Increase in Levo?

[jrbarnes]

Hi,

I've updated past and present labs in my profile and supplements I'm on. Should I increase Levo rather than try to add T3? Am I one of these people that might need to be in that 24-28 pmol/l range? I feel very unwell trying to add T3 to Levo despite trying to slowly increase T3 over three weeks, even decreasing my Levo from 88mcg to 75mcg. Mentally and sleep wise I was better on 75mcg but I don't think 12.5mcg of T3 was enough to compensate for the loss of T4 and I couldn't function. My TSH is never below 1 even when T4 levels are elevated and my Total T3 levels remain low despite FT3 levels looking normal in the past. Perhaps I'm still hypo at a cellular level and that's why my TSH remains slightly elevated? I'm not sure if I should try 100mcg instead of T3. I never felt hyper with elevated FT4, in fact I still had some lingering hypo symptoms but I could still function normally. I'm a petite woman at 47kg and 5'1. I found this information in a study online that says "patients with DIO2 rs225014 (TT) and rs225015 (GG) variants have higher TSH levels, and should take higher L-T4 dose." I have both of these. I've noticed most people with elevated T4 levels have very suppressed TSH but this is not the case for me. Does anyone here think I should try and suppress my TSH under 1 with Levo? Adding T3 to my Levo made me even more hypo because I've had to switch from generic Levo to a brand name which is much lower in potency so my T4 levels are already lower than what I'm used to, add T3 to the mix and it's like putting a break on my conversion. My issue is that even with T3 levels at 70% in range in the past I was still having blood sugar issues. I need more T3. Note: I experimented with NDT this year and my blood sugar issues went away but there were three recalls and I couldn't adjust T4/T3 so I stopped and decided to go back to Levo/T3. Apologize for the rambling!

[NWA6]

Having had a quick look at your profile it seems that you’ve never had optimal fT3. I’d be feeling really truly awful if my fT3 were that low. Have you thought about dropping Levo altogether? Using T3 only?

I can’t see in your results where your FT3 has ever been 70% (though range I suppose you mean?)

Don’t worry about TSH, your beyond utilising that as a marker to health.

[jrbarnes in reply to NWA6]

I've been giving hard consideration to going on T3 only. The only time I've been able to get my T3 up to 70% in the reference range is by having over the range FT4 levels and since that didn't raise my T3 above the reference range I never felt hyper but still hypo with terrible hypoglycemia and trouble thinking. I realize now that for the past ten years on Levo what I thought was normal probably wasn't even though I felt functional...enough. Once I went on Levo it really put the brake on my body's natural conversion. Even my Total T3 levels remained low. I was thinking of dropping Levo tomorrow to work my way up to 20mcg of T3. Thanks for your reply and yes I feel terrible with these T3 levels and to make matters worse my doctor kept trying to reduce my Levo and he didn't understand why I was feeling so poorly and unable to function.

[NWA6 in reply to jrbarnes]

When did you g it age 70% through range T3? I can’t see it in your profile?

[jrbarnes in reply to NWA6]

It was back in 2017. Before that time no one was testing T3 on me but it was probably the same. I didn't start having major problems until my T4 levels started going down but I realize now my T3 levels weren't high enough in the first place, just enough to keep my head above water. I think I must have been taking a more potent generic Levo back in 2017 and before and it was switched on me or it's possible my natural thyroid function has gone down and I need to bump up my Levo.