Hello all,I do hope you're all doing well, as well as you possibly can.
I was wondering how often should my doctor test my Thyroid levels? It has been quite a while since my last test, for some years I've been taking Thyroxine 150mcg. I'd appreciate any advice about medication, is there anything better or more effective my doctor could prescribe for me? I have gained a lot of weight, I'm tired all of the time, I do have a few other health problems which probably add to my problems, I have heart failure, kidney failure level 3, Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver disease and Adhesive Arachnoiditis! I suppose I'm grasping at "straws" but I feel if I can improve my health & energy,I will start to feel better in myself. Many thanks for your time.
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UrsaDee
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If you normally take levothyroxine at bedtime/in night ...adjust timings as follows prior to blood test
Similarly if normally splitting your levothyroxine, take whole daily dose 24 hours before test
If testing Monday morning, delay Saturday evening dose levothyroxine until Sunday morning. Delay Sunday evening dose levothyroxine until after blood test on Monday morning. Take Monday evening dose levothyroxine as per normal
REMEMBER.....very important....stop taking any supplements that contain biotin a week before ALL BLOOD TESTS as biotin can falsely affect test results - eg vitamin B complex
However often only a TSH thyroid stimulating hormone (a pituitary hormone) is measured. It’s assumed if this is in range so will thyroid levels. You need FT4 (Thyroxine) & FT3 (triiodothyronine) tested.
NHS rarely test FT3 but this it the stronger hormone & mainly converted from FT4. So TSH & FT4 can appear acceptable & you can still have many hypothyroid symptoms.
If nutrients aren’t optimal levo won’t work well & again these are rarely tested.
You might make faster progress if you arrange a private test, testing TSH FT4 & FT3. Folate, ferritin, vitamin D & B12.
The advanced option at Medichecks also include antibodies. Were these tested when diagnosed?
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