Leg swelling & hypothyroid

[printer]

Please can somebody give me advice on these results was taking 100 t4 and 25 t3 3 x day ft4 3.2 and ft3 6.7 tsh 0.02 I am really suffering from leg swelling water retention and muscle pain also feel as if i need to keep hold of my lower stomach incase it drops out like when your in later stages of pregnancy, I sometimes get breathless like air hunger and i am urinating more often but can't understand how my legs are retaining water, I am also gaining weight, I am going to make GP appt but was looking for some advice from you experts first please.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

printer

Can you please add the reference ranges for your results as they vary from lab to lab, we need the ranges to interpret your results.

And is your FT4 really 3.2? UK ranges vary, we often see 7-17, 9-19, 11-23, 12-22 and others, so for someone taking 100mcg Levo, even though taking 25mcg T3 which would tend to lower FT4, it seems to be extremely low, more the sort of result one would see if you were taking T3 only.

[printer in reply to SeasideSusie]

Hi SeasideSusie I have just checked the letter again and it doesn't have any ranges sorry. Do you think my symptoms are related to hypothyroid?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to printer]

I have just checked the letter again and it doesn't have any ranges sorry.

Who is the letter off? Endo, GP? Are there any comments about your levels, I can't believe there would be no comment about the FT4 and possibly the low TSH.

With what is a typical UK range for FT3 - usually has an upper level of between 6 and 7, then your result of 6.7 will be because you take 25mcg T3. But your FT4 is going to be below range so that doesn't correspond to the amount of Levo you take even when taking into consideration that the T3 you take lowers FT4. So you're not undermedicated insomuch as to cause hypothyroid symptoms as far as FT3 is concerned and it's low T3 that causes symptoms. But I can't comment on why your FT4 is so low.

What are your nutrient levels like - Vit D, B12, Folate and Ferritin? Breathlessness can be low ferritin, muscle pain can be low Vit D.

[Aurealis]

You will be gaining weight if you’re retaining water and have swelling. That’s a lot of T3 you’re taking. Think you need GP. Air hunger is a hypo sign. Gaining weight is hypo and hyper. Remember that if you have recently changed dose you can get a mixture of hypo and hyper symptoms. I find high T3 very hard to detect, symptoms are vague then unbearable. You could try missing a first dose of day of T3 and see if you feel better or worse?

[Hidden in reply to Aurealis]

Agree with what you're saying. My bloods never show a very high ft3, symptoms are subtle, weird sleeping, mild heart palp, a bit of stress and then suddenly absolutely unbearable and it takes time to get back.

I'm breathless when hyper in a different way than when hypo, weight gain and swelling happens to me when hypo and hyper, it's super difficult to know, I also gain weight on both! But, I only have palpitations when hyper, not hypo. I believe when we miss our sweet spot, we can become more hypo despite taking more meds.