Latest Results

[Pen1966]

I startednon t3 6 weeks ago i first reduced my levo down to 100mgs and have been taking 12.5 mgs of t3 daily and these are my latest results have banging headaches ecrry day and feel no better for adding t3 doing this off my own back

13/04/20237 pmol/L

FT3 levels high (normal range 3.1 - 6.8 pmol/L)

THYROXINE

13/04/2023

17.7 pmol/L

FT4 levels normal (normal range 12 - 22 pmol/L)

THYROID STIMULATING HORMONE

13/04/2023

1.07 mu/L

TSH levels normal (normal range 0.27 - 4.2 mU/L)

[Lalatoot]

Pen we need more info.Did you reduce your levo first before adding t3?

What dose of t3 are you on?

I think that you may be rushing things. As your ft4 was at top of range I would have reduced levo by 25mcg and waited a week for levels to drop.

Then added 5 mcg t3 and waited one week or 2.

Then if all ok added another 5mcg.

Then waited 6 weeks for things to settle before testing.

It takes time going slowly to adjust levo and t3 doses to find what suits. T3 is not a quick fix.

[Pen1966 in reply to Lalatoot]

Amended info about

[SlowDragon Administrator]

When were vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 levels last tested

What vitamin supplements are you currently taking

ESSENTIAL on levothyroxine or T3 to have OPTIMAL vitamin levels

How much T3 are you taking

What was Ft3 result

How much levothyroxine are you taking

Did you reduce levothyroxine at all before adding SMALL dose T3

Was test done early morning and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test

Day before test did you split T3 as 2 or 3 smaller doses spread through the day, with last dose Approx 8-12 hours before test

[Pen1966 in reply to SlowDragon]

Overall comment13/04/2023

Your test results indicate that you do not have anaemia and you have adequate levels of iron, vitamin B12 and folate. Please check test-specific details below as there may be important additional information.

FOLATE

13/04/2023

>20.0 ug/L

Normal

ACTIVE B12

13/04/2023

>300 pmol/L

Normal

TSAT

13/04/2023

28 %

Normal

FERRITIN

13/04/2023

32 ug/L

Normal

HB

13/04/2023

126 g/L

Normal

Overall comment

20/02/2023

Your test results indicate that you do not have anaemia and you have adequate levels of iron, vitamin B12 and folate.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Pen1966]

FERRITIN13/04/2023

32 ug/L

Ferritin virtually deficient

suggest you get full iron panel test

medichecks.com/products/iro...

Aiming for ferritin at least over 70 and around 100 often noticeably better

[Pen1966 in reply to SlowDragon]

Ok will do as been on ferrous fumerate for months and it's not going up

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Pen1966]

Then you either need more or different iron supplement

How many per day are you taking

Do you take with orange juice

Lots of different iron supplements available

Effective supplement 

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Thyroid disease is as much about optimising vitamins as thyroid hormones

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

restartmed.com/hypothyroidi...

Post discussing just how long it can take to raise low ferritin 

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Iron and thyroid link

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Excellent article on iron and thyroid 

cambridge.org/core/journals...

Posts discussing why important to do full iron panel test

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Chicken livers if iron is good, but ferritin low

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Shellfish and Mussels are excellent source of iron 

healthline.com/nutrition/he...

Heme iron v non heme

hsph.harvard.edu/nutritions...

Ferritin over 100 to alleviate symptoms 

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Great research article discussing similar…..ferritin over 100 often necessary 

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Low Iron implicated in hypothyroidism 

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Helpful post about iron supplements and testing 

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Post about iron supplements 

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Are you also increasing iron rich foods in your diet

[Pen1966 in reply to SlowDragon]

I'm taking 225mg daily but will speak to gp to see if there is another I can take as making me very constipated and nausea too

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Pen1966]

Is GP aware you are vegan?

[Pen1966 in reply to SlowDragon]

No

[Pen1966 in reply to SlowDragon]

Am vegan which doesn't help

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Looking at previous posts, ferritin was too low

Have you been working on increasing iron rich foods in your diet

Suggest you get full iron panel test done for anaemia

cks.nice.org.uk/topics/anae...

Serum ferritin level is the biochemical test, which most reliably correlates with relative total body iron stores. In all people, a serum ferritin level of less than 30 micrograms/L confirms the diagnosis of iron deficiency.

Never supplement iron without doing full iron panel test for anaemia first and retest 3-4 times a year if self supplementing. It’s possible to have low ferritin but high iron 

Medichecks iron panel test 

Test early morning and only water between waking and test

Don’t eat iron rich food night before test

medichecks.com/products/iro...

Look at increasing iron rich foods in diet 

Eating iron rich foods like liver or liver pate once a week plus other red meat, pumpkin seeds and dark chocolate, plus daily orange juice or other vitamin C rich drink can help improve iron absorption

List of iron rich foods

dailyiron.net

Links about iron and ferritin

irondisorders.org/too-littl...

davidg170.sg-host.com/wp-co...

Great in-depth article on low ferritin 

oatext.com/iron-deficiency-...

drhedberg.com/ferritin-hypo...

This is interesting because I have noticed that many patients with Hashimoto’s disease and hypothyroidism, start to feel worse when their ferritin drops below 80 and usually there is hair loss when it drops below 50.

[pennyannie]

Hey there again :

I think you'll need your ferritin to be much higher before you'll find the benefit of adding in a little T3 Liothyronine. :

I too experienced crushing headaches when I raised my dose of T3 from 6.25mcg to 12.50 mcg and different brands of T3 upset me - though at that time all my vitamins and minerals were optimal.

I gave up and trialled NDT and now it's 5 years later and I'm much improved.

I still need to maintain optimal vitamins and minerals so think I'll always be a work in progress.

I too became very constipated with the NHS iron tablets and not offered an alternative so purchased Gentle Iron - but, in fact, any iron bisglycinate will be softer on the stomach and bowel.

[Pen1966 in reply to pennyannie]

Going to ask gp tomorrow its endless have really bad sinus stuff having biopsy on lip and nose Frid also have psorasis of the scalp never had that before and have had shingles 6 times this year as well

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Pen1966]

Psoriasis

Are you on strictly gluten free diet

[Pen1966 in reply to SlowDragon]

No im not

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Pen1966]

Always worth trying strictly gluten free with any autoimmune disease

[Pen1966 in reply to SlowDragon]

Ok thank you

[pennyannie in reply to Pen1966]

I'm so sorry :