Hi everyone, asked for print off for my latest results which were as follows:
T4 - 17.7
TSH- 8.04
Once again told my GP I felt undermedicated on 100mgs which again fell on deaf ears.Continued to have many symptoms including headaches, fatigue, poor sleep, brain fog, joint pain, ear pain, constipation and indigestion.Decided at start of this week to alternate 100mgs and 150mgs daily and slowly but surely some symptoms are disappearing. Sleeping better, more energy, improved concentration.
Has anyone else on here increased their meds with success? GP seems uneducated on the whole issue tbh.
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SovietSong
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Many thanks for reply SlowDragon, I weigh 87kg which works out 139mg daily?? I know this isn't set in stone but defo felt undermedicated past 6 weeks or so.Ive never been evaluated for t3, only t4 and tsh.I take b12 daily.Is it possible in your opinion for low dosage to cause such wide ranging symptoms such as I listed above. Just seems so random left ear pain, finger joint pain etc.
Low vitamin levels highly likely when under medicated
I see you (inappropriately) had dose levothyroxine reduced ridiculously large amount from 150mcg to 100mcg a year ago
Bloods should ALWAYS be retested 8-10 weeks after any dose reduction and absolute max reduction should be 25mcg……and more likely 12.5mcg ….or even by only 12.5mcg on alternate days
How long had you been left on just 100mcg levothyroxine
Do you always get same brand levothyroxine at each prescription
Do you normally take levothyroxine waking or bedtime?
what’s the reason for your hypothyroidism
Thyroidectomy?
Post RAI?
Just hypothyroid ?……if so ….Have you ever had thyroid antibodies tested for autoimmune thyroid disease (hashimoto’s)
Yes I am post RAI, been taking 100mg for a year and no issue's up until 6-7 weeks ago.I had been taking Accord but was given Teva latest, however my symptoms started weeks before the change in brands.Take my meds first thing on waking and have a varied diet with no intolerances.
Do you always get thyroid levels tested early morning (ideally at 9am or earlier) and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test
Previous posts show you were previously on 150mcg. Dose levothyroxine should never have been reduced from 150mcg to 100mcg
If you were over medicated (and you would only know that if TSH, Ft4 and Ft3 were tested together and all four vitamins tested and OPTIMAL levels)
If dose did need reducing (unlikely) …..it should have been reduced a TINY amount…..so something like 150mcg 4 days a week and 137.5mcg 3 days a week…….waiting 8-10 weeks then retesting FULL Thyroid and vitamin levels again
Vitamin levels frequently crash out with almost any dose reduction in Levothyroxine
For GOOD conversion of Ft4 (levothyroxine) to Ft3 (active hormone) we must have OPTIMAL vitamin levels
Yes I always get tested early in morning.I had originally been on 125mg for years and then this was increased to 150mg up until last year when it was dropped to the current 100mg.Thank you for taking the time to share the above info, very much appreciated.
When was your RAI thyroid ablation and presume this was for Graves Disease ?
Graves is an auto immune disease for which there is no cure and now you have Graves and dealing with primary hypothyroidism.
A fully functioning working thyroid would be supporting you on a daily basis with trace elements of T1.T2 and calcitonin plus a measure of T3 at around 10 mcg plus a measure of T4 at around 100 mcg and T3 is said to be around 4 times as powerful than T4.
T4 - Levothyroxine is a storage hormone that needs to be converted in your body into T3 the active hormone that runs all your bodily functions and your ability to convert the T4 into T3 can be compromised by non optimal levels of ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D and inflammation, any physiological stress ( emotional or physical ) depression, dieting and ageing can all impair T4 to T3 conversion.
It is essential that you are dosed on your Free T3 and Free T4 blood tests and we generally feel at our best when our T4 is up in the top quadrant as this should convert, in theory, to a good level of T3 within the body..
Your HPT axis - the Hypothalamus - Pituitary - Thyroid feedback loop, on which the TSH reading relies, is now broken, and disabled as there is no thyroid to complete this circuit as the RAI has burnt out, and disabled your thyroid in situ.
RAI is known to trash vitamins and minerals.
RAI can trigger symptoms similar to those of Sjogren's Syndrome and fibromyalgia.
RAI primary hypothyroidism is said to be more difficult to treat.
Some people can get by on T4 only - Levothyroxine.
Some people find T4 seems to stop working at some point in time and find that by adding back in that little bit ' lost ' naturally - their health restored better.
Some people can't tolerate T4 and need to take T3 - Liothyronine only.
Whilst others find their health restored better taking Natural Desiccated Thyroid which contains all the same known hormones as that of the human gland and derived from pig thyroids dried and ground down into tablets, referred to as grains.
You might take something from the research paper link below - it doesn't make for good reading but feel the need to give you all the information I've collected and Elaine Moore's website may also be of interest to you.
You might also like this book written by another lady who has Graves and gone through RAI thyroid ablation ( as has Elaine Moore ) :- From Hyper To Hypo To Healing - Breaking the TSH Rule - written by Barbara S Lougheed.
You might like to read :- Your Thyroid and How To Keep It Healthy written by a doctor to enable patients to better advocate for themselves - Barry Durrant- Peatfield writes in an easy to understand, insightful manner and this book remains my go to :
I'm with Graves post RAI thyroid ablation in 2005 and now self medicate and am much improved.
Thyroid UK - the charity who support this forum have a recommended reading list page on their website where you may find the above and probably others. thyroiduk.org
Thank you for the reply pennyannie and all this useful information.Yes the RAI was about 18 years ago for Graves disease.My dosage was well settled on 125mg for years and then this was increased to 150mg maybe 3-4 years back.Last winter this was then decreased to current 100mg which I did think was quite a sizeable drop at the time.However as I posted earlier I had been doing well until 6 weeks ago when this wave of symptoms came in like a storm.
I think your next best move will be to run a full thyroid panel to include the TSH.T3 T4 antibodies, inflammation and include the vitamins and minerals as detailed previously .
It's where we all start and the first step back to better health.
Post the results and ranges i a new post detailing RAI for Graves etc and this becomes your base to work up from and you will be talked through what is all means and give considered opinion.
If your doctor is unable to process your request for blood there are private companies listed on Thyroid UK and best to arrange an early morning appointment for the blood draw, fast over night just taking in water and take your daily T4 dose after your blood has been drawn and if taking any supplements leave these off for the week before so we can see exactly what your body is holding onto.
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