Recently started on 50mcg Levothyroxine. TSH has come down but no change to T4 & T3. I'm gaining weight quite quickly since starting meds. Do I need an increase or try and request a different medication?
Weight gain is getting me down. Still feel tired and anxious.
Thanks
Welcome to the forum Bumble24
So we can offer better advice, can you tell us more about your thyroid condition, eg when you were diagnosed, any other ongoing symptoms, current medication & dosage, plus blood test results (with ranges in brackets) for:
TSH
FT3
FT4
Plus any antibody and key vitamin tests (ferritin, folate, vitamins D and B12)
If your GP is unable to complete all the above (eg if TSH is within range, some surgeries may not be able to access FT4 and FT3 tests), you could look to do this privately, as many forum members do, for a better picture of your thyroid health: thyroiduk.org/help-and-supp...
Finally confirmed Hypo in April 2023. Currently on 50mcg Levothyroxine, however GP has raised upto 75mcg this afternoon. I had a ptivate NHS approved blood test 20/04/23 (before medication) and the most recent one 03/06/23 after 5 weeks of medication. THS has lowered but T3 &T4 have stayed the same.Weight gain, tiredness/lethargy, poor sleep, anxiety and heart palpitations.
You will likely need an additional increase to get TSH under 2, Bumble24. Most members report feeling best/ adverse symptoms being alleviated when TSH is significantly under 1. As well as optimising Levo dosage, it’s important to have good levels of key thyroid vitamins (ferritin, folate, B12 and vit D) but please test levels first (via GP in first instance, or privately if request not followed) and share results with us. We need to see ranges for all tests, as these can vary between laboratories.
Increased anxiety has been the worst symptom of having a thyroid condition for me and it is always worse if thyroid medication or key vitamins are not optimal.
I’ve also ended up in A and E with palpitations and fast pulse; thats why I’m careful to increase thyroid medication slowly over time.
Keep posting if you have further questions. We are a friendly bunch & are here to help & support 🦋
These are the test results after 5 weeks on 50mcg Levothyroxine. Prior to treatment TSH was 7. T4 & T3 haven't changed. Today I am due to start 75mcg Levothyroxine. Discussed possibility of not converting to T3 with GP.
I have high antibodies too.
Welcome to the forum
How long have you been on just the starter dose of 50mcg
Which brand of levothyroxine are you taking
Blood should be retested 6-8 weeks after each dose change or brand change in levothyroxine
Unless extremely petite likely to eventually be on at least 100mcg per day
Dose is increased slowly upwards in 25mcg steps
please add results from BEFORE starting on levothyroxine
Plus any more recent results
ESSENTIAL to test TPO and TG antibodies at least once to see if cause of your hypothyroidism is autoimmune thyroid disease (hashimoto’s)
About 90% of primary hypothyroidism is autoimmune thyroid disease, usually diagnosed by high thyroid antibodies
Autoimmune thyroid disease with goitre is Hashimoto’s
Autoimmune thyroid disease without goitre is Ord’s thyroiditis.
Both are autoimmune and generally called Hashimoto’s.
Low vitamin levels are extremely common when hypothyroid, especially with autoimmune thyroid disease
Have you had vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 levels tested
I have high antibodies. I've also had full bloods done as suggested above. TSH has come down but no change to T4 & T3. As af today will be increasing to 75mcg Levothyroxine. Havecdiscussedvthe possibility of not converting to T3. Maybe a change of medication required? I've been on starter dose for 5 weeks. TSH before treatment was 7.
5 week is a little early to asses settled TSH response to any dose .. had you waited longer you might find TSH would have started to rise again . (eg if it can drop initially in response to the added 50mcg .. but then lower TSH means thyroid lowers it's own fT4 production a bit .and the new fT4 level is then not enough and TSH starts to go up again )
See how you go on 75mcg for at least 6 weeks .
It 's too soon to consider how well you are converting to T3 / or using other types of thyroid hormone replacement just yet.
You need to have been stable on the optimal dose of Levo for quite along time ( several months at least )and optimised Vitamins etc before you can properly asses the need for any additional T3 .
Levo alone may well be sufficient once you have reached the correct dose and body has had time to settle in and make use of it properly .. gettng all the parts of the body working properly again after a period of hypothyroidism is a fairly slow process.
A Helpful Quote from another members GP ,on what to expect when starting treatment for hypothyroidism.
"The way my new GP described it was ..."You know how your body is continually breaking down and rebuilding itself? Well, the thyroid controls the rebuilding, so if it isn't working you carry on breaking down but don't rebuild properly. Your body now has a lot of catching up to do, which will take a minimum of 12 months, probably a lot longer...." or words to that effect. He also said it would be a saw tooth recovery (get better, go backwards a bit, get better, go backwards a bit) and he's been right so far."
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Once this dose has had enough time to settle in you may find you still need fine tuning/ further increase of Levo dose to feel well... if you do and GP is reluctant to increase because 'TSH is in range now ' , these posts may come in useful :
healthunlocked.com/thyroidu... my-list-of-references-recommending-gp-s-keep-tsh-lower-in-range-
healthunlocked.com/thyroidu... the-shoe-size-analogy.-
Thank you. That's very helpful ☺️
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