Help with blood test results

[George1962]

Hi, I was diagnosed with hashimotos 8 months ago. My t4 has mostly been between 15 and 18 (11-23) and my tsh <0.01-<0.07 (0.27-4.5). I havnt felt well throughout, still have hypo symptoms. One GP put me up from 100 Levo to 150 Levo, I felt awful after two weeks so another GP at my practice reduced me down to 25 Levo. Within a short space time my hands and feet were puffy. In the meantime I saw my endo who put me back up to 100 Levo, to be honest I'd already done that myself. He wants me to take t3, which I am trying to source abroad. My latest results are t4 12(11-22) and tsh 0.46( 0.27-4.5). My questions are why don't I feel any better no matter what my results are? And how important are your tsh levels?

[greygoose]

Because your stupid doctors don't know how to dose! Increases and decreases should only be by 25 mcg at a time. Going from 100 to 25 is sheer lunacy. Your body must be horribly stressed. Hardly surprising that you don't feel well.

[George1962 in reply to greygoose]

Haha, you've made me laugh, I wondered at the time whether they knew what they were doing. you would think with thyroid issues being so common that they would know what they are doing! Thanks for your reply

[greygoose in reply to George1962]

No, they have no idea. Thyroid issues may be common, but they don't learn about them in med school. Most of the time, they make it up as they go along. Which is why we have to learn about it for ourselves, to make sure they don't mess us up too badly!

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

George

"He wants me to take t3"

Why didn't he prescribe it?

I think I know the answer, but honestly, if an endo wants you to take T3 then he should be prepared to make sure you get it not tell you to buy it yourself.

Also, has he tested FT3? If he hasn't then he has no idea whether or not you need T3.

What would have been been sensible would have to increased your Levo from 100 to 125mcg instead of 150. Dose increases should only be in 25mcg increments. You may have been OK on that. They really haven't got a clue!

[George1962 in reply to SeasideSusie]

He gave me a prescription but told me to take it abroad because it's so much cheaper. I can get it here, I've enquired but it's 100 times the price, you cannot get it on the nhs anymore. No I havnt had my t3 levels checked, I will ask about that? Thank you 😄

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to George1962]

Ah, ok, so he gave you a private prescription!

I believe that your prescription may be able to be used abroad which might be better than trying to source non-prescription T3 which is getting increasingly difficult to obtain at the moment.

You could make a new thread asking about getting your prescription filled abroad, I believe one of the brands is Thybon Henning but others will know.

But first, I would definitely get FT3 tested at the same time as FT4 to see what your conversion is like. Your endo might get that done for you, if not then you can do it with a private fingerprick blood test at home through Blue Horizon or Medichecks.

[George1962 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you so much for your help, I will follow up on your suggestions 😄