CRAZY RESULTS, a reason for staying on 175mcg?

[fiftyone]

As I have posted before, my GP is trying to reduce my thyroxine dose from 175mcg to 125 mcg. which I am certain will make me ill. I have analysed my results over a 10 year period and it seems results are crazy, no rationality at all and no reason why I should reduce my dose. Other views will be most welcome, as I am seeing my GP later this week and would like to present these findings.

TSH is completely contrary. NOT a reliable measure,

eg.

date TSH T4 T3

23/2/2016 0.05 18.8 7.3

7/09/2017 0.005 15.7 5.7

(0. 01 on graph)

14/08/18 0.005 19.0 5.7

(0.01 on graph)

These are just examples of just how unresponsive myTSH is to body changes. Or is it the lab?

More recently the lab seems to have only TWO TSH results: either 0.005 or 0.05!! Furthermore, this result is not shown on the graph, but recorded as 0.01

Over a ten year period, while I have consistently taken 175 mcg daily,

My T4 has been recorded as low as 13.30 and as high as 28.00. My T3 has kept within range (except for 23rd February, above.) Therefore, 175 mcg daily is neither too low nor too high and I can see no reason why it should not continue.

[waveylines]

Hi -can you pop the ranges on your blood test results. They can vary from area to area. Thanks

The TSH is a poor guide for treating hypotyhroidism Your doc should ne tsking greater interest in your actual thyroid levels (ft4 & ft3) in the blood. If you have kept in range and not gone over them you should be fine, the odd going over wont harm, its only if they stay over range. Your doc should also be taking account of how you are feeling, though sadly many dont, becoming overly focused on blood test results alone.

Why is your doc reducing your meds if your thyroid hormones have stayed in range?

[fiftyone in reply to waveylines]

August 2018 range (7.9 - 14), two previous ranges, 2016/2017 (8-18)

[waveylines in reply to fiftyone]

What is this range for- ft4, ft3 or TSH. They all have different ranges. Usually you can find them by looking next to the result, figures in brackets.

Did your GP prescribe the pse.... Am surprised your pharmacist didnt query it!! Really bad!

[fiftyone in reply to waveylines]

they are T4 ranges. This is what the GP seems to attend to most, apart from TSH, mine are always way out of range, always suppressed. My T3 is always within range.

[waveylines in reply to fiftyone]

Oh dear your ft4 is well over range like you said so he will want to reduce it am afraid. How do you feel?

[fiftyone in reply to waveylines]

It's the lab range that keeps changing.....One day top of range is 18, next day it's 14. My body's not to going decide it needs less T4 just because the lab changes it's range. I feel fine, have done for over 10 years. Sometimes my T4 is high, sometimes a bit lower but I feel fine.

[fiftyone in reply to waveylines]

My T4 is sometimes over range, but my T3 is nearly always within range. He says he is worried about atrial fibrillation because I had an episode endof March. However, this followed a perscription for pseudoephedrine which is known to interact with thyroxine. I have no heart problems and my heart is very normal. I feel as though I am being punished for the doctors mistake in prescribing me pseudoephedrine.

[FancyPants54 in reply to fiftyone]

Then say that to the doctor. AF can come out of the blue for a number of different reasons. I know because I have it like that. They have absolutely no idea what causes it. The cardiologist I saw admitted that. It runs in my family. My Dad has it bad all the time, his sister and one brother had it and my cousin has it like mine, out of the blue. One minute fine, next minute heart is all over the place and leaping around like a box of angry frogs. It can last up to around 36hrs for me or less. It is terrifying and exhausting too. But they don't know why I get that. Before I was put onto thyroid medication, I was put on so many ECG's when I had the AF episodes. Thyroid was never an issue.

[HughH in reply to FancyPants54]

AF can be caused by hypothyroidism - does this run in your family?

[fiftyone in reply to HughH]

hypothyroidism is in the family, but not AF

[HughH in reply to fiftyone]

The hypothyroidism in your family could point to a genetic condition - thyroid hormone resistance, also known as impaired sensitivity to thyroid hormone. With it you need high T3 levels to feel will.

It could also explain need a high dose of thyroid hormones to feel well and also your unusual thyroid blood test results.

[fiftyone in reply to HughH]

Interesting. The doctors keep telling me I'm hyper and I keep telling them I'm not.

[HughH in reply to fiftyone]

Taking thyroid hormones cannot make you hyperthyroid. It could make you overmedicated but that is not hyperthyroid.

You cannot also be hyperthyroid if you have no symptoms of it.

[diogenes Remembering]

What the medical field doesn't understand is that TSH does not immediately (if at all) respond to dose changes if you have been on a particular level of treatment for a long time. The phenomenon goes under the name of hysteresis. In the same way if you had high TSH, it would not immediately respond to treatment - it might take several months to do so and reach a moderately stable level..

[HughH]

T3 is the active thyroid hormone which controls every cell in the body. The free T3 test is therefore the most important result.

T4 is a storage form and there is no need to be concerned about it if t3 is OK.