T4 slightly elevated -

[Kareno77]

T4 - 14.7

TSH 0.3

Have to ring my surgery tomorrow to get an appointment to speak to my Gp but would the elevated T4 mean that’s why I’m cold and got really bad brain fog? I have had to switch GP surgery recently due to previous GP not really monitoring me properly so it’s good my new Gp are on the ball but as always the fear sweeps in. Pth came back as unsuitable so I’ve got to have that retested (think the hospital may have left it too long before testing that at the lab 🤨)

Any thoughts would be appreciated lovely people

[SlowDragon Administrator]

What’s the range on Ft4....looks lowish

PTH must be processed quickly by lab immediately after blood draw

How do you feel

How much levothyroxine are you currently taking

Do you always get same brand of levothyroxine at each prescription

What vitamin supplements are you currently taking

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3

tested. Also EXTREMELY important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

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 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

[Kareno77 in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you as always 🙏🏼

So I’m on 175mg of levothyroxin the 100 & 50mg are accord and the 25mg are Teva. Same brand at every prescription it’s not changed from these since my thyroidectomy. I take my meds at 5:45 every morning

I take calvive 1000mg and 0.25mg of alfacalcidol

I’ll change my blood test time as you’ve just caused a lightbulb moment! I’ve been having blood tests at 7:15am and the lab probably isn’t open at that time so by the time they get it the PTH sample is not suitable! Its a small hospital I go too near where I live in maldon so may not have 24 hour labs I don’t eat and just have plenty of water before I go I’ll speak to the GP tomorrow and see if could be the reason the PTh wasn’t suitable

In myself I feel ok although I’ve a little brain fog, my arms have been very cold this week and I’m a little tired but no more than usual I did have some dizziness on Monday which I don’t usual suffer with but I don’t feel ill, if you get my drift.

I’ll get more info tomorrow but I’m sure the receptionist said it was just the FT4 that was slightly up at 14.7 and that the upper limit is 14 so not drastic but up. She said T3 was within range?...

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Kareno77]

Usual range on Ft4 is 12-22 ...but not all labs are the same

Always get PRINTED copies of test results and ranges...otherwise mistakes can occur

Obviously you need TSH, Ft4 and Ft3 tested together

Presumably......You know NOT to take levothyroxine on morning of your test

Last dose levothyroxine should be 24 hours before test

Teva brand upsets many many people

Suggest you ask GP to increase number of 50mcg tablets prescribed per month and cut a 50mcg in half to get 25mcg dose

Essential to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 at least annually

[Kareno77 in reply to SlowDragon]

Fabulous! Thank you so much for all of this your advice is greatly appreciated and I can now speak to my GP tomorrow with more knowledge, I will speak to them about the Teva and did see the NICE update this week on the brands and impact it has with some users. My new surgery seems a lot more proactive so I will ask for a print out as well thanks again xxx

[tattybogle in reply to SlowDragon]

just an FYI, (although i'm sure you know). my NHS fT4 range is [7.9-14].. so 'top of range 14' could well be correct.

( I think it's the Abbott machines.. they have relatively low / narrow ranges, they also seem to have TSH ranges of around [0.57 -3.6] too , not sure what their fT3 is.

[Kareno77 in reply to tattybogle]

The receptionist did say the range was up to 14 so my reading was only slightly elevated, I panic every time I get a text saying o need to book an appointment after a blood test. I was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer in sept last year so at the moment I think the worst is going to happen with every test. They didn’t mention my Ft3 but I will ask tomorrow when I get to speak to my Gp but all the info is useful I never realised what an absolute minefield this condition is 🙈

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Kareno77]

Probably no point testing Ft3 until been on just Accord brand for 6-8 weeks

NHS rarely tests Ft3.

(A cynic might say that’s because NHS don’t want to find out Ft3 is low so they don’t have to prescribe T3)

You may need to test privately

You could ask GP to test vitamin levels now

Maintaining good vitamin levels can help improve conversion of Ft4 to Ft3

[Kareno77 in reply to SlowDragon]

Ah ok that’s handy to know, thank you very much I feel well prepared for tomorrow’s now 💪🏼