low 8 Range 49 to 720
B12, ferritin, vit D, etc all good and I do NOT have antibodies, my hypothyroidism is of unknown cause
Written by
Auntyp62
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You are definitely over medicated and it would be more helpful if your GP tried to find out the cause of your low heart rate rather than relying on a fake fix.
My first suggestion would be to get your adrenal function tested. The NHS won't do this - they only test for Cushings or Addisons. (Actually, don't rely on them to test for Cushings as someone I know recently was tested for just that. The result? They informed her that she doesn't have Addisons (well dohhhhhh) and that her high cortisol the rest of the day was because she suffered from anxiety.)
Order either the saliva cortisol test from Genova UK (via the main ThyroidUK website), or the newer DUTCH test, which will test your sex hormones and derivaties - dutchtest.com
Might also be worth ordering the neuro-transmitter test from Pharmasan as they can affect heart rate.
When you say that your B12 etc are 'all good', in whose opinion? Do you have the actual figures? Because you aren't converting very well, are you. Your FT3 is at the top of the range, yes, but your FT4 has to be well over the top of the range to keep it that way. It's low T3 that causes symptoms, so that's why your pulse drops if you lower your levo, because it also lowers your T3.
A frequent reason for under-par conversion is low nutrients. So, that's why I ask about the actual results, rather than just an opinion on their status. If you optimise your nutrients - optimal is not the same as 'in range' - then your conversion might improve. If it doesn't, then you might need T3 added to your reduced T4. But that is very hard to get prescribed, these days.
Another thing that affects conversion is low calories. Are you on a diet? Do you have a small appetite? Maybe you could try eating more.
If you improve your conversion - either by optimising your nutrients, and/or your cortisol/calorie intake - the rT3 will gradually be used up by being converted into T2. It doesn't hang around forever.
Your B12 is a way off optimal - optimal is 1000. How far apart are the injections? They might not be enough. Once you are on any form of B12 supplementation, there is no point in doing a serum blood test, you won't get a true result. That could be a lot less than 600.
Are you taking a B complex to? You need to keep the Bs balanced.
Are you taking vit K2 with your vit D3? You need it because taking D3 increases absorption of calcium from food, and the K2 makes sure it goes into the bones and teeth, and not the tissues.
You also need magnesium and zinc. Firstly because they work with D3, and secondly because they are needed for good conversion. Most people are deficient in them because soils are depleted. No point in testing for them, though, just take about 400 mg magnesium (not magnesium oxide) and 15 mg zinc. But, don't start them both at the same time, leave about two weeks between the two, in case one of them doesn't suit you.
You could also take quite high doses of vit C, because that helps absorption of everything! lol
I have 8 weekly injections and this blood test was half way through. Yes I do take b complex and d with k2 but I did try the magnesium and it upset my stomach but I do think it was magnesium oxide so will try a different magnesium and never used zinc so will get some of that today. I will try anything. Many thanks for advice.
If you find other types of magnesium still upset your stomach, there is always magnesium oil, that you can rub on your skin. Or you could try soaking in an Epsom Salts bath for 20 minutes.
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Ferritin, TSH, gluten and B12 blood test results advice please
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