After a long battle of getting the GP's to check T3, finding it was low and them increasing levo (from 75mg to100mg) - my results are
TSH 1.3 (range 0.23-5.6)
Free T4 - 18 (range 9-23)
Free T3 - 4 (range 3.1-6.8)
Total T3 - 1.2 (range 1.3-3.1)
Vit D 53 (range 50-139)
I've lost my previous results and only remember my T4 was 4.4 and my Total T3 was 1.1.
I queried the Total T3 obviously and he said that doesn't really matter, Free T3 is more important? To be fair, of all the GP's I've spoken to he was the most helpful and questioned a lot of things. I still have regular periods, i'm 46 but insomnia is bad (I've had this for years with my thyroid issues but it's worse), my period is shorter and heavier and i'm much more tearful. I told him a 3 year stint on progesterone cream bought from a private clinic really helped but I started to have issues with it. On that info alone he immediately offered HRT patches to try. Ones adapted to woman with regular periods. I'm pleased with that and he said he'll see how I am in a few months and if HRT doesn't improve my sleep he'll up the levo again to 125. It did seem to be one or the other offer though!
Any thoughts on my results please? Also, does anyone have experience of HRT improving thyroid levels or having any effect? Thanks
Written by
dayoff
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Total T4 and Total T3 might be interesting to know - but your doctor is right - the most important tests are Free T4 and Free T3 and they are the tests that should guide treatment.
Your Free T4 is 64% through the range.
Your Free T3 is 24% through the range.
Your Free T4 isn't bad, but it could be higher.
Your Free T3 is much too low for most of us with hypothyroidism to have a hope of feeling well. You are not converting well from Free T4 to Free T3.
Where people feel best is something we each have to discover, but roughly speaking, for many people Free T4 needs to be 60% - 80% through range, and Free T3 needs to be 50% - 70% through the range. If people feel better with results higher or lower than those that's fine too. We all need what we need.
Have you had any nutrients tested recently? Ferritin (iron stores), vitamin B12, folate, vitamin D? They are involved in conversion of Free T4 into Free T3 and are often low in thyroid disease, so they need to be optimised.
Thanks for the reply humanbean. He only tested Vit D but my last Ferritin, B12 and folate tests were all good. No idea now what the results were but it was about 6 months ago. I take Vit D (10ug) in an osteoguard supplement also containing K2 calcium & magnesium. Also B supplement containing folate not folic acid. I stopped all of them a week before the test and the test was 8am before my meds or food etc. I stopped taking my T3 slow release bought from a beauty clinic who have a 'hormone doctor' who can give prescriptions from a London based specialist pharmacy. It made no difference to my levels and everyone on here was dubious about the slow release. Very long story but i've stopped using this hormone doctor. Always happy to dish expensive stuff out but a nightmare to get follow ups. Where does this leave me though? The doctor was adament that all was good with my levels and there's not a chance in hell im getting referrels or T3. His words were 'if after 3 months of HRT it still doesn't help symptoms then we'll take you off it and increase levo.
* No biotin, B Complex or any supplement containing biotin for 3-7 days before test
Most hypo patients feel best when TH is 1 or below, and when taking T3 it generally lowers TSH to the point of suppression. So your TSH is suggesting that it's too high and you need an increase in your thyroid meds. Your FT4 is 64.29% through range and your FT3 is 24.32% through range.
If you did your test as we advise then your results are showing your normal circulating levels of hormone and your FT4 is OK but your FT3 is way too low. Perhaps consider increasing your dose of T3.
Vit D 53 (range 50-139)
Is the unit of measurement nmol/L. If so then your level is low. Do you supplement?
The Vit D Council, Vit D Society and Grassroots Health all recommend a level of 100-150nmol/L with a recent blog post on Grassroots Health recommending at least 125nmol/L.
You might want to check out a recent post that I wrote about Vit D and supplementing:
and you can check out the link to the Vit D Council's website to how to work out the dose you need to increase your current level to the recommended level.
Your current level of 52nmol/L = 21.2ng/ml
Have you had B12, folate and ferritin tested as well? If so what were those results/ranges?
Thanks for the reply SeasideSusie. I came off the T3. The GP asked me to and it wasn't working anyway. Same result before and after. He wanted to see if T4 alone would raise T3. I agreed that one thing at a time and giving it time was the best plan. I've done all that and i'm not impressed with my T3 levels - but he is!! Where to go from here? I'll double my Vit D thanks. B12, folate etc was tested around 6 months ago and all good. Thanks for the link to your Vit D post. I will read that now....
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