Hi everyone, I’m getting my first lot of bloods tomorrow morning after starting levothyroxine and I know most surgeries will check TSH and T4 if your lucky. How do you know if T4 is converting properly to T3 without testing it? If your TSH and T4 are in normal range does that mean T3 will be in normal range?
TIA
Cade83
"How do you know if T4 is converting properly to T3 without testing it?"
You can't know. TSH, FT4 and FT3 need to be tested at the same time. If FT4 is high and FT3 is low in range, that suggests poor conversion.
"If your TSH and T4 are in normal range does that mean T3 will be in normal range?"
No, not necessarily.
Thanks for the clarity, I will bring this up when I get the nurse to do the tests.
May not help as the lab usually decides what tests get done, not the doctor or the nurse
Ugh that’s very frustrating. I’ll pay privately if I have to.
Yeah I’m at surgery now haven’t eaten or drank anything and haven’t taken levo today yet. Gonna be starving by the time I leave an hour before eating.
Oh ok, I’ve done that since I started them.
Hi. I wasn’t converting T4 to T3.
My bloods was -
T4 14.00 (7.86-14.4)
TSH 4.96 (0.35-5.50)
T3 3.9 (3.7-6.00)
My private Endocrinologist said from this I didn’t need anymore T4 as it was at the ceiling. But my TSH was still calling for thyroxine. As my T3 was quite low I needed to add in T3. Which I did finally and my life has never been so good since. This happened 2 months ago prior I was in a mess.
However my NHS Endocrinologist said from same blood results that I did not need T3. How wrong was he. And thankfully I went private.
This is what worries me especially as I seem to have put weight on since starting levo. My fatigue hasn’t really changed although I was diagnosed with CFS but I still believe it’s to do with my thyroid. Or at least that’s what I’m hoping for.
Regarding weight I lost 8lbs in 5 weeks when I started T3. However I’m not losing it anymore. My hair,skin, eyesight, mood, weight and especially energy have all really improved. My skin was dry and face got spots. 12years ago when I was diagnosed with Hashi I was put on antibiotics for my skin with Levothyroxine. Tbh I never knew they were antibiotics until the 12th year. I stopped them last year and questioned why so long on antibiotics. They stopped the prescription. All I ever needed was T3. No dry skin or spots since I started. This is just one small example. I have many many more. Even my libido that’s been missing for over a decade has returned!
You have hit the nail on the head and I can't understand why doctors miss the point! Less doesn't help at all looking at the Thyroid, it just reminds the knowledgeable ones amongst us how unsafe the present testing is. None of us to my knowledge have been through meds school, become endocrinologists, got prizes for our knowledge but yet we are capable of seeing and undersatanding the flaws in the latest attempts to keep us well!
Well I asked the nurse cause I said I wanted TFTs done and I specifically asked does that do TSH T4 and T3 and she said yes so we shall see. It’s worrying that different endocrinologists see things differently however it was a nhs endocrinologist that decided to put me on levo finally and actually the private endo I have didn’t think I needed it despite my symptoms.
That’s nuts 42, how did they sort that out? What was your TSH like?
I hope they do otherwise it means me doing it with medichecks. Does anyone know if antibodies go down when your on levo?
😲 what an idiot how can you say FT4 isn’t important.
I hate doctors who try and blame it on other things instead of trying to actually figure it out. Lazy doctors.
Omg really now that is shocking being an endocrinologist. That’s scary.
I can appreciate anyone forgetting what they did at University but how do you get the job if you aren't up to speed? Oncology she may well understand but surely if you are then getting Thyroid cancer patients back to some sort of normality you really need to know what it's all about? You need to understand what may have been affected and possibly more important how to put it right. I'm beginning to think she doesn't know how important it is to have it working properly and how debilitating it can be when it isn't. And we thought GP's haven't a clue! On top of that we have those who say if the bloods aren't right then we can't be taking our medication! If any thyroid patients isn't doing what they should be in more likely to believe the importance and dangers haven't been told them in the first place. I appreciate some are not capable taking on board the instructions and need supervision but just looking on this forum the number asking what it means, what do the results show etc, some dig a bit deeper and discover the GP dismisses their concerns and in all probability don't know either. Doctors need to learn to communicate, to explain what and why instead of blaming us or telling us we aren't capable of understanding. Ok we may not understand the physiology behind it but not difficult to explain good results against not so good and understanding which symptoms mean what and when we need to ask for help.
You only have to look at the number of members that show that help is being asked for other than in the surgery. Ok some aren't active but at some time they will have wanted answers. May be HealthUnlocked should run a group for doctors as well but then they wouldn't get very far as no "experts" to guide them!
Bit tongue in cheek in places but I do worry what the future holds for some without proper guidance.
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