Latest blood test results..any advice please ?

[Joell]

Hi All

Went to my Endo appointment today and was seen by a junior Endo as he was busy. I have been taking 2 x Thyro Gold 300mg tablets daily and have added 25mg of T3 daily also...I recently have added an extra half a tablet of T3 also... not every day) as there has been no improvements in my weight or sleep.

My results were:

FT4 27.6

TSH 0.01

FT3 13.4

She told me I was now over-medicated and had become 'HYPERTHYROID' and that my heart was in danger. She then asked me when I was taking my meds. I told her I took my 2 Thyro Gold tablets together at bedtime and my T3 early morning ( around 5am). At my last appointment, my proper Endo had told me to up my dose of Thyro Gold from one a day, to take one in the evening at bedtime and one in the morning but then i found it difficult to take T3 on empty stomach because of timings so i took it upon myself to take the 2 TG in the evening so I could take my T3 on an empty stomach first thing. Today's Endo then said I could take all meds together and T3 didn't need to be on an empty stomach. I questioned this as I am sure I read on here that T3 also needs to be on an empty stomach. She then began to Google Thyroid meds ( gave me loads of confidence ! ) But she couldn't find anything to support what she had said. I asked her what the next step is if I am over-medicated and she said I can EITHER choose to take less T3 or less T4 ! At this point I asked if I could see my initial Endo ( I had seen him whilst I was in the waiting room ) and she said she had already discussed this with him beforehand and this was his advice. As I wasn't too sure what to choose I told her I would drop T4 ( Thyro Gold ) to one tablet and try that. I am going to have a repeat blood test in 8 weeks and my next appointment is in 4 months. My question to you helpful and knowledgeable people on here is....is this what I should do or should I have chosen to drop the T3 ? To be honest I was hoping that they could advise me...not for me to take pot luck! As a side note, she gave me 2 blood test forms ...one for me to do in 8 weeks and another for the 4 month appointment...I noticed when I got home that she had requested for RT3 on both which I have never had tested before. She did not mention this to me at the appointment but I am wondering what this could mean ? Any advice what to do from here would be really appreciated. If it turns out I have made the wrong choice of dropping the T4, please let me know and I can email my original Endo with what I am now doing ? Thankyou

[greygoose]

I thought Thyro Gold was T4+T3 - or, in other words, NDT. So, if you reduce the Thyro gold, you will be reducing both. And, as both seem very over-range - although difficult to tell without the ranges (please, always put the ranges) - that would seem to be the first choice of action.

We had a discussion on here the other day about whether you could take T3 with food, as some people maintain. But, it would seem, there is no evidence either way. Personally, I think it best to err on the side of caution and assume that you need to take it on an empty stomach. In which case, there's absolutely no reason why you can't take all your hormone together - Thyrogold + T3 - at the same time.

The rT3 test is to see how well you're converting. Sometimes, under certain circumstances, instead of converting the T4 to Free T3, the T4 is converted to reverse T3 (rT3). This is a natural process, but sometimes the rT3 can mount up and cause problems. It's good that she's testing that. Most doctors have no idea what it is! lol

[Joell in reply to greygoose]

Thanks so much Grey Goose, I'll take them all together then..when I asked for the print out of my blood test, it was a minimal print out with only those three figures ( no brackets ) I asked her to print out the whole thing as it didn't look normal but she said it would not be possible as it would not fit on the page, but said I could obtain it from the hospital if needed. When I go for my next blood test I will ask for the proper print out. So I will drop my T4 Thyro Gold to one capsule and continue with the T3 and see what happens ...Thanks again for the advice

[greygoose in reply to Joell]

Three results wouldn't fit on the page? What on earth is she talking about? I don't think she knows much about computers, either! Maybe she can advise you how to boil an egg.

[Joell in reply to greygoose]

Ha hilarious, GG I know...the page she had up was of all the dates I had blood tests but there were no brackets after the results so not the normal print out...I will request this when i go for my next blood test in 2 months. I have made sure my next appointment is with the Initial Endo. Thanks again.

[greygoose in reply to Joell]

Try asking the receptionist to print out your results. She might have a better idea how to do it.

[Joell in reply to greygoose]

Good idea GG, They are actually very nice receptionists so I will do that next time x

[greygoose in reply to Joell]

[shaws Administrator]

TSH is immaterial if taking T3. Also your results cannot correspond to blood tests which were invented along with levothyroxine - T4 only.

So with Thyro Gold being T4, T2, T1 and calcitonin and T3 being the active hormone your tests cannot correspond.

I shall give you a link from the doctor who invented Thyro-gold as it was made specifically to NOT require a prescription.

web.archive.org/web/2010112...

Dr Lowe didn't agree with splitting doses and the reason might be in the link

[Joell in reply to shaws]

Thanks for your reply Shaws....will read the link properly tomorrow when I have time x