I've been on Levothyroxine for a long time but since a hysterectomy and menopause I've needed to increase the dose but still feel like I'm struggling.
I'm on HRT and working hard to balance ALL hormones, I currently get my Progesterone from abroad because mybuseleas GP doesn't believe I need it because I have no womb. Anyway I can also get T3 from the same person so will be giving it a go.
My blood results from about a month ago were TSH: 2.11 miu/l (0.27-4.2), FREE T3: 3.6 pmol/l (3.1-6.8), FREE T4: 16.6 pmol/l (12-22), THYROGLOBULIN ANTIBODIES: 302.6 kiu/l (0-115), THYROID PEROXIDASE: 9.8 kiu/l (0-34).
Do you more knowledgeable people think I would benefit from T3?
T.I.A
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Worryworm
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Before you can determine whether or not you need T3 you should increase your Levo until your TSH is below 1, and you'll also need optimal nutrient levels. If you've not tested these then you really need to and if necessary address any sub optimal levels. Key nutrients and optimal levels are:
Vit D - 100-150nmol/L
B12 - top of range for Total B12, if Active B12 is tested then 100 plus
Folate - at least half way through range
Ferritin - some experts say the optimal ferritin level for thyroid function is 90-110ug/L.
With optimal nutrient levels and TSH below 1 is when we can properly see how well we convert.
What supplements do you take? Did you not test before taking anything? We really only need to supplement where necessary rather than take any supplements just for the sake of it.
OK, so did you test Vit D before supplementing, if so what was the results/unit of measurement?
D3 is fat soluble so any excess is stored. It is important that we take the correct dose as if we are taking too much the stored excess can lead to toxicity.
How much D3 and K2 are you taking?
Seaweed is probably the worst thing you can supplement with especially as you have Hashi's which is suggested by your elevated Tg antibodies. It contains iodine and unless you have tested and found to be deficient in iodine they you shouldn't take it. Iodine solution used to be used to treat overactive thyroid before the current radioactive iodine treatment. Did you test iodine?
You should test key nutrients. Unlikely that your GP will test them all (unless he thinks there is a good reason) but they can be easily done as part of a thyroid/vitamin bundle with one of our recommended labs. Medichecks and Blue Horizon are the most popular and both offer fingerprick or venous blood draw kits.
You still need an increase in Levo before considering T3.
Now is not the time to be thinking about adding T3 when your TSH is above 2 and you havent yet addressed optimising your vitamins.
Free T4 (fT4) 16.6 pmol/L (12 - 22) 46.0%
Free T3 (fT3) 3.6 pmol/L (3.1 - 6.8) 13.5%
Your FT4 needs to be much higher up to around 90% of range to know where your fT3 will be then. Optimising vitamins will also aid conversion of T4 to T3.
Recommend getting full vitamin testing done and posting results here when you have them for recommendations.
When hypo we get low stomach acid which means we cannot absorb vitamins well from our food, regardless of a great diet. For thyroid hormone to work well we need OPTIMAL levels of vitamins. Have you recently or could you ask your GP to test levels of ferritin, folate, B12 & D3? Private tests are available, see link for companies offering private blood tests & discount codes, some offer a blood draw service at an extra cost. thyroiduk.org/help-and-supp...
There is also a new company offering walk in & mail order blood tests in Crawley, Hove and Reigate areas. No charge for blood draw in clinic. Check to see if there is a blood test company near you. onedaytests.com/products/ul...
Do you know if you had positive thyroid antibodies? Many with autoimmune thyroid disease aka Hashimoto's benefit from a gluten free diet. A smaller percentage of those also need to remove dairy from their diet to feel well. These are intolerances and will not show up on any blood test. It’s worth trialling a strictly gluten free diet to see if it helps symptoms.
Recommended blood test protocol: Test at 9am (or as close as possible), fasting, last levo dose 24hrs before the blood draw, last T3 dose 8-12 hours before blood draw & no biotin containing supplements for 3-7 days (Biotin can interfere with thyroid blood results as it is used in the testing process)? Testing like this gives consistency in your results and will show stable blood levels of hormone and highest TSH which varies throughout the day. Taking Levo/T3 just prior to blood draw can show a falsly elevated result and your GP/Endo might change your dose incorrectly as a result.
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