T3 and heart rate

[rosserk]

Hi all

I’ve been having problems with a really low heart rate. It did improve when I first went on T4 but only briefly. I have read online that T3 is needed by the heart and bradycardia is common in hypothyroidism if T3 is not converting. Does anyone else have a similar problem that was helped by T3?

[SlowDragon Administrator]

You are only very early in new dose of Levothyroxine. 50mcg is only a starter dose.

This should be retested after 6 weeks

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4, TT4, FT3 plus TPO and TG thyroid antibodies. Plus vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12.

Essential to test thyroid antibodies, FT3 and FT4 plus vitamins

Private tests are available

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have money off offers.

All thyroid tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and fasting and don't take Levo in the 24 hours prior to test, delay and take straight after. This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, GP will be unaware)

If antibodies are high this is Hashimoto's, (also known by medics here in UK more commonly as autoimmune thyroid disease).

About 90% of all hypothyroidism in Uk is due to Hashimoto's. With Hashimoto's low vitamins are extremely common, as are food intolerances, so it's important to know.

[rosserk in reply to SlowDragon]

SlowDragon thanks for the reply. I’m getting impatient as you can probably tell. I’ve been house bound for three years spending most of my time in bed, so to feel better for a short while and then have the rug pulled out is difficult to take.

I will have to pay for blood tests my doctors won’t order them, she said there’s no advantage in knowing if I have hashimotos. I did test positive for antibodies but they have attributed that to sjogrens.