Are the scaly patches on my skin connected to a reduction in Levothyroxine for my hypothyroidism?

I have scaly red patches appearing on my body randomly. They don’t itch, stay for a few weeks and then gradually disappear. My Levothyroxine dose was reduced from 100mcg to 75 mpg about 6 months ago. Could there be a connection?

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Could there be a connection?

Maybe. Maybe not. How do you feel? Do you feel undermedicated? Have you had the return of hypo symptoms? What are your current thyroid test results? Did you have a new test 8 weeks after your dose reduction to check your levels (which should be standard procedure after any dose change)?

[Hidden in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you for your reply. Yes I had a blood test and the numbers were in the normal range but then they were in the normal range when I was on 100 too. My GP reduced the dose purely based on the fact that the numbers were in the top part of the range. I feel ok but put on weight initially after the reduction. This stabilised but now I find it really difficult to lose weight even when I eat very little. I feel that maybe 75 is too low and 100 is a little high. My guess would be that midway between the two would be best for me.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Hidden]

Lizard64

Do you have the actual results? Just numbers being in range means just that, they are within range but that doesn't mean that they are at an optimal level where you feel well. You've obviously discovered that reducing your dose has made you worse, eg weight gain is a sign of hypothyroidism, difficult losing weight is a sign of undermedication.

If you don't have the results then ring the surgery, ask the receptionist (not the doctor) for a print out of your results. Then post them on the forum for us to interpret them.

Your surgery may have online access to results, ask the receptionist and if they do offer that then register for it, find your results and post them.

When posting results, please include the reference ranges as these vary from lab to lab and we can't interpret results if there is no range. Your result/range should look something like

TSH: 2.5 (0.27-4.20)

For a full picture the tests needed are

TSH

FT4

FT3

TSH is a signal from the pituitary to tell the thyroid to make hormone when it detects there's not enough. The higher the TSH then this means you need more Levo. TSH doesn't tell us our thyroid status and adjusting dose should not be made by testing TSH alone.

FT4 and FT3 are the actual thyroid hormones and these tell us our thyroid status, FT3 being the most important one because T3 is the active hormone that every cell in our bodies need. Unfortunately testing FT3 is rarely done and often FT4 isn't done when TSH is in range. It's a shame that most doctors don't realise the importance of these two tests.

Thyroid antibodies - have these ever been tested? This tells us if the cause of your hypothyroidism is autoimmune.

Thyroid hormone needs optimal nutrient levels to work properly so we always advise testing

Vit D

B12

Folate

Ferritin

[jgelliss in reply to Hidden]

You might want to try 88 mcg T4. And see how that feels. Best wishes.

[HighlandMo]

Hypothyroid Mom has a blog about skin conditions related to thyroid - by a New Zealand doctor.