Young 70yr old wanting advice

[joy12]

Sue b here again Recent blood tests suggest I have hashimo and am a poor converter of T3 to t4 (only found this out by having private blood test recently even though I have been suffered from hypothyroidism for over 30yrs) I am now 70yrs old and just want to know if I would benefit from adding t3 advice from gp is dire never ever had a t3 blood test before even though I have known for years that my results needed more investigation. One of the locum GPS thinks the older person should not even be given thyroxine!! Regardless of blood tests results so I have decided to try and get myself well on my own any advice would be really helpful

[Clutter]

Joy12,

TSH rises with age and there is a school of thought which says that elderly patients with TSH 7 may not benefit from being prescribed Levothyroxine. Of course, we don't know whether they prescribed sufficient Levothyroxine to alleviate symptoms. Whatever, it is NOT the same thing as taking long time hypothyroid patients off Levothyroxine because they reached >75.

I think you may be a poor converter as TSH is low, FT4 high in range and FT3 low. Increasing Levothyroxine dose would raise FT4 and FT3 or adding some T3 would raise FT3. Either is likely to suppress TSH which increases your risks of developing osteoporosis and atrial fibrillation. Really the only way to tell whether more Levothyroxine or the addition of T3 will help you is to try it but I would first optimise your low B12 and folate and check vitamin D to see what difference that makes to symptoms.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Joy12

Looking at your previous post with Medichecks results healthunlocked.com/thyroidu... then your conversion is poor and Clutter suggested adding some T3 to your Levo.

But you also need to address the Hashi's by adopting a struct gluten free diet and supplementing with selenium l-selenomethionine 200mcg daily to help reduce the antibodies.

Gluten/thyroid connection: chriskresser.com/the-gluten...

stopthethyroidmadness.com/h...

stopthethyroidmadness.com/h...

hypothyroidmom.com/hashimot...

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

Your B12 and folate need addressing too, as pointed out in that thread.

I have read (but not researched so don't have links) that BCSH, UKNEQAS and NICE guidelines recommend:

"In the presence of discordance between test results and strong clinical features of deficiency, treatment should not be delayed to avoid neurological impairment."

And an extract from the book, "Could it be B12?" by Sally M. Pacholok:

"We believe that the 'normal' serum B12 threshold needs to be raised from 200 pg/ml to at least 450 pg/ml because deficiencies begin to appear in the cerebrospinal fluid below 550".

"For brain and nervous system health and prevention of disease in older adults, serum B12 levels should be maintained near or above 1000 pg/ml."

Do you have a Vit D result?

All nutrients need to be at optimal levels for thyroid hormone to work properly.

[joy12 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Recently had FBC and routine thyroid tests carried out by gp all came back satisfactory including b12 no request given for vit D so no results just going on medichecks results if I asked for more blood tests I would be frog marched out of surgery .how long can I wait before I can have medichecks blood test again

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to joy12]

Joy12

If you only want Vit D testing, then City Assays do a home fingerprick blood spot test for £28 vitamindtest.org.uk/index.html

What's happening about your low B12 and folate? Did you check for B12 Deficiency signs and symptoms as Clutter and SlowDragon suggested in your last thread? Did you post on the PA forum for advice?

Have you adopted a gluten free diet as suggested in your last thread?

If you've changed your thyroid meds, you need to leave 6-8 weeks before retesting. If checking nutrient levels then leaving 3-4 months after starting supplements would be about right to see how well you're doing with improving levels.

[marigold22]

Hi, I'm 66 years old now, having been diagnosed with hypothyroid aged 30. I struggled on for a few decades then discovered T3. I'm a poor converter, which I know from doing the private DIO2 gene test. I can only take T3. I do not feel at all well until my TSH is around 0.05 and my Free T3 is over range. The doctors don't like my blood results but I've now dug my heels in after so many lost decades. Everyone is different but that's how I feel now.

[guysgrams in reply to marigold22]

Marigold22, I am with you. I am now 67 and was diagnosed at 46 but was ill many years prior. I finally took the leap to T3 only as well and can honestly say I wish I had been smarter sooner!

[humanbean]

One of the locum GPS thinks the older person should not even be given thyroxine!!

You might find this post of interest - it discusses the TSH of healthy people at different ages:

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

It also gives links to the paper(s) that the locum may have been referring to when he said older people shouldn't be given levothyroxine. I do think the papers referred to are seriously sadistic and were very badly done. But he has seriously mis-interpreted them if he thinks people who have been hypothyroid for a long time should be taken off levothyroxine!

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Or this research that shows the lower the TSH the lower the incidence of heart disease

Heart disease and less risk with low TSH

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/289...

[Aurealis]

I found NDT more gentle than T3 so in your position I’d want to try NDT first. For me, the T3 in NDT feels smoother and longer acting and easier to get stable than when T3 is in the mix, but we’re all different.

[Hidden]

I was taking NDT 3 x grains per day for around 7 months. I still felt tired most of the time and my FT3 was much too high. For the past 4 weeks I have been on 1 x grain of NDT and 1 of T3 per day.

After having my thyroid removed in 2015 I am now feeling like my old self. Levo made me feel ill too. I am 71 years of age.

[guysgrams]

I would say if all vitamins and minerals are where they should be then at least give it a try with T3. I am very glad I took that leap almost 2 years ago now.