Sorry in advance for the really long post, but i'm kind of loss for things to do.
Just a query really, I had my thyroid completely removed in early 2013 after developing an overactive thyroid the year before that wasn't able to be brought under control with medication.
I had to stay in hospital for a week as my iron levels were low and I was given supplements to improve it. Since leaving the hospital I have been on 125mg levothyroxine and that dosage hasn't changed. I last had a blood test in 2016 after I paid for one privately and then took the results to my GP, which I've listed below if anyone can let me know their interpretations I'd be grateful.
I've kind of given up with speaking to my GP as it feels I just get fobbed off. I understand that now I have an underactive thyroid things will change but I'm still constantly tiered, whereby I have to have a sleep most afternoons to just get by. My hair falls out in clumps and I've developed dry skin conditions. I keep getting told by them that everything should just level out, 7 years down the line i still don't see any improvement.
Prior to getting ill I was a very active person and could pretty much eat anything without gaining much weight. I was in fairly good health. Since this, I've gained nearly 2 1/2 stone and only in the last 2 years have i been able to loose just under a stone with really strict diet and killing myself at the gym.
I've ordered another test kit today and will do that when it arrives. The question I want to know is if anyone has experienced this as well and could it be that my dosage is too high and needs adjusting?
Thanks in advance for any advice,
Leah
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Leaht
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Getting four-year-old results interpreted is really not going to be helpful. So many things could have changed since then. Presumably your doctor is prescribing Levothyroxine for you, but surely he must have tested you in the last four years? He can't keep on supplying Levo without something to base the dose on.
If you haven't been tested in the last four years then you should ask your doctor for thorough testing. Or if you don't want to get tested by your doctor then you can get 25% off some Medichecks finger-prick tests until midnight on the 29th March.
This is the text of the email I received with the discount code :
-------------------------------------------------
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All you need to do is use code FP25 at checkout to receive 25% off.
Monitor your thyroid health from the comfort of your home and view your personalised results online without going to see your GP with our range of thyroid blood tests.
I have Graves Disease diagnosed in 2003 and had my thyroid ablated with RAI in 2005.
I was ok on the anti thyroid medication but didn't know enough then to question this treatment.
A fully functioning working thyroid would be supporting you on a daily basis with approximately 100 T4 - Levothyroxine plus 10 T3 - Liothyronine.
I just think that if there has been a medical intervention and a person's thyroid either surgically removed or burnt out in situ with RAI, that both T3 and T4 should be on the patient's prescription for if, and probably when, required for optimal health.
Some people can get by on theT4- Levothyroxine alone, some people at some point in time simply stop converting the T4 into T3 and some people simply need both these vital hormones dosed and monitored independently to bring them into balance and to a level of well being acceptable to the patient.
Levothyroxine is a prohormone and your body needs to be able to convert the T4 into T3 which is the active hormone that the body runs on. I read T3 is about 4 times more powerful than T4 and that most people use about 50 T3 daily just in order to function.
Most people feel well when both their T3 and T4 are in the upper quadrants of the ranges, with the T3 to T4 ratio coming in at around 1/4 : T3 to T4.
Looking at your results above your T3 / T4 ratio is coming in at over 6 ( simply divide the T3 into the T4 figure ) highlighting the fact that your conversion is very poor and ideally the solution would be to have both these essential thyroid hormones prescribed, to bring them back into balance with your T3 level then increasing whilst your T4 level reduces.
Your own ability to convert the T4 into T3 can be compromised is your vitamins and minerals are not optimal, so it is also necessary to maintain ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D at optimal levels, and not just " in the NHS ranges " somewhere.
As you will see from the above, if left on solely T4 thyroid hormone replacement you have lost that ' little bit ' of T3 that your own thyroid supported you with, and this little bit represents about 20% of your overall wellbeing and naturally over time the body can't keep compensating, things get more difficult and your health deteriorates.
Liothyronine is available on the NHS but currently you will need to be referred to an endocrinologist to sanction and agree the necessity to prescribe T3.
There is also Natural Desiccated Thyroid ( NDT ) hormone replacement which is actually pig's thyroid dried and ground down into tablet form. This has a fixed ratio of T3 to T4 of 1/4 and some people prefer this option. Sadly you will not find many doctors prescribing this treatment option, though it was the successful treatment for over 100 years prior to the 1960's and the emergence of Big Pharma, blood tests, guidelines, ranges, and Levothyroxine.
There is a lot to read and understand, and you can also learn much from other peoples posts and the answers offered.
If with Graves Disease, like me, you might like to look at the Elaine Moore Graves Disease foundation website, where there are numerous sections including the diet and lifestyle choices and the ramifications of having this poorly understood and badly treated autoimmune disease.
Your Thyroid and How To Keep it Healthy is written by a doctor who has hypothyroidism. Barry Durrant - Peatfield writes in an easy to understand manner, sometimes insightful and funny, about all things thyroid. It is a major gland responsible for full body synchronisation, your physical, mental, emotional, psychological and spiritual wellbeing, your inner central heating system and your metabolism.
Since we are without this conductor of all our bodily functions we need to know what it does so we can try to compensate accordingly.
I am now self medicating and buying my own thyroid hormone replacement as I found no help nor understanding with my health issues, and thankfully am getting my life back as best I can.
Once we have current blood tests as already advised start a new post including the ranges, and people better able than me will talk you through your next steps back to better health.
Thanks for your response, it sounds like you’re being quite condescending in your reply. Those results were 4 years ago and I haven’t been tested since by the Drs despite raising various concerns with them. I wasn’t hiding that.
I couldn’t find my original post when I logged in, hence this post. I simply asked for some advice to see what the best way forward is, and if people have experience the same issues?
I do appreciate your advice/information but it came across as if you were having a go rather than trying to be helpful (or maybe it was the way I was reading it?) It doesn’t fill me with any positivity when I read your response as being understanding or in any way supportive.
I'm sorry you've taken it that way, it certainly wasn't meant in the way you have interpreted it.
If I didn't want to be helpful I wouldn't have taken so much time to give you all that information.
I commented on your 4 year old results but said they're not appropriate now and asked if you'd supplemented as suggested in reply to your previous post.
I haven’t been tested since by the Drs despite raising various concerns with them. I wasn’t hiding that.
I never raised that point at all and there was no suggestion that you were hiding anything.
I simply asked for some advice to see what the best way forward is
Which is exactly what I did, suggesting that you need new tests so that we can comment on current levels and gave you the advice always given here about the best way to do thyroid tests so that you get the most accurate results and then we could give you appropriate suggestions.
it came across as if you were having a go rather than trying to be helpful (or maybe it was the way I was reading it?)
Certainly not having a go and yes, it was the way you were reading it.
It doesn’t fill me with any positivity when I read your response as being understanding or in any way supportive.
Strange how 4 other members actually "liked" my post, at least they saw that it was meant to be helpful and supportive.
If taking all that time to reply and giving you all that information is not supportive then I don't know what is. As my reply seems to have offended you so much I have removed it.
I was sorry read of your upset above - I must say that SeasideSusie is one of the most caring and lovely ladies on this website. She has helped me and many others get back on track with her sharing of her knowledge and always answers peoples questions in such a thorough and caring manner.
I do believe at this heightened time in all our lives, many things are getting misconstrued.
I am concerned for you, as you do need some support with your thyroid health issues, as briefly detailed in my answer to you, and in my opinion this is the very best place to get that help you should have received from your doctor, and am upset for you, that your doctor has left you so poorly medicated for so long.
P.S. I think you both need a big hug and let's all move forward as best as we can.
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