Symptoms

Maddie

TPO antibodies 778.4 (<34)

TG antibodies 256.3 (<115)

This is at the root of your problem. Has anyone bothered to tell you that you have autoimmune thyroid disease aka Hashimoto's as confirmed by your high antibodies? This is where antibodies attack the thyroid and gradually destroy it. The antibody attacks cause fluctuations in symptoms and test results.

Most doctors dismiss antibodies as being of no importance and know little or nothing about Hashi's and how it affects the patient, test results and symptoms. It's very worrying as Hashi's is the most common cause of hypothyroidism and fairly basic stuff in the grand scheme of things. Most endos are diabetes specialists and know very little or nothing about treating hypothyroidism. Hence, you need to read, learn, understand and help yourself where Hashi's is concerned.

You can help reduce the antibodies by adopting a strict gluten free diet which has helped many members here. Gluten contains gliadin (a protein) which is thought to trigger autoimmune attacks so eliminating gluten can help reduce these attacks. You don't need to be gluten sensitive or have Coeliac disease for a gluten free diet to help.

Supplementing with selenium l-selenomethionine 200mcg daily can also help reduce the antibodies, as can keeping TSH suppressed.

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

stopthethyroidmadness.com/h...

stopthethyroidmadness.com/h...

hypothyroidmom.com/hashimot...

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

I had dose changes, quite a few. Do you need all of them?

Now we know that you have Hashi's and have never had T3 added and removed, just post a few, maybe where you may have had a dose reduction, say what you were taking at the time and what explanation was given for reducing the dose (we probably know the answer!)

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Hashi's and gut absorption problems tend to go hand in hand and can very often result in low nutrient levels or deficiencies. We see daily on here that Hashi's patients supplement for low nutrient levels but they never improve, and very often they are on the wrong dose of supplements.

Yes I have had vits and mins tested and I supplement

Please tell us the results, say what you are supplementing with, how long for and the dose.

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Results were on 150mcg and endo wants to reduce but I don't feel overmedicated Never been on T3

TSH 0.03 (0.2 - 4.2)

Free T4 24.9 (12 - 22)

Free T3 4.2 (3.1 - 6.8)

The aim of a treated hypo patient generally is for TSH to be 1 or below or wherever it needs to be for FT4 and FT3 to be in the upper part of their respective reference ranges when on Levo. See thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_... > Treatment Options:

According to the BMA's booklet, "Understanding Thyroid Disorders", many people do not feel well unless their levels are at the bottom of the TSH range or below and at the top of the FT4 range or a little above.

The booklet is written by Dr Anthony Toft, past president of the British Thyroid Association and leading endocrinologist. It's published by the British Medical Association for patients. Avalable on Amazon and from pharmacies for £4.95 and might be worth buying to highlight the appropriate part and show your doctor. However, I don't know if this is in the current edition as it has been reprinted a few times.

Also -

Dr Toft states in Pulse Magazine, "The appropriate dose of levothyroxine is that which restores euthyroidism and serum TSH to the lower part of the reference range - 0.2-0.5mU/l.

In this case, free thyroxine is likely to be in the upper part of its reference range or even slightly elevated – 18-22pmol/l. Most patients will feel well in that circumstance.

But some need a higher dose of levothyroxine to suppress serum TSH and then the serum-free T4 concentration will be elevated at around 24-28pmol/l.

This 'exogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism' is not dangerous as long as serum T3 is unequivocally normal – that is, serum total around T3 1.7nmol/l (reference range 1.0-2.2nmol/l)."

You can obtain a copy of the article by emailing dionne.fulcher@thyroiduk.org print it and highlight question 6 to show your doctor.

You can obtain a copy of the article by emailing dionne.fulcher@thyroiduk.org Question 6 refers.

Dr Toft has recently published an updated article in which he suggests many people would benefit from adding T3 to Levo and this is what you need. Your FT3 is far to low in range. You could do with a slight reduction in your Levo to bring your FT4 down into range and the addition of some T3.

The link to Dr Toft's new article is at the bottom of SlowDragon's reply to this post healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Sorry I can't link to it myself, my PC is playing silly beggars today!

Maddie

T3 is liothyronine, another replacement thyroid hormone, prescribed when conversion of T4 to T3 is poor which shows up when FT4 is high and FT3 is low.