Shall I Raise T4?

[cazmania7]

Hi guys!

I hope you are all safe and well!

RAI 2014 for Graves - became hypo and been unwell since. Been on 125mcg levo for years. I tried T3 under guidance of a professor to no avail. He said he could do no more for me so out of desperation I asked for a trail of liquid levothyroxcine however this has made no difference either.

I know that T3 is the important one, but also read that many do well when T3 and T4 are both upper range.

As my T4 always tends to be lower end of reference range, I’m thinking about upping it for eight weeks. Once higher, if no change I’ll introduce T3 again at that point.

Can anyone see any issues with this?

Failing this, I’m going to try NDT as never given that a proper chance.

Thanks for any advice you can offer peeps!

[JAmanda]

Post your blood test results with ranges please.

[cazmania7 in reply to JAmanda]

T3 4.6 (3.1-6.8)

T4 18.2 (12-22)

TSH 2.77 (0.27-4.2)

I’ve had my T3 higher in the past and felt no different. stop the thyroid madness often says many feel better with high frees so thought no harm in raising Levo. I’ve not tried it before and I’m still on the same amount as in 2015 (and I’ve put on three stone since then too!)

[pennyannie in reply to cazmania7]

Hey there Caz :

It's a question of metabolism and to have put on so much weight, for which I presume there is no obvious reason, just another symptom of hypothyroidism.

As you know i had RAI in 2005 becoming very unwell in around 2014:

I was dosed and monitored on just T4 Levothyroxine and only ever on 100/125/150 and faced dose reductions when I felt well as my TSH was at 0.01 ;

In ocver 10 years in primary care, a T3 was never run and a T4 only once or twice when my TSH went up into the mid teens.

My weight did creep up but since I'd given up weighing myself I can't say by how much.

Having been refused both NDT and a trial of T3 I ended up DI Myself in 2018 :

I could tolerate T4 though it seemed to stop working well for me in around 2014:

Can you tolerate T4, have you tried liquid T4 if with stomach issues ?

I ask this as RAI is known to trash vitamins and minerals and can also cause stomach and bowel issues which happened to me as i believe I was suffering with oral and gastric mucosa but no formal acknowledgement from any NHS clinician and referred to as a conundrum.

I spent 2 years building back up my minerals and vitamins and adrenals before trialling both T3/T4 combo and then Natural Desiccated Thyroid, which i've chosen to stay on as it feels softer on my body than synthetic thyroid hormone replacement.

I think you may well feel better if you increase your T4 - I took mine over range in order to get a better T3 - but it was short lived and I just gave myself bad headaches.

Having "lost" your own T3 thyroid production you have lost your abilty to kick start the process of converting T4 into T3 : that is just my explanation, as that is how it felt when I first added T3 - Liothyronine to my T4 :

Having now been on NDT for around 3 years my weight has significantly reduced but this was just a bonus to the overall feeling of better health through having the support of full spectrum thyroid hormone replacement.

All you can do is try all the thyroid hormone replacement options:

Ensure your vitamins and minerals are optimal :

I found much less stress doing it for myself, I didn't think I could do this, but when push came to shove, it's liberated me from the blood tests and guidelines and rules curently in place that never really worked well for me after RAI thyroid ablation for Graves Disease.

[cazmania7 in reply to pennyannie]

Hi pennyannie!

Lovely to hear from you and I hope you’re well buddy.

I don’t think the liquid levothyroxcine has made a difference but I think my T4 might be higher than it usually is. I’d have to check older results.

I’m guna stick to my plan and see how I go. I’m upping from 125mcg T4 to 150 and will try this for two months and then test.

At least having a plan makes me have hope!!

Take care matey, when will it stop raining!!

[pennyannie in reply to cazmania7]

I think we are " in ' for a bumpy ride these next few days - and from past experience

I'm likely to get " blips " with electricity supplies.

Don't think an umbrella will be much use :

Take good care:

[cazmania7]

Thanks buddy. I have the faulty gene thing so that’s part of it I think. I’ve had higher T3 and felt the same.

My T4 is higher than it’s been in the past and I wonder if it’s due to the liquid levothyroxcine. I’m curious to see how I’d feel if higher.

I’ve been unwell for years so a few months upping my levo to see what happens won’t hurt. Then I’ll try NDT.

I read that Nature Throid is no longer available so will have to explore options. Also heard many suppliers are out of stock!

I think Efra is NDT and might try to get local endo to help me with a prescription!

Thanks buddy and stay safe