Help Reviewing My Mothers Thyroid Bloods

[Flatdanny]

Hi everyone!

I’m posting this on behalf of my mother who was diagnosed With hypothyroidism over twenty years ago. Her GP has been monitoring her over the years but recently she’s not been feeling so well. Her GP wanted to decrease her dose after testing here TSH which was very slightly “below range”. I did suggest my mother ask for both Ft3 and Ft4 tests to get a better picture but as often is the case GP’s are not keen on testing Ft3 and think they can monitor people’s thyroid issue via just a TSH/Ft4. The doc also said because my mother is getting older she will have less oestrogen so will not need so much thyroid medication. GP wanted her to take 50mcg mon,wed,fri and the other days take 75mcg. That seemed very odd to me. * Over the years her GP has slowly been dectreasing her dose. Before this latest change she was on 75mcg daily.

Personally I suspected my mother might actually need an increase of medication not a decrease, or maybe even a change to something other than thyroxine, so I suggested she did a Medichecks thyroid monitoring test. (TSH, Ft3, Ft4)

Results are in and as I suspected both Ft3 and Ft4 are low in the range. TSH is slightly below range again. Would love some feedback from the lovely people of the forum 🙏

Thanks in advance 🙂

[MaisieGray]

Your Mum's FT4 is only 25% in range, and her FT3 is 35.68% so clearly she is not over-medicated, and together with her feeling unwell it is much more likely that she is in need of a dose increase rather than a reduction. It doesn't appear that she is having problems with T4 to T3 conversion though, so her Levothyroxine could simply be increased accordingly. Your Mum 'may' have an age-related reduction in oestrogen - but has the GP tested it to know that she has - which 'may' negatively impact her need for exogenous thyroid hormone or indeed anything else, but guessing isn't diagnosing, and 'mays' aren't facts; whereas her test results are, and they show she is NOT over-medicated. In any case, she is an individual with different needs and functioning from the next person, and her health shouldn't be treated as an average. I don't see the rationale of a daily alternating of dose on a weekly cycle myself, because the body, and particularly the thyroid, does not function on a weekly cycle. Some people do alternate their dose but if there's any rationality to that then it should be on a daily basis, weekly makes no sense.

[Flatdanny in reply to MaisieGray]

Thanks MasieGray for your reply.... This is what I thought too. She needs an increase, not decrease. And alternating dose size on different days is unnecessary and senseless.

I will check if her doctor has actually tested her oestrogen or if she’s just making a guess. I suspect she’s guessing, but I’ll check to be sure 🙂

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Pity you didn't get the thyroid and vitamin test.

These results show she needs dose increase, not decrease

FT4 should be in top third of range and FT3 at least half way in range

Was test done as early as possible in morning and fasting and last Levothyroxine dose 24 hours before blood test?

Ask GP to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

These are frequently too low when under medicated

TSH is often low when vitamin levels are low, or if have Hashimoto's, diagnosed by high thyroid antibodies

Or get vitamin D tested privately here £29

vitamindtest.org.uk

[Flatdanny in reply to SlowDragon]

Thanks SlowDragon!

Yes would have been better to get the thyroid/vitamin test but it was hard to even get my mother to do any test. Should thinks her GP would do the tests if they were needed. Unfortunately that’s often not the case and we have to go private and do our own tests if we want answers. She’s starting to understand that now.... Anyway, yes the test was done early morning fasted and 24 hours after Levo.

I will check to see if the GP has tested vit d, folate, b12 and ferritin and if not ask them to test. Will also check if she’s had her antibodies tested in the past. Think she has but need to check.

Thanks for both your help. Always very much appreciated. You guys do a fantastic job helping strangers. You all deserve a medal 🥇🥇🥇

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Flatdanny]

I only made full recovery, after joining here, seeing the importance of full testing..... private testing revealed low vitamin D ...reading about importance of good vitamin levels.....light bulb moment.....more on my profile

[Flatdanny in reply to SlowDragon]

Read your story in your profile. Been a long and hard road for you. Glad you feel much better now. Me too unfortunately. Been ill for so long. Still trying to figure things out (;

[Flatdanny]

Yes totally agree about how doctors are so focussed on TSH. Even the Medichecks doc said she was over medicated. Just wish these docs would take a little time to learn more about this stuff because their actions really impact people’s lives. Both the Medichecks and my mums regular GP said the same thing. You are over medicated and need a reduction in dose. To be honest it’s not just thyroid they are no very knowledgable about I’m dealing with the same issues with my male hormone issues. They are even more clueless about that stuff which is why I’m on my own self medication and managing my own healthcare.

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to Flatdanny]

That's why I get my tests done by BH with no reporting ie no comments! If you got the blood draw done at a local (private) hospital perhaps your mum wouldn't realise that it wasn't at the GP's behest and be more likely ot to do it. More expensive, I know.