Seeing GP this Morning...

[bubblesmcgee]

Hi, since I last posted I’ve been taking levothyroxine 25mcg and ferrous fumarate 210mg (twice daily for the iron). I had a thyroid panel done by medichecks and also tsh done by my gp the same day. My tsh is still hovering around 3 (2.9 range 0.24-4.2) and my ferritin after nearly three months of iron tablets has only risen to 41.6 from 10. My T4 and T3 have actually fallen since starting of thyroxine.

T4 was 16.9 now 15.5 and T3 was 5.55 now 4.25. I’m still feeling pretty shattered and the weight still won’t budge. It’s so frustrating!

I’ve been strictly gluten free since diagnosis but my antibodies are still pretty high, any other suggestions?

Thanks

Sarah

[SlowDragon Administrator]

You are ready for 25mcg dose increase in Levothyroxine. TSH should be around one and FT4 towards top of range and FT3 at least half way in range

Standard starter dose is 50mcg, so your GP was over cautious starting you on 25mcg

NHS guidelines saying standard starter dose is 50mcgs

beta.nhs.uk/medicines/levot...

Impress on GP that Levothyroxine is helping, but you now ready for dose increase

Official NHS guidelines saying TSH should be between 0.2 and 2.0 when on Levothyroxine

(Many of us need TSH nearer 0.2 than 2.0 to feel well)

See box

Thyroxine replacement in primary hypothyroidism

pathology.leedsth.nhs.uk/pa...

Have you had vitamin D tested? It is very often too low with Hashimoto's

Are you taking your iron tablets with vitamin C? Level is improving slowly

Folate is low, you may benefit from daily good quality vitamin B complex, one with folate in, eg Igennus Super B complex or Jarrow B-right

If you are taking vitamin B complex, or any supplements containing biotin, remember to stop these 3-5 days before any blood tests, as biotin can falsely affect test results

endo.confex.com/endo/2016en...

endocrinenews.endocrine.org...

[Judithdalston]

Definitely time to up dose by 25 mcg levothyroxin for 6 weeks then test again, and if suitable raise again. As SlowDragon says - a cautious Gp to start you on 25 mcg. See you are getting ferritin sorted, but what about ranges of Vit D, folate and B12...are they optimum in upper half of range and not just Gp's 'normal' which can be just in range near the bottom?

[bubblesmcgee in reply to Judithdalston]

Well my GP has insisted that I wait until I see the endo again at the end of August before she does anything. Tried to fob me off with diet pills for the weight gain and anti depressants for my mood not being great! They just don’t get it. Unless your thyroid is off the wall they think that everything in the garden should be lovely! I take 10yg of vitamin d per day unless I’ve been out in the sun for a good couple of hours and I take 10yg of folic acid a day too. I think the GP just wants to offer me whatever they get money from the government for prescribing!