FT3 looks ok...?

[Jooju2004]

Hello

I’ve been feeling tired and achy and cold (with sort of short hot flushes which are usually a sign I need to increase my meds - like my thermostat resets, when I get cold I have a wooomf of heat).

So I got medicheck test done and my results are just in:

TSH 0.02 (0.027 to 4.2)

FT3 4.8 (3.1 to 6.8)

FT4 22.3 (12 to 22)

And now I’m confused because these aren’t far off my last two tests, which I’ll put below for reference:

1st July 2020

TSH 0.006 (0.027 to 4.2)

FT3 5.15 (3.1 to 6.8)

FT4 23.3 (12 to 22)

10th January 2020

TSH 0.02 (0.027 to 4.2)

FT3 5.6 (3.1 to 6.8)

FT4 25.7 (12 to 22)

As you can see, my FT4 is always at top of, or slightly over range because I am a poor converter. We generally keep my TSH suppressed, and doing this keeps my FT3 mid range.

My question is whether the current 4.8 FT3 being slightly lower in range than usual is enough to make me feel like this. Would I feel better if I could get that number a bit higher?

As a side note, I take ferritin, folate, D3 and have B12 injections and these levels were all fine when checked recently.

I don’t understand the numbers enough but I know there are some fabulous folk on here with much more knowledge than me so all advice is welcome! Thanks so much in advance

[Lalatoot]

Jooju I have to disagree that your recent result is not too far off your other results for ft3. You are being misled by the small numbers involved.The range 3.1 to 6.8 means that any small change has a big impact. It is easier to think about this if you look at your results as percentages through the range.

Current 4.8 is 46% through range

Previous 5.15 55.4%

Previous 5.6 67.6%

To go from FT3 at 67.6% to ft3 at 46% may be what is causing your symptoms.

[Jooju2004 in reply to Lalatoot]

Oh thank you!! The numbers don’t half confuse me and I’ve never worked out how to calculate the percentage through range 🤦🏼‍♀️

My next question is how to I persuade the GP to increase my dose when my FT4 and TSH are already out of range - or should I be arguing for a referral to go on T3 at this point?

Thanks again - hugely helpful!

[helvella Administrator in reply to Jooju2004]

Which is why I keep posting this:

helvella - Range Calculator Spreadsheet

A spreadsheet for calculating a test result as a percentage through the reference interval (range).

This is an Excel spreadsheet but is likely to work in other spreadsheet software.

dropbox.com/s/2hux0bhfw4avh...

[Jooju2004 in reply to helvella]

Ahhh sorry yes I have seen this - but it won’t open on my phone so I need to log on via laptop in future! Thank you

[Lalatoot in reply to Jooju2004]

I think arguing for a referral would be the way to go. Your luck on being prescribed T3 on the NHS depends a bit on where you live. Only an endo can initiate T3 liothyroinine however so the first hoop to jump through is getting to see an NHS endo.

[Jooju2004 in reply to Lalatoot]

Well I had a telephone consultation with my GP who has increased my dose of Levo from 150mcg to 162.5mcg and wants to speak to me again in 2 weeks - so that was positive.

I asked if I could be referred to an endo and she said they have a system where they as GPs can operate under supervision of an endo who would ask to see me if they thought it necessary ... so I guess that’s a ‘no’ then lol but at least this might mean an extra opinion may be involved.

Thank you again for taking the time to reply to my post!