Help with latest results please

[Jamima]

These are my latest thyroid results. I’m still struggling with hypo type symptoms but no medic will diagnose me. My latest cortisol blood test was good and I’ve managed to raise my oestradiol level by using hrt so I doubt it’s menopause that’s the culprit as all medics suggest. I’ve tried 25 and 50 levo but they make me feel worse after about 10 days. Any help would be appreciated.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Jamima

My latest cortisol blood test was good

That was a blood cortisol test, but you said your 24 hour saliva adrenal test showed low cortisol throughout the day:

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

How did your appointment in January with the private endo go:

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[Jamima in reply to SeasideSusie]

Hello SeasideSusie - my last saliva test was quite a while ago so I’m not sure it’s reliable. I had to postpone the January appointment as I just couldn’t afford it due to some unexpected business outgoings. I’m reconsidering it now, but I’m reluctant to spend several hundreds, possibly thousands on someone telling me I’m ‘healthy’. I’ve got a phone consult with my nhs endo next week so I’ll forward those results, but they’re within range so I doubt if I’ll get any help from him.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

So you’re not currently taking any thyroid medication?

It’s extremely common to feel worse before improving starting on levothyroxine

Which brand of levothyroxine have you tried

[Jamima in reply to SlowDragon]

Hello slowdragon - no I’m not currently taking any levo and I stopped about a week before the test. It was Merck levo.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Jamima]

You mean you stopped taking levothyroxine only a week before this test

How much were you taking

Why did you stop

Test was waste of time

No point testing thyroid levels until minimum 6-8 weeks after any dose change or brand change in levothyroxine

[Jamima in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you slowdragon. I was taking 50 for just over a week, but felt so awful I stopped.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Jamima]

Which brand of levothyroxine

It takes minimum 6-8 weeks for each dose of levothyroxine to have effect

Common to feel worse before improving

[Jamima in reply to SlowDragon]

It was Merck levo. I felt really awful, pretty much unable to function. My ft4 and ft3 have reduced a bit since my last test, would a week and half of 50 levo do that?

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Jamima]

Yes, taking levothyroxine will lower TSH reducing your own thyroid output

It takes several weeks for levothyroxine to build up slowly

Hence the advice to only test 6-8 weeks after any dose or brand change in levothyroxine or NDT or T3

[Jamima in reply to SlowDragon]

At, that makes a lot of sense in terms of how I felt. I was literally sofa-bound. I really couldn’t take 6-8 weeks of feeling like that, I have a business to run and I just couldn’t function. Is levo the only option for levels like mine?

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Jamima]

You might need NDT

Email Thyroid U.K. for list of recommended thyroid specialist endocrinologist and doctors who will prescribe NDT or T3 alongside levothyroxine

[e-mail]

Mereck levothyroxine I think perhaps still contains mannitol …..this upsets many people

bmj.com/content/360/bmj.k714

science.org/content/article...

chemistryworld.com/news/dru...

[Jamima]

Ok, thank you. My test also included sex hormones and the testosterone was almost undetectable, it was so low they couldn’t do the free androgen test, I know that there’s a connection with a androgens and adrenals and wonder if this is also part of my low thyroid symptoms. Do you know if there’s a connection?

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Jamima]

You need to see thyroid specialist

Yes low sex hormones often linked to being hypothyroid

[Jamima in reply to SlowDragon]

Many thanks.