Hi I have been diagnosed for nearly 6 years now and on t3 for 2 . I want to try levo/ T3 combination and so have done some blood tests for the GP. I stopped my T3 3 days before the test and my results are
Serum free T4: 2.4 pmol/L [11.0 - 22.6]
Serum free triiodothyronine: 2.3 pmol/L [3.5 - 6.5]
Serum TSH level < 0.01 mu/L [0.2 - 4.0]
She said that my T3 looked like a level that someone would have after about 2 weeks of no treatment, not 3 days.
Doctors comment is incorrect, maybe they don't know the T3 half life is about 24 hours. Stopping T3 medication for three days makes the result meaningless.
Why did you stop T3 for three days when your doctor knows you take it?
Why did you stop the T3 for 3 days? It wouldn't really raise your TSH or FT4, but it would make the free T3 meaningless. So waste of a test. Now if you'd wanted in increase and not old doctor you stopped for 3 days, there might have been a point to it
GP can be incredibly jobsworth sometimes, I wanted to add in T4 and she would have had a fit if T3 was above range. It seems it was the wrong decision, but I haven't had test for 2 years and the whole practice are do as you are told attitude. ( Would move practice, but in our area only 2 available and they are the lesser of the evils). I was on 150 mcg T3, which I repeatedly read is ' a very high dose'.
Hi patchworkcat, I don't think your doc knows much about the thyroid. T3 clears out of your system at the end of each day (half life about 8 hours and pretty much gone after 24 hours. So, after 3 days of no T3 you would expect T3 to be a minimum and below normal range and similarly T4, and that is what you show. When this happens your pituitary should be screaming out for both. i.e. your TSH should be very high e.g 10 or more. What this tells me is that your pituitary is not functioning. It might be a good idea, if this is possible on the NHS, to get an MRI of your pituitary to see if there is a tumor on it. I have no medical training, I am just analyzing it as I would an electrical circuit.
When I was on T4 I was producing TSH and rarely could get it below 1.5 to feel good, hence my move to T3.
Is it not more likely that because I have been on T3 for 2 years that my pituitary has become slow or stopped producing TSH?
Yes, that makes sense. I wonder if it will "spring back to life" after a while? Let us know, that's very interesting.
Responding to help and advice, phoned surgery and had test results emailed, as detailed:
Blood test results for vitamins and minerals from doctor
got my blood results for the last 5 years
Stopped T3 before blood tests. Doctor now saying result inaccurate.
