T3 please

[Auntyp62]

After always being over medicated I now have very high rt3. My gps is out of his depth but willing to support and monitor any treatment I do myself. He is forward thinking, realises my t4 only treatment is not working. After loads of research and advice on here I have decided I need to drop the t4 and start t3 only in a hope of achieving a relief of symptoms.I have looked on line to buy t3 but some of it seems a little dodgy and not too sure how to pay with bitcoins........can someone pm me a good reliable source

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Do you have your test results Auntyp62 ? If you know you have high reverse T3 that suggests you've had a private test done as I don't think it's done on the NHS.

How come you've always been over medicated? Has your GP not tested you annually and taken note of your test results? Most are very quick to jump on the 'Overmedicated' band wagon when TSH gets very low regardless of FT4 and, if tested, FT3.

[Auntyp62 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks for the prompt reply....45 years ago there was no tsh test and doctors were dosing as they had a couple of years prior just going by symptoms. Levo had only been around a couple of years in 1972 and if you think doctors lack knowledge now it was worse then....I came out of hospital after a myxoedema coma on 300 mg of Levo and felt fantastic, after a couple of years symptoms came back and doc kept putting dose up till in 1984 I was on 800mg a day and had never had a blood test. Pulse high and back in hospital where junior doctors told me as I did not have antibodies I did not need the t4 and was taken off it and a few weeks later returned to hospital in a near coma........I have been on erratic doses since then and a blood test every year, have had good days especially after finding b12 and vit d were low which is now addressed, but symptoms are now taking over my life.

To keep my symptoms away my doc had scratched his head and said because I'd been on them so long I they are not working as they shoul and keeps me over medicated.....symptoms are back but this time I have knowledge from here and want to use it.

Blood test was bh as GP ordered all test but lab refused. Will post blood tests

[Auntyp62 in reply to Auntyp62]

Forgot to add, test was 6 weeks ago and I was on 200mg a day which has been on 150 for for weeks and now on 125 for 4 weeks.....pulse is regular 72 on 200mg but now in low 50s on 125

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Auntyp62]

I first became unwell after my second child, that was back in 1973/4, up and down to the doctors for 2 years before he thought to test for underactive thyroid. I don't know what tests were done but I was put on thyroxine as soon as he had the results. He certainly didn't go by symptoms, just told me I was a young mum with two children and I could expect to be tired!

It's hard to believe that your GP had you on 800mcg Levo without testing, of I was tested in 1975 then they were certainly available when you were on 800mcg in 1984. There has been some serious neglect by your GP. And unbelievable that the hospital doctors thought you only needed Levo if you had antibodies!

Well, at last you now know and have had your own test done, hopefully your GP is willing to be educated!

I'm afraid I don't know enough about rT3 to offer any help, I've read differing things about it so have no idea what is the right thing to do. But it is obvious that 200mcg Levo was too much for you.

How are you feeling now on 125mcg? You really need to give 6 weeks between dose changes for it to take effect and see how you feel. 200mcg > 150 > 125 is a big drop on just 6 weeks since your test.

I think you would be best to ask for a referral to an endo who has good knowledge of thyroid. If you email [e-mail] she can let you have the list of thyroid friendly endos. See who you can manage to travel to and ask members if they have any knowledge of them, good or bad.

With your Vit D, are you taking the co-factors K2-MK7 and magnesium. And a B Complex to go with the B12?

[Auntyp62 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you, my doc will refer but does not think an endo can help as the NHS protocol is very fixed to t4 treatment. But I will email and try that route

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Auntyp62]

But some endos are willing to think outside the box, and even have a brain! There's more chance of a good endo knowing a heck of a lot more than your GP. You could always see Dr Peatfield if you can travel to where he holds his clinic (Crawley I think). He can't prescribe but knows more about thyroid than anyone.

Just make sure you ask for feedback on anyone you're thinking of seeing.

[diogenes Remembering]

This looks like a classic case of overdosing. The high rT3 is the result of your body overloaded with T4 and T3 and desperately trying to get rid of the excess, but it can only do so much. I'd try to get FT4 down to around 22-24 and FT3 down to around 6. Your FT4/FT3 ratio is around 4/1 so that doesn't indicate a poor T4-T3 converter. If you are on T4 only, then just gently dropping the dose till you get values within the range or just on the upper edge for FT4 should do the trick. I wouldn't drop T4 for T3, because of your reasonable conversion ability.