New diagnosis during pandemic

[Toothfairy50]

Earlier this year after blood tests I've been diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I've no idea what levels as I've only recieved telephone consultations and started on 25mg. Recent bloods have suggested I need something inbetween 25mg and 50mg which doesn't exist so I've been told to yoyo my doses which means that one day I'm taking too much and the next too little has anyone else experienced this?

[radd]

Toothfairy50,

Welcome to our forum & sorry to hear you have been unwell.

Levothyroxine has a long half life so alternating/switching doses is fine as long as the final weeks total remains the same. 25mcg & 50mcg are small doses of Levothyroxine & one might expect several more raises to reach optimal.

The goal of Levothyroxine is to restore euthyroid status & for many people that means TSH just above or below 1.0. Nutrient deficiencies are common with low thyroid hormone that can effect gut absorption. Have you had VitB12, vit D, folate and ferritin tested as optimum levels are required to ensure thyroid meds work effectively?

You are legally allowed to know your test results. Just ask at your surgery because it is a good idea to keep for your own records. If you wish members to comment on your levels, post results complete with ranges (numbers in brackets).

[Toothfairy50 in reply to radd]

Thankyou for responding I have not had any advise regarding the blood tests before and have had no face to face interaction. I am 50 and currently going through the menopause too... Yippee I will have my bloods done mid August and will take the advice given regarding time of day etc again thankyou for kindly welcoming me to this forum

[fuchsia-pink]

You are on a very low "starter dose" - so make sure you keep on having regular blood tests and dose increases as necessary until you feel properly well. This is most likely to be when TSH is less than 1 and both free T4 and free T3 are nice and high in range. As radd says, it doesn't matter if you take a different dose of levo each day as your body can cope with this perfectly well.

Always have a fasting early morning blood test (before 9am) when TSH is highest, 24 hours from your previous dose of levo, and please always always get you actual results (ie numbers and lab ranges) afterwards - don't rely on a receptionist saying they're "normal" or "in range" - you want better than that - you want "optimal"

In the meantime, to get the best from your levo, take it on an empty stomach just with water an hour before or two hours after other food and drink. And if you can, see if the GP will also test key nutrients - ferritin, folate, vit D and B12 - as you need these to be good and so many of us hypos find we need to supplement. I have had some success with my GP by saying that these are the tests recommended by Thyroid UK

Good luck x

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Welcome to the forum

Approx how old are you?

Standard starter dose of levothyroxine is 50mcg unless over 60 years old

Bloods should be retested 6-8 weeks after each dose change or brand change in levothyroxine

Which brand of levothyroxine are you currently taking

Many people find different brands are not interchangeable

About 90% of primary hypothyroidism is autoimmune thyroid disease diagnosed by high thyroid antibodies

Have you had thyroid antibodies tested yet?

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 with autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto’s or Ord’s thyroiditis)

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)

When were vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 last tested

Is this how you do your tests?

Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or all relevant vitamins

List of private testing options

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

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

Medichecks Thyroid plus antibodies and vitamins

medichecks.com/products/adv...

Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes antibodies, cortisol and vitamins by DIY fingerprick test

bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...

Thriva Thyroid plus antibodies and vitamins By DIY fingerpick test

thriva.co/tests/thyroid-test

Thriva also offer just vitamin testing

If TPO or TG thyroid antibodies are high this is usually due to Hashimoto’s (commonly known in UK as autoimmune thyroid disease).

About 90% of all primary hypothyroidism in Uk is due to Hashimoto’s. Low vitamin levels are particularly common with Hashimoto’s. Gluten intolerance is often a hidden issue to.

Link about thyroid blood tests

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

Link about Hashimoto’s

thyroiduk.org/hypothyroid-b...

List of hypothyroid symptoms

thyroiduk.org/if-you-are-un...

Typically dose levothyroxine is increased slowly upwards in 25mcg steps until TSH is always under 2. Most important results are always Ft4 and Ft3

Always get copies of your blood test results after each test

Or register for online access to test results and medical record