Help please

[Magsyb]

I had blood tests through medichecks a year ago, results were:

TSH 0.568 (0.27-42)

T3 4.34 (3.1-6.8)

T4 17.8 (12-22)

Ferritin 160 (13-150)

Vit D 63.8 (50-175)

Peroxidase antibodies 58.7 (<34)

I was currently taking 125mcg thyroxine, I was advised on here I needed a dose increase. I asked GP for dose increase which she gave me. Last few months I’ve had awful anxiety, worse than normal. My brain fog is up and down, always has been, but seems to be worse than normal, cannot cope with stressful situations, still have dry skin, hard to motivate myself

Docs did my bloods last month and they decreased my dose due to my results:

TSH 0.02 (0.35-5.5)

T4 14.7 (7-17)

I just don’t feel right, it’s causing relationship problems, I just want to run away and not be with anyone. I supplement with vitamin D3, vit C, selenium, magnesium, K2. I don’t know what to do, what I need.

Can anyone help?

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Magsyb

I have deleted your other post made about 40 minutes earlier as this is a duplicate. Please be patient, there is not always someone around to respond immediately.

Docs did my bloods last month and they decreased my dose due to my results:

TSH 0.02 (0.35-5.5)

T4 14.7 (7-17)

Did they reduce your dose based on these results?

Was FT3 not tested?

Are you due to retest 6-8 weeks later after the dose change?

There was no need for your GP to reduce your dose. Your FT4 is 77% through range and obviously doesn't show overmedication.

Useful calculator here: chorobytarczycy.eu/kalkulator

TSH is important for diagnosing hypothyroidism, once on Levo the fact that you are taking it means that your TSH will lower so it becomes rather irrelevant, it's the actual thyroid hormone levels that are important, i.e. FT4 and FT3. See Dr Toft's article:

Dr Toft, past president of the British Thyroid Association and leading endocrinologist, states in Pulse Magazine (the magazine for doctors):

"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).*"

*He recently confirmed, during a public meeting, that this applies to Free T3 as well as Total T3.

You can obtain a copy of the article by emailing Dionne at

[e-mail]

print it and highlight question 6 to show your doctor.

The fact that you have Hashi's also complicates things because test results and symptoms can fluctuate with Hashi's activity.

As you are taking D3, what is your Vit D level?

[Magsyb in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks Seaside Susie, I went back into my post to edit it so don’t know why it duplicated it.

I don’t have an up to date vit D level, I was waiting to see what replies I got to then decide which testing kit to get from medichecks. The doc reduced my dose based on those results, they didn’t test T3, they never do. I haven’t been asked to be retested but I will make sure it is done.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Magsyb]

So what was your Vit D level originally, when was that, how much D3 do you take?

[Magsyb in reply to SeasideSusie]

It’s in my original post - 63.8 (50-175), done a year ago. GP didn’t test for it. I took 800mg a day for several months with the co-factors then reduced to 400mg. I’ll be getting it tested very soon to find out what it is now.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Magsyb]

mg or iu? Hopefully iu as otherwise it would be a mega mega amount and would lead to toxicity. If it is iu then even 800iu is only a maintenance dose for someone with a decent level already so it may not have improved.

[Magsyb in reply to SeasideSusie]

It’ll be iu.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Magsyb]

As you have hashimoto’s you likely need higher dose than 800iu

More like 3000iu is wanting to improve levels and perhaps 2000iu as maintenance dose

If not doing full testing via Medichecks

Test twice yearly via vitamindtest.org.uk

Vitamin D mouth spray by Better You is very effective as it avoids poor gut function

It’s trial and error what dose we need, with hashimoto’s we frequently need higher dose than average

You obviously need B12 and folate tested too

As well as Ft4, Ft3 and TSH

Are you on strictly gluten free diet?

Always do all thyroid blood tests as early as possible in morning before eating or drinking anything other than water and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test

[Magsyb in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you. I’m not strictly gluten free. I’ll have to do it to see if it helps my mental health. My poor husband, he bakes our bread. I’ll look at the vit D spray, I’ve been taking tablets. I’ll do a full medichecks test, B12 wasn’t tested by surgery as it came back well within range in previous test and lab said they wouldn’t test it again!