levo cut in half: last results tsh range (0.4 -... - Thyroid UK

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levo cut in half

mintgreenish profile image
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last results tsh range (0.4 - 4.5) result 00.1 free t4 range ( 0.8 - 1.8) result 1.6 free t3 range( 2.3 - 4.2 ) result 3.3 no levo or lio for over 24 hrs before blood test. endo tsh obsessed but she increased lio from 15mcg to 20 mcg and cut levo from 100mcg to 50 mcg daily. She tells me if tsh dont rise , she'll have to cut again. I am very poor converter. Got up to 100mcg levo and result was 1.8. Free t3 only 2.8. that was on levo only. had some 75 mcg levo that i am taking few days now and taking 17.5 mcg lio now. SPlit 3x day. best guess is free t3 maybe was around 3.7 recent test and extra 5mcg lio might do the trick so decreasing to 50 mcg levo might jus work out ok. Been stressed since speaking with her few days ago.. so if i am able to stay on 50 levo and take full 20 lio , is it possible tsh will rise. hope this made sense thankyou;

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mintgreenish
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SeasideSusie profile image
SeasideSusieRemembering

Mintgreenish

When taking T3 it causes TSH to be low, even suppressed. If a doctor who prescribes T3 doesn't know this they have no idea what they're doing, it might be a good idea to ditch this endo. Lowering your Levo dose and increasing your T3 dose will not raise your TSH, it will reduce your FT4 level and possibly raise your FT3 level.

When doing thyroid blood tests,ast dose of Levo should be 24 hours before the test and last dose of T3 should be 8-12 hours before the test. By taking your T3 24 hours before the test you have a false low FT3 result.

mintgreenish profile image
mintgreenish in reply toSeasideSusie

thankyou seaside susie. this is 4th endo. first one willing to give lio but tsh obssessed and just hoping it could work out? can i ask you whats best guestimate for free t3 of 3.3. left about 26 hrs before bloods. This forum has truly helped me because prior to finding you'll i was really symptomatic. N ow i feel on the right track. God bless you'll .

SeasideSusie profile image
SeasideSusieRemembering in reply tomintgreenish

Mintgreenish

can i ask you whats best guestimate for free t3 of 3.3. left about 26 hrs before bloods.

I really have no idea I'm afraid. Some people say add 20% but never give any indication of time difference, if you leave it 26 hours I would have thought your result will be lower than if you'd left it 16 hours, so I think it's best to retest with the correct timings.

mintgreenish profile image
mintgreenish in reply toSeasideSusie

thankyou SS. Life would be so much easier if we didnt have to disguise blood results just to make endo happy. Nice to have this site to get feedback from truly wise ladies.

JAmanda profile image
JAmanda

I did that halving of Levo ftom 100 to 50 and my t4 fell way under range and I couldn't sleep. It was awful. Don't reduce it! I'd take the increased lio then keep going till the next test and only then say what you did - and hopefully you'll be able to say your symptoms are improved and you're happy in the dose.

I did try a minor effort to reduce my T3 level last time as I had bloods checked by a non Endo - a generalist due to Covid - I took 10 lio instead of 20 for a week and the level went from 0.03 to 0.09. Still low really. My Endo isn't unhappy with low tsh as he expects it when taking T3.

JAmanda profile image
JAmanda in reply toJAmanda

Lowering t4will not raise your tsh in my experience. The raise in T3 will however have an impact t - it will lower it further.

How are you feeling? Could it be that 100/15 is right for you anyway (given your T3 is likely a bit higher than the result due to the delay)?

mintgreenish profile image
mintgreenish in reply toJAmanda

thankyou JAmanda. Was feeling still abit off on 100/15. Am taking 75/17.5 for few days and feeling pretty good. I was very poor converter w. t4 100% and t3 only 23%. From high t4 began getting high bp and diarriah non stop . Im thinking maybe since levo conversion is so poor maybe in a few more weeks if all goes ok Iwill try to lower levo to 50mcg and take full 20 lio. Noticed in past bloods that 25 mcg levo hardly moved t3 result

JAmanda profile image
JAmanda in reply tomintgreenish

I've gone from 100/20 to 112.5/15 to see if that suits me better. So hard to tell as you never know if your symptoms are thyroid related or not. Good luck.

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