Follow up for mum with suspected central hypothyroidism

[lovelab]

Hi all,

A follow up of my last post about my 86 year old mum.

My mum went to see the GP with my brother in the end, with her private blood tests results (posted in last post) stating

TSH 1.42 0.27 - 4.20

Free T4 L 11.1 12.0 - 22.0 pmol/L

Free T3 4.30 3.1 - 6.8 pmol/L

I had written them a letter taking on board all the advice you gave me previously. They were very non reactive and I eventually put the pressure on asking them if they could send me the form for complaints.

At the end of the appointment with my brother, she agreed to put my mum on Levothyroxine, starting at 25 umg to get her T4 back into range. And to retest in 4 weeks.

But it was really a hard struggle to even get this.

Ill keep you informed how things go.

Best regards,

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Well done for advocating for your mum. What a battle all this is

Because of her age I think they'll be rather cautious with the dose but she may well need more than 25mcg. She needs retesting in 6 weeks and I'm sure they'll be happy if her FT4 just creeps back into range, but do continue to advocate, getting back into range isn't the aim, the aim is to get her thyroid hormone levels (FT4 and FT3) to where they need to be for her to feel well.

[lovelab in reply to SeasideSusie]

thank you SeasideSusie. It's a wait and see now. I've told my mum she may feel worse at the beginning of taking medication. She didnt like this idea at all.

Her pharmacie puts all her pills in a tray. I'll just have to make sure that she takes it at the right time (no food before and half an hour min after)

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to lovelab]

lovelab

She mustn't take her Levo at the same time as her other tablets, Levo needs to be taken 2 hours away from other medication and some need a 4 hour gap, otherwise absorption of the Levo will be affected. Presumably they're all in the daily section of her dosset box. If it's at all I'd ask for the Levo to be dispensed in it's original box and maybe your brother could make sure she takes it at a different time.

Also, Levo needs to be taken one hour before or two hours after food.

If she doesn't take any meds at bedtime and doesn't have a milky drink before bed, maybe she could take it then.

[lovelab in reply to SeasideSusie]

I'll get on to it. Thanks again.