I have a NHS endo appointment on December 14th. I would like to be prepared for this and have a blood test ready (yes I know it might not be accepted but the endo is quite open and approachable).
For the past 3 months I have been self medicating with T3 only. I wasn't converting my Levo-thyroxine properly and believe it was transforming into RT3.
My last blood test from Blue Horizons was a Thyroid Plus 11 which I did as a home test kit in September.
I wanted to have some advice on which test I should be having now. Should I go for the same Thyroid Plus 11 or should I check for RT3 as well? Since I haven't been taking any Levo-thyroxine will I still be producing RT3? Is it worthwhile checking or will I be just throwing money away?
As always thanks in advance for any advice.
XXXX
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Mordillo
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I shall give you a link and within it is an explanation of RT3, so I don't think there should be too much emphasis on it (I am not medically qualified).
What dose of T3 are your taking? If taking T3 only your tests will be different to what they would be if you were on levothyroxine. Your FT3 might be high and your FT4 low.
I think your Endo would like TSH and I'd do FT3 and FT4 but he may prefer T3 and T4.
Remember to have the earliest appointment and take T3 afterwards.
Go to the date March 24, 1999 to read the question/answer:-
Shaws reply is the best advice and sorry if this is old news but just wanted to help .
Have your thyroid anti bodies done if you haven't already . Cortisol and ferretin b12 and vitamin d . Corrected calcium ,magnesium . Just coz I find consultant more likely to suggest rapid correction of any of these than your GP . My GP didn't want to correct low vitamin d with high dose tablets . Namely cocalciferol . It was consultant who understood needed to feel less tired asap . So good to go with all blood results . So pleased that U have understanding Endo . I do too and am so grateful for that . Good luck
The likelihood is that if you are taking sufficient T3 to feel well then you might be producing almost no T4 at all.
The raw material required for the body to create Reverse T3 is T4.
If your thyroid isn't producing any T4 and you aren't taking any T4, then your body can't create Reverse T3 because there is no raw material for it to be created. So there is no point in testing for RT3 because it will almost certainly be very low.
People on T3-only often produce very low levels of TSH. Since doctors think that low TSH means you have hyperthyroidism or are over-medicated they might freak out.
NHS labs that test TSH and get a very low result may test Free T4. If they discover that your Free T4 is very low as well I don't know what they will do then. With luck they may test Free T3 - but I wouldn't bet on it.
If you want to do only the absolute basics for as little as possible you could try this test :
Whether you want to test your vitamins and minerals is up to you, and depends on whether you are deficient or not, and whether you have been supplementing and want to check whether the supplementation is working.
What your endo will prob do is want his own blood test done, and send you down to the phlebotomist, this is a pain if your app is in the afternoon! Last time I went I lied and said I had to pick my grandson up so couldn't wait could I please come back first thing tomorrow. You defiantly don't want your bloods done in the afternoon,
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