Dear All,
I get terribly confused with Blood results and contradictory opinions from Endocrinologists too. I am currently on 100mg Levi x 5 days per week and 20 mg of T3 Daily. Nhs Consultant advised to stop the T3, whilst Private Consultant says keep it as it is. Confusing?? !!i have been feeling very tiered lately and my stomach is swollen. I would be interested in hearing your views on my results.
TSH 0.05, FT4 16.2, FT3 6.7
Thank you look forward to hearing your views
Hiya, we need the ranges of your blood tests (the number in brackets) as different labs have different ranges. Going by your typical ranges, you're certainly not under medicated, and possibly look quite optimal to me unless you're having any hyper symptoms.
The NHS consultant will tell you to drop the T3 at the mo because they've got in a bit of a predicament whereby only one company is licenced to supply it and they've obviously whacked the price up - and I mean extortionate prices - hundreds so they've been told not to prescribe. However the guidelines state that they shouldn't take them off you if you have good reason to be on them.
Can I ask why you only take the levo five times a week - is it because 75 a day was not enough and 100 too much?
Being over medicated can cause tiredness so check the symptoms of this and make sure you're not having any but otherwise I would suggest that your fatigue is being caused by somethings else.
Many of us thyroid peeps are low in nutrients like Vit D, Vit B12, Folate and iron which can cause fatigue and other issues so it's important to get these checked out.
With your stomach issues, my best suggestion would be to go gluten free as often suggested on here and many of us find this improves our issues massively especially fatigue and tummy issues. Most my issues cleared up after doing this and my thyroid levels became much more stable. However, it has to be 100% gluten free and for at least three months to see if will resolve. If this fails, you could try an elimination diet to see if any other food groups are the cause of your stomach issues. If nothing food wise seems to help, there's other things you can look at or speak to your GP about them although they're likely just to say IBS!!!
Many doctors are pretty pants with thyroid issues and nutritional deficiencies so it's always worth posting all your results on here for advice.
Hope you feel better soon 
What a helpful responsive...brief but packed with truthful realities - especially with the tummy issues! I have battled for two years with swollen stomach issues and have finally had to submit to going gluten free - and you are so right.....GP's simply sign off bloating as an IBS issue......I haven't gone totally gluten free -- I steal a bit here and there - unintentionally of course - but sometimes that chocolate biscuit is just begging me to eat it!! (and I just can't stop myself from buying these when they are on their silly offers in the supermarkets!).
My stomach is still very swollen and I cannot lose weight for love nor money but going almost gluten free has taken away most of the terrible discomfort. I still can't bend to do up my shoes etc - so next step (pardon the pun here!) is to go totally gluten free.
If I eat gluten for a couple of weeks, my tsh climbs to 30-50 and it takes three months to go back to normal so yes, it does have to be 100%. I actually unknowingly had a lot of water retention until I had given it quite a while and realised I actually do own a pair of ankles - I bloat up like a balloon all over if I eat gluten lol.
If it helps, I know many GF products don't taste the same or that nice but if you get the biscuits made with oats only and not the naff usual rice flour and potato starch crap, they actually taste no different really. Prewetts bicuits are really nice and the co-op chocolate digestives are very good too - you can even get gluten free hobnobs. The marks and spencers GF chocolate fudge cake and millionaire's choc and caramel crispy mini bites are amazing lol
Thank you so much for your response. I have no idea why I am taking Levo only sorry correction 6 days a week. All other levels are fine Vit D, Feretin, B12. It is the first time I have seen the NHS Consultant as I always go private. It was to see if they would honour the T3 Prescription, clearly they do not want to and in fact he says that there is no evidence that T3 has any significant effect! My response was that it clearly does and that I have noticed a huge improvement since started taking it over a year ago. I am lucky that my husband travels and can get my prescriptions from abroad. I have been taking the combined Novothyrol as he brought it back by mistake. My Private Consultant advises to take it separately, due to the short effects of the T3 and advises to take half a tab in the morning and then the other after lunch around 2 pm. Would be interested in hearing views on Novothyrol as opposed to the separate T4 and T3?
I think we're all different to be honest. I can't take all my T3 at once and have to split it across the day as otherwise I get too hyper for a while after and too tired at the end of the day. Others here prefer to take it all together and feel better that way. I've had some issues in the past couple of years and it appears that it was caused since my thyroid packed in completely and has not been producing T4 of it's own so have had to add a little T4 back in so this could be why I cannot take more at one time? Whatever you feel best with really.
It's certainly worth posting your last vit results as what is classed as in range in the uk is often classed as deficient in other countries or not optimal
Understanding blood test results
Understanding test results
Understanding blood test results
Help to understand Blood test Results
