Nature throid and tiredness

[Teejay258]

Hi All, first time I've posted on here but have changed from T4 levo to nature throid and after slowly increasing I'm at the right dose of 175 according to my last blood test, so I'm on the right dose for me. However, every evening I have this crushing tiredness (I'm up 5.30 for work and work full-time) but I've gone from a person who could never catnap unless I was ill, to one that cannot stop. I've recently had blood test and my ferritin and folate b12 etc are all in range. My TSH was just under .05. I did feel far more awake on T4 so I'm disappointed with nature throid at the moment. Does anyone else share this experience or know what else could be causing the tiredness?

[Framboise]

What dose of levo were you taking prior to taking the Naturethroid and what are your actual test results? If you're not certain what is causing your tiredness you could try to lower your dose to see if makes a difference and/or increase it to see what happens.

My experience with Nature-throid hasn't been great I must say. I've taken various NDTs over the years and changed them due to reformulations etc, but recently I saw a new endo who prescribed N-T for me and although I'm not tired as you are, I don't have the energy I had when taking the others. I'm also feeling cold, despite the recent hot weather, and I'm getting a lot of cramp in my hands, knees, legs and feet, both day and night. My test results went down slightly on the same dose, 2.5 grains, as I was previously taking of Thyroid-S etc. and the endo asked me to increase to 3 grains, but as I've increased the coldness hasn't improved and the cramps have got worse, so I've now ordered more Thyroid-S and will ask to switch to WP at my next appointment in a few weeks.

I'll be interested to know if you work out that it's definitely the N-T which is making you so much more tired than on levo!

[Teejay258 in reply to Framboise]

It was 100mg of levo. I've posted other results a bit further down to Silver Fox just getting the hang of this I think 😊

[Framboise in reply to Teejay258]

I agree with Silverfox that your FT4 isn't high enough in the range and you probably need an increase in your dose of N-T, that would help with the tiredness you're experiencing, but you should also get your FT3 tested to see where that is. I think that your B12 is possibly a bit low as it should normally be close to 500, but I'm not sure quite what the range for your test is. Also ferritin should be 75+ so supplementing both those will help.

Good luck

[silverfox7]

It is very easy to take too much and not realise so if you can post your results we will be able to give you better advice. Please include the ranges as they differ from lab to lab.

[Teejay258 in reply to silverfox7]

Hello Silver Fox, my TSH is 0.34 with serum T4 12 pmol/l (range being 10.0-22) are we supposed to be aiming for 10 or 22?

B12 is 373 range (190-160)

Ferritin 48.0 (24.0-400.0)

Folate 6.5 (2.1-26.8)

I'm going to start taking iron supplements and B12 to see if that helps.

Has anyone heard of GTA Thyroid support? I've been advised to try it but need to do some research first.

[silverfox7 in reply to Teejay258]

It's up the range, to top third or or quarter so in a range of 10-22 that a difference of 12 so a third of 12 is 4 so top third is 22-4 so 18 and a quarter it 3 so top quarter is 22-3 i.e. 19 so you are aiming reach 18+

[Teejay258 in reply to silverfox7]

This would account for the tiredness then. As the t.s.h was ok I thought it was a perfect reading. So much to learn. Thanks for that

[silverfox7 in reply to Teejay258]

TSH isn't regarded as accurate once in medication.

Some people their body recognises that thyroxine is arriving from elsewhere so think why should I bother working on it!

[lucylocks in reply to silverfox7]

silverfox7

T4 level is advised to be top third or quarter in range when one is taking levo.

If on NDT it is often said on this forum T4 is usually low in range and this does not matter as it is the T3 level which is important.

[Wolfiesmom08]

I tried nature through aid for about nine months. I just did not have the energy that I had on T4 so I had my blood test checked and my T4 levels were really low so I added some T4 and that gave me energy back. If you look at tiredthyroid.com that is what Barbara does however if you read the S TTM Websites they say most people don't need to add and T4 however I found out that I did. I just switched my dose though to a synthetic T4 and T3 because I have Hashimoto's and I felt like NDT could be elevating my thyroid antibodies.

[Hidden in reply to Wolfiesmom08]

Since a human thyroid produces T3 and T4 in slightly different ratios than a pig's thyroid gland, it makes sense to me that some need to add some T4 to the mix for optimal results...my own experience is that raising NDT to get T4 levels up can result in above-range FT3 levels with rather unpleasant side effects.

[Teejay258 in reply to Wolfiesmom08]

That makes sense to me although I would not know what T4 to add it can be nerve wracking without a Doctor supervising us can't it!

Good luck to everyone thank you for replies.

[LAHs]

Your energy level and it's diurnal variation will depend upon how much T3 you are generating either from Levo, NDT or what's left of your own thyroid. Get your T3 measured at the end of a day (having taken your meds in the morning.) You may find that you are running at almost zero having run out some time mid afternoon. T3 has a half life of about 6-8 hours.

I take my NDT at about 6:00am and I get 15 hours of complete normality but at 9:00pm I almost fall on the floor with exhaustion, my T3 has run out. When I was on a successful brand of Levo I upped my dose until I generated sufficient T3 and I got to normal health.

T3 is the key to good energy, make sure you measure it, both total T3 as well as free T3. - And post your results so that we can give informed opinions.