HELP PLEASE new to forum , need some advice on bloods and way forward

[Amandasmyth20]

Hi to a fantastic forum , having been hypo for nearly 2 years ( I'm nearly 54) and prescribed 50mg of levo , my symptoms were marginally improved but I certainly don't feel at my best ... Mainly fatigue, ridiculous weight gain, sleeping a lot , low pulse , high cholesterol. I fortunately was able to see an endo over last 2 weeks as my husband has private health care through work . Here are my results

VIT D...115nmol/l ( 70-150)

FreeT3... 4.5pmol/l. ( 4.3-8.1)

FreeT4...13.9pmol/l (10.0-28.2)

TSH 0.8 mu/l. (0.3-3.05)

Normal full blood count red cell folate and vitamin B12 levels ( no breakdowns will try to get and post after receiving)

Acceptable iron studies although total iron binding capacity is slightly down at 40.8 umol/l( 47-89)

He prescribed me T3 on my request .. So 25mg of levo and 10mg of T3 and said to see if that made an improvement of my symptoms ( he did also say that HRT may be the way forward as I'm definitely menopausal and that also may be the cause of my symptoms! ) , however my local pharmacy want to charge me £600 ! My doctor as of today will not give me it on prescription due to west Kent funding but asked me to ask endo if my levels of t4 can be tweaked . I have emailed him , awaiting response , and in the meantime my gp is referring me onto the thyroid clinic at Pembury hospital ( NHS) to see if they can help at all

Can anyone please give me some advice as to what they feel I should do medication wise ...do my free t3 and T4 seem low ?

I also am very fortunate to be traveling to turkey in the next 2 weeks and have read that I can get T 3 there at a fraction of the cost .. Should I self medicate if I can get some or do I need to raise my t 4 as well ?

Sorry so many questions ..just so confused! It's not easy bring hypo is it !!

[Amandasmyth20]

Thank you so much eljii, what an interesting article , hoping that someone will reply with some direction of dosages that I should be taking , with my lab results , endo has responded saying to try going from 50 to 75mg as long as my tsh stays in range , any ideas anyone ?

[Musicmonkey]

The 25mcg of Levo and 10mcg of T3 only equates to 55 of Levo, so not an increase as such.

Worth bearing that in mind when comparing wellbeing although your T3 is very low in range. To raise your thyroid levels I imagine you will be looking to introduce a further increase once your body has adjusted to the changes. These changes need to be introduced slowly.

[Amandasmyth20]

Thank you music monkey .. Update is that endo has suggested I up my levo to 75mg from 50 seeing as I can't get the T3 as long as my tsh stays in range and GP has prescribed me the extra 25 .. So will see if symptoms improve on that at all but still going to try to get T3 in turkey on my next visit