older patients

[Digger031145]

do older patients still need higher levels of ft3 and ft4?

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

I guess I'm classed as an older person at 75 but personally I don't think age comes into it. We need what we need regardless of our age. I am on Levo plus self sourced T3 and over the years experimenting has shown me that I seem to be best when FT4 is around 60% with FT3 slightly higher.

With combo thyroid hormone replacement there is no one size fits all, some are fine with lower FT4 as long as FT3 is in the upper part of it's range, others like me need them to be more balanced. You just have to find what is right for you.

[DippyDame]

Approaching age 78 and on a self medicating T3-only protcol I don't think age per se makes a difference

Trial and error helped me find my therapeutic dose.

Maybe not the easiest advice to follow.... but there are no set rules.

Just a thought...

I see you are concerned about a"knot" in your tummy....have you had a uti lab test ( not just a dipstick)

I have this problem caused by Chronic UTI which I'm convinced is the result of many years of low cellular T3....my GP doesn't argue against this!

Suggest you discuss this discomfort with your GP....it may or may not be thyroid relaed.

[Digger031145 in reply to DippyDame]

I have never had a UTI. I have discussed this feeling in my tummy with him but he’s never said anything about it

[Jazzw]

Define older.

Actually, no need. I don’t think it’s true to say it’s ok for older people’s FT3 and FT4 to be lower, it’s just what’s commonly found to be the case when you test older people’s blood and therefore it’s considered to be “normal”. Some older people are full of beans (have more beans than me, that’s for sure!) and I’d love to know what their FT3 and FT4 levels look like. 😀

Not sure I’ve ever seen any research that has that sort of premise as a starting point. 🤔

[Miffie]

I am 72 and was diagnosed as a child. In my experience I still suffer when under replaced by either lower fT4 or fT3. I managed both at 70% ish two years ago and was really well. Things have gone downhill since.

[Digger031145 in reply to Miffie]

are you taking t4 & t3?

[Miffie]

I take ndt with a levo top up.

[Digger031145 in reply to Miffie]

how do you test then?

[Miffie]

I use MMH in addition to the usual GP testing.

[Digger031145 in reply to Miffie]

that’s who did my most recent lot of tests as was told to test 12 hrs after taking T3 so that’s what I did to see the difference with 12 Gr testing compared to 24hr testing

[Miffie]

Your results suggest you should be feeling good.

[pennyannie]

I believe so :

All my issues started when I turned 65 and told I needed a dose reduction in T4 as my my TSH was suppressed at 0.01.

My TSH had been supressed down a 0.01 for several years and I was relatively well on 125 mcg T4 - I'm with Graves post RAI thyroid ablation back in 2005 when aged 58:

On 100 mcg T4 my TSH eventually scraped into the bottom of the range and over the course of a couple of years I was in an ever increasing circle of unwellness with various referrals to O/P departments all of whom had no answers as to my health issues and all I was told was that my ferritin was a ' bit low ' :

I then started researching for myself and fell into this forum and have put myself back together again and have been self medicating NDT for the past 5 + years and much improved.

I am now 75 - and have not been back to the doctor since 2018.

[Digger031145 in reply to pennyannie]

hi pennyannie

That’s great news. Do you never get your bloods tested?

How much ndt do you take now?

When your tsh was 0.01 was your ft4 and ft3 at good levels ?

[pennyannie in reply to Digger031145]

I now just organise a private yearly full thyroid panel to include the vitamins and minerals as I still need to supplement ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D to stay well and optimise my thyroid hormone replacement.

I only seem to need 1 + 1/2 grains - though confess to a cat nap some afternoons :

On 125 mcg T4 - my best reading was TSH 0.01 - T3 - 57% and a T4 at 100% :

On 100 mcg T4 - I had a TSH at the bottom of the range - T3 at 25% and a T4 at 80%:

On NDT 1 +1/2 grains - my T3 comes in at around 90/110 % and my T4 at around 25% :

All using the ranges as found in Medichecks: T3 - 3.10 - 6.80 & T4 - 12.00 - 22.00 :

[Digger031145 in reply to pennyannie]

well done! So glad you feel good and no symptoms of too much either.

Do you get your ndt from abroad?

[pennyannie in reply to Digger031145]

Yes :