Hypothyroid on levo will adding t3 aid weight loss?

[Shellysbelly]

I'm on 50mcg levothyroxine. I'm not losing weight at all although my tsh levels areally 1.72.

So I'm thinking of buying t3 from a reputable company to help boost weight loss. Will it work?

[Angel_of_the_North]

You need to know your Free T4 and free T3 levels and the lab ranges for all your bloods in order to know if you are taking enough levo. Most people feel well when TSH is under 1 and free T4 and free T3 are in the top quarter of their ranges. You also need free T4 and free T3 to tell whether you are converting t4 to T3 effectively. I suspect you are just under medicated. T3 is not a weight loss drug.

You also need optimum levels of ferritin, B12, folate and vitamin D, so you need to get those tested too. Without enough of those, you can't use the thyroid hormones

[SlowDragon Administrator]

First you are almost certainly not on enough Levo

You need FT4 and FT3 testing together

Highly likely to have low vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Do you have high thyroid antibodies? This is Hashimoto's also called autoimmune thyroid disease

Vitamins need testing and supplementing FIRST

Nether T4 or T3 can work if vitamins are too low. Essential to test and treat first

For full evaluation you ideally need TSH, FT4, FT3, TT4, TPO and TG antibodies, plus vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 tested

See if you can get full thyroid and vitamin testing from GP. Unlikely to get FT3

Private tests are available

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have money off offers.

All thyroid tests should be done as early as possible in morning and fasting and don't take Levo in the 24 hours prior to test, delay and take straight after. This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results

Link about antibodies

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

Link about thyroid blood tests

thyroiduk.org/tuk/testing/t...

Print this list of symptoms off, tick all that apply and take to GP

thyroiduk.org/tuk/about_the...

See Box 1. Towards end of article

Some possible causes of persistent symptoms in euthyroid patients on L-T4

You will see low vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 listed

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi...

[Shellysbelly in reply to SlowDragon]

OK this is all new to me.

Thank you for replying.

My doc refused to do any more tests. He said they only do tsh and if tsh is good, they do not other tests 😠

I don't have money for private tests. Can I just buy the vits and see if they help?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Shellysbelly]

Shellysbelly

No, unfortunately you can't just supplement without knowing your levels.

Too much iron is as bad as too little so you can't just take iron tablets.

Vit D is fat soluble and excess gets stored and can reach toxicity level so again we can't just take D3.

If B12 and folate are very low you would need testing for Pernicious Anaemia.

If you can manage £79 at some point then Medichecks often has their Thyroid Ultravit bundle on offer on a Thursday, full thyroid panel plus all those vits and mins, cheapest way to do it. Keep checking every Thursday.

medichecks.com/thyroid-func...

[Shellysbelly]

Thank you. I'll go for it. Do you take the results to your doctor so HD can prescribe the meds?

[Clutter in reply to Shellysbelly]

Shellysbelly,

NHS will usually only prescribe supplements to correct deficiencies. Supplements are available over the counter. If the iron prescribed didn't suit you should try a different type, you don't need a prescription. Low/deficient iron will not improve without iron.

[Shellysbelly]

I was prescribed 200mg iron 2 x a day but they made me feel awful so I stopped them.