Does dosage go up or down when TSH is low?

[pbjmilo]

My TSH was 0.2, hair is falling out, tired all the time, and after losing almost 60 lbs the last 2 years, no matter what I do I am gaining again, and I cry at everything. My doctor dropped my Levothyroxine from 150 mg to 137 mg after checking and finding my white blood count a little low, my iron low, and vitamin D she put me on 50,000 unit? every other week. Does anyone have a good understanding if which direction the dosage should go, up or down, because with the 2 pills I have taken I gained a pound a day. I might have relaxed what I was eating, but I am a nervous wreck here, I worked 2 yrs on a gluten free, lactose free, coffee free, cruciferous, and nightshade free diet. And yes if course I cheated but I did get results. I am no longer diabetic nor am I on blood pressure medicine. Now I need to understand this thyroid that I have totally ignored, taken for granted and seriously Underestimated.

[shaws Administrator]

I am not medically qualified but it is very unfortunate that the majority of doctors/endocrinologists seem to take notice of the TSH alone and if it is somewhere in the range assume we're on a sufficient dose. Very few test the 'frees', i.e Free T4 and Free T3 as both should be in the upper part of the ranges. Neither do they appear to know any clinical symptoms - one of which one is unexplained weight gain on levo. Most of us find a TSH of 1 or lower with both Frees in the upper part of the ranges helpful.

Many people complain about weight gain whilst on levothyroxine (not all gain) and it is distressing for them - especially yourself who've gained weight on levothyroxine.

The following link might be helpful for you (but most doctors or endocrinologists don't agree) to know that if levo doesn't raise our metabolism high enough weight might increase.

stopthethyroidmadness.com/h...

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Pbjmom

Just testing TSH alone is not an indicator of thyroid health.

TSH is a signal from the pituitary for the thyroid to make hormone.

The thyroid hormones are FT4 and FT3 and these are the results which should be used to adjust dose, not TSH.

If you have not had FT4 and FT3 tested with your TSH then it's essential that you do, please come back with those results for further help.

For you to be prescribed 50,000iu D3 every 2 weeks then I expect you will have Vit D deficiency. That amount of D3 is rather low to address Vit D deficiency, you'd be better taking at least 5,000iu daily and then retest in 3 months.

The Vit D Council recommends a level of 50ng/ml and the Vit D Society and Grassroots Health recommend 40-60ng/ml. This is what you should aim for (regardless of what level your doctor suggests) and once you've reached this level then you'll need a maintenance dose to keep it there, which may be 2000iu daily, maybe more or less, maybe less in summer than winter, it's trial and error so it's recommended to retest once or twice a year to keep within the recommended range. You can do this with a private fingerprick blood spot test with an NHS lab which offers this test to the general public:

vitamindtest.org.uk/

Doctors don't know, because they're not taught much about nutrients, but there are important cofactors needed when taking D3 as recommended by the Vit D Council.

D3 aids absorption of calcium from food and Vit K2-MK7 directs the calcium to bones and teeth where it is needed and away from arteries and soft tissues where it can be deposited and cause problems such as hardening of the arteries, kidney stones, etc.

D3 and K2 are fat soluble so should be taken with the fattiest meal of the day, D3 four hours away from thyroid meds if taking D3 as tablets/capsules/softgels, no necessity if using an oral spray.

Magnesium helps D3 to work. We need Magnesium so that the body utilises D3, it's required to convert Vit D into it's active form. So it's important we ensure we take magnesium when supplementing with D3.

Magnesium comes in different forms, check to see which would suit you best and as it's calming it's best taken in the evening, four hours away from thyroid meds if taking magnesium as tablets/capsules, no necessity if using topical forms of magnesium.

naturalnews.com/046401_magn...

drjockers.com/best-magnesiu...

afibbers.org/magnesium.html

**

As your Vit D is low, I would also get B12, Folate and Ferritin checked, often when one nutrient level is low the others could be too.

A cause of low nutrient levels can be autoimmune thyroid disease, aka Hashimoto's. Do you know if you have this? It's confirmed by raised thyroid antibodies so if not already tested it would be a good idea to do so. Low ferritin can cause hair loss and fatigue.

[pbjmilo]

TSH 0.2, Vit. D 18 ng/mL, iron 45 ug/dL, then WBC, Platelets and "Neutrophils" were also low but that is way beyond me. HMO Hospitals here do not accept T3-T4 tests as necessary. I don’t see how that can be but that us the conflict. I am waiting for the result from the B12 still.

[pbjmilo]

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to keep from getting headaches in the evening when changing dosages or acid reflux

? I really feel they are related because I have had this before. I even still have the medications for the headaches that we thought were migraines but were not. Background is that my iron and vit. D is low and I am in the midst of adjusting my thyroid dosage