NO ENERGY & UNDERACTIVE - HERE IS MY READING

[Wens42835]

hi all - I have had RAI over 5 years ago, prior to this I was overactive and developed an allergy to carbimazole and after much advising my endo convinced me to get RAI done. Then I went underactive. Overall better form. I have just had my readings done and :

TSH 0.94

T4 19.8

Went to local herbal shop and got Thyroid complex (with selenium and iodine) and Rainbow trout oil - I have little to no energy even though I do make myself walk 5KM everyday and circuits 2 times a week but feeling very tired. I am working from home and need 20 mins kip every afternoon around 3 pm.

Would love if anyone could give me advice on what to do moving forward.

Thank you x

[pennyannie]

Hey there again

In order to receive considered opinion we need to also see a T3 result along with all the relevant ranges.

Levothyroxine is a storage hormone that your body needs to be able to convert into T3 which is the active hormone that the body runs on and read it is about 4 times more powerful and most people use about 50 T3 daily just to function.

Your ability to convert the T4 can be compromised if your ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D are not maintained at optimal levels so this is another area that needs to be looked at, through a blood test result.

Having had RAI thyroid ablation your own thyroid has been disabled and burnt out in situ :

Your natural feedback loop is broken and it is essential that you are dosed and monitored on T3 and T4 blood test results with the intention being for both vital hormones to be balanced and in the upper quadrant of their relevant ranges.

You must not be monitored or dosed on a TSH blood test as once on any form of thyroid hormone replacement the TSH is not a reliable measure of anything, especially when you haven't a working thyroid.

I personally believe that when there has been a medical intervention and the thyroid surgically removed or ablated with RAI that both T3 and T4 should be on the patients prescription for if, and probably when, both these vital hormones will be needed to return the patient's well being and quality of life.

If your doctor will not help you with the blood tests there are companies listed on the Thyroid uk website;

Once with a full thyroid blood test panel to include the vitamins and minerals start a new post with the results and ranges and you will receive replies detailing what next you may need to do to get back to better health.

P.S. Did you get any of the 3 books I recommended to you about a year ago ?

[Wens42835 in reply to pennyannie]

HI there, thank you so much very helpful. I bought one, which I have given to a friend. It was a man that wrote it, cant remember but it was excellent and really informative. Thank you I will get the T3 tested.

[pennyannie in reply to Wens42835]

Think you're referring to the Dr P book ;

You need to arrange the T3 at the same time as a T4 and TSH -and the vitamins and minerals really do need to be measured as they make a massive difference. I think I read yesterday that Medichecks - a private blood test company - has a discount running throughout August :

My cognitive functions were severely compromised and being dyslexic simply compounded my reading of anything - since increasing my T3 level I reread this book especially and now have a much better understanding of everything I first read.

[greygoose]

Went to local herbal shop and got Thyroid complex (with selenium and iodine)

Given that you no-longer have a thyroid, thyroid complex is not going to do much good, is it.

Selenium might help with conversion of T4 to T3, but not sure what the iodine is supposed to do. These multi-things are supposed to 'support' your thyroid, but rarely - if ever - do. They're more likely to stimulate it, which is a bad idea. And, excess iodine is a very bad thing when you have a thyroid. Not sure if that still holds when the thyroid is gone, but personally, I wouldn't take the risk.

You need to check that the selenium is the right type: selenium l-selenomethionine. And what the other ingredients are. There could be things that will do you more harm than good.

[Hidden]

Different set of events but same result for me - absence of thyroid and RAI.

You will probably find it makes no difference of the dose, timing of T4, temperature or what vitamins you take.

You are very lucky to be able to do what you say, I could not do that after several years on T4 only.

Now take NDT and never bothered my GP on this matter for last 6 years. Unfortunately other unrelated health problems now and pills I MUST take are giving me side effects worse than I had before! The rest of this year is a write off for doing any DIY jobs.