Hi
When to feel better on 25mcg Levothyroxine please? I was diagnosed with Hashimotos (I think) in 2012. I have been on much higher doses before and my hands feel damp and cold, tiredness, difficulty swallowing, dry skin, hard stool, stomach getting upset easily, depression, memory loss. I also supplement vit D, folic acid and B12. Thankyou
DEC-2017
TSH 5.8 (0.2 - 4.2)
FREE T4 14.8 (12 - 22)
FREE T3 3.3 (3.1 - 6.8)
TPO ANTIBODY 378 (<34)
I am sorry that 6 years after being diagnosed you are suffering and on a miserable 25mcg dose. This is what your present results are:-
DEC-2017
TSH 5.8 (0.2 - 4.2) - Too high and should be 1 or below.
FREE T4 14.8 (12 - 22) - Too low, should be towards the upper part of the range.
FREE T3 3.3 (3.1 - 6.8) - Far too low - should be towards the upper part of the range.
TPO ANTIBODY 378 (<34) - You have an Autoimmune Thyroid Disease called Hashimot's and you can reduce the attack of the antibodies on your thyroid gland by eating gluten-free food.
Request your doctor to increase dose by 25mcg now and in six weeks increase by another 25mcg and so on until your TSH is 1 or lower.
You should also request B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate. Deficiencies also cause symptoms.
Do you know to always get blood tests for thyroid hormones at the earliest possible, fasting (you can drink water) and allow a gap of 24 hours from your last dose and the test and take it afterwards?
The simple answer is that you will never get better on 25mcg Levo nor with the doctor who is changing your dose. Is this an endo? Most are diabetes specialists and don't know much, if anything, about treating hypothyroidism, let alone autoimmune thyroiditis aka Hashimoto's which you have as confirmed by your high antibody result.
TPO ANTIBODY 378 (<34)
Hashi's is where antibodies attack the thyroid and gradually destroy it. The antibody attacks cause fluctuations in symptoms and test results. This is very likely the reason your dose has been changed. Do you have any results from when dose changes took place? What were you on at the time of the test and what change was made to your dose?
Very few doctors attach any importance to antibodies so you need to read, learn 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_...
**
TSH 5.8 (0.2 - 4.2)
FREE T4 14.8 (12 - 22)
FREE T3 3.3 (3.1 - 6.8)
You are way undermedicated. 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, if that is where you feel well. As Shaws says, ask for a 25mcg increase immediately and retest in 6-8 weeks, repeat retesting/increasing until you feel better and your levels are where they need to be to achieve that.
**
Hashi's and gut/absorption problems tend to go hand in hand and very often low nutrient levels or deficiencies are the result. If you've had Vit D, B12, folate and ferritin tested then please post the results, say if you are supplementing and what dose.
200mcg levo and endo reduced it since he does not want me over medicating
What dose did you used to be on and when did they lower it to 25. What reason did they give?
200mcg levo and endo said he doesn't want me to have over medicated results
How long ago was that and when did he say you were to retest?
He said that in June, above results done in December and due to retest in mid Feb. Only TSH was below range, thyroid hormones ok
No they're not okay and your tsh clearly shows your body is desperate for more thyroid hormone as clearly over range. Your T4 and T3 levels are too low, yes you wont die or end up in hospital short term with them but you're not going to feel well either.
I expect your next results are going to be much worse than this too.
You need the tsh nearer 1 or just under and the T4 and T3 to within the top third of the range to be well. THese are the levels someone who doesn't have thryoid problems will generally be at.
To put it bluntly, your endo is a complete moron with no knowledge of thyroid treatment and you need to sack him lol. Ask to be referred to someone else as this is just rediculous! However many docs are useless to be honest and my best advice would be to read up as much as you can about your condition so you're not relying on docs to make you well again and be able to say no and argue more confidently when a doc tells you to do something stupid. Maybe start with the threads on here and the thyroiduk website:
thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...
Dose adjustments should be done slowly, only changing 25mcg each time and then retested 6-8 weeks later and then adjusted again.
It is highly likely you are deficient in many things including Vit B12, Vit D, folate and ferritin/iron so ask for these to be tested as well and bring the results back here and post for advice.
Hope you feel better soon 
Everything said above is right. I must say though your results are me when I got diagnosed. I too waited for 25mg Levo to make me better. It never did. I went all the way up to 100 Levo and got my tsh down but still felt awful. I’m now on NDT and I’m starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. The biggest thing for me though was changing my diet. I went on an auto immune diet for two months and then started reintroducing food bit by bit to see what caused reactions and what didn’t. It was the best thing I’ve done. It’s helped enormously. If you have hashis which with that antibodies test you do it will undoubtedly help you too. Look up Isabella wentz and aip / paleo diet x
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