Hello everyone. Further to my last post, I had an appointment this morning with GP to discuss latest blood results taken at surgery.
TSH 0.11 ( 0.30 - 5.50)
T4 18.2 ( 11.5 - 22.7)
T3 from Medichecks February 2019
4.41 (3.1 to 6.8)
I went armed with last full thyroid + vitamin blood result from Medichecks February 2019( all results on earlier post) I also had a copy of Dr Tofts remarks . I am on 100mg levothyroxine and had 7/8ths thyroid removed over 30 years ago.
Dr had wanted to lower my dosage but I declined her offer 🤔.
I also advised that all my vitamins low but in range - no further action by Dr so good job I supplement myself. I am fed up with constant discussion with GP after every surgery blood test - it's like deja-vu.
I told Dr I felt like I needed a higher dose of Levo to push my T3 up but this was denied as Dr said she wouldn't advise me to take more than I am now.
Any thoughts at all would be appreciated. A bit of T3 to add to my Levo maybe?
Thank you
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DoeStewart
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Hi thanks for replying. Did you source your own T3? What will the T3 do to your TSH and T4 levels and have you told your GP you are going down this road?
No I have been prescribed it. Am waiting on the prescription. The endo has to write to the gp to instruct him to prescribe and how to monitor blood tests. Been waiting a few weeks for the letter to get to gp which is annoying but I know I am lucky to be getting it so trying to be a patient patient. My levo dose is to be reduced and t3 added but the endo didn't say by how much.... Just said details would be in letter.
Thank you. I live in Scotland and endos have permission to prescribe it in extreme cases. It still is difficult to get a prescription and you have to jump through all the hoops and make your case strongly.
I think Endo's are allowed to prescribe in England but obviously you then have a problem with who is going to continue to prescribe it - the GP or Hospital?. It's ridiculous the cost here compared to other countries - money making as usual.
Well your doctor is only looking at the Tsh which is suppressed and below the bottom of the reference range, and she will have been advised to get you back into range and a dose reduction of T4 is the instruction she needs to follow in order to do this.
I really do think there should be different set of guidelines for patients who are post thyroid surgery or with thyroid ablation after RAI , where the Tsh is of little value, as there is no thyroid to stimulate, and both T3 and T4 blood tests should be mandatory.
Your T4 is only about 60% through the reference range, so there is room for a dose increase, and your T3 from a previous blood test is just 27% through the range.
So, I think you have a few of options to consider.
You can try and find a different doctor who may know how to manage thyroid medications.
You can buy some T4 yourself, as well as maybe some T3 in preparation for self medicating.
A dose increase in Levothyroxine, may just do the trick but considering you have virtually no thyroid function left, I think the addition of a little T3 to compensate for your missing thyroid production logical. I think adding T3 to your T4 is the easiest option in some ways, as you can adjust each hormone independently, to find a ratio of T3 / T4 that works for you.
There is also of course the option of Natural Desiccated Thyroid which has a fixed amount of T3 and T4 in each grain. It is pig's thyroid, and as near as dam it, as similar to our own thyroid than we might care to admit, except possibly in the ratio of T3 / T4 which comes in at 1/4 ratio with each grain giving you 38 T4 and 9 T3. This was the treatment used prior to the 1960's when Big Pharma, blood tests and Levothyroxine became the accepted protocol.
It is what is called a " grandfather medication " in that it has been used successfully for over 100 years and doesn't need to comply with Big Pharma and can't be patented.
I have trialled both T3 with Levothyroxine and then NDT for myself - they both helped me get my life back, and am currently on NDT as I wasn't able to maintain the supply of the T3 that suited me.
Thank you for your reply. I have considered sourcing some T3 but am worried what it will do to my TSH and T4 at Drs surgery on next bloods - I have enough problems with them as they are now.
Every Endo visit for me is always a battle over test results, I have no thyroid and my levels are always low especially my TSH. It's annoying to always be prepped to argue.
Oh Batty1 you are so right. I haven't seen an Endo since I was diagnosed 32 years ago - he was a diabetic specialist 🤔. I have the same argument with the GP every time. At one time I was taking 175mg Levothyroxine and felt quite well but over the last 10 years it's been reduced down to 100mg. I have only been on this site since 2016 and knew nothing about getting my blood results etc... so I could see what was going on. We live and learn.
If you has the thyroid removed because of suspect cancer, the medical profession is supposed to keep your TSH suppressed. I read this somewhere here, so someone else may come along and confirm.
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