T3 update and a menopausal thing..

[cal1971]

I satrted 20mcg of T3 with 50mcg of Levo two days ago and havent noticed anyt change at all.

I also had my FSH and LH checked last November ( at the age of 44) and they were LH 3.4 and FSH 9.2

My Dr wrote to me today as my last bloods ( August) showed LH 38.4 and FSH 67.4 ( I'm now 45) which seesm like quite a jump. No period for over 6 months but no obvious menopuasal symptoms either. Although he has presecribed T3 he now says my symptoms might be menopause instead ( ARRRGGGHH) so I have to have these bloods tested again when I go for my thyroid bloods in 4 weeks in case he wants to give me some HRT ( which frankly I am disamyed by), and despite my issues having been ongoing for 3 years now.

Any suggestions from anyone who has been told it is menopause and anyone who is on T3 appreciated!

[shaws Administrator]

T3 isn't a miracle hormone, it has to be absorbed into your receptor cells and then its work begins. Your combined hormone dose is approx 110mcg which is not high. T4 is inactive and has to be converted to T3.

Others will respond re menopause.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

cal1971 If you don't want HRT then don't agree to it. It's your body. If you've got no menopausal symptoms why take it? If you even consider taking it then do your research first, look at bioidentical hormones and then what your GP would want to give you.

Two days isn't really long enough to notice much change. You've still got lots of your previous Levo dose in your body

[puncturedbicycle]

Umm, all of us? Perimenopause, menopause and depression must be the world's most overused concepts to account for feeling unwell.

Presumably the doc is prescribing based on test results, so if that decision was made it must have been for a reason. I don't understand why the backtrack now, except maybe they clocked the price of the t3.

That seems an unusual proportion of t3 to t4. I wonder on what basis that decision was made.

[radd]

cal,

All hormones are dependant on each other so any deficiency (or elevation) may have repercussions somewhere up the line.

There appear to be connections between thyroid and menstrual cycle//menopause issues (on this forum where members have suffered long term undiagnosed hypothyroidism) either cortisol related or to do with the sex hormone binding proteins (grabbing thyroid hormone and disabling it from becoming active) as the HPA-Axis and HPT-Axis work in parallel and cortisol and TSH should correlate.

During menopauses first phase (peri), progesterone level decline so although you have no more oestrogen, it causes an imbalance making oestrogen dominant. During the second phase oestrogen levels also decline. This is ok if everything else is in balance but thyroid issues mess everything up.

I ended up totally deficient in O & P with elevated testosterone and thyroid meds that didn’t quite work, even after adding T3. After refusing HRT for several months I started bio-identical HRT in feb of this year and it was like the icing on the cake regarding thyroid hormones working. I would say don’t disregard without further investigation but as you exhibit no menopause symptoms at the point, I would ask for retesting in a few months to ensure FSH & LH are still raised and it was not a fluke test.

Your GP appears worried now about prescribing T3 but doesn't understand it is most likely this you need to rebalance everything. HRT without T3 (if you need it) won't replace those missing T3 hormones. I presume you were prescribed T3 after ongoing thyroid issues and a test result that showed low. Politely point out to your GP that your thyroid issues have been ongoing and still are, and this recent test is new (supposedly usual) menopause stuff.

[BadHare]

Hi Cal,

I took HRT prior to taking NDT & T3. I had hot flushes day & night for 6 years, & felt (even more) crazy than with bad PMT. I use one that was recommended by my friend's sister, which has no

negative side effects that I've noticed, but isn't bio-identical, which

is better.

If you have no menopause symptoms that distress you, is there a need to take HRT?

It's early days with your thyroid hormones, so perhaps wait till you feel they are working before you consider anything else.

M*

[Hidden in reply to BadHare]

Thats an interesting reply Cal. I thought exactly the same as you that if you have no distressing symptoms, why take HRT. However (I have posted about this separately before so this isn't the full story) I'm 61, been diagnosed with Hypo about 7 years, but had last period at 52. During what I now know was 'peri-menopause' I did have horribly heavy cycles for a while. I called them 'Tsunamis' as thats what they were like. During the next couple of years up to 52 I did have some 'hot wafts' but nothing as distressing as many people get.

But a year ago when I complained of continuing hypo symptoms, one GP (young and new) did say symptoms were menopausal. I told her I'd done with all that 8 years before and she then said it was age!

But on 1st September after much searching, I visited an Endo in London and discussed what felt like my life history in 30 minutes! He came up with two treatment options which could be done in tandem or separately to start with.

First one was NDT (Erfa) worth a try he said (I was taking 75mcg Levo) and he also recommended some hormonal patches to try for 3 months. I sat there with my mouth open (must have been amusing) for a couple of minutes, then asked him why would I need HRT 8 years after menopause. He said some of the symptoms I'm experiencing are indicative of low oestrogen / menopause. This was the fatigue / lethargy / tiredness / hair loss. I asked about the cancer risk and he said a 3 month trial would be safe enough. But if I felt good and wanted to continue then he would review the situation. I had a blood test done before I left the clinic for Thyroid and one hormone test (DHEA)

I came home on the train still feeling very surprised and trying to keep an open mind. But having researched the patches and asked questions, I just couldn't bring myself to go that route. So asked the endo if I could try NDT first and thats where I am in my first week on Erfa just now.

He was happy enough to offer the Erfa but did say 'keep the patches as I feel you may still need them later'.....

In the patient information leaflet in the patch box, it clearly states 'Its not advisable to use the patches if you have had a 1st degree relative with breast cancer' one of my two sisters had breast cancer 4 years ago. So for the moment that sealed my decision.

But it does seem as others have said that often other things are contributing towards our ill health and many of us probably tend to blame every thing on our thyroid.

[cal1971]

Thanks for all your comments. I just feel as if I'm NOT menopausal ( despite no periods, which literally just stopped after being like clockwork ) and have had no hot flushes, night sweats, or insomnia! I feel like he might be trying to push menopause on me when I've been dogging him for three years about thyroid as I feel knackered, sore, foggy and have piled weight on. I thought maybe my thyroid was affecting my cycle and hormones ( as radd says).

I'm on day 3 of T3 so will see what happens. I certainly won't be taking any HRT - I just wanted a broad opinion before I see him, and I will be getting the FSH / LH test done again.

[cal1971 in reply to cal1971]

Oh, and I was on 150mcg of Levo before i started the T3, and the endo recommended the T3 dose to my Dr as a 'trial'.