Got my latest results from medichecks - I didn’t do the test with vitamins as I’m under a nutritionist and on lots of vitamins. But I’m at a loss, I’ve never seen my T3 so low. I asked my GP to increase my levo dose and she said no as im in range. I’m on high dose folic acid, T-convert and fertility multivitamins (minus iodine) plus all sorts of others including vitamin D. Im on 150/175 levo on alternating days.
I have an embryo transfer on Wednesday for my 6th round of ivf and I’m so worried my T3 will be causing problems. After 4 miscarriages and so many egg collections I get so anxious that everything is optimal. Every GP at my surgery refuses for me to have a dose increase.
On the plus, my antibodies have never been so low! (I’m gluten free to keep these down).
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Orla9298
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Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and before eating or drinking anything other than water . This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)
Last Levothyroxine dose should be 24 hours prior to test, (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).
Is this how you did the test?
Clearly your FT3 is very low
FT4 is only 65% through range
Useful calculator for working out range on results
Dr Toft, past president of the British Thyroid Association and leading endocrinologist, states in Pulse Magazine,
"The appropriate dose of levothyroxine is that which restores euthyroidism and serum TSH to the lower part of the reference range - 0.2-0.5mU/l.
In this case, free thyroxine is likely to be in the upper part of its reference range or even slightly elevated – 18-22pmol/l.
Most patients will feel well in that circumstance. But some need a higher dose of levothyroxine to suppress serum TSH and then the serum-free T4 concentration will be elevated at around 24-28pmol/l.
This 'exogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism' is not dangerous as long as serum T3 is unequivocally normal – that is, serum total around T3 1.7nmol/l (reference range 1.0-2.2nmol/l)."
You can obtain a copy of the articles from Thyroid UK email print it and highlight question 6 to show your doctort please email Dionne at
tukadmin@thyroiduk.org
You may need to increase Levothyroxine.
Pregnancy guidelines
See pages 7&8 saying Levothyroxine needs immediate increase once conception is confirmed
Thank you, yes my result was fasting, early morning, without my levo dose.
I literally can’t get an appointment with my GP, they use a triage system and the receptionist feeds back a message from the doctor and they refuse to discuss my thyroid saying all my results are in range.
I’m terrified that T3 being that low will affect my transfer... if I self increase my levo dose then I won’t be able to maintain it as I will keep running out before my repeat prescription is due.
can’t get a private endo appointment until next week.
I have some leftover armour thyroid and wondering if I should add a little in.
Increasing levo is not the answer, anyway. You are a very poor converter, and having the FT4 too high could actually make conversion worse, rather than better.
You said you're keeping your antibodies low by going gluten-free. I'm not convinced that actually works, nor that it can be proved, because antibodies fluctuate. They may be low now, but there's nothing to say that they won't go high again. If just once you've had your antibodies over-range, then you have Hashi's, and that isn't going to go away, no matter how low your antibodies go. It's not the level of the antibodies that is important.
But, Hashi's people often have poor conversion, and there's not much they can do about it, except take T3. Your doctor is probably worried that you're going to ask for T3 to be prescribed, and that's why he avoids discussing it. But, it doesn't sound as if he know much about thyroid - none of them do. What you want is an endo that specialises in pregnancy, but I don't know where you'd find one of those.
Yes my antibodies used to be much higher and 3x over the range and staying gluten free they slowly came down and have not gone over range ever since (tested below range about 10 times). I had a holiday to Asia and scrapped the gluten free to give myself a break (very difficult to be gluten free in remote areas!) and for the first time in 3 years my antibodies were back over range.
I’ll have to talk to my fertility clinic but will immediately increase my levo a little bit as when I was on 175 daily I had T3 more toward the top of the range (5 point something), T4 at the top of the range and TSH 0.3 ish.
But long term... who knows. I’m losing all faith that I’ll ever get it sorted and surrogacy will be our only option.
You can get labs don't privately, or you can learn to read your body and know when you're on the right dose by how you feel. I self-treat with T3 only, and I haven't had labs done since 2014.
But, you'll always have Hashi's, whatever the level of antibodies. Here's an interesting article that explains antibodies.
I’m scared to monitor by reading my body when it’s ivf and transfers concerned. I’m fine doing medichecks as long as I know how to interpret results. But if you’re adding T3 are we still aiming for T3 to be in the upper part of the range?
I found an endo who was happy to help me manage on armour thyroid a couple of years ago but then my fertility clinic made me go back on levo as they said there is no proof it’s safe in pregnancy 🤷🏽♀️
In other words, they don't know what it is and how it works. Sigh. Are they aware that women without thyroid problems make T3 all by themselves and it doesn't do them any harm, even when they're pregnant?
But, you're right. I wouldn't want to self-treat if I were pregnant, either.
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