How to increase ft4 and Ft3 on thyroxine therapy.

[sa1234]

Hi,

Can someone please tell me how wwe can increase our ft4 and Ft3 when on thyroxine treatment?

I am on thyroxine and I have noticed that my TSH would be optimal but ft4 and Ft3 would still be loww. I'm wondering what I need to do to increase thyroid hormones as well. I do not have hashimoto's. My anti TPO was within the range.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

sa1234

I am on thyroxine and I have noticed that my TSH would be optimal but ft4 and Ft3 would still be loww.

Once diagnosed and on thyroid hormone replacement, TSH becomes largely irrelevant. TSH is not a thyroid hormone, it's a pituitary hormone, the thyroid hormones are T4 and T3 and the FT4 and FT3 tests are what tell us if we are under medicated, over medicated or on an optimal dose. There's nothing "optimal" about TSH level, it will be where it will be as long as FT4/FT3 are optimal.

If your FT4 and FT3 are low this indicates under medication. The only way to increase thyroid hormone levels is to take more thyroid hormone. But also important are optimal nutrient levels - Vit D, B12, Folate and Ferritin - as these need to be optimal for thyroid hormone to work properly.

What are your current results, can you post them along with their reference ranges and we can comment further.

[tattybogle]

'TSH optimal' ... you can't compare pre treatment TSH 'optimal' to 'optimal' TSH on Levo .. the action of taking T4 only skews the relationship somewhat.

so what do you consider optimal TSH and why ?

If you want to increase T4/3 on thyroxine you simply have to increase the dose , and in some people this will inevitably mean the TSH is lower.... how low is 'too low' on thyroid replacement therapy is a matter of opinion, but there's plenty of evidence that as long as it's not a below 0.04 on T4 only therapy , there are no increased risks over TSH 'in range'

The actual level of the fT4 and fT3 are surely more important than the TSH level ?