Below are my thyroid blood tests results taken in the morning before my levothyroxine
TSH 0.65 (0.27-4.2)
FT3 4.9 ( 3.1 - 6.8)
FT4 18 ( 12 -22)
I have Hashimoto and I take 125 mcg levothyroxine daily
After 5 years of treatment I still feel unwell, exhausted and in pain . Cannot work. I recently have been diagnosed with Chronic fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia because my GP and all the other endocrinologists I have seen think that my thyroid is doing fine and all my blood tests are good. I asked for a T3 trial, but I was refused every time.
I don't know if I have a conversion problem , but I would like to try T3 by myself. I am a bit scared though to do it by myself without any doctors support or guidance.
Any advice would be appreciated, and also a good source of T3 from outside the UK please
Thank You
Liliana
Written by
Anailil
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At first glance these seem to be basically a pretty good set of results. However, your thyroid hormone levels are a bit on the low side, FT4 is 60% through range and your FT3 is 48.65% through range. Most Hypo patients tend to feel well when they're both in the upper part of their ranges, around 75% for FT4 and maybe 60% plus for FT3.
Your conversion isn't too bad, if your FT4 was at the top of the range and FT3 down near the bottom of the range then first thought would probably be to consider adding some T3. However, I think your first step should be to increase your Levo, this will increase both your FT4 and your FT3.
Also important, and essential before adding T3, is to have optimal nutrient levels. Have you tested:
Vit D
B12
Folate
Ferritin
If not this should be done, optimal nutrient levels ae necessary for thyroid hormone to work properly and good conversion to take place.
As you have Hashi's, have you tried a gluten free diet? Some members find this helps.
Also, supplementing with selenium may help when Hashi's is present, and also helps conversion of T4 to T3. 100-200mcg of selenium l-selenomethionine or a yeast bound selenium is considered a safe level to supplement with if you don't test first, avoid selenite or selenate versions as they are poorly absorbed.
I think these should be your priority, raise Levo by either 12.5mcg or 25mcg, see what happens to your hormone levels, optimise your key nutrients (post results on the forum for suggestions as to whether you need to supplement and what dose), and then reassess.
Thanks for the advise SusieI had my Vit D , B12 , Folate and Feritin tested almost every year since getting sick. They are all at good levels now I think ( I cannot find a copy of the results now) , but I have been supplementing these, selenium as well.
There were times when my FT4 would be 22 but my FT3 wouldn't go higher than 5. This is why I was thinking that I might have a conversion problem.
I also tried gluten free diet for 6 months, but it did not make any difference for me
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