SHOULD I TAKE TABLET EVERY SECOND DAY

[elsiemcleod]

My tsh is 0.18 which seems I am now over medicated. GP reduced 100mcg to 75mcg this week. Feeling awful for last month should I be taking a tablet every 2nd day for a short time . Please help. I'm also new here. Eli

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Just testing TSH is completely inadequate

Which brand of levothyroxine are you currently taking

Do you always get same brand

What vitamin supplements are you currently taking

Bloods should be retested 6-8 weeks after any dose or brand change in levothyroxine

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested. Also EXTREMELY important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially if you have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) diagnosed by raised Thyroid antibodies

Vitamin levels often drop if dose is reduced

Ask GP to test vitamin levels (and thyroid antibodies if not been tested yet)

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and before eating or drinking anything other than water .

Last dose of Levothyroxine 24 hours prior to blood test. (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).

This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip)

Is this how you do your tests?

Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or thyroid antibodies or all relevant vitamins

List of private testing options

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

Medichecks Thyroid plus antibodies and vitamins

medichecks.com/products/adv...

Thriva Thyroid plus antibodies and vitamins By DIY fingerpick test

thriva.co/tests/thyroid-test

Thriva also offer just vitamin testing

Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes antibodies, cortisol and vitamins by DIY fingerprick test

bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...

If you can get GP to test vitamins and antibodies then cheapest option for just TSH, FT4 and FT3

£29 (via NHS private service ) and 10% off down to £26.10 if go on thyroid uk for code

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

monitormyhealth.org.uk/

Just Vitamin D NHS postal kit

vitamindtest.org.uk

If TPO or TG thyroid antibodies are high this is usually due to Hashimoto’s (commonly known in UK as autoimmune thyroid disease).

About 90% of all primary hypothyroidism in Uk is due to Hashimoto’s. Low vitamin levels are particularly common with Hashimoto’s. Gluten intolerance is often a hidden issue to.

Link about thyroid blood tests

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

Link about Hashimoto’s

thyroiduk.org/hypothyroid-b...

List of hypothyroid symptoms

thyroiduk.org/if-you-are-un...

Add most recent results and ranges from when on 100mcg

[fuchsia-pink]

You are ONLY over-medicated when free T3 is over-range - yours is unlikely even to have been tested

As SlowDragon says, you need MUCH more testing than just TSH - I have had some success with my GP by saying that the full testing slowdragon suggests is what is recommended by Thyroid UK.

If you were feeling awful on it, I would guess 100 mcg isn't the right dose for you. But you could be under-medicated (by reference to your actual thyroid hormones rather than TSH) - or it could be that your key nutrients need a boost.

Once you've had proper testing please post the results (in a new post) and the lovely people here will help you understand them x

[shaws Administrator]

Welcome to our forum and members are very helpful.

I don't like doctors who adjust doses up/down, due to the TSH alone.

We are aiming for a TSH of 1 or lower and a Free T4 and Free T3 to be in the upper part of the ranges. The frees are rarely tested and few doctors know how best to help their patients.

Members on this forum are very helpful and many seem to know more than GPs or doctors.

Before blood tests were introduced in the UK, we were given NDT from 1892 and from then on patients no longer died with dysfunctionql thyroid glands. This was slowly increased until the patient felt well and symptoms diminished.

NDT, being made from animals' thyroid glands is more conducive to the human body and contains all of the hormones a healthy gland would have but and doctors only took notice of the symptoms and adjusted NDT slowly.

Big Pharma wanted a share of the profits so introduced T4 alone i.e. levothyroxine along with the blood tests.

Many seem to recover their health on levothyroxine but I'm not one of them.

Also our vitamins/minerals have to be optimal.