High T4 low T3

[GKeith]

High T4, low T3, seems I need some T3 added but only got the T3 liothyronine at 5 MCG every 12 hrs and T3 down from 88 to 75 MCG. Endo's here (U.S.) are very stingy with T3 for no reason I can figure and won't do a reverse T3 period. Anybody have a similar experience. I been on Levo for 28 years but it stopped, obviously, converting it to T3. Anyone have a similar experience?

[greygoose]

GKeith, you'll get much better answers if you edit your post to include your test results and the ranges.

[GKeith in reply to greygoose]

The T4, Total was 11.9 out of a reference range of 4.5-12.0 and the T3 Total was 77 in a reference range of 76-181. My GP saw this 3 times in two months and never even mentioned it because it was "within range." I finall got a referral to and endo, who put me on, like I said, 75 mcg of T4 & only 5 mcg of T3. I'm cutting the T4 in half and double-dosing the 5 mcg to make it 10.

[greygoose in reply to GKeith]

They're the wrong tests, I'm afraid. You need the FT4 and the FT3. You cannot work out your conversion rate from Total tests.

[GKeith in reply to greygoose]

He only did a FT4; it was 1.5 out of 0.8-1.8 ref. range.

[greygoose in reply to GKeith]

Ok, so we still can't judge your conversion, you would need an FT3 with it, to do that.

[GKeith in reply to greygoose]

I just went over four years of tests and he always did free FT4 but never FT3. I can only imagine why not? Because he gave out free T4 pills (pun intended) and forgot totally T3.

[greygoose in reply to GKeith]

He probably doesn't understand FT3. Not many of them do. One doctor even said that to me, that he wouldn't test it because he didn't understand it. I said, never mind, I understand it, just do it. lol

[GKeith in reply to greygoose]

Thanks for a little piece of your heart.

[greygoose in reply to GKeith]

You're very welcome.

[GKeith in reply to greygoose]

When (if) I get my FT3, what's the equation to the conversion rate?

[greygoose in reply to GKeith]

No equation. You could work out the percentages but I'm not very good at maths. I just know by looking at the two results.

[GKeith in reply to greygoose]

Yeah, kinna like when I looked at my T4 so high & T3 so low that I knew I was in trouble because I wasn't getting any T3 from any of the doctor's I was seeing. As of today I'm feeling that a big part of my problem is adrenal fatigue but it's very hard to prove. esp. to a doctor who is practicing capitalism and not medicine. They have a system here called capitation and the primary docs make the most money by NOT referring their patients to a specialist, to save the insurance company money. And the bitch of the whole thing is that they admit it freely to you, by saying to me, when I suggest I want Nature throid or Armour, that they can't get either one "approved," by the insurance company. I lived in Vancouver, B.C. for 7 years and probably should have stayed there, if just for the universal health care.

[greygoose in reply to GKeith]

a doctor who is practicing capitalism and not medicine

That's good! I'll have to remember that one!

I'm not sure you can 'prove' to any doctor that you have adrenal fatigue, because it's not a defined disease in their books. The majority of doctors don't believe it exists. I was lucky, in that way, because I saw a doctor that did believe in it, and he knew just by looking at my 8 am serum cortisol. It wasn't low enough for Addison's, but too low for good health. But, he's a rarity in the medical world.

So, if your FT4 is very high, and your FT3 very low, you most definitely have a conversion problem!

[GKeith in reply to greygoose]

Exactly & I finally got an endo to give me T3, although only 5 mcg, but I cut my T4 he prescribed 75 mcg, in half, which seems to be working, I plan to double the T3 next week if he doesn't lower my T4 to 50 mcg and up T3 to 10 mcg also.

[greygoose in reply to GKeith]

T3 should only be increased by 5 mcg every two weeks. Don't reduce your T4 too much. Everything needs to be done slowly.

[GKeith in reply to greygoose]

You think I should keep it a 75mcg, instead of cutting it in half? If I double the T3 then should I go back to 75, I've only been on 37.5 for 2 or 3 days?

[greygoose in reply to GKeith]

I don't think you should ever go with doubling and cutting in half. T3 should be increased or reduced by 5 mcg every two weeks, T4 should be increased or reduced by 25 mcg every six weeks. But, you don't reduce your T4 by 25 mcg every time you increase your T3 by 5 mcg. That would be too much. 75 mcg levo seems like a reasonable amount.

[GKeith in reply to greygoose]

Well, I'll go back to 75 and maybe 7.5 mcg of T3, since I'm on it for the past 2 weeks at 5mcg anyway. It's just that it's been so long, 28 years on T4 only, that I'm in a hurry to clear this "brain fog" away and feel like a human being again, y'know? Plus, I got heart palpitations with the first switch from generic Levo to synthroid and have to pay a buck a pill for it to boot. I was getting palpitations from the most recent Levo too, probably because with every "new refill" a different supplier can, and many times does, show up, with more "inactive ingredients," and Tirosint & dessicated Thyroid both need a prescription, something my endo won't write, as he is, admittedly, "handcuffed" to, and by, the insurance company(s). I've heard, on a natural doc's website, that 50 mcg of generic Levo is the "cleanest," available, because it has no dyes and less inactive ingredients?

[GKeith in reply to GKeith]

I took greygoose's advice and stayed on 75 mcg of T4 but went from 5 mcg to 7.5 mcg of T3. Feel pretty good but I would like to lower the T4, Synthroid, to 50 and go up to at least 10 mcg of T3. I am also thinking of Armour or another NDT because I would (obviously) rather take 1 pill than 2 or 3 pills. I know Hillary Clinton, when running in 2016, for Pres., revealed she was taking Armour. Anyone had any experience with NDT? I really think I'm leaning towards it. Makes sense to me because, after all it has 38 mcg levothyroxine (T4) and 9 mcg liothyronine (T3) per one grain (60 mg). So why would anyone who is hypothyroid not take it?