Should I switch from Levothyroxine to NDT?

[Canu]

Hi. I have hypothyroidism (Hashimoto's) and have been taking Levothyroxine for one year and 3 months. My dose is 50 mcg for 5 days per week and 75 mcg twice a week. I seem to be very sensitive to Levothyroxine. I lose a lot - and I mean A LOT - of hair when I am taking even 25 mcg a week more than I should. I don't lose much hair when I take a bit less. At the moment, with this dose I am losing a lot of hair. My latest labs were:

TSH 2.05 mlU/L (Range: 0.27 - 4.20)

Free T4 21.58 pmol/L (Range: 12.00 - 22.00)

Free T3 5.54 pmol/L (Range: 3.10 - 6.80)

I also have some "neurological" symptoms: My whole body feels numb (hypoesthesia), even my face, but especially my hands and feet, and when I wake up in the morning my hands won't close (I can't make a fist). I also have some mild aches and pain in various parts of my body. I went to a neurologist and a reumatologist, who both did clinical tests, ran all sorts of blood tests for other autoimmune diseases, I did an MRI of the brain and neck, and an electromyography test and neither of them can find what is wrong with me. So we are suspecting probably fibromyalgia (or maybe side-effects from the Levothyroxine, though the endocrinologist says it can't be that).

I did many vitamin and mineral tests which were all OK. Some of them were:

Vitamin D3 (25-OH) 47.11 ng/mL (Range: 25 - 80) (I have slightly increased my supplementation since then to bring the levels up a bit more)

B12 (Cobalamin) 845.9 pg/mL (Range: 180 - 914)

I don't have any recent Iron or Ferritin tests, but here are the ones from last year:

Iron (Fe) 87.53 mcg/dL (Range: 35.00 - 160.00)

Total iron-binding capacity (TIBC) 310.6 ug/Dl (Range: 227.0 - 427.0)

Unbound iron-binding capacity (UIBC) 223.1 ug/Dl (Range: 155.0 - 355.0)

Ferritin 107.7 ng/mL (Range: 13.00 - 148.00)

I even did a hair mineral analysis 3 months ago to test for minerals and heavy metals and that came back OK.

I am taking lots of supplements: Selenium, B-complex, C, D3, NAC, Lysine, Magnesium, Omega 3, etc. and I am on a strict diet to reduce my thyroid antibodies (which I already have by about 30%). I also took some herbs for parasites and did an intestinal and heavy metal detox last year.

Based on the work of Dr. John C. Lowe and on what many people have written in this forum, I am thinking of switching to Natural Dessicated Thyroid. I would appreciate any advice. Thank you!

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Either trying NDT or adding T3 alongside levothyroxine is likely next step

Have you considered getting Dio2 gene test

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

Presumably you have Hashimoto’s?

[Canu in reply to SlowDragon]

Hi SlowDragon. I didn't know about that test. Very interesting study, thanks for sharing that! I don't live in the UK. I will look to see if the test is available here.

Yes, I have Hashimoto's.