Feeling Confused

[lresinge]

I have been dealing with thyroid issues for over 5 years. My previous Dr did a blood panel 3 years ago that revealed that my thyroid numbers were high so she put me on levo thyroxine. Sorry but I don't remember what the numbers were back then. Anyway, I took the levo for about a year getting tested every 3 months. The numbers were always in the NORMAL range. Problem is, I still felt bad..pain throughout body, severe burning in feet, weight gain, hungry all the time, cold,...! So I quit the medicine thinking the test was wrong. About a year ago I found a new dr and asked her to retest me since I still had all the symptoms. My TSH was 5.49,can't remember the other numbers but I do remember they were in the lower part of the NORMAL range, so she put me back on levo 100mg. I still had symptoms after about 6 months so I asked her to do a blood panel for thyroid autoimmune diseases. Bingo..Hashimotos!! Ok, now that u kinda know my story my question is..After being diagnosed with Hashi I explained to my Dr that the levo still ain't making me feel any better so she has now taken me off levo and put me on Cytomel which is a T3 drug. According to what I have read and those that I have talked to, shouldn't she have added the Cytomel to the levo?? Won't my T4 go back up since I'm only on T3 med? Hope someone on here can answer this question because the longer I'm off levo, the longer is going to take to get back into my system if I really do need to b on it. Thank you

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

T4 is a storage hormone which converts to the active hormone T3 which every cell in our body needs. So it's T3 that does the work and T3 is what we ultimately need, either by good conversion of T4 or by taking T3 meds.

Once you're on a T3 medication, in combo with T4, in NDT or T3 alone, TSH and FT4 are going to be low. It's the FT3 result which is important and should be kept in range.

Did you know that you can help reduce the antibodies by adopting a strict gluten free diet, supplementing with selenium L-selenomethionine 200mcg daily, and keeping TSH very low or suppressed?

Gluten/Thyroid connection:

chriskresser.com/the-gluten...

Info about Hashi's:

stopthethyroidmadness.com/h...

stopthethyroidmadness.com/h...

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

[lresinge in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you Seaside Susie for explaining the T3 to me. I have made an appointment with an Endocrinologists since I feel that she will hopefully help me better than my GP. I have also been reading about the Gluten free diet...going to try it since the meds don't seem to b doing anything at all!!! Can I ask what the selenium actually does??

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

PS - it would be worth getting the following checked:

Vit D

B12

Folate

Ferritin

These need to be optimal for thyroid hormone to work properly. Low levels can cause symptoms similar to Hypothyroidism.

Always ask for a print out of your results with reference ranges, when posting on the forum this information is useful for members to be able to comment.

[lresinge in reply to SeasideSusie]

Ok, I looked at my blood panel taken and could only find 2 of these that had been taken

B12-5.38, Folate-13.1

My last tsh was .38 but they did not test the t4 or t3 again. Should those b tested each time? When they diagnosed me with Hashi my autoimmune tests were

Peroxidase- >900.0 Range-<9.0

Thyroglobulin- 3.1 Range-<4.0

[greygoose in reply to lresinge]

The TSH test is useless when you are taking T3. The only important number is the FT3, so that really should be done, yes. You cannot possibly know what your T3 level is by doing the TSH.

Am I reading that right? Vit B12 : 5.38? How is that possible? Have you added a decimal point where it doesn't belong? If that is correct, the it is dangerously low and you should be tested for Pernicious Anemia and put on B12 injections, immediately!

[lresinge in reply to greygoose]

I am sorry..there isn't suppose to b any decimal point on the B12!

I have never ever seen my ft3 or even t3 on any tassy results.

[lresinge in reply to lresinge]

Test results

[greygoose in reply to lresinge]

OK. Ouf! lol So, your B12 is 538. That's OK.