Hi,
I just wanted to share that after I started with Levo treatment, my nutrient absorption diminished. In fact, I was measuring ferritin, folate and b12 levels BEFORE (so I have reference values), and starting on Levo pills was a clear breaking point. Maybe the pills themselves make our bodies absorb less due to secondary effects?
It is not uncommon for hypo symptoms to intensify after starting thyroid hormone replacement, nor for new symptoms to appear. Could be that one of your new symptoms was a drop in stomach acid, making it harder to digest food and absorb the nutrients. But that doesn't mean it was the levo that caused it.
I'm suspecting it's related to T3 levels, because they misteriously dropped after I started treatment with Levo (I was measuring T3 before I started the pills and it was higher).
That's not a mystery. Before you started levo, you had your thyroid making T3. And, when a thyroid is failing, it tends to increase T3 production and reduce T4. Once you start levo, your TSH drops, so the thyroid produces less and less hormone, so you are more and more dependant on conversion of T4. Plus, you no-longer have the conversion that takes place in the thyroid, because the thyroid isn't working anymore, so you rely on conversion in the liver and peripheral tissues, which isn't always as good in people that are hypo, as in euthyroid people.
Extremely common….because most people start on low 50mcg starter dose levothyroxine, and frequently GP/endocrinologist don’t increase dose levothyroxine up fast enough or high enough
That’s why increasingly guidelines recommend starting at full replacement dose…..but many patients find that’s too much, too soon
Levothyroxine doesn’t “top up” failing thyroid…..it replaces it
So if starting on 50mcg starter dose…..after 6-8 weeks TSH will have reduced, your own thyroid stops working so hard, you actually end up with less thyroid hormones….and more hypothyroid
Bloods should be retested ……dose is increased by 25mcg ……wait 6-8 weeks…..test…..increase dose……repeat until optimal levels
How much levothyroxine are you currently taking
How long on this dose
Approx how much do you weigh in kilo
i'm on 75/day, my weight is 52 Kg. I've been on this dosis since august. T3 falled from 2,85 to 2,5 (after starting pills) on a 2-4,2 range.
Previous posts show terrible ferritin
Until all four vitamins are at GOOD levels you can’t tell how well you might convert
Guidelines on dose by weight suggest you likely need small increase in levothyroxine to approx 83mcg daily
83 x 7 days = 581
Currently taking 75 x 7 = 525
Suggest you try increasing dose levothyroxine by 12.5mcg 4 days a week
75mcg x 3 days and 87.5mcg x 4 days = 575mcg
The thing is, ferritin may have dropped due to Levo pills...it seems a vicious circule
Yes…it’s always a vicious circle…..but improving vitamins is almost always first step so that can tolerate levothyroxine and get best conversion of Ft4 to Ft3
Thyroxine Absorption Test
How to raise nutrients up - Hypothyroid
Iron absorption and hypo?
Do The following meds block Levo absorption?
Does Calcium affect Levothyroxine Absorption
