Hi All,
Just received a call from Endo to increase my Synthroid. I currently take 75mcg 5days a week and 88 mcg on weekends. The dr added 5 mcg T3 8 weeks ago. This is the best I have felt in a long long time.
He wants me to take 2 additional 75 mcg each week along with the 88 mcg 2x weekly bc of low tsh.
Sound right?
Not sure I've quite understood, here. He wants you to increase your Synthroid because your TSH is too low? Doesn't he know that increasing thyroid hormones, decreases the TSH even further? Not that that matters if you're taking T3, it's going to be low, anyway. But, if his aim is to raise your TSH, he should be reducing your Synthroid - although that probably wouldn't work, anyway, because you're taking T3. I'm not quite sure that he's understood.
However, rereading your post, it sounds more like he's added two days to the week. How can you take 75 mcg x 7 days a week (5 plus 2), plus 88 mcg at the weekend? That's nine days. Or have I totally misunderstood?
I questioned the nurse a few times when she called. I thought I should discontinue the 88 mcg of Synthroid but she insisted I add the 75 and keep the 88 on weekends.
I’m calling the office back .....😪
Yes, I think you should. 
Hi Greygoose, after 1 month of increased Synthroid I am hyper with all the terrible symptoms. Went to my old Endo in New York and she could not believe I was told to increase my Synthroid a month ago. She was very worried with my elevated heart rate, palpitations, nervousness and my very painful “pac-man” is eating my shoulder muscles sensation.
I should have trusted my gut.
Waiting to get my blood results back from her to resume my meds and dosage.
I guess I’ll be flying from Florida to NY for my Endo appointments from now on.
Are you sure he didn't want you to replace the 88 mcg on Saturday and Sunday with two more days of 75mcg?
This is what I thought and asked the nurse to repeat herself. I questioned the increase dosage too. Repeated it 3 times..... I knew it didn’t make sense 😩.
Waiting for a call back from Dr.
I currently take 75mcg 5days a week and 88 mcg on weekends. The dr added 5 mcg T3 8 weeks ago.
He wants me to take 2 additional 75 mcg each week along with the 88 mcg 2x weekly bc
I'm baffled by this too. Adding anything to your dose is going to make your TSH lower than it already is.
If I've understood you, you are currently taking 551mcg per week of Levo. (I'm ignoring the T3 which isn't changing.)
Your doctor wants to add 75mcg twice a week. Your new total would be 701mcg Levo. Ignoring the odd 1mcg, you could most easily dose this as 100mcg Levo every day of the week.
But seriously? I think your doctor hasn't a clue what he is doing and is very confused on what happens when dose of thyroid meds is raised.
I recently had 5mcg T3 added, as I was not converting T4 to T3 and felt horrible....
Now I feel great but am worried about this new dosage request.
18 months post RAI for Grave’s and I am finally feeling like my old self.
I don’t know what to think 🤔.
Waiting for dr to call back and explain the new dosage.
Let us know what he says! I'm very curious!
Well, after 2 phone calls to the office the nurse said to Increase the Synthroid, even though my TSH was extremely (hyper)😡 I was told the dr would not use my TSH since I had RAI. So after 1 month
of increasing my dosage, guess who is now extremely Hyper? Me! Luckily I am in NEw York and got an appointment with my old Endo. She is mad the other dr increased my Synthroid and told me to stop all meds for 2 days bc of my symptoms. Fast ❤️Rate, palpitations, severe bathroom issues, insomnia, sweating, the feel of “pac man”eating my upper arm muscles..... yes, all those horrible hyper symptoms. Drew bloods and she will call me with the results and further dosage of meds.
I knew it didn’t make sense to increase my synthroid.
Feeling rather unwell and extremely upset with my current Endo .
Thank goodness I went home to New York.
#TrustYourGut
Hello Boopie
I too am with Graves Disease and post RAI 2005, becoming very unwell about 5 years ago.
I personally believe that if there has been a medical intervention and the thyroid either ablated with RAI or surgically removed both T3 and T4 should be on the patients' prescription for " if and when " it maybe necessary.
Just for reference :- a fully functioning working thyroid would be supporting you daily with approximately 100T4 + 10 T3.
Some people can get by on T4 - Levothyroxine alone, some people simply stop converting the T4 to T3 at some point in time, and some people simple need both these vital hormones dosed and monitored independently to bring them into balance and to a level of wellness acceptable to the patient.
Graves is an autoimmune disease and as such it is for life, it's in your blood and your DNA.
There is probably some genetic predisposition, maybe a generation away from you, and Graves can be triggered by a sudden shock to the system, like a car accident or an unexpected death.
It is essential that you are not monitored on TSH bloods but by T3 and T4. Graves patients can have TSI antibodies sitting on the TSH making you " look " over active when in fact the opposite maybe more accurate. It's a bit like knowing when your car must need petrol as your fuel gauge on the dashboard is stuck on full, and not a reliable measure of anything.
The thyroid is a major gland responsible for full body synchronisation including your mental, physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual well being - living without one, we need to know about this amazing gland so we can try and compensate for the loss.
Your Thyroid and How To Keep It Healthy is an excellent goto book for everything thyroid.
Written by a doctor who has hypothyroidism, Dr Barry Durrant Peatfield, it is funny, insightful and a relatively easy read.
Barbara S Lougheed's book Tired Thyroid explains in detail the TSH details as mentioned above - she also has a blog, and has Graves Disease and gone through RAI treatment.
Graves Disease A Practical Guide is all about all things Graves, written by Elaine Moore. She wrote the book when she found no help herself back in the late 1990s. She too has Graves and was treated with RAI. She is also stateside, so medical protocol maybe slightly different, and now there is also a very comprehensive website and Graves Foundation open for all use. It is a well respected, well researched platform, much like this one, with open forums for anybody to use. She also covers current and alternative treatment options as well as thoughts on life style, work, diet and offers thoughts on a more holistic approach to Graves Disease than current mainstream medical guidelines.
Thank you Pennyannie.... you have made more sense with pertinent information then any dr I have seen.
With my increase of Synthroid ( an additional 150 a week) and 2 months now on Cytomel I continue to feel better.
(Now, if my hair would stop falling out😩😩😩...).
Hi boopie,
It will come back once you are on proper therapy. I had lost hair from Graves’ disease and after my TT 4 months ago my hair is coming back! There is hope! All the best.
Hello again,
So, you are one of the lucky ones to actually have an endocrinologist who knows what they are doing !! Seriously though, it's a tragic situation when you can't trust the specialists and need to become your own best advocate, but without access to the necessary medications. Glad to read you getting on ok, read all you can, knowledge is power, and am sure, given a bit more time your hair will be the last piece of the puzzle.
Levo increase
Synthroid stopped helping?
T3 dose increase?
adjustment to Synthroid increase
T3 every other day
