No probs

I'm curious ....I always read here 50 is a starter dose... It's always increased ...but in my case I started on 50 in August 2020 and remain on 50 ....my TSH level is 2.88 (0.42 -5.5)

I am very well ,so this is obviously the amount my body needs .

[radd]

Articat

How fabulous you are feeling better.

A TSH of 2.88 might be a little high for some who are medicating thyroid hormone replacement and necessitate a dose raise, but obviously suits you and we are all different.

Stay safe and well 😀

[Hidden in reply to radd]

It's a strange thing ...the thyroid 🙂

[Mostew]

I’ve been on 50 for about 12 years . Only just increased to 75. Go by how you feel .

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Majority of people on levothyroxine would need higher dose

Important to also test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Low vitamin levels are common when under medicated

Also cholesterol test is good idea. If cholesterol is high suggests thyroid is under medicated

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

Have you had thyroid antibodies tested?

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)

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/

NHS easy postal kit vitamin D test £29 via

vitamindtest.org.uk

gponline.com/endocrinology-...

Replacement therapy with levothyroxine should be initiated in all patients to achieve a TSH level of 0.5-2.0pmol/L.

[Hidden in reply to SlowDragon]

Everything is fine ...the range we're given in 0.42 - 5.5Different areas may have different ranges ....

I checked with my gp about testing and they say take meds as normal before blood test as it makes no difference .

I'm going by how I feel and I feel good 😌

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Hidden]

GP is incorrect.

Levothyroxine dose should not be taken before blood test. This gives false high Ft4.

It won’t affect TSH. TSH is slow to react. TSH has strong diurnal variation so should be tested early morning for accurate results

NHS England Liothyronine guidelines July 2019 clearly state on page 13 that TSH should be between 0.4-1.5 when OPTIMALLY treated with just Levothyroxine

Note that it says test should be in morning BEFORE taking levothyroxine

Also to test vitamin D, folate, B12 and ferritin

sps.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploa...

[tattybogle in reply to Hidden]

they say take meds as normal before blood test as it makes no difference .

This is correct if they are referring to TSH testing, but incorrect if referring to fT4 testing. There is a pronounced high point in fT4 about 4/5 hrs after ingestion of last dose Levo, so time of last dose is very relevant if interpreting fT4 results.

Glad you're feeling good ... Thyroid Treatment is as much an art as it is science, we're all very different ,and if the same 'numbers/rules' worked for everyone it really would be as 'easy to treat' as some medics think it is.

The [0.42-5.5] range is a range of where 97.5 of the untreated population have TSH, but the great majority of them are under 2and closer to 1 , so that is why it's suggested to get under 2 if people are not feeling well 'anywhere within the range'.

However you may well have been one of the people who's natural set point was higher than 2.

You can see how many 'healthy' people have various TSH levels on this graph:-

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...