*Update * On Good Thyroid Levels and Joint/Muscle Pain

[whatevs]

Current Doses:

85mcg T4/35mcg T3

Hi All,

So in August I was having problems with joint pain/muscle aches despite having pretty decent thyroid labs and so it was suggested here I check other things like vitamin D, Folate etc and that maybe I need to up my Levo to increase FT4 levels.

Now since I posted in August I started taking a daily 2000iu Vitamin D supplement after not supplementing with Vitamin D for many, many months (I figured with all the sun I'd be fine) and upped my Levo by a smidge from 75mcg a day to 85mcg a day - my latest results taken last week are attached.....

So whilst my Thyroid seems to be doing splendidly i.e. really high FT3 levels my Vitamin D levels aren't anything to shout about.

Now bear in mind I wasn't supplementing any Vitamin D back in August when I started suffering with joint/muscle pain out of the blue and coincidentally it has now just started to resolve after say a month's worth of supplementation.

So basically I just want to say to anyone suffering from symptoms like mine - make sure you get your Vitamins checked.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

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).

If/when also on T3, make sure to take last 5mcg dose 8-12 hours prior to test, even if this means adjusting time or splitting of dose day before test

Is this how you do your tests?

Your FT4 is very low. You may want to increase Levothyroxine up to 100mcg daily and retest in 6-8 weeks

As you have Hashimoto's are you on strictly gluten free diet?

[whatevs in reply to SlowDragon]

Hi SlowDragon,

Yes a pro at blood draw prep now - followed the above before my test.

FT4 is low I agree but I'm fine with it TBH as the symptoms as I was having were caused by low Vitamin D - might actually reduce Levo a little back to 75mcg as I feel a little amped up at times and that's reflected in my high FT3 levels.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to whatevs]

Obviously we are all different

Personally I couldn't function with FT4 anywhere near that low

[whatevs in reply to SlowDragon]

Exactly.

Which further compounds the problem of clinicians being so wedded to reference ranges etc.

So lucky to have this forum.

[Hidden]

Hi whatevs hope you're doing well! I've come across your post as I have a similar issue. Currently increasing t3, but becoming more hypo, that's after going from 10 mcg t3 to 20 mcg t3 with 112 Levo. Ft3 70%, Ft4 48%. My pulse is low normal in 60s, however, I don't have a blurry vision anymore and it feels like t3 is doing something good. My Endo thinks I need to further decrease Levo to 100 and increase t3 up to 25-30. Previously I also tried to increase t3 from 10 to 12.5 with 125 Levo and ended up with palpitations, anxiety, but still bloated, stiffness everywhere etc. I am inclined to try to go your way

[whatevs in reply to Hidden]

There was definitely some resistance going on in my case Hidden - it just didn't make any sense that adding more T3 would make me more hypothryoid but I guess it's the body's defense mechanism.

I wish you the best of luck with adjusting your doseages - just listen to your body.

[Hidden in reply to whatevs]

Thanks for coming back to me whatevs. My case is strange I have just overmedicated with t3, so I need to go slowly. I tried to decrease t4 and 2 days in I was feeling worst than ever. Will take it slow and consider all options thank you!

[whatevs in reply to Hidden]

Indeed - everyone's different and you must go at your own pace. Great thing with T3 adjustments is that the results are so quick you can very quickly tell whether you're on too much or too little.