T3 now?

[diamondial]

I joined this forum about 3 months ago and, on the helpful advice given, started taking selenium then. Following further blood tests, I added B12, B vitamins and D3 about a month ago.

My blood test results before starting the supplements (on 75mcg thyroxine daily) were:

TSH 0.88 (0.35 - 5.00)

Free T4 18.9 (9.00 - 24.00)

Free T3 4.4 (3.50 - 6.50)

Ferritin 137 (15.00 - 250.00)

Folate 9.8 (2.00 - 17.00)

Vitamin B12 408 (200.00 - 900.00)

Vit D 30.9 (30.1 - 50 insufficient)

I've been hypo for so many years now that I've come to accept constant fatigue as normal until I started cycling with a friend of the same age and general fitness and have seen her becoming noticeably fitter whereas I still struggle massively. I've also started to notice things in my day to day life that I hadn't really thought about, such as when doing ordinary chores, where I can, I will shut my eyes just to rest a little and when I've been shopping even only for a short while, I have to lie down when I get home before I can get on with other things. I had just come to accept this as normal. Now I would like to try and improve things. So far the supplements I'm taking have not had any impact on my fatigue and I'm thinking that maybe now is the time to try and add a small amount of T3 to my T4. I would be grateful for advice as to whether this is sensible and also if appropriate perhaps I could be pm'd re a source.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Suggest you continue supplementing as you are and retest Thyroid and vitamins after 6- 8 weeks

Then reassess depending on how thyroid levels have changed

[Tanya-B]

I would try T3. It made a big difference to me. My life was like yours I had to rest in between chores and I gave up shopping completely.

Good luck

[Jazzw]

Have you tried a larger dose of levo? There’s room for a dose increase, I’d say.

[diamondial in reply to Jazzw]

I used to take 100mcg and my results on that dosage were:

Free T3 4.9 (3.5-6.5)

Free T4 20.6 (9-24)

TSH 0.06 (0.35-5.0)

I was put down to 75mcg because of my TSH. Mind you, I felt exactly the same on 100mcg as 75mcg - no difference at all.

[Jazzw in reply to diamondial]

There was no reason to take you off 100mcg. Those results actually indicated you needed an increase in dose to 125mcg, not a reduction. So many doctors panic when they see suppressed TSH but it means nothing if FT3 and FT4 aren’t over the top of their ranges.

[diamondial in reply to Jazzw]

Frustratingly the lab report noted that the aim of treatment was to get the TSH within range. So if the TSH is suppressed it seems that the official line is to reduce treatment whatever the FreeT4 or 3 results are.

[JacqS71]

Hello. I would advise adding a little T3. My bloods were similar to yours. I kept trying to support t4/t3 conversion. I constantly read that t3 should be toward upper end. Over two years I could not shift t3. About two months ago I added t3 after being referred by my GP to an endo. Although he supported me doing this, I had to source my own t3 as it cannot be prescribed. It's still early days but improvements were immediate. I reduced t4 from 150 to 75 and added 3/4 a 25 mcg t3. When bloods came back last week, t3 was finally in upper end of range. Good luck.

[crimple]

75mcg is a smallish dose to be taking. What strength supplements are you taking to improve Vit D, Vit B12? Have you checked out Seaside Susie's posts about taking supplements?

[diamondial in reply to crimple]

Yes I'm taking the dosages recommended by Seaside Susie - 1000ug of B12 and 1000 of Vit D.

[MarthaF]

I agree with trying a bit more levo, it's a much easier route and your t4 isn't at the top of the range so worth a try.

[diamondial in reply to MarthaF]

As I've replied above I used to take 100mcg but was reduced to 75mcg because of my TSH and never felt any different at all on that dosage.

[MarthaF in reply to diamondial]

Even on 100 levo your t4 is not top of the range. It is really hard, I've gone from 75 in August to 100 oct to 125 december. I didnt feel any better, in fact worse until about week 5 of 125 then in week 6 slight hyper.

On 125 my t4 went up to 25 and t3 to 4.3 and very low tsh, I had a mix of morning hyper, evening hypo symptoms. The doctor kept saying my tests were normal until the 125mcg test which went out of range. It was me who initiated the increases. I've read so much on this forum that it gave me the confidence to do it, although my doctor is fairly amenable which helps no end of course.

I also have symptoms like yours, not terrible but a gradual deterioration where I realise I'm not functioning that well, it's like the frog in the gradually boiling pot, you get so used to it you don't know what normal is.

I am definitely not an expert but I still think increasing to 100 then up to 125 might be worth a go, keeping a close eye on hyper symptoms. People often quote Anthony Toft on here about for some people the t4 needs to out of range in order to feel better.

Also the vit D thing, hypothyroidism seems to eat vit D, definitely worth making sure you are taking enough.

My results are different to yours but I guess my point is that there seems to be a lot of trial and error in this process and it can be really slow as well.

[diamondial in reply to MarthaF]

I like your analogy with the frog in the boiling water! It seems absurd but I've only really recently realised that the lack of stamina and general fatigue I've had for so many years isn't normal.

[Auntyp62]

Don't automatically assume it's all thyroid related....your vitamin d is very low and when mine was that low I was exhausted..it's taken 2 years to get it to 60 before improvement

[diamondial in reply to Auntyp62]

It's all so complicated isn't it! How lovely it would be to find a simple quick fix!!

[Chickenlady2009]

My last blood test showed the same as you for vitamin D.

The advice given by this forum was to supplement my low vitamin D. I actually felt better within 3 days of starting 6000 IU vitamin D.

So that's my advice to you- supplement with an oral drop vitamin D-

[diamondial in reply to Chickenlady2009]

Yes I was given the same advice as you and have been taking 10,000iu D3 for about 5or 6 weeks but with no change in symptoms unfortunately.

[Chickenlady2009 in reply to diamondial]

I'm so sorry you did not see an improvement. I also went gluten free after Thanksgiving ( I'm English but I live in USA). I don't know whether that is helping me absorb better. Gluten free is supposed to help reduce antibodies for hashimotos.

I am just learning myself, so sorry I cannot be more help.