New test results, T3 too high, advice needed on what to lower my liothyronine dose to...

[Zazbag]

Results from today (9am, fasted):

(I'm currently on 150 mcg levothyroxine and 22.5mcg liothyronine)

TSH: 0.02 (0.27–4.2) – same as last test

T4: 21.4 (12–22) – up from 16.5 when I was on 125mcg levo

T3: 8.1 (3.1–6.8) – up from 6.8 when I was on 25mcg lio

Ferritin: 123.9 – up from 73.8

Red blood cell count: 4.09 *10^12 (3.80 – 5.30 *10^12) – down from 4.12 *10^12

MCV: 92.7 (83–100) – down from 97.4

Haemoglobin: 125 (120–150) – down from 128

I skipped my levo last night but I messed up the timing of my liothyronine dose – I had an exam yesterday morning so my mind was pretty tired when it came to take my second dose in the afternoon, I took it all at 3pm and had my blood test at 9am this morning, but yeah I know I messed up by not taking my last 5mcg 12 hours before my test. I did exactly the same thing at my last blood test so at least they had similar conditions... But even though I did that, I ended up with T3 waaay too high so it's clear I need to lower my dose.

Last year an endocrinologist suggested lowering my dose of liothyronine to 17.5mcg, but since I felt great and don't trust doctors anymore I decided not to listen to him. I still feel great but my hair is falling out and my libido has been verrry high which I'm assuming could be to do with being overmedicated. Also my heart beats really fast when I exercise. Now I'm thinking that I might need a dose of lio even lower than 17.5mcg. What would be a good starting point? I just don't want to lower it by too much and start feeling bad again.

On the plus side my ferritin is the highest I've ever seen it in my life by FAR, I'm wondering whether this might be helping my T4 to T3 conversion and that that might be contributing to why my T3 is so high now. Until I added liothyronine it was a constant battle to get it above 30.

My B12, folate and vitamin D were all optimal at previous tests and I've continued supplementing them. I'm also taking LDN.

Thanks everyone.

[greygoose]

Do you have Hashi's?

[Zazbag in reply to greygoose]

Hi greygoose, yes I do.

[Zazbag in reply to greygoose]

Are you thinking it's a hyper phase?

[greygoose in reply to Zazbag]

Most definitely, yes. Why else would your FT3 go up like that when you reduced the dose?

[Zazbag in reply to greygoose]

Oh ok, I thought maybe it went up because I increased my dose of levo (from 125 to 150) at the same time I lowered my dose of lio (from 25 to 22.5)...

[greygoose in reply to Zazbag]

That might have had a slight effect, but not to that point. Anyway, I take it that you're taking T3 because you're a poor converter. If you were capable of raising your FT3 that much with just an increase of 25 mcg levo, you wouldn't need to take T3!

[greygoose in reply to greygoose]

Why did you increase the levo, anyway?

[Zazbag in reply to greygoose]

Oh ok! Well last year when I had my T3 tested when I was on 150mcg levo (before I tried lio) it was only 5.2, so that makes sense. I lowered it to 125mcg when I added lio but then I noticed my feet were cold again so I increased it to get warm feet lol.

[greygoose in reply to Zazbag]

And did that work? Your FT4 is now rather high in range, and could be converting to more rT3 than T3. Do you really need it that high in-range?

[Zazbag in reply to greygoose]

Yeah it worked, 150mcg gives me nice warm feet, but without liothyronine 150mcg made me feel awful (except for the warm feet).

[greygoose in reply to Zazbag]

How strange! lol

[Zazbag in reply to greygoose]

My guess is that my body converts T4 to T3 in my extremities...? On 125mcg my feet are cold all the time.

[greygoose in reply to Zazbag]

Hmmm... Not sure about that.

[Zazbag in reply to greygoose]

Me neither, but there's a noticeable difference in my foot temperature. I've felt really good on these doses.

[greygoose in reply to Zazbag]

That's what counts!

[Zazbag in reply to greygoose]

I'm over-medicated though...

[greygoose in reply to Zazbag]

Doubtful. You'll have to wait for the next blood test to find out, though. If you're having a Hashi's 'hyper' swing, then the level will eventually go down by itself. So, it would be a shame to alter your dose and have to start again finding the right dose. If you feel over-medicated, just stop your hormone for a few days, until you start to feel hypo again.

[Zazbag in reply to greygoose]

I'm going to lower my dose to 20mcg and see how I feel.

[JAmanda]

Are you still taking LDN? Do you think it's helping? Thx

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Suggest you lower T3 to 3 x 1/4 tablet (18.25mcg) and retest in 6-8 weeks

You might need to tweak Levothyroxine down a fraction after next test (perhaps 137mcg twice week and 150mcg 5 days)

[Zazbag in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you!