18 years on T4

[Mark1968]

I found out today my mum has been taking T4 for 18 years and she is convinced this is why she feels lousy. She is 70.

Any advice on how she can approach her GP?

Thanks.

[marsaday]

What dose does she take and what are her blood test results. Very often people have been dosed according to the TSH test. This has actually kept people under medicated and so in a state of chronic tiredness / illness.

Getting a better balanced thyroid is achievable, but it needs a bit of research and trial and error.

Vitamin D and the B vitamins are very helpful in aiding thyroid health. Vit D especially. Many women can be low in iron and this also prevents good thyroid health.

An increase of T4 is always desirable if someone is not doing well. There can be a point when more and more T4 doesn't make any difference. This would be where T3 could be introduced.

It's a big topic and needs some research, but you can improve your health if you start to learn a bit and take your health into your own hands.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Mark1968 The best thing to do to start with is ask the surgery for a print out of her latest thyroid test results, and any other tests she may have had done fairly recently. Assuming you are in the UK, a patient is legally entitled to their test results (and medical history if they want it) under the Data Protection Act 1998. If your mum isn't confident enough to do this herself, maybe you can accompany her for moral support and speak up for her if necessary. She doesn't necessarily have to see her GP to ask for these, just ask the receptionist but they may want to get permission from the GP first.

Is she on any other meds for any other condition? If so, what are they?

When you have this information, make a new thread and post the results with their reference ranges for members to comment. We'll be able to tell you if your mum is adequately medicated. Include as much information as possible, current dose of T4, when she last had a dose change, how she feels and any symptoms she may have.

[shaws Administrator]

If your mother hasn't had a blood test for quite a while. Usually it can be yearly if been on a stable dose for quite sometime.

Ask for a new blood test. It should be for the very earliest possible appointment, fasting but you can take water. Also allow a gap of 24 hours approx from the last dose of levothyroxine and the test and take it afterwards.

We also have a private list of recommended labs who will do a full set of hormones and she can do it from her home and GP might not do them all.

TSH, T4, T3, Free T4 and Free T3 and thyroid antibodies. B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate. The GP should do B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate.

Get a copy of the results with the ranges (labs differ in their machines so ranges can differ). Post them on a new question for comments.

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

[thyr01d]

Hi Mark, what a lovely son to find out what can be done for your Mum.

I have almost the same history and asked for a referral, long story but at the end of 2 years I have an appointment this Friday and might see a Professor (a doctor too) who has a special interest in thyroid problems.

To achieve this I first requested a referral several times then as my requests were declined I put the request in writing saying, as gently as I could, that I believed I was being kept unwell as a consequence of the Levo and not being referred.

I hope that helps

(First endo advised raising my dose of Levo, fortunately my GP looked at my history and said that would be the worst thing to do, she then asked me to choose another endo and I found this Professor but the referral is to his clinic and I may not be lucky enough to see him ... if you'd like to know what happens next just keep in touch, if not, that's fine too of course)