Is T3 available without a prescription? If so would anyone be able to DM me with some suppliers.
I have Hashimoto’s. My latest results are:
Serum free T4: 11.1 range: 9.00-20.00 pmol/L
Serum TSH: 0.92 mu/L. range: 0.35-5.00 mu/L
I am still experiencing hypothyroid symptoms. I’m currently being checked out for another autoimmune disease and the consultant remarked on my resting heart rate of 49 and said it could be due to an underactive thyroid. I’ve tried upping the T4 in the past to try and get it more in the middle of the range but this puts the TSH out of the range and my GP rang me to say I was taking too much Levothyroxine. What is the optimal level of free T4?
Thanks for taking the time to reply.
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Klavierspielerin19
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Your results suggest you are currently under medicated
Ft4 is too low
No Ft3 results
For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested. Also EXTREMELY important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12
Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially as you have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) diagnosed by raised Thyroid antibodies
Ask GP to test vitamin 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)
Is this how you do your tests?
Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or thyroid antibodies or all relevant vitamins
Hashimoto's frequently affects the gut and this 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. Dairy is second most common.
According to Izabella Wentz the Thyroid Pharmacist approx 5% with Hashimoto's are coeliac, but over 80% find gluten free diet helps, sometimes significantly. Either due to direct 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 gluten free diet for 3-6 months. If no noticeable improvement then reintroduce gluten and see if symptoms get worse
The predominance of Hashimoto thyroiditis represents an interesting finding, since it has been indirectly confirmed by an Italian study, showing that autoimmune thyroid disease is a risk factor for the evolution towards NCGS in a group of patients with minimal duodenal inflammation. On these bases, an autoimmune stigma in NCGS is strongly supported
In summary, whereas it is not yet clear whether a gluten free diet can prevent autoimmune diseases, it is worth mentioning that HT patients with or without CD benefit from a diet low in gluten as far as the progression and the potential disease complications are concerned
Despite the fact that 5-10% of patients have Celiac disease, in my experience and in the experience of many other physicians, at least 80% + of patients with Hashimoto's who go gluten-free notice a reduction in their symptoms almost immediately.
There are thousands of Hashimoto’s patients on here who have found strictly gluten free diet extremely helpful or absolutely essential
Yes...for myself absolutely strictly gluten free is utterly transforming....more info on my profile
How much VitD are you taking ? GP's rarely prescribe enough to increase levels. If your B12 was under 500 you need to supplement as it can be the cause of neurological damage and cognitive decline. Again docs rarely know as they do not study nutrition at medical school.
I second SlowDragon 's comment that you seem to be under-medicated at the moment and need more levo - not less.
You may or may not need T3 - but to know whether this would help, you need to test free T4 and free T3 at the same time, and see how far along the range you are for both.
At the moment your free T4 is very low: if it were me, I would want to increase levo until it was in the top quartile of the range. And once it was there, if your free T3 was say in the bottom half of the rage, that would show you are a "poor converter" who would be likely to benefit from T3 meds.
Bear in mind that increasing your levo to a point where your free T4 result is acceptable is likely to reduce your TSH - and taking lio will suppress it a lot more. So your doctor is very likely to have kittens if he's twitching now about a TSH which is in range combined with such a poor T4 result ...
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