High RBC, low MPV and P-LCR when overdosed + latest thyroid results

Hello all,

I have been taking 2.6 grains of Armour with 15.6 mcg Levo and had tests after 6 weeks revealing FT3 100% and FT4 52% in ranges. I had most symptoms of an overdose (palpitations, overheating, hunger, diarrhoea, insomnia etc.).

I have had a lot of other routine tests and something caught my eye.

My RBC is high (red blood cell count), my MPV and P-LCR low. I have read a couple of research papers about this and they point to hyperthyroidism, Graves etc., which makes sense.

I have since dropped my thyroid dose to 2.5 grains and 15.6 mcg Levo, started to sleep, not overheating much, no shaking, palps, but getting some hypo symptoms. My tests are now showing dropping FT4 at 37%, and FT3 at 74%. I am much slower, tired, dizzy. Unfortunately my body reacts to even a small dose change, I am fine tuning at the moment.

Any advice or ecouragement are very welcome thanks!

[JAmanda]

15.6 mcg Levo seems a strange dose..? Is it liquid? Pills come in 25, 50, 100 I think -

[Hidden in reply to JAmanda]

I alternate Eltroxin, so it works out at about this 25 mcg is way too much, 3/4 of the pill also.

[JAmanda in reply to Hidden]

That’s a tiny dose. And I still can’t make that equal 15.6! How many days at 12.5? It’s such a small amount I can’t imagine it’s doing much. Maybe make it 25 a day to bring up your t4?

[Hidden in reply to JAmanda]

I really can't. It took me months of fine tuning to get to this amount. One day I take 12.5 mcg, another 18.75 mcg (3/4 of the pill). When I went up to 18.75 every day, my ft4 went up from 30% to 52% and ft3 rose to 81% from 70%. Each of these doses I hold for 6 weeks before testing.

[JAmanda in reply to Hidden]

I’m amazed that you can take lots of ndt but find it so hard to take levo but everyone is different. You could try splitting the levo. That said my experience trialling t3 was that I found it really hard to take small amounts eg 5 or 2.5 but when in desperation I just took 20 in one go I found it a lot better. It seemed for me my symptoms were my body calling for more meds not less. But it’s all experimenting on what works for us individually I guess.

[Hidden in reply to JAmanda]

I know, it's a bit strange, but same happens with raising NDT🤷‍♀️Interesting you said that, because I keep thinking that maybe I do need to just ditch Levo and take only NDT. Or of course I could decrease NDT and keep increasing Levo. Only two options left!

I tried splitting Levo and I was fluctuating badly throughout the day

Thank you😊

[tattybogle]

my experience is only with Levo , but may still apply . my dose of 125mcg had become too much for some reason. I had overmedicated symptoms . reduced dose from 125mcg to 112.5mcg .. first 5 weeks were not so good , overmedicated symptoms went fairly quickly but i felt rotten .... but very gradually after week 5/6 i started to 'sort of alright' more often... unfortunately, at this point GP insisted i reduce again which messed me up , but when we then increased back to 112.5mcg, the same thing happened it took at least 6 weeks and more like 8 -12 before i started to feel 'sort of alright' more consistently .. and after 6 months , (with hindsight) i was a lot better.

So make sure you give the lower dose enough time to settle down before assuming you need to change it.

[Hidden in reply to tattybogle]

Thank you tattybogle, this is very helpful!I was on this dose before for 8+ weeks, my ft4 went down to 27%, ft3 to 70%, felt pretty bad and had fainting episodes, was very swollen, my neck was huge (literally just reading my notes now 😊) and more. So I am fearing this will happen again.

When I add NDT by labs improved very fast and they go up more, but then I get overdosed. Such a fine line, it's driving me mad 🙃

[tattybogle in reply to Hidden]

Also from personal experience , don't assume you'll get the 'same results on the same dose' My 'usual' for years had been TSH below range and fT4 top half of range/slightly over.

The first time on112.5mcg ,I got TSH 0.09 / fT4 22.7 [7.9 -14] 242% , hence GP insisting in further reduction due to astronomical fT4 .

Followed by TSH 1.9 /fT4 16.6 [7.9 -14] 142% the second time.

Both tests after at least 3 months on 112.5 mcg dose , same time of day , same gap after last dose levo.

Go figure ?

[Hidden in reply to tattybogle]

I think this is because levo got absorbed and reduced in blood maybe? I had a quick test after a change (too early I know) just to see if the dropped and they did to the same level almost