Advice please on results

[lisan1]

Ft3. 5.8 (3.5-6.5)

Ft4 17 (12-23)

Are these good? I'm not feeling well but have other conditions as well.

[greygoose]

Well, they wouldn't be good for me. FT3 much too low. But, we're all different, and these numbers might be good for some people, but only you can tell if they're good for you. Optimal is how you feel, not a number.

[lisan1 in reply to greygoose]

Thanks! Where would you need your ft3 to be? Would you be ok with similar ft4?

[greygoose in reply to lisan1]

No, the T4 would be too much for me. I'm on T3 only. I haven't had a blood test since 2014, because I self-treat and dose by symptoms, but last test my FT3 was right up the top of the range.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

lisa1

I take Levo plus T3. If those were my results the FT3 would be good for me (76.67% through range) but the FT4 would be too low for me at 45.45% through range. I'm one of those people who need a decent level of FT4 as well as FT3 so both would need to be reasonably well balanced around the 70%ish mark.

I have other conditions which make me unwell and it's hard sometimes to know which causes what symtoms, so for me it's important to look at thyroid test results so I keep a fairly close eye on mine.

[lisan1 in reply to SeasideSusie]

What would your symptoms of too low ft4 be? My nails and cuticles are very dry and overgrown. Am thinking that it might be too low ft4...

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to lisan1]

My main sympton of low T4 is fatigue, nodding off in the afternoon whereas when optimally medicated I have no daytime slumps. This is the main symptom I had before diagnosis, crushing fatigue where I couldn't get out of bed then just want to sleep all day.

[lisan1 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks. That's me now. I seep for 9h+ if nothing wakes me up. Do you thinkI can increase my levo by 12.5? Or will that possibly make my ft3 too high?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to lisan1]

Try it, see what happens, or take it more slowly, add an extra 6.25mcg and wait 8 weeks (that's how long it takes for my levels to settle), then see how you feel and test, you can always add more later if necessary, but with FT3 getting closer to top of range I'd keep an eye on it.

How much T3 are you taking? If you find you're better with a higher FT4 and your FT3 is too high then you can reduce your T3 a bit. I started to add T3 at the end of 2016, lots of adjusting doses of Levo and T3 over the years, got up to 31.25mcg T3 at one point but I'm now actually settled on 12.5mcg T3.

[lisan1 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Could I do that by taking 100 weekdays and 75 on weekends? Or is it better to take 100 3 days and every forth day take 75?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to lisan1]

You could do either way.

I have just changed my Levo dose because my FT4 is higher than it usually is - something happened after the Pfizer booster and my levels shot up and I've been keeping an eye on them for months. First I tweaked my T3 as my FT3 went a lot higher than normal, that has now stabilised at my normal level but my FT4 is still too high so I want to just drop that a smidgen.

My usual dose is 112.5mcg which I achieved by taking 100mcg every day plus half of a 50mcg tablet alternate days (I only have 100s and 50s).

I want to reduce to nearer 107mcg daily so that would be 750mcg per week instead of 787.5mcg. 750 means I should take 7x 100 plus 1 x 50 and I have decided to do 100 every day then 25 on Wednesday and Sunday to even out as best I can, I shall see how that goes.

[lisan1 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you for explaining.May I ask what is your levels now that's too high for you? I know we are all different but it might help me understand how it can be for other people.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to lisan1]

Tested this week FT4 is at 82%.

Even though I take Levo plus T3 I need them fairly well balanced in the upper part of range.

After the Pfizer booster my FT3 reached 100% and my FT4 around the 80% mark. I've adjusted dose of T3 slightly and now it seems to have stabilised around 70% and I'd like my FT4 to come back down to around 65-70%ish.

[lisan1 in reply to SeasideSusie]

I did increase by 6.5mcg and now I'm feeling very short tempered. Would you lower t3 by 5 or back down t4?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to lisan1]

Increased Levo by 6.25mcg? If so that's a very strange and strong reaction to have happened within a few days.

How have you factored in this extra 6.25mcg?

[lisan1 in reply to SeasideSusie]

I've been on it for a week. I take 100+100+100+75 and then start again.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to lisan1]

So how is that dosing regime different from before?

[lisan1 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Before I took 87.5 mcg every day (a half 100+half 75)

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to lisan1]

Maybe you're one of those people who are super sensitive and going from 87.5 to 100 those three days out of four (which is an increase of 12.5mcg on those days even though the average is a 6.25mcg increase) is just too much for you.

I am fine with averaging out with a different amount on certain days, but it doesn't suit everyone.

[lisan1 in reply to SeasideSusie]

But the thing is that yesterday I took 75 and that's when the short temper started.

I just realised that I missed my dose by 2h today so that might be causing today's issue.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to lisan1]

Well I can't explain it I'm afraid. As Levo is a storage hormone and any changes tend to take up to 6 weeks to be fully effective, then one wouldn't expect this drastic a reaction in a few days. But everyone is different.

I really don't think being 2 hours late taking your dose today will have any effect. It's not so time dependent. I take mine any time between about 3am and 6am, but I don't have any problems with timing, averaging over a few days or anything else.

Maybe the short temper is nothing at all to do with your Levo.

[lisan1 in reply to SeasideSusie]

The dose that I missed was my second 10mcg t3 and for me I get very symptomatic when I take it too late.

Usually I feel and increase or decrease in my levo dose after a week. I will wait and see how it goes. Thanks!

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to lisan1]

The dose that I missed was my second 10mcg t3 and for me I get very symptomatic when I take it too late.

Ah, you didn't say you were talking about missing your dose of T3, we were talking about Levo. So, are you attributing your short temper to late dose of T3?

[lisan1 in reply to SeasideSusie]

I was talking about my levo. Then whilst we were talking here I realised that I missed my T3 dose so that explains today but not yesterday's temper which I recognize from previously Bering overmedicated. I will see how I get on.