Hello, I'm a new member and found this forum after a lot of online searching. Much of the info here is quite helpful and would appreciate any opinions. I've been on 100 mcg of Levothyroxine for thirteen years and still have lingering hypo symptoms like feeling cold, hoarse voice, stomach bloating, hypoglycemia, trouble thinking, and fatigue crashes. Other than slight fatigue and some mild hypoglycemia prior to Levo and after removal of half of my thyroid I functioned normally and was active. A year after my surgery I was placed on Levo and over the years all these symptoms started piling up. I've posted a few of my labs from the past year. My GP says my FT4 is too high but it seems that no matter where it is I still have symptoms. I'm currently on a B-complex which includes methyl B-12 and folate, 5,000 IU Vit D with mk-7, 200mg magnesium, 7mg of Zinc with 1mg of copper, and 50mcg of yeast bound selenium. My iron was optimal. Ferritin was not dire but could be corrected with iron rich foods so I'm working on that. Any opinions on why I continue to be half a person on Levo?
Feb 2020
TSH 1.55 (0.45 - 4.5) uIU/ml
FT4 1.9 (0.82 - 1.77) ng/dl
FT3 3.8 (1.2 - 4.9)
Total T3 79 (71 - 180) ng/dl
Aug 2020
TSH 1.8 (0.45 - 4.5)
FT4 1.8 (0.82 - 1.77)
FT3 2.8 (1.2 - 4.9)
Total T3 80 (71 - 180)
Written by
sarahdally
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Are you able to get a trial of T3 to see if this alleviates some of your symptoms? I’ve just started a trial myself, as I know it has helped many forum members who have adverse symptoms, despite optimal vitamins and an increase in Levothyroxine. My adverse symptoms are mainly related to my eyes, though poor circulation/ feeling the cold are recent additions to my hypo list.
I see you are in the US. I don't know if you have the same battles over there that we have in the UK, but I'd say you'd be likely to benefit from some T3 meds ... as you say, free T4 is slightly over-range in both tests but free T3 has dropped quite a lot between Feb and August and was a relatively feeble 43% through range last time.
I for one need free T3 much higher than that to feel properly well
Evening all, brand new to this forum and to this condition as I’ve only been on medication for 4 months currently, I’m back to get my bloods done on Monday coming as still trying to get my levels right, I have so many questions as my only point of contact for anyone going through the same as me before now has all been through googling 🤷🏻♂️ hope your all safe and well.
Make sure you have an early morning blood test (when TSH is highest) and leave 24 hours from previous dose of levo (take the next dose straight afterwards) - and you should have stopped any supplements containing biotin a few days ago (this can distort the lab processing) ... or at the very latest, don't take anything with biotin in today or tomorrow before the blood test
Post your results here (in a new post) when you get them [always get your actual results - don't rely on some receptionist saying they're "in range" or "normal" - you want actual figures] and the relevant lab ranges for each in brackets afterwards [which vary from lab to lab] and the lovely people here will help you to understand them.
If you don't have an early morning test (and especially if you are taking things with biotin in)I'd try and re-arrange x
Welcome! Presumably you felt worse in Aug than in Feb, looking at the T3 level? A healthy T3 level is often the key to feeling well.
In this context, as long as you have medical insurance, being in the US should mean that you have access to more treatment options than we do in the UK via the NHS, like adding T3 to T4 or possibly trying NDT? Worth exploring with your endocrinologist and if they are not very sympathetic, worth finding a different endocrinologist. They were not all created equal, I have learned! I wish I’d learned it sooner, but there we are!
I can see your logic - people need less copper than zinc each day, so take a supplement where dose of copper is one-seventh of that of zinc. But, for reasons I don't know, people who are hypothyroid tend to have high copper and low zinc. By supplementing copper, even in a low dose, you could be making your health worse.
I will admit here that I succumbed to the same logic with respect to zinc and copper a few years ago. Then about four years ago I gritted my teeth and paid out for a zinc test and a copper test. (They aren't cheap and the price made me feel a bit sick.) And I turned out to have high copper (it was slightly over the range) and zinc which was below mid-range.
So now I supplement zinc alone in modest amounts, and forget the copper. I think I feel better for it.
Having said all that, there have been reports on the forum from just one person that I can remember who had high zinc and low copper. So, what you choose to do is up to you.
Medichecks has tests available for zinc (£64) and copper (£82), if it interests you. But, personally, I don't intend to get them tested again, at least not in the next few years.
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