my daughter has just received her results from Blue Horizon and her FT3 is very high.
She was taking 75mcg. T3 but started taking Topiramate for her migraines, she read it can effect your thyroid so increased her T3 to 100mcg. She has not been feeling well (she is having marriage problems and she thought it was because of this) I purchased her a test when it was on offer at Blue Horizon.
She did the sample at 10.30am and left ten hours from her last dose of T3, which she takes all in one dose.
Folate was not analysed as blood partially haemolysed.
She also supplements with Vitamin B12 and Magnesium so maybe this is why her levels are high.
She obviously needs to reduce the T3 but what is the best way to do this please. Also could this be the cause why she feels so unwell. She is suffering from depression, anger, irritability, feels totally stress out and exhausted and cannot stop eating as she feels hungry all the time.
Any advice would be gratefully received.
Thank you.
Written by
lucylocks
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As you say. it's a lot of T3 and a result that is way over range.
My endo first put me on 40 mcg of T3, and halved this 6 weeks later (I suspect he'd made a mistake with the first dose) - and it wasn't good for me dropping that quickly. So slow and steady is likely to be better for her.
Does she take her lio all in one go, or more spread out? If all in one go, it may be worth doing half in the morning and half at night, and I'd then suggest dropping a quarter of a tablet for a week or so, then another quarter, and alternating the reduction between the morning and night doses, so that it's not too quick. Hopefully she'll find her "sweet spot" and then keep it stable for 6 - 8 weeks and re-test her levels. Good luck x
If she's taking B12, does she also take a B complex (which she should be)?
If she's taking a B complex, did she stop it one week before the blood draw? If not, it could be that the biotin in the b complex has given her a false high FT3.
In what way does Topiramate affect the thyroid? And, does she even have a working thyroid to affect? Does it actually affect exogenous hormone? If not, there was no need to increase her T3 like that.
Did she increase by 25 mcg T3 in one go? If so, that could be what's making her ill! That's far too much to increase by, whatever the circumstances. It shouldn't be more than 6.25 mcg every two weeks - or even longer given how much she's taking now.
No, she said she does not take a B complex, I did once tell her she should take it along with the B12, but I have just asked and she said she had not been taking it, just been taking the B12.
She said the Topiramate makes the thyroid sluggish.
Yes I she did increase by 25mcg. in one go, I have told her and told her again that she must increase as you suggest but it seems to fall on deaf ears
She said the Topiramate makes the thyroid sluggish.
OK, but she's on thyroid hormone replacement, so her thyroid won't be producing much in the way of thyroid hormone - if any. So, that doesn't really concern her. She should not have increased her T3 at all, let alone 25 mcg in one go. So, hardly surprising she's feeling bad.
How long has she been on that extra 25 mcg? It's it's not too long, she can just stop taking it. If it's been a couple of weeks, it might be better to reduce by 2.5 mcg every two weeks, to let her body down gently.
Please do not apologise for your long response, I really do appreciate it and the fact you want help us unravel her health problems.
She is now going to reduce the T3 and then when she is hopefully more stable she will try and come off the Topirimate.
We will also do more frequent testing of her FT3 level and try and get to her "sweet spot"
She does supplement with B12 and her level is now over range, so I do not think it is B12 causing her migraines. It is good that it has helped you though.
I personally think her migraines are hormone related as she seems to either get them at ovulation or pre menstrually.
On reading more about Topirimate I think the side effects out weigh the actual benefits for some people.
I think most people who take LT3 dose it 2-4x/ day. But some of us feel better with 5x/d. It has a short half-life. Recording vital signs--temp, blood pressure, pulse-- in addition to a subjective feeling, is more accurate than blood tests for assessing the T3 dose. Paul Robinson has some excellent books about this. Best wishes!
Thank you, she first started multi doses it initially but then some members said they felt better when taking it all in one dose, so she tried it and carried on this way.
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