Is it dangerous if FT3 goes over range? On ERFA NDT only.

[SmPea]

My last consultation with private Endo in November was we agreed I stay on 2 grains daily, split 7.00am 2.00pm. Although nearing top of FT3 range he felt there was still a bit of room if it continued to rise and also wanted to see if my main symptoms, constipation and poor quality sleep improved. In mid December I felt a bit on edge, fuzzy head and going to loo twice a day (very unusual for me) I thought I maybe over medicated so dropped ERFA by a quarter grain. Symptoms did ease but early January the fuzzy head, disturbed gut, reflux came back worse. I contacted Endo told him I had reduced dose. He advised I go back on 2 grains and see if symptoms improve. They have to some degree. I thought best to do a blood test to see what is happening. The FT3 is very near the top. Is it dangerous to go over range?Why is my FT3 continuing to rise?Any thoughts on the blood test results would be really helpful.Test was done following all protocol advised on here.

[pennyannie]

Hey there SmPea ;

I wouldn't worry - my T3 is slightly over if I fast before a blood test - if I have breakfast I'm in the range and if anything still with some lingering symptoms of hypothyroidism but much improved and find NDT suits me best out of all the treatment options.

If you endocrinologist has used NDT before s/he has likely seen similar results before and might suggest dropping a smidgeon of NDT or might not be concerned at all.

You might feel a little better with a slightly higher ferritin -

I now aim for around 100 : with folate at around 20 : B12 at 75 ++ and vitamin D at around 100:

So if supplementing you could also look at increasing B12 though folate looks a little high to me ?

Have you been monitoring your blood pressure, pulse and body temperature - where are they now ?

How are you feeling as taking NDT is more about how you feel than a blood test reading.

NDT was successfully used for over 100 years and long before we knew of blood tests, guidelines and the ranges which were all introduced when Big Pharma launched it's own T3 and T4 treatment options on the back of NDT and went about gaining it's market share by fair means or foul.

[SmPea in reply to pennyannie]

Hi Pennyannie, thanks for your thoughts. I do feel better in many ways on NDT alone, particularly my mood I didn’t realise how glum I had been feeling until I started taking it!

I still have some symptoms that are not resolved, constipation and poor sleep but aware its just not NDT that can improve these.

Any ideas why FT3 continues to rise without me increasing the NDT?

I have been supplementing with Thorne B complex and my folate has shot up in last 2 months and at the same time my ferritin suddenly dropped! Any ideas why this might be? Should I stop Thorne B complex and try something else?

My resting heart rate around 64, temp 36 first thing in the morning.

I don’t check my blood pressure, should I?

One of the major changes when I started NDT was it stopped me loosing anymore weight (lost 2.5stone in 3 years) have put on 1 stone but it’s just started to slip down again 🙁. If I had carried on with Levo and low FT3 I fear I would have become seriously underweight. Needless to say GP’s kept saying it was nothing to do with thyroid!

[pennyannie in reply to SmPea]

It's strange isn't it - you're loosing weight while most others complain of putting weight on - metabolism has a lot to answer for :

Well I think your body is likely plateauing out as it does take time for the Armour to bed in and settle -

Maybe drop a little NDT and see if that helps as maybe weight is your best measure of how things are panning out on Armour for you -

Maybe you don't need your T3 this high in the range - though I do - and of course this is how delicate dosing can be as to what dose suits one doesn't necessarily mean that this dose and level of T3 suits everybody.

Maybe a slightly lesser dose will allow you to sleep better - has this improved or gotten worse ?

Thyroid hormone replacement is referred to as the Goldilocks of treatments :

I found my symptoms kept improving for around 8 month while of the same dose and around 2 years later seemed to have dropped 2 dress sizes - which was ok with me.

Well you could add in a little more iron rich foods for the ferritin and maybe take B12 and folate separately ?

So your body temperature is still on the cold side ? - and as for constipation I need to take a vitamin C tablet to bowel tolerance every day as well supplementing ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D and adrenal glandular and now finding 4 dates a very useful adjunct :

[SmPea]

Thanks that’s all very useful, given me further questions to discuss with private Endo on Saturday.

I’ve always been on the cold side, only warmed up once recently when I had Covid in October! I suspect I have had a few post Covid issues and would explain the 2 flare ups I’ve had. Still not clear what a Covid infection can do to the body.

[pennyannie in reply to SmPea]

Is anybody ?

I think the jury is still out and likely to be out for a very long time on all things related to the last couple of years !!

[DizzyD in reply to SmPea]

You mention post covid issues. At this point there is not much research being done regarding what the infection can do to the body post Covid. I also had Covid in October...real bad infection. End of December got thyroid blood test and vitamin test. My ferritin, folate a vit D were way at bottom of range which was very unusual for me because my diet is rich in iron and I also take supplements everyday. My inflammation marker, usually low, was also up. Suspected at the time that Covid infection had affected my numbers.

[wellness1 in reply to DizzyD]

That's interesting about your test results. This blog post by Mary Shomon talks about temporary effects on thyroid hormone levels. (also mentions thyroiditis)

Thyroid Issues After Covid-19 Infection

palomahealth.com/learn/thyr...

[SmPea in reply to wellness1]

Yes all interesting and I’m sure more will become clear in time.

[SmPea in reply to DizzyD]

It is still little understood what Covid infection can do. In my case I that rising FT3 level was before covid and without an increase in NDT. What I did get was 2 flare ups of the gut hat at first I thought was to do with being overmedicated and a serious arthritis flare in both hands.