Increase in armour yet T3 & T4 does not go up - Thyroid UK

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Increase in armour yet T3 & T4 does not go up

ukap profile image
ukap
1 Reply

New here - good morning everyone. Here's my story

Started on armour at 1/4 grain & slowly increased but hypo symptoms remain. I am currently on 2 grains for the past 2 months. In the last 18 months the highest my free T3 has ever been is 3.0 and the highest my free T4 ever got to 0.9. I will say my energy & brain fog have improved slightly but I am nowhere close to feeling good. I still have low temp 96/97, my hair is rubbish - dry, brittle & shedding. My hands are so rough & dry that my nail beds hurt & are jagged. To add another layer of complication I am 56 and in menopause. I am using HRT patches to help with meno symptoms. It is a normal dose 0.50 patch however I am aware that HRT can affect your thyroid meds (I cannot give up my HRT though). My iron & ferritin have been low but I have been taking supplements & my new results show a slight increase.

I got my lab work done privately & my SHBG & testosterone is very high & I read SHBG can bind thyroid meds too. My question is - should I be increasing or lowering my armour medication? What can I do about the high SHBG? Please let me know your suggestions. Below are my recent labs:-

Test Range My level

Free T4 index1.4-3.8 1.5

T3 reverse 8-25ng/dl 11

T3 uptake 22-35% 33

T3 total 76-181 88

T3 free 2.3-4.2 3.0

T4 total 4.5-12.0 4.5

T4 free 0.8-1.8 0.8

TPO <1 1

TgAb <9 1

TSH 0.02 suppressed - using armour

Estradiol 54

Free testosterone0.1-6.4 2.0

Progesterone 0.9

SHBG 17-124 139flagged high

Testosterone2-45 49flagged high

Ferritin 10-232 61

Iron binding250-450 284

Iron total 45-160 77

Transferrin 188-341 256

Vit D 30-100 65

TBG 13.5-30.9 15.5

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shaws profile image
shawsAdministrator

Don't worry too much about blood tests when on Armour or any other NDT, as the tests were introduced for levothyroxine (T4 only) therefore if we add T3 to T4 or take NDT tests do not correspond. It is all about how the patient feels on a dose and relief of clinical symptoms.

hyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_the_thyroid/hypothyroidism_signs_symptoms.html

When taking NDT you can raise it by 1/4 tablet every 2 weeks and I will give you some chapters from a doctor who was an Adviser to Thyroiduk.org.uk before his untimely death. He only took a blood test for the initial diagnosis and thereafter it was titrating doses slowly until symptoms were relieved.

Copy and paste the tiny urls onto a new page.

Chapter 2

tinyurl.com/ya5blrr2

Chapter 3

tinyurl.com/y7ejh9sh

Chapter 7

tinyurl.com/ycxpz565

Following for info:

hormonerestoration.com/

hormonerestoration.com/Thyr...

hormonerestoration.com/PCon...

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