I started taking Thiroyd in January and have been steadily increasing going by symptoms - am now taking 1 1/2 tabs am and pm. My TSH was 2.97 (0.27 - 4.20) and Ferritin was 52 (30.0 - 470.0) at GP's in January. These are my private test results and they are saying that I now have too much Thyroxine in my body and may tip into hyperactive Thyroid.....help please. I am still getting regular night sweats and brain fog, some muscle weakness and have put on a lot of weight which is why I have kept upping my dose.
I am on NDT and from what I have read once you are on it the TSH levels don't mean much. You have to go by how you feel and also ensure that Free T3 is towards the top quarter of the range. If it is over in the presence of hypo symptoms then you could have adrenal problems or low iron but I suspect you are overdosing and the muscle aches, night sweats and brain fog may be due to that as they can also be symptoms of hyperthyroidism. How long have you been on 3 grains? Are you getting palpitations or feeling jittery? It may be worth reducing by half a grain to see if your symptoms improve. As for the weight gain, your metabolism may have got used to being sluggish and may need a boost. If you haven't already got it I recommend reading Stop the Thyroid Madness.
I have also just realised that you may have increased to 3 grains too quickly. If you allow 2-3 weeks between each increase of half a grain it should take longer than from January to now. Also in the book I am reading it states that once you get to 2-3 grains it is advisable to hold the dose for 4-6 weeks to allow the T4 in NDT to build up as it takes longer than the immediate effect of T3. I did that last year and was pleasantly surprised to find I started to lose weight at a good rate. Hope that helps.
I think you're right, I was a bit impatient to feel better and when the night sweats returned, I upped my dose. This was probably telling me I was too high already - whoops! Very helpful, thank you.
Thanks, just getting used to all of this and it's hard to get the balance right. I'm not getting palpitations or jittery. I have read parts of Stop the Thyroid Madness and am on the Facebook Group too. I will reduce and see what happens.
Good luck. Please keep me posted. I held my dose at 2 grains and after a few weeks I found all my thyroid symptoms subsided so I didn't need any more increases.
Personally I would reduce it by half a grain, wait and see how you feel after 2-3 weeks then if necessary, depending on how you feel, reduce by another half then perhaps get more blood tests done. Will your GP do the tests? Mine knows I self-medicate on NDT but is happy to check every so often.
I forgot to add that it is best not to have blood tests right after you reduce your dose. It is probably best to wait 4-6 weeks to let the levels settle.
You are overmedicated to have FT3 9.82, which is considerably over range, 12 hours after last dose. I would reduce to 1 grain and retest in 8 weeks. Being overmedicated can cause weight gain and muscle weakness. thyroid.about.com/od/thyroi...
Thyroid antibodies are negative for autoimmune thyroiditis (Hashimoto's).
VitD 71 is mildly sub optimal. Replete is >75 and optimal is 100-150. Supplementing 1,000iu 4 hours away from NDT may be helpful.
Thanks I will reduce - the liver is because in January, my ferritin at the GP's was 52 with a range of 30-470 - so I was trying to increase my iron - but hate liver! I thought my low iron was a reason for my breathlessness - but perhaps that is also due to overmedicating - this is a tricky business!
Overmedication may be causing breathlessness, it's unlikely iron is low when ferritin is >100.
You may want to continue forcing down the liver until ferritin is higher though because it is optimal halfway through range. The cast iron pot will be helpful too.
Thanks I will reduce - the liver is because in January, my ferritin at the GP's was 52 with a range of 30-470 - so I was trying to increase my iron - but hate liver! I thought my low iron was a reason for my breathlessness - but perhaps that is also due to overmedicating - this is a tricky business!
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