Help what do i do??? Conversion test??

[ThyroidObsessed]

Anyone who read my last post please ignore!! as the receptionist who gave me my thyroid blood results gave me the ones from january!!!

Just spoke with my endo who i saw for the first time on the 22nd of april, after taking all bloods he said my cortisol is fine and everything else, but my tsh is still over 100 range is (0.27-4.5) but free T4 has risen to 14.8 range (11-23) it was 5.7, on 7 weeks ago.. im currently on 50mcg i was on 100mcg of the teva over xmas and was having bad anxiety attacks, but over the 7 weeks of taking the actavis my anxiety have calmed down massively..

The endo has told me to increase the levothyroxine to 75mcg for 6 weeks then have a blood test at my doctors then let him know the results..

He said if the tsh doesnt start coming down then he will have me tested for possible conversion problems, by giving me a tablet or something at the hospital and staying in hospital for a few hours...

Can anyone make sense of whats happening with me?

Should i start taking 75mcg as im scared it will make anxiety bad again??

What will happen at hospital with the conversion test?

If im not converting i thought u couldnt get t3on nhs??

Also i have been on levo 8 years with no problems???

[shaws Administrator]

Take your 75mcg as that's how the increases are from the initial dose, i.e. 25mcg around every six to eight weeks. Anxiety etc is a clinical symptoms unfortunately, and we can feel quite bad but it should subside.

I cannot explain why you've gone more hypo but it is definitely shown by your high TSH.

If you now aren't converting levo to T3, don't worry you will be prescribed it on a 'Clinical Need'.

[greygoose]

If he wants to know if you're converting, all he has to do is test your FT3 and FT4 at the same time, and compare them. No tablet, no hospital necessary. I have no idea what he's talking about!

[ThyroidObsessed in reply to greygoose]

Thank you i will call him again tomorrow and suggest this and see what he says...

[greygoose in reply to ThyroidObsessed]

[ThyroidObsessed in reply to greygoose]

Hi Greygoose

I called my endo today again and said that is it possible to see if im converting by testing the ft4 and ft3 at the same time, and he said yes we can do that, but not while 6 weeks when i have been on the 75mcg of levo as he wants to see if the tsh drops at all with the increase...

[greygoose in reply to ThyroidObsessed]

Oh dear. lol Did you ask him about the tablet and the hospital?

It would be perfectly normal to wait six weeks after a dose increase before testing, because otherwise you will just be testing a load of unconverted T4. But, it does sound as if it hadn't occurred to him to test conversion that way. I still want to know what other way there is! lol

[ThyroidObsessed in reply to greygoose]

He said something about staying in hospital for a few hours while they monitor u after u take a tablet that stops u from needing levo for a week!!!??

Also after being on the levo actavis 50mcg for 6 weeks the ft4 has risen from 5.7 range (11-23) to 15.6 but the tsh is still over 100 range (0.27-4.5) over thsi time my anxiety mood drops have calmed down...

Bear in mind i have been on levo 9 years with no problems it only started last oct when all of a sudden my tsh shot up and ft4 was also slightly over the range, then i stopped the teva new formula as blamed that and then my ft4 dropped to 5.7 and tsh went over 100...

What do u think is happening?

My theory is either the teva new formula didnt agree with me and wasnt absorbing?

Or im not converting?

Or its just a blip as i have hashis?

My fear now is as i have been told to increase the levo to 75mcg for 6 weeks that my ft4 will go over again and ill suffer bad anxiety again?

Im so confused by it all....

[greygoose in reply to ThyroidObsessed]

Well, I have never, ever heard of anything like that. If you go for it, I do hope you'll tell us all about it, afterwards.

I'm wondering... How many times has your TSH tested high like that since last October? And was it done in the same lab each time? There is such a thing as TSH antibodies, which can affect the test and give abnormally high results. To know if it's that, you would have to have your TSH tested in a different laboratory, to see if you get the same results.

However, if your FT4 is 15.6, I don't think increasing by 25 mcg will take you over-range.

[ThyroidObsessed in reply to greygoose]

Also when my ft4 dropped to 5.7 my ft3 dropped to 1.42 range (3.1- 6.8) but as iv never had my ft3 tested before i dont know what it was.. so i was thinking as my ft4 has gone up that i should pay fir a private ft3 blood test and see if that has gone up to? Surely that will tell me then if im converting or now instead of waiting 6 weeks?

[greygoose in reply to ThyroidObsessed]

Well, it depends if you've increased your dose yet. You should leave six weeks after a dose increase before testing. But, to see how you convert, you need to test both the FT4 and the FT3 at the same time. You can't compare an FT3 done today with an FT4 done last week, I'm afraid.

[ThyroidObsessed in reply to greygoose]

I started on 75mcg 2 days ago.. is 15.6 still really low then even though in range?... looking back on my other blood results my ft4 has always been very slightly above range and tsh just below 1 is this normal?.. my tsh started creeping up in august of last year but the ft4 was still high in the range?..

[greygoose in reply to ThyroidObsessed]

Well, mid-range for the FT4, is 17. So, that looks pretty low to me.

Doesn't matter how low the TSH goes, but if FT4 was over-range, I'd want my FT3 tested, to see how that was.

It certainly is all very strange.

[ThyroidObsessed in reply to greygoose]

Well the ft4 increased from 5.7 to 15.6 in 6 weeks our range here is (11-23) is that fast do u think? Is it just because the ft4 is storing and not converting?

All the bloods got out of hand including wild symptoms when i started the teva new formula last october was always fine before then??

Im really hoping the tsh comes down after the increase and i get back to normal, symptoms have slowly got better over the 6 weeks of being on 50mcg of levo actavis brand though...

Have u heard other people have an increase in tsh and ft4 but then get back to normal especially with hashis??

[greygoose in reply to ThyroidObsessed]

I can't say I've ever heard of a case like yours. But that's not to say there aren't any.

I don't think your rise in FT4 was particularly fast, but you cannot predict these things.

You can't know if you're converting unless you have the FT3 test done.