I am a healthy 70 year old female from USA, who had surgery in 8/2021for total thyroidectomy for papillary cancer. I went from 50 to 100 mg of Synthroid after surgery & no RAI was needed. My current test results are as follows:
TSH : .49 mcIU/mL Range : .45-5.33 mcIU/mL
T4 Free: 1.06 ng/mL Range: 0.61-1.12 ng/mL
Triiodothyronine, Free LC 2.4 pg/mL
Range: 2.0-4.4 pg/mL
Thyroglobulin An LC <1.0 IntlUnit/mL
Range: 0.0-0.9
B12 level - 848 pg/mL.
Range: 180-914 pg/mL
Vitamin D 25 OH 38.2 ng/mL
Range: 30-100 ng/ mL
Sodium level-137 mmol/L.
Range: 136-145mmol/L
BUN 30 mg/dL Range 30mg/dL
GP says I am probably dehydrated. I read Chronic Kidney Disease is characterized by low T3 syndrome????
This is the first time my T3 Free has been tested at my request since 2015.
2015 Results T3 Free 2.6 pg/map. Range- 2.3-4.2. At that time GP said things were fine. Free T4 was 1.08 ng/dL. Range 0.61-1.12 I was on50mg of Synthroid.
If I take TFree3 meds should the Synthroid (levothyroxine) be reduced? My symptoms haven’t been too bad this past year, at times trouble sleeping, some depressed moods & trouble losing weight.
Thank you for any insight you can give me, am going to my endo soon!
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heron603
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Thank you so much for your response, very helpful! My test was done in the afternoon and the last levothyroxine was taken about 9 hours prior to test. I take a multivitamin that had 40 mg of B 12 (methylcobalamin). My daily whole grain cereal , Fiber One , states 20% B12 and has18 grams of fiber. I read on this site , too much fiber can affect things. How many daily grams of fiber is too much? I will try splitting my dose. Today I see the endo & will ask if I can get retested in 6 to 8 weeks & will share the percentages with her. Will also test folate & ferritin levels myself if doctor will not do it.
Im also thyroid-less from pap cancer and I’m currently taking T3/T4 combo (100mcg T4 and 10mcg T3) I did not reduce my T4 when I started T3 I refused to go that route considering 100mcg T4 is pretty small amount to start with. I also steer clear if Synthyroid they use Acacia in some of the pills (poison) and caused me so many issues before I figured out (hellava) has detailed list of meds that contain Acacia ( I think).
I started out my journey on T4 only after my surgery but I became a super angry person during those dark times until they added T3 which lifted my moods and settled down my mind ….However (T3) Definitely does not fix weight at least for me and talking to Endo about T3 and weight loss will get no where fast and might actually make him/her resistance to giving you T3 so I would not bring that up.
My kidney function has also declined a bit after losing my thyroid and the doctors don’t see the connection (bunch of Magoo’s).
I appreciate you sharing your experience. I will not mention the weight gain to endo. I also am going to look into the kidney issue, maybe with my gp doctor. This is a great site!
I had a thyroidectomy back in 2015 for the same reasons. My thyroid was working fine before this but I had a huge nodule which had to be removed. Anyway, I was put on Levo and for the first time in my life put on weight and felt very ill. I then joined this site after 6 months and sourced NDT which I have been on for over seven years now. I feel fine on my dose and my blood test say the same. I am 76 years old so older than you. The answers you received on here should help you.
Thank you very much for sharing your experience, it was very helpful! Could you tell me what NDT is? I am new to this site and am finding it very helpful!
Natural Desiccated Thyroid = Desiccated Thyroid Extract = desiccated thyroid medicine with declared level of thyroid hormone.
Most abbreviations will be in this document:
helvella - Vade Mecum for Thyroid
The term vade mecum means:
1. A referential book such as a handbook or manual.
2. A useful object, constantly carried on one’s person.
Please don't get put off by the number of pages!
Nor by the fact it is targeted at people interested in thyroid issues. Much of its contents could be of use to many involved in health issues. Things like abbreviations, lists, general reference information.
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It's Natural Desiccated Thyroid, the one I use is Thyroid s it is derived from pig's thyroid. One tablet (Grain) contains approx 39 mcg of T4 and 9 T3. plus smaller additions which a normal thyroid would produce. The tablet is 60mcg. It did take me some months before I reached my own correct dose but it works well for me. Everyone is different. Most thyroid products take a lot of trial and error to arrive at the correct dosage. I have no gut issues or anything else, so starting from an even playing field.
I had half my thyroid removed 5 years ago due to thyroid cancer. I have been cancer free for 5 years, thank God! For one year I needed no medication but after that became symptomatic and required medication. I was started on Synthroid 50mcg and gradually had to increase to 88mcg, my current dosage.
I saw my endocrinologist regularly along with a naturalpathic doctor(also a medical doctor). The naturalpathic gave me a prescription for low dose T3 and I tried various types but it simply did not work for me. I felt unwell on T3. I also tried over the counter thyrogold (supplement). I found that I felt better on Synthroid alone and have been on it exclusively for the last 3 years and having little to no problems with it. My hair is different and not as thick as it once was but not falling out like it was when I first started on the meds. At least for now my body seems to have adjusted to Synthroid and I hope this will continue. I feel outstanding most days and will continue on this regime unless something happens to require modification.
My T3 on Synthroid ranges between 2.5-2.6. Before my surgery it was 3.3. I continue to try to increase it through diet, exercise, supportive supplements such as Dr. Westin Child’s T3 Conversion Booster.
For what it’s worth, I am a healthy 62 year old and Synthroid is the only medication that I currently take. I also take a few supplements daily and eat healthy.
Thank you for your reply, very helpful! I wish you continued success! I really don’t feel that bad even though myT3Free is 2.4 just trying to sort this out! This is a great site. What dosage of Synthroid are you on, you don’t have to answer if you would rather not. Thanks!
Still on 88mcg Synthroid. I really don’t feel bad at all with a lower T3 but trying to get it up a bit more to see if my hair will thicken more. It is not thin but just not as thick as it once was.
I have a spot on the top of my hair that is super thin & the scalp shows so I just spray it with L’Oréal Magic Root Cover Up & I am good to go! How are you trying to raise T3?
I take a supplement Dr. Westin Child’s T3 Conversion Booster. It can be found on his website so just google it. I don’t think I am allowed to mention the name of the website her. I really like this supplement and it also boosts my energy. I take it in the morning. Child’s also has other supplements that are supposed to help with hair loss. I take his biotin supplement from time to time. Otherwise I try to eat healthy and exercise at least 3 times a week.
I found there has been no quite fix and it really takes time for hair improvement when dealing with thyroid issues. The first couple of years my hair was a mess and I was at my wits end. Eventually I just decided to relax because there was nothing I could do until my body adjusted. I focused on other things and tried to be positive and eventually things started to improve greatly around the 3rd year. It will happen for you too!
I've been taking NP Thyroid (desiccated thyroid) for several years now. I try to keep my Free T3 in the upper part of the range and don't tolerate a Free T4 above the lower part of the range. Getting your D3 up to a better level might help with conversion (of T4 to T3) and adding some T3 (Cytomel) would also help. As your Free T4 is at a good level you shouldn't need to have your synthroid lowered to add T3. This will also help suppress your TSH a bit more.
(D) For low-risk patients who have undergone remnant ablation and have low-level serum Tg levels, TSH may be maintained at or slightly below the lower limit of normal (0.1–0.5 mU/L) while surveillance for recurrence is continued. Similar recommendations hold for low-risk patients who have not undergone remnant ablation, although serum Tg levels may be measurably higher and continued surveillance for recurrence applies.
"Dehydration" lab levels usually would include high potassium and high sodium, and high RBC indices. B-12 won't be elevated with dehydration. You'd also have darker than normal urine. BUN might indicate dehydration - but you can't tell much from a single test - you need to look at a full metabolic panel. I wouldn't be concerned about kidney disease unless your other kidney labs were off (creatinine, BUN creatinine ratio, glomular filtration rate, high urine osmolality, etc.). If you actually were dehydrated then I'd be more concerned that your sodium is low.
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