Hi people , but i am again confused i have been on levo 100mg a day for 5 weeks i feel crappy , so the doctor tells me to take a 125 a day instead , I dont understand how levo works ?? my tsh is 7 t4 16 and t3 3 , I have no thyroid as I am 5 months post RAi , can some one explain to me how this table works , as i am so confused as to way he would want to up it
thank you
wendy
He upped it because your previous dose was too low.
Levo is a thyroid hormone, T4. As with all hormones, you need an optimal amount in your body. However, with all hormones, after a deficiency, you have to start dosing them low, and increase slowly. Usually, levo is increased by 25 mcg every six weeks, until you are well. But, as you're right at the beginning of your journey, increasing after just five weeks, won't hurt. But, you do need to get retested in six weeks time.
T4 is a storage hormone, that is - in theory - converted into the active hormone, T3, as and when the body needs it. It is low T3 that causes symptoms, makes you feel crappy. You have given a range for your results - please, always give results - but your T3 looks very low, still. You will probably need several more increases in dose before this rises to a level that will make you well. It may even be, eventually, that you will need to take T3 itself, in order to feel well. But, time will tell. In the meantime, hang on in there, it does get better! 
Thank you so much, now i understand phewww , I am just one of those people that need to understand stuff, you have made things much clearer for me
Good! It's good to understand things. We need to know our disease, and our bodies, and how they work.
If you feel no better as your dose is increased until your TSH is 1 or below (not higher) get your Free T4 and Free T3 tested to see if you are converting T4 (inactive hormone) into T3 (the only active hormone required in all of our receptor cells,).
My personal opinion is that if someone has no thyroid gland at all, a T4/T3 combination should be offered to the patient if they aren't improving on T4. Rarely are FT4 and FT3 tested and you can see the reason in the link below.
We have to read and learn if we want to recover our health as doctors don't seem to have too much knowledge beyond the TSH and T4.
thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...
Thankyou Shaws for your info , i have read artical and i am starting to understand a little more , I know a lot about carb and GD but now i am hypo i have to start all over again , my doctor seems to think I will need to be on 150mgs a day but i seem to have lost all faith in his words . I had to tell him I should stop taking vit D supplements because i was now at the correct level he asked me why i explained about the differnce between vit d and c and how they store in the body , I know he already knew this but he had over looked the test results which came back as 97 . after he checked his computer he agreed , I walked out of his room totaly defeated and upset
Unfortunately. we have to be our own educators if we want to do our best to recover our health.
There is no way in which they can foretell our dosage as all of us on this forum probably have a variety. I still stand by T4/T3 as the best option and research has shown this is beneficial for many and not just those without a gland
I think many doctors are jaded most times as they should really know the basics about vitamins/minerals but seem to know little.
It's all very well doctors looking at a chart about results but not appearing to know anything about optimum.
My mother's doctor told her she now needed no more B12 injections as her blood was now fine!
When my Mother became quite ill and hosptalised both my Sister and I said to doctor, my mother 'had' P.A. They said (which I now know through her experience) that once diagnosed you always have it.
She died due to stomach cancer caused by neglect and the withdrawal of B12 injections.
That was my sister and my own first experience of a iatrogenic experience, Enough so that I do not miss my P.A. injections.
We have some hard lessons in life at times but it is good you were knowledgeable about your Vit D and it is disappointing to say the least.
Taking levo when you have no thyroid gland gets a bit messy. You may find that you initially feel better when you increase the dose.......but only for a few weeks. You increase the dose and again feel better......again for just a short period. Then you reduce the dose as you feel worse than you did on the lower dose......and you feel better once again, and again only for a short time.
Gradually you feel worse for more of the time and your doc offers no useful advice at all when you tell him you're taking the wrong medicine. It is highly unlikely he will tell you that there are alternative medicines. At this point, after 8 years, I gave up and solved my health problem by myself.
One of them is combined levothyroxine (T4) plus Liothyronine (T3). I f you pressurise him he may, with any luck, prescribe some for you on the advice of an endocrinologist. The other is Natural Desiccated Thyroid (NDT, often referred to by brand name Armour). This you will never get from doctor, he will likely deny even knowing of its existence. You would have to buy this without a prescription from Thailand (Thyroid-S or Thiroyd). Cost probably £US50 - $US100 for 1000 pills. You would probably need just 2 tablets per day for decent health.
How does it work with a private endo?
How does it work now?
T3 is not working! How long does it take?
How long does it take levothyroxine to start working?
