New Results

[jls1409]

Hi everyone,

I just received my latest test results any help would be appreciated:

TSH .491 Range= 0.340-4.820 mIU/L

Free T4 .98 Range= 0.6-1.6 ng/dl

Ferritin 19 ng/mL Range 12-252 ng/mL

I had a TT June 22, 2018 and have been on 128mcg. Levo for the past 7 weeks. My energy is back, I'm going to the gym again, 5-6 days a week and have been taking B12, D3, and Folate for the past year. A few months ago I started taking B6 and selenium as well.

I am doing cardio and lifting weights, on the keto diet for the past 6 weeks (no cheating), gluten free since April and am seeing almost no results in my weight loss. How do I know if I'm not converting well?

Janine

[Greybeard]

Hi, you need to know your ft3 to know if you are converting well.

[jls1409 in reply to Greybeard]

That's what I thought. My doctor gave me this long email about why he didn't request it. Here's his answer:

"The rate of conversion of T4 to T3 is the blood is heavily influenced by stress, illness, and sleep and is therefore fairly variable from one day to the next. While it is probably true that there are extremely rare cases of patients who have a reduced ability to convert T4 to T3 due to a genetic mutation, this is not the typical reason for finding a low T3 on a blood test. You may also be reading about taking T3 supplementation in addition to T4. This does work for some patients in terms of improving symptoms, but the success of this strategy does not seem to be at all related to the blood T3 level (some patients with normal T3 levels will feel an improvement after taking T3 and others with low levels will feel no change or even worse after taking T3) so I don't use the T3 level as a criterion for determining who may benefit from T3 therapy."

I guess I can just ask him to try T3 and see what happens, since he doesn't want to test it???

[Greybeard in reply to jls1409]

I'm sure there are many reasons for low ft3 readings. Perhaps they could fix them and make you well again. I can't imagine that anyone would prescribe t3 without knowing what your level is. Getting t3 prescribed in the uk is very difficult at this time.

[jls1409 in reply to Greybeard]

I'm going to suggest it and see what he says. If I feel worse I can stop...

Thanks for your help Greybeard.

[greygoose in reply to jls1409]

Poppycock! What a load of cod's wallop! Just excuses not to test your FT3. One really has to ask oneself why anyone would got to such extremes to get out of doing a test which doesn't cost anymore than an FT4. Probably because he's afraid that if your FT4+FT3 shows that you're not converting - and that is how you know, whatever he says - you will want to be prescribed T3, and that will cost him money! Don't fall for it, he's taking you for a mug!

[jls1409 in reply to greygoose]

Well,

Good news. I emailed my doctor about trying the T3 and he's prescribing it. Hopefully I have good results with it.

Thanks for your support and keep your fingers crossed.

J9

[greygoose in reply to jls1409]

Yes, but he still hasn't tested your FT3, so that's not such good news. You really shouldn't take it without knowing what your level is. How much has he given you?

[jls1409 in reply to greygoose]

I don't know yet. I'm sure it will be a low dose.

[greygoose in reply to jls1409]

I expect it will. However, as he doesn't really seem to know what he's doing, who knows! His idea of a low dose might be like for a low dose of levo - 25 mcg! lol Stranger things have happened.