I gave birth to a healthy baby girl with no complications whilst i was self medicating on t3.
Fast forward 10 months and im feeling unwell again. All the symptoms coming back. Sholuder pains, exhaustion, sleepy, eyes pulling worst ones are the stabbing pains on the scalp which is tender to touch and severe headaches.
Ive not changed my dose in meds. I am currently taking,
T3 25mcg and levo 25mcg daily.
Here are my results from friday.
T4 6 (10.5 -24.5)
TSH 0.03 (0.27- 4.2)
IRON 485 (13-150) was taking x3 ferrous fumerate. Will reduce this now)
B12 is high too.. 1166 (take b12 vac every 3 months
I would really appreciate any in put and advice given. Desperate to well again as i have two children to take care of 😓🙃
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Maya_83
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Many people on Levothyroxine plus T3 need BOTH Ft4 and Ft3 at good levels
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 .
Last dose of Levothyroxine 24 hours prior to blood test. (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).
This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)
If/when also on T3, make sure to take last 1/4 tablet of T3 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?
You’re only taking tiny dose of levothyroxine. Suggest you increase levothyroxine by 25mcg and get FULL thyroid and vitamin testing 6-8 weeks later
Obviously essential to test TSH, FT4 and Ft3 together. Suggest you do so now via
You’re iron levels are far too high...hopefully this will drop
As you have B12 injections it’s recommended on her3 to also supplement a good quality daily vitamin B complex, one with folate in not folic acid may be beneficial.
This helps keep all B vitamins in balance and may help B12 levels between injections
B vitamins best taken in the morning after breakfast
Igennus Super B complex are nice small tablets. Often only need one tablet per day, not two. Certainly only start with one tablet per day after breakfast. Retesting levels in 6-8 weeks
Or Thorne Basic B or jarrow B-right are other options that contain folate, but both are large capsules
If you are taking vitamin B complex, or any supplements containing biotin, remember to stop these 7 days before any blood tests, as biotin can falsely affect test results
Ive noticed in the past if i take any more than 25mcg of levo it makes me feel even worse and nauseous. So i cant really increase levo. Could i increase t3 meds?
Im also supplementing with vit c, vid d, folate and magnesium.
What could have changed as i was stable for 10 months? Can lack of sleep cause it or the other thing i started taking for a week before i felt bad was take 1 ts of basil seeds in the morning with lemon in a glass of hot water which ive now stopped. I also have Hashimotos.
Well you are under medicated so you need to increase one or the other
Which brand of levothyroxine are you currently taking?
Have you tried other brands
Or tried liquid levothyroxine
Extremely important to regularly retest vitamin levels
As you have Hashimoto’s are you on strictly gluten free diet?
Hashimoto's frequently affects the gut and leads to low stomach acid and then low vitamin levels
Low vitamin levels affect Thyroid hormone working
Poor gut function can lead leaky gut (literally holes in gut wall) this can cause food intolerances. Most common by far is gluten intolerance. Second most common is lactose intolerance
According to Izabella Wentz the Thyroid Pharmacist approx 5% with Hashimoto's are coeliac, but over 80% find strictly gluten free diet reduces symptoms, sometimes significantly. Either due to gluten intolerance (no test available) or due to leaky gut and gluten causing molecular mimicry (see Amy Myers link)
Changing to a strictly gluten free diet may help reduce symptoms, help gut heal and slowly lower TPO antibodies
While still eating high gluten diet ask GP for coeliac blood test first or buy test online for under £20, just to rule it out first
Assuming test is negative you can immediately go on strictly gluten free diet
(If test is positive you will need to remain on high gluten diet until endoscopy, maximum 6 weeks wait officially)
Trying strictly gluten free diet for 3-6 months
If no noticeable improvement, reintroduce gluten and see if symptoms get worse
Hi Maya_83. Congratulations on your new baby girl! Your iron overdose is causing most of your problems. Headaches, fatigue, and pain are all symptoms of iron overdose. May I ask why you were taking so much iron and for how long without testing? Excess iron can cause damage to your organs. You should stop taking iron immediately and then test iron in a month. If you were previously experiencing low iron, you need to make sure your levels are down considerably before taking any more. .
Having excess iron prevents zinc from being absorbed properly, so you are now probably zinc deficient. Do you have Hashimoto’s? TPO and TG both must be tested to rule this out. Zinc plays a major role with your immune system and also with conversion of T4 into T3. People who are hypothyroid tend to have low zinc, while people who are hyperthyroid tend to have high zinc. If you supplement zinc, do not overdose on it. Normal dose is 25 mg per day, and the amount of elemental zinc in each dose will be less and depends upon the form of zinc you are taking. Taking 25-50 mg per day since you are likely very deficient is fine. Breast feeding mothers need more zinc than those who don’t, so if you’re breast feeding 50 mg for a month or so before testing would be fine. When testing zinc, just like with testing magnesium, the serum test is the wrong test and won’t tell you the cellular level. The correct test is RBC zinc, or if testing magnesium, RBC magnesium. RBC stands for red blood cell and these tests test how much of each mineral has been able to get into your cells.
Which T4 was that, Total or Free, and where is your Free T3 test? Both FT3 and FT4 must be tested together, otherwise you cannot analyse thyroid function. When taking T3, you need to always test your FT3 levels. If it’s Total, that’s the wrong test. Either way, if it’s Total T4 or Free, your T4 is much too low. You could definitely use an increase in T4. 25 mcg T4 is not even the starter dose. 50 mcg is. After every med increase you must wait 6 weeks and then test levels of both FT3 and FT4 before making another increase.
I have no idea about the eye pulling. It could relate to iron overdose and your headaches, or maybe somehow to zinc deficiency since zin is important for eye, or it could be from something else.
Hi Maya_83. You're welcome. Hang in there with not feeling well. You'll eventually start to feel a lot better once your iron levels get back to normal. Since you now have iron toxicity, your doctor should run a complete iron panel, not just ferritin, but also serum iron, transferrin, total iron binding capacity - TIBC, and unsaturated iron binding capacity - UIBC. You need to know all of your levels to see if you need to have some blood withdrawn to reduce your iron levels quickly instead of slowly.
What were your thyroid function level results before these latest tests and before you were pregnant? Thyroid function can change after having a baby. You might find that you need to increase your T4 or T3 dosage. Another potential change you might experience is that iron toxicity can damage the pituitary gland, which impairs thyroid function. Hopefully this is not why your TSH is so suppressed on such low doses of thyroid hormones. You might also find that after your iron levels normalize and your zinc levels are better that your thyroid function improves. Right now your zinc is probably very deficient, so your thyroid function is decreased by that alone, and that makes conversion of T4 into T3 compromized.
The recommended daily allowance of zinc is 8 mg of elemental zinc for women over 18 and 11-13 mg of elemental zinc for women who are breast feeding. The mg listed on the bottle is very misleading as to how much actual elemental zinc you are getting because no form of zinc contains anywhere near 100% elemental zinc. In other words, if the label says 25 mg, this does not mean that you are getting 25 mg of elemental zinc. You get a whole lot less. Most forms of zinc provide less than 25% elemental zinc. How much elemental zinc depends on which type of zinc you consume. Percentage of elemental zinc ranges from lowed form being at 13% in zinc gluconate to the highest form at 34% in zinc citrate. I take 25 mg zinc citrate, which provides 8.5 mg elemental zinc.
Foods contain zinc too. You'd have to consistently eat a lot of the right foods every day to get enough. One oyster per day would give you around 8.5 mg zinc, a medium sized beef steak has 15 mg, a thigh and leg of chicken has 5 mg, one cup lentils has 3 mg, one cup shitake mushrooms have 1.9 mg, one cup cooked spinach has 1.4 mg.
My previous results were about 10months ago when i was 34weeks pregnant, these are below.
T4 4.5 (10.5-24.5)
T3 4.0 ( 3.1-6.8)
TSH 0.30 (0.27-4.2)
I know your saying my TSH is suppressed on small amount of meds but at that time i felt good after a very long time. Would you say that dose was maybe right for me even though the results says otherwise? I don't know i cant make sense of any of this.
Today i had alot more energy and the headaches eased up a bit. Hoping this was just a hiccup.
Hi Maya_83. I cannot get over the negligence of your doctor and that the last time you had your thyroid bloods done was 10 months ago. You should have been tested after you gave birth, since birth can effect the thyroid. Before your bloods 10 months ago, when were the previous bloods done and what are those results?
Are those Total or Free tests?
Have you been tested for Hashimoto's?
TSH levels is not what thyroid medication dosage is supposed to be based on. TSH is a pituitary hormone which communicated with your thyroid. Free T3 and Free T4 levels are what matter plus symptoms are what meds are supposed to based on. I am not sure if your above tests are free or are they total? On both your recent bloods and the ones 10 months ago your both your T4 and T3 are too low, but what matters is how you feel and what your symptoms are.
Yes, this dose might be right for you if it's what makes you feel your best. Hopefully the iron overdose did not do something to your pituitary function and from here on out your TSH is not too suppressed. Be prepared that from now onward your TSH might be very suppressed.
How long have you been off of iron supplements? That's wonderful that today you had more energy and less of a headache. Maybe you're feeling better because your iron is starting to come down?
From what i know excess b12 is lost through urine so your body will only use up what it needs.
Ive stopped taking iron tablets and also delayed taking my t3 by half hour at 4:30am now ( im following the ct3m by Paul Robinson) and feeling alot better.
I will retest my bloods in 8 weeks and see how it goes.
Your TSH is low. Mine is ok, and only my ft4 is low :/ Maybe my pituitary is damaged ;(
I am Currently taking 25mg of T3 at 5:30 and don't feel any better still cold, still exhausted, still having headaches. It's been 2 weeks since I started
Should I be taking it 4 hours before I wake up or 1,5 hour? I got confused and don't have the book yet.
Thinking of trying low dose naltrexone but heard it lowers cortisol even more, idk :/ Have you tried it?
When i spoke to Paul i told him i was getting out of bed at 8am ( with a lot of struggles. Kids) he said it was ok to take t3 at 4am, im also taking 25mcg of t3.
You will also have to monitor your temp, bp and pulse after you get up.
Give it some time as i know it took me a while to get some sort of right dosage and feel a little human again after years of feeling like a zombie and totally wiped out.
I think the whole purpose of doing the ct3 method is not to take additional adaptogens to recover the adrenals. I was looking at nutri adrenal. ????
Hello! I have just discovered by B12 is too high. Its 1342.
The lab did not test my iron, or thyroid.
My doctor said i should stop my multi vitamin for three months till my next test.
If B12 s excreted by the body, why are there high levels in some people and drs saying stop taking this vitamin if it should be no problem to be over the limit high?
I read it can signify diseases and liver problems.
I also read many people have this, lowered their intake of B12, even for a year, with no difference and doctors have no explanation and dont seem concerned.
The rest of my blood panel is excellent.
I also read it could be a methyl (mthfr gene ) problem.
In your shoes I would suggest stopping all iron supplementation immediately, if you haven't already done so. Excessive iron will cause lots of damage and symptoms.
Test again in, say, 4 - 6 months time. You want your ferritin level to drop to mid-range. Then you will need to go through the tedious process of finding your maintenance dose of iron.
Registration is helpful for all testing companies that interest you because then you will receive info on any special offers. The most popular companies on this forum are Medichecks and Blue Horizon.
Before testing you must stop taking iron for a week beforehand (if you start taking iron again).
It is also essential to stop taking any supplements which contain biotin for a week before testing for anything, for the reasons given in these links :
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still cold, still exhausted, still having headaches. It's been 2 weeks since I started 
results after a month, still not feeling good but everything shows normal
Why feel better first after an increase?
right abdomen pain/alot of gas/feeling unwell after taking levothyroxine 25mcg
WP NDT advice as still unwell after a month
