TFT results on trial of NDT....help needed please.

[DizzyD]

Hi all, hope everyone is well considering the dire situation we are all in.

Would really appreciate some feedback regarding the following thyroid blood results which came about as a result of being admitted to A+E (by ambulance) with AFib October this year. I was four weeks into a trial of NDT when AFib emergency occurred so did not reach the recommended 6/8 week thyroid test. Over the four weeks I managed to reach one an half grains of NDT now I back on 75mcg of levo for the time being. Question is: What, if anything, do these results mean? Are the results reliable considering I had only been on NDT for four weeks?

TSH 0.99. 0.4 - 4.5

Free T4 12. 3. 8-21

Free T3. 5.9. 2.5 - 6.5

As a point of interest I do not believe the NDT actually caused the AFib. Let me explain, on the morning I was admitted to A+E I had taken an adrenal cortex capsule, by mistake, instead of my usual daily DHEA supplement. Whoops!!!! Correct me please if I have got it wrong, but I suspect the adrenal cortex rushed in and sent a surge of T3 to the heart....Hence AFib symptoms that were quite scary. I refused to go to hospital because the severity of AFib was calming down but paramedics insisted I get checked out at A+E. Big mistake because I have now been diagnosed with AFib which is on my medical records so I very unlikely to ever be prescribed T3 in the future. I have always had poor conversion problem, vitamins levels fine, D102 test fine....memory and brain fog diabolical!!!!

Added the last paragraph to assure people who make be considering switching to NDT that NDT did not cause the AFib in my case.

Any feedback would be really appreciated.

Kind regards to all

[nightingale-56]

Hi DizzyD , I'd say your results are quite good and they closely mirror mine after I had been on NDT for 3 weeks. It really does sound to me as though it was the Adrenal Cortex tablet that caused your AFib. Did you tell A&E that you feel that is what happened? I am much improved on NDT and hope it is the answer for you.

[greygoose]

Over the four weeks I managed to reach one an half grains of NDT

Sounds to me like you increased much too fast. Which would be far more likely to have caused the AFib than a capsule of adrenal cortex. In fact, I really don't think a capsule of adrenal cortex would have caused a rush of T3 to the heart.

With NDT, we usually start on 1/4 or 1/2 a grain, and increase by 1/4 grain every two weeks. So, after four weeks you should have been on 1 grain maximum. It is then recommended to hold at 1 grain for six weeks, and get retested. I'm assuming that's not what you did.

[pennyannie]

Hello Dizzy

It is my understanding that when on NDT the TSH will go low/suppressed - T4 can go low in range whereas T3 will go proportionately higher and these results are similar to my results on NDT.

Did you take a bench reading of your T3 and T4 before starting NDT so you can see what has happened / changed ?

Are you monitoring your blood pressure and body temperature daily ?

Timings of dose to blood draw will also show variances as will fasting / non fasting results.

Just glancing back at your profile you seem to have introduced certain supplements I do not use and could these have upset you ?

I take NDT at around 3 in the morning, around 5 hours later I take adrenal glandular, and I also supplement ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D daily some 6 hours later.

Once on any form of thyroid hormone replacement the TSH is the least valuable result and we should all be dosed and monitored on T3 and T4 levels :

The blood tests, guidelines and ranges were all introduced alongside Levothyroxine as Big Pharma's answer to hypothyroidism.

There were no guidelines nor ranges nor blood tests in the 100 successful years of using NDT and when doctors simply listened to their patients, used clinical judgement, and dosed up, slowly and lowly with NDT to the relief of symptoms.