Over range and need advice please

[Simplyred57]

I had my medichecks results 2 weeks ago, I had increased my thyroxine from 100 to 125 to see if it would bring my T3 up a bit ( it didn’t ) but my T 4 came back at 25.6 (12-22) so was over the range, was previously 20 , I did feel ok on the higher dose, but thought it sensible to reduce back down to 100, and now I feel awful, would it be have been safe to stay on the higher dose ,? obviously my GP will argue it’s unsafe as he is not happy with me being on 100 due to suppressed TSH . How long should it take to stabilise again? Feel silly for messing about with hormones, but as I have a conversion problem it was worth a try.

[pennyannie]

Hello Simplyred

I believe you are with Graves and have had RAI to ablate your thyroid.

Just as a point of reference a fully functioning working thyroid would be supporting you with approximately 100 T4 + 10 T3 daily.

Some people do well on T4 alone, some people stop converting T4 to T3 and some people simply need both these vital hormones monitored and dosed independently, to bring both hormones into balance in the upper quadrants of their relevant ranges.

I think it's only common sense that as we have had a medical intervention and lost our thyroids, by either surgery or ablation, these essential hormones should be on our prescriptions, should we need them both supplemented in order to regain a level of wellness acceptable to the patient.

It is also important to remember that as Graves patients we have the antibody TSI / TRab that " sits on " and controls our TSH seemingly making us "appear overactive " on a much lower dose of thyroid replacement than those without this antibody.

A TSH read alone for any patient on medication means nothing, it's a diagnostic tool, and once on medication, the TSH means diddly squat, but more especially diddly squat for Graves patients !!!

[Simplyred57 in reply to pennyannie]

Thanks pennyannie , I have some T3 but am nervous of taking it as I had a very bad reaction to Tiromel, so I have some uni pharma ready , but advice on here is get my vitamins optimal , before taking it , and all are good except B12 so have started supplementing this week , just feel like my body has realised ive reduced my dose, and am feeling rubbish and very hormonal.

[pennyannie in reply to Simplyred57]

Yes unless vitamins and minerals are optimal no thyroid hormone replacement will work effectively.

I am now self medicating with Natural Desiccated Thyroid - it is made from pig's thyroid and includes, as near as dam it, all the thyroid hormones our own thyroid contains, namely, T1, T2, T3, T4 and calcitonin - this was the treatment everybody was given before the 1960s, Big Pharma and medicine becoming big business, along with the introduction of Levothyroxine and blood tests, with scores, and ranges to boot !!!

I did try T3 along with my Levothyroxine but prefer NDT - to me the difference is like too tight a pair of stilettos or a pair of slippers !!

The other added bonus is that you dose to symptoms and not blood tests, another problem which I never seemed to get right ???

[Simplyred57 in reply to pennyannie]

Hi , is this sourced from Thailand ? could you possibly private message me with further details as it’s something I would certainly like to look into further , do you not have any blood tests done nhs or private to check what your levels are ? X

[pennyannie in reply to Simplyred57]

My doctor has been no help at all.

I have been very ill these past 4-5 years, and received no help from any Nhs department.

I have been refused a trial of T3 as having a suppressed TSH.

Some doctors do prescribe NDT but there is no surgery in my catchment area offering this alternative to Levothyroxine.

I'm getting better, and yes you guessed right.

As previously posted, you dose to symptoms not blood test results.

It's just another treatment option - you mention you already have T3 to trial first.

[Simplyred57 in reply to pennyannie]

Thank you for the info , Yes but when to start is the problem, I’m due to see my GP in April for review, so might wait to have bloods again then either try T3 or NDT might ask if he could prescribe NDT worth a try I suppose ?