Good morning fellow sufferers, I have started over the past couple of months getting really bad hot sweats exactly like the ones I used to get on my menopause and they were so bad I looked like I had just stepped out of the shower.
I'm 72yrs old and I'm on 125mcg of Levothyroxin, I am well over due for a blood test but of course we can't get one at the moment, the last one I had are as follows, taken in January 2021.
TSH 0.28
T4 18.1
I take Vit D, Magnesium, and Biotin for my hair loss.
I'm generally feeling ok if a little tired but I put this down to my age and I'm fairly active.
Any suggestions would be great..
Written by
Loopyloo243
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If you want a blood test and your surgery isn't doing them at the moment, you can get a basic thyroid test - TSH, FT4 and FT3 - with MonitorMyHealth (an NHS lab which offers this test to the public). It is done by fingeprick so not the same tubes that are currently in short supply. The cost is £26.10 with code here:
Your January results are really too old to be of much help but you haven't put the reference ranges, we always need ranges as these differ from lab to lab. With my GP's test the range is 7-17 so you would be over range but with, say, one of the private labs it would be 61% through range (range is 12-22).
Those January results wouldn't, in my opinion, cause hot sweats, they don't show overmedication which may bring on "hyper" symptoms. However, they are now too old to be of any use. It would be best to get current levels and make sure that TSH, FT4 and FT3 are all tested. It's FT3 that tells us if we are overmedicated, in which case it would be over range.
It's doubtful that your GP can get FT3 included even if he asks for it, the lab tends not to do FT3 when the others are in range. I'd go for the MonitorMyHealth test and follow our advice:
Always advised here, when having thyroid tests:
* Blood draw no later than 9am. This is because TSH is highest early morning and lowers throughout the day. If looking for a diagnosis of hypothyroidism, an increase in dose of Levo or to avoid a reduction then we need the highest possible TSH
* Nothing to eat or drink except water before the blood draw. This is because eating can lower TSH and coffee can affect TSH.
* If taking thyroid hormone replacement, last dose of Levo should be 24 hours before blood draw, if taking NDT or T3 then last dose should be 8-12 hours before blood draw. Adjust timing the day before if necessary. This avoids measuring hormone levels at their peak after ingestion of hormone replacement. Take your thyroid meds after the blood draw. Taking your dose too close to the blood draw will give false high results, leaving any longer gap will give false low results.
* If you take Biotin or a B Complex containing Biotin (B7), leave this off for 7 days before any blood test. This is because if Biotin is used in the testing procedure it can give false results (most labs use biotin).
These are patient to patient tips which we don't discuss with phlebotomists or doctors
If you also want to check nutrient levels, the following tests include the key vitamins - Vit D, B12, Folate and Ferritin - always worth checking once a year:
Sorry for the long delay in replying as I had to wait for 10 days as I wanted my Biotin to be out of my system, so I have my test results back from monitor my health and they are as follows:-
TSH 0.04 (range 0.27 - 4.2 )
FT4 17.9 (12-22)
FT3 4.6 (3.1-6.8)
Could you explain to me what the low TSH means to my body.
I am still having the hot sweats and I'm wondering if it's my hormones although at 72yrs I sure I'm too old.
Those results show that your FT4 is 59% through range and your FT3 is 40.54% through range. Despite your TSH being suppressed you are not overmedicated, this would be indicated by an over range FT3. If you feel OK there is no need to reduce your dose of Levo, in fact there is room to increase it as many Hypo patients feel best when both FT4 and FT3 are in the upper part of their reference ranges.
As for low TSH, personally I don't worry about this. Maybe re-read your thread from 12 months ago when you asked about low TSH, there is a reply from Tattybogle which linked to a post of hers discussing this and further links to posts about low TSH.
I have read here that low B12 can cause hot sweats so maybe test the key nutrients - Vit D, B12, Folate and Ferritin - to see if these are all optimal.
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