HELP PLEASE!

[Tinacros]

Hi I’ve not been feeling great lately. Lots of leg pain, hair falling out and huge amount of weight gain. I’m post menopausal and hypo. Had loads of tests from GP who has been great. My thyroid is really playing up though. I’ll post a few numbers. I started T3 last October after a medichecks result of T4 16.6. TSH 0.09. T3 of 3. I bought my t3 in turkey and started taking 12.5mcg split am/pm. I had bloods done at GP in December, they only did TSH 🙄 0.13.

Fast forward to April did a medichecks test:

T4 10.8 T3 2.69 tsh3.82. I was on 50mcg thyroxine and 12.5 T3. Couldn’t get hold of doc so I put my thyroxine up to 100mcg(too much I realise now). Got speaking to a great locus and since had two more lots of test 5th June

TSH 0.04 T4 18.1 I was still on 100mcg t4 and 12.5 t3. Due to something else he was checking for he re did bloods on 18th June T4 23.5

TSH 0.08 I stopped t3 on 5 June because I felt terrible. So for these bloods I was just on 100mcg of thyroxine. Speaking to doc on Monday (different one though). Should I not take any till then or lower down to 75mcg. I’m not taking t3 till I come clean and tell them I’ve been taking it. My ferritin also came back as 21ugl (10-291) which I know is low as my daughters suffer with it, even though it says normal 🙄 Ranges are TSH 0.10-4.00 T4 9-22.0 T3 3-6(I think). Thanks

[SlowDragon Administrator]

There’s very little point testing thyroid levels unless been on constant unchanging dose for 6-8 weeks

But for levothyroxine or T3 to work well we need OPTIMAL Vitamin levels

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 if you have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) diagnosed by raised Thyroid antibodies

Ask GP to test vitamin levels

Ask GP for full iron panel test for anaemia as ferritin is so low

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 third or half of daily dose 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?

Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or thyroid antibodies or all relevant vitamins

List of private testing options

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

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin

medichecks.com/products/thy...

Medichecks often have special offers, if order on Thursdays

Thriva Thyroid plus vitamins

thriva.co/tests/thyroid-test

Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes vitamins

bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...

[Tinacros in reply to SlowDragon]

Yes I’ve had all vitamins done through Medichecks. Vit D was slightly low but I supplement that now. My ferritin has always been around 75 so it seems quite a big drop x

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Tinacros]

What was vitamin D?

Fast forward to April did a medichecks test:

T4 10.8 T3 2.69 tsh3.82. I was on 50mcg thyroxine and 12.5 T3.

Low ferritin likely linked to being under medicated in April,

Low ferritin takes long time to recover

How much levothyroxine were you taking BEFORE adding T3?

[Tinacros in reply to SlowDragon]

I was taking 75mcg x

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Tinacros]

Looking at this result before starting T3 ....on 100mcg

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

So you probably only wanted to reduce to 75mcg when adding T3

We often need to find tune dose in very small adjustments

[Tinacros in reply to SlowDragon]

Yes you are right. I just need to get it all sorted because I feel rough.. I’ll take 75 with no t3 till I speak to gp. Just want to sort hrt out too 🤦🏻‍♀️

[Tinacros in reply to SlowDragon]

Vit D was 71.2 so not too low x