Just phoned my GP for emergency appointment and been told there’s no appointments. I was advised I could phone Taurus at 2pm to see if they could offer me one. The receptionist eventually agreed to get a triage nurse to call me later this afternoon! Feel absolutely terrible I can’t stay mobile for more than a few minutes without feeling like I’m going to pass out and I keep breaking out in a cold sweat!
Would an increase in my levothyroxine help with these symptoms I’m currently on 25 mg and my result when tested last week was 2.63. Doctor says I’m on the right dose so need a good argument to get an increase but only if it’s likely to help. Any thoughts would be appreciated?
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SeasideSusie and Clutter and SlowDragon all gave you great advice 5 days ago including links to the info you need 🙂 25mcg is a starter dose and your tsh 2.63 shows you need another 25 increase as they and others said... Too low a dose can indeed make you feel worse even than before medication. Try to say calm and REST, point out the info you have been given is from the NHS choices recommended source of info on thyroid and thyroid treatment. ((hugs)) and good luck.
Thank you. The nurse practitioner phoned me back within a few minutes and wants to re-test my thyroid function tomorrow morning first thing. She agrees the dose is too low and is unsure why I was started on such a low dose and is also confused as to why it wasn’t increased. She agreed she was surprised at such a low dose and has requested a full test not just TSH.
She has also advised me not to take a tablet before the appointment and said the test should have been fasting. I’ve also admitted to stupidly taking 50mg on a couple of days which likely screwed the previous test. Fingers crossed 🤞 things are sorted over the next few days.
I’d like to thank everyone for encouraging me to assert myself and for giving me the confidence to plead my case. It’s extremely difficult feeling so poorly I can’t think straight nothing seems to be sinking in and I constantly need reassurance I’m understanding what I’m told.
Yes it felt as if she was very knowledgeable. She said ‘ that dose seems too low to be of any benefit and I would be surprised if you didn’t feel worse than before’.
You've been given the link to Dr Toft's article in Pulse magazine in previous posts. See a different doctor and show him the article, question 6 covers it.
Make a new thread asking for any other articles which would be acceptable by your GP so that he will increase your Levo from 25mcg to reduce your high in range TSH. I'm afraid I don't have any links bookmarked.
When giving test results, always give the ranges as well so that we can interpret them, ranges differ from lab to lab.
The higher the TSH the more hypothyroid you are. You need it to be 1 or lower (if that is where you feel best) as previously explained. You are looking for your TSH to reduce and you should have Levo increased to enable this.
8 days ago you wrote in this post healthunlocked.com/thyroidu... that the surgery told you that your TSH was 2.63 and members replied that it was too high and you needed a dose increase. Now your TSH is even higher at 3.7 so you need to make another appointment, with a different GP if necessary, point out that your TSH is increasing, is very close to the top of the range and that you need an increase.
We can keep on telling you this same thing again and again but only you can do something about it. Go through all your threads again, write down relevant information and print out anything linked to. Make that new post I suggested asking for any articles that you can show your GP that says you should be having dose increases until your TSH is low in range or symptoms subside. Take your husband with you to your appointment, take the Dr Toft article, point out your TSH is increasing and it should be decreasing and to enable that to happen you need an increase in your Levo. If it was me I wouldn't leaving the surgery without a new prescription for an increased dose.
By the way, the lab decides if FT3 is tested even when it's been requested. If TSH and FT4 are in range then they don't do it.
SeaSideSusie, I’m grateful for your help and advice, however I can’t make the doctor increase my medication!
I have an appointment Wednesday with a different doctor which is the only one I could get but that doesn’t help me now. No amount of me re-reading my posts and the advice I’ve been given is going to help in the short term.
I was also thinking about getting one of the private tests done but not sure if it would help.
A private test will tell you more than the tests the GP does because they test more, but whether your GP will accept them is another thing. Some do, some don't. But if your GP wont increase your meds with their test saying TSH is 3.7 then he's not going to increase your dose if your private test says the same thing.
There's nothing you can do in the short term, there's nothing that you can take now that will act immediately to help you feel better. The only thing that will help is an increase in dose and getting your TSH and free Ts to the levels they need to be at for your to feel well. All you can do is prepare for your appointment on Wednesday with all the evidence you can to persuade the GP to give you an increase in dose.
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