Test results .. advice on these please , T3, suppliments, aswell as endo osteoporosis scare tactics?!

[MrsClanger]

Id like some advice on whether i should increase my Levo or T3 dosage, if i need to take my supplements, if these could be causing more harm ? And also if anyone is knowledgeable on the other blood tests , much appreciate any advice or insight .

Im constantly feeling like there is something else ' up ' with my health.. i am soo much better than ive been in the past , but im nowhere near normal health and constantly tired. My last gp who seemed to care has now retired, he was concerned about some of my tests on my liver, and ordered more tests but they were not really followed up other than advise to not drink alcohol any more. usually id drink rarely but binge, so ive stopped that now.

usual meds / suppliment plan is .. ( i do take all the recommended types of supplements, thanks to slow dragon and others..i have the right ones )

8 am 75 mcg Levo and 10 mcg Lio

9 am breakfast

1 pm Multi b vits. Iron , vit D with lunch

3 pm 2.5 mcg lio

6 pm dinner

8 pm calcium k2mk7 zinc magnesium b6 ( neurobalance )

I had a very frustrating convo with the endocrinologist yesterday .. he said he wants to aim to reduce my dose of both the levo and lio meds.. says im over medicated .. even though i explained i had reduced my levo to 50 mcg daily on thier advice for a month and then put my dose up in april as i got very sick and a load of symptoms back, that this happens whenever i do reduce my dose on thier advice, which is every check up,different consultant every time.

I asked if they can please prescribe an extra 2.5 mcg of T3 as im taking an extra 1/4 tablet daily at 3 pm but he would only advise to stay on current prescribed dose ( 75 mcg levo and 10 mcg lio ) and to split the lio , and aim to reduce the levo to 50 mcg in a few months.

At that point I was too exasperated to try to repeat that i have tried to split my lio dose into twice daily but had trouble sleeping when taking the T3 late in the afternoon, thats why i now just top up with the 1/4 tablet at 3pm which seems to be working better.

I had the most recent blood tests taken after stopping taking ALL my vitamins for 3 weeks .. just to ensure nothing was confusing anything and to get a ' base level' for my suppliments ... i split my T3 dose the day before the test, but when the results came back they had not tested my T3 . (uggh .. even tho i reminded the nurse !!!)

So the endo made his decision anyway. Told me they have to reduce my dose as my dexa scan was worse last time than the first time , i had the last one done about 18 months ago, and i dont have the dexa info, but i did post these at the time on the osteoporosis forum on health unlocked and i was told my results were fine for my age, and being post menopause nothing to worry about, both said oesteopenia , but not near oesteoperosis.

My last consultant did put in for a new dexa scan, but the hospital refused it saying i have to wait 2 years in between them.

I explained to the endo that i am post menopause and bone loss is surely expected because of that alone. He then disputed me having gone through menopause (!!!) saying i was too young .. So i had to explain to him i had early menopause due to not being diagnosed with thyroid illness for so long and then he disputed this , saying that thyroid disease doesnt cause early menopause, said it can cause no periods but not menopause .. this totally contradicted what a different endo told me, who had listened to my experience of being left for dead /cant help wont help you have cfs'' by my last gp for 7 years bedbound and having an awful experience unable to move for 3 days, chest pain, numb one side.. in and out of conciousness, then unable to form words for months after ( and yes i did go to the gp when i could move and he still said it was chronic fatigue !) .. when the ( nice ) endo heard this he told me it sounded exactly like i had a stroke , and he then explained that my body would have shut down my reproductive system to try to survive, hence early menopause.

I am just so fed up with getting a different opinion and info from each ' specialist ' and never knowing if they actually read my notes or even if i have spoken to them before.

They did test a load of things last month, and im not sure what they were looking at.. ive got an appointment tomorrow with my GP. who wants to discuss some things .. but not sure which, probably the cholesterol.. to which im going to have to try explain that i dont have a high fat diet ... so i have no idea why its often raised. The receptionist said my copper is very high.. but i cant see that on the results on my patients online records. I do drink tons of cocoa .. and read thats high in copper .. which is going to be a difficult thing to give up!

Heres all the tests they did end of May

T4 15.7 ( range 11.1 - 22 ) ( last test 30 march was 18.3 )

TSH 0.01 ( same as always )

T3 ( didnt test this in may) .. Last test 30 march was 4.2 ( range 3.1 - 6.8 ) but i had left 24 hrs before taking last dose of T3 . So annoyingly ive no accurate T3 level test.

PLASMA GLUCOSE 4.7 ( range 3-5.4 )

IRON & TRANSFERRIN INDEX

Serum iron 17.6 ( range 5.8-35.5 )

serum transferrin 3 ( range 2-3.6)

transferrin % saturation 23% ( range 25-45 % ) out of range

LIPID PROFILE SERUM

serum cholesterol 5.6 ( range 0 - 5.0 ) out of range

hdl cholesterol 1.6 ( range 1 - 3 )

hdl ratio 3.5 ( no range listed )

serum triglyceride 0.9 ( range 0 - 2 )

serum non hdl cholesterol 2.9 ( range 0 - 3.9 )

serum ldl cholesterol 3.6 ( range 0 - 3 ) out of range

LIPIDS FASTING SERUM ( all same as above )

SERUM A1-ANTITRYPSIN

1.4 ( range 0.9 - 2 )

then theres a note: phenotyping now performed only when alpha-1 antitrypsin is <1.2

SERUM B12 AND FOLATE

B12 694 ( range 197 - 771 )

( i had not taken any b vits for 3 weeks prior to this test , so wonder do i need to take my high dose b vits ?? )

serum folate 16.4 ( range 1.9 - 25 )

SERUM FERRITIN

serum C reactive protein 1 ( range 0-5 )

serum ferritin 47 ( range 13 - 150 )

SERUM GGT 10 ( range 6 - 42 )

VIT D, 25OH, TOTAL, SERUM

73 ( range 50 - 99999)

They also tested IMMUNOGLOBULINS - and COELIAC SCREEN

But both says tests will be available 9 June. ( coeliac screen was 0.2 in oct 2022.. and as im gluten free anyway its a pointless test ( regular dietary gluten required before diagnostic testing)

In Oct 2022 they did a full blood count and my white blood cell count was just under range .

In march 2023 they did BONE PROFILE (SERUM)

serum albumin 46 ( range 35 - 52 )

serum calcium 2.44 ( range 2.15 - 2.5 )

serum urea 3 ( range 2.8 - 8.1 )

serum adjusted calcium 2.43 ( range 2.15 - 2.5 )

serum total protein 71 ( range 66 - 87 )

serum globulin 25 ( range 18-36 )

serum phosphate 1.14 ( range 0.81 - 1.45 )

serum alkaline phosphatase 114 ( range 35-104 ) out of range

( it was higher in past 136 in oct 22)

Much appreciate any insight and advice

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Suggest you test TSH, Ft4 and Ft3 yourself privately

Last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test

Day before test split T3 as 3 doses spread through the day

5mcg waking, 5mcg early afternoon and last 2.5mcg dose at 9pm

cheapest option for just TSH, FT4 and FT3 and includes BOTH TPO and TG antibodies -£29 

randoxhealth.com/at-home/Th...

Ferritin is too low

Vitamin D better around 100nmol

[MrsClanger in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you .. ok definitely getting this test re done .. following that routine pre test. And ive started taking my supplements again including iron and vit D ..

So when i get results, both T4 and T3 should be in upper 3rd of range right ?

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to MrsClanger]

it varies as to what suits each person

Some people are fine with low Ft4 as long as Ft3 is good

[MrsClanger in reply to SlowDragon]

ok .. will focus on the t3 level and taking the meds dose correctly before the test , thanks

[greygoose]

The receptionist said my copper is very high.. but i cant see that on the results on my patients online records. I do drink tons of cocoa .. and read thats high in copper .. which is going to be a difficult thing to give up!

Doubt you need to give up your cocoa. High copper is a hypo thing, and to bring it down you need to raise your zinc - did they test zinc? The two need to be balanced, but hypos often have one low and therefore the other one high. Zinc is often the one that is low. If they didn't test zinc then that is very remiss of them because the two should be looked at together.

Fat has nothing to do with cholesterol levels. They are two different substances and one does not magically turn into the other when it enters your body.

And cholesterol levels have little to do with diet, anyway. It's made in the liver, and the liver does all it can to keep levels stable: the more cholesterol you ingest with your food, the less the liver makes; the less you eat, the more it makes. However, if T3 levels are too low for you, the body cannot process cholesterol correctly and it tends to build up in the blood. So, what you need is not a statin - as your doctor will probably suggest - but higher T3.

[MrsClanger in reply to greygoose]

Ah i see .. thank you so much . So this could be the liver issue that keeps being flagged up ? I will try explain that to the doctor tomorrow when he asks about my diet! .. Ill ask them to test copper and zinc .

[greygoose in reply to MrsClanger]

Not sure it has anything to do with the liver, more about thyroid hormone levels, I think. I've never read any discussion as to why, it just is.

[MrsClanger in reply to greygoose]

Be interesting to see if it changes when i know my levels are right

[greygoose in reply to MrsClanger]

Well, mine didn't. I was still zinc deficient.

[MrsClanger]

Big thanks to you you both.. i know it musty be frustrating to be repeating the same info, i keep going round in circles with the nhs , and not great at processing info, so i just want to say how much i appreciate the advice and support