Dear All, during our last appointment he seemed very surprised that my T3 & T4 levels were extremely low (T3 was virtually "non-existent" as he said). I am on 75mcg Levo & 10mcg Liothyronine. He asked what time I had taken that mornings dose of T3 & I replied that I hadn't, as I never had done so in the past before a test, thinking (logically?) that without the meds the blood results would give a clearer picture of my natural levels/state, plus he had NEVER questioned this before or made a point of telling me to take the meds as usual. I have been diagnosed Hypo since 2012. I normally take my Levo at night before bed, & didn't take the previous nights dose in prep for the blood test. I am aware that T4 stays longer in the blood than T3. I can't post any blood results here as he will never give them to me. Past reasons have been the printer isn't working, contact my secretary (who never sends them)......blah,blah. If i keep on asking he (& the secretary) get very "frostly" with me. He's not very approachable at the best of times & certainly does not respond favourably to being challenged. Anyway, does anyone have any ideas why he would want me to take the meds before the blood test? Ask away if you need anymore info from me. Thanks in advance you empathetic lovelies out there.
Any ideas why Endo has told me to take my T4 & ... - Thyroid UK
Any ideas why Endo has told me to take my T4 & T3 doses as usual before next bloods ??
He's setting you up to fail? Obviously, if you take your dose before the test, you FT3 will be higher, and he won't have to increase your dose. Very sneaky!
Of course, you know, he is breaking the law. It is your legal right to have a copy of your labs under the Data Protection Act 1998. A tactic I find works very well in similar circumstances (although I don't have to fight to get my labs because I live in France) is to say well, I'll just sit here (waiting room) until you get them printed, save you having to send them to me. 
They soon get tired of seeing ou sitting there, and print your papers just to get rid of you.
My extremely eminent Professor of endocrinology told me quite clearly - Do NOT take Levo in 24 hours before the test as it skews the test result.
Like you I take at bedtime, and delay dose till after I do my test at 8am (I have long since given up with NHS tests - I use Blue Horizon finger prick test at home)
Not sure about T3, but I would guess at 12 hours before minimum
I totally agree with greygoose . He's setting you up to fail.
If you find the attitude of the endo and his receptionist to be intimidating when you ask for tests in person, you can avoid the whole situation by asking by post.
You have to make a "Subject Access Request". It isn't complicated.
Write a letter to the endo. Give your letter a heading of "Subject Access Request", and say that you are writing to ask for a copy of your blood test results under the Data Protection Act 1998. Do not give any reasons why you want them. It is not legally necessary. You should give the years covered by your request. So, if you first saw someone from the endocrinology department in March 2014, then ask for all your blood test results for January 2014 - present.
The whole letter should only be a few lines. Then just sign it and post it.
Thanks for the really helpful replies so far & educating me in my rights. greygoose & humanbean : you have also confirmed my suspicions re his motive. Now, come my next bloods (mid Nov) i intend NOT to take the meds pre-test again. Do you have any suggestions how i deal with the situation at my next consultation with him, when once again my levels will not be what he is expecting (or wanting!)? I'd like to go prepared as the brain fog really impairs my ability to think on the spot.
Am afraid greygoose and humanbean would not have seen your reply as you need to click onto the Green Box - Reply. Hopefully they will now be alerted and come back to you to add to the good advice they have already given.
☺😊
The odds are that he will have completely forgotten about the whole thing by the next time you see him. He may possibly have other fis to fry and not be interested in whether or not you took your dose before the test. So, of course, you don't mention it! lol
But, if he does say something, turn the tables on him, ask him why he wanted you to take your T3 before the test. What possible useful information could it give him because, due to the length of T3's half-life in the blood, the result would only be temporary. See what he says. If he insists, tell him that you know that if you took your T3 before the test, the result would just be the dose you just took, and not the normal level for the rest of the day, and that you know he would probably then want to reduce your dose.
But, say as little as possible. Just give him enough rope and let him hang himself.
DR appt later today low T3 suppresses TSH
GP increased T4 while T3 was reduced. Please help decipher bloods so I can direct her to the next best step with unsympathetic Endo. Thanks!
Enid has told me T3 will shorten my life
another disaster
