I seem to be on my own with management of levothyroxine & calcium, having had my Endocrinologist appointment cancelled & non cooperative dr since moving counties. I am 77 & had thyroid & parathyroid removed due to thyroid cancer many years ago. These are my recent results - Serum TSH level 0.14 min/L (0.27-4.2)
Serum free T4 level 21.8pmoL (12.0-22.0)
& for Calcuim-Serum calcium level 2.10mmo/L(2.2-2.6)
Can anyone advice me if above is ok as I don’t fully understand.
Vitamin D etc is never monitored!
Thanks
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Etch43
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I assume you are on levo. How much do you take and is it always the same brand? Did you leave 24 hours from your previous levo before having the blood test? Was it an early morning blood test (when TSH is highest)?
These results aren't bad for someone on thyroid meds. TSH is nice and low (don't worry about it being under-range if you're on medication) and free T4 is nice and high but not over-range.
If you don't feel tip-top I'd suggest treating yourself to full private testing, and test TSH, free T4 and free T3 (all together) to see where your free T3 is. Ideally this will be in the top third of the range. And also test your key nutrients - ferritin, folate, vit D and B12 - as for many of us with thyroid problems these need supplementing. (Agree GPs seldom test vit D: last time, my endo asked for it and the lab plain refused)
SlowDragon does an excellent summary fo the tests available (there are some discounts on the main Thyroid UK site) and SeasideSusie gives great advice on how to do a home finger-prick test if you haven't done one before, so you may want to check out their replies to other posters
Hi , I take 100micrograms of Levthyroxine for 5 days & 75micrograms for 2 days ( accord) I didn’t get a chance to book my blood test early morn - just had it at lunchtime. I take my thyroxine early morning. I also take just 20mgx2 a day for irregular heart beat. I should take statins & tablets for pre osteoporosis- but don’t as they make me fell ill! Although not feeling too great at present anyway. Have tinnitus from hell ! Thank you for responding!
No, you shouldn't take statins. If your cholesterol is high, the odds are that your FT3 is too low. It's low T3 that causes high cholesterol, nothing to do with what you eat or statin deficiency! So, you really need to get that FT3 tested.
And, vit D, too. If you have 'pre-osteoporosis' - does such a thing even exist??? - then what you need is good levels of vit D and magnesium. Sounds to me as if your doctor is being a tad negligent!
Do you always get same brand of levothyroxine Which brand
What vitamin supplements are you currently taking
Calcium supplements should be minimum 4 hours away from levothyroxine
For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 tested.
EXTREMELY important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 at least annually
Ask GP to test vitamin levels
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 all relevant vitamins
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