I've just had my thyroid retested at the doctors' and was very surprised at the results. TSH 0.01 (0.38-5.33), FT4 14.8 ( 7.9-14.4) FT3 5.0 (3.8-6.0).
In March I did a finger prick test with Monitor My Health TSH 0.01 (0.27-4.2) FT4 21.2 (12-22), FT3 6.1 (3.1-6.8) I had mistakenly not taken my 5pm dose of Thyroid S the previous day so it was probably a false low. I did feel a bit overmedicated as my heart rate was fast and I got very hot when out walking. I had been taking 2 and a third pills so I dropped the third straightaway.
Since I had reduced my dose I am really surprised that my TSH has remained the same and that my FT4 is so high. I am feeling good, no hot or cold symptoms, my heart rate has decreased to 80, my blood pressure to 125 over 80. My doctor of course wants to discuss my suppressed TSH.
There are a few factors which may have affected my result: I started transdermal low dose HRT for my bones in March, I started a new batch of Thyroid S (TA22055) at about the same time and I forgot to stop my B complex a week before the test (Biotin is 50ug and I take one very other day)
I would be very grateful for your comments please as I am unsure whether or not to decrease the dose and if so by how much.
Thank you so much
Ann
Written by
wisewoman108
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personally , if you feel good at the moment, i would ask GP to stay as you are for a while longer and retest after another ? 3-6mths .
yes , if fT4 stays this high consistently , it would be a good idea to try another small reduction to see if you still feel ok with fT4 a bit lower .. but i wouldn't be in any hurry to try this experiment if you've only just started to feel ok you want to be allowed to enjoy it while it lasts.. you never know what's coming at you next with hypothyroidism , it rarely stays stable for very long anyway , so when you feel well , argue strongly to stay that way and don't mess with things without very good reason ..... a slightly high fT4 isn't going to do you any harm in the short term, but you don't want it any higher than it needs to be long term. In real terms it is lower than previously, as the previous result was a false low.
Re. the TSH remaining low ... 3 mths since march may not have been long enough for it to start to rise following such a relatively small dose reduction .. this could take many months due to a thing called 'hysteresis' . so try to be guided more by fT4 / fT3 results ( it may not rise much anyway as you are taking NDT)
ideally TSH would rise to over 0.04 by the time you test next , then you can use this : healthunlocked.com/thyroidu... evidence to show GP the risks are not increased .
For explanations of Hysteresis see this post: ( info starts at the end of the first reply ... and continues much further down post.)
RE the fT4 tests .... no fT4 tests are absolutely 'reliable' .. if GP pressures you about the over range fT4 result you could shove some of this evidence toward them to introduce a bit of doubt , it might buy you some time : healthunlocked.com/thyroidu....
Not really surprising that the TSH hasn't risen because you're taking T3. That tends to suppress the TSH even at 54.55% through the range.
Percentage-wise, the FT4 hasn't dropped that much. Just what you would expect with a reduction of 1/3 of a pill of thyroid S - assuming that the pills are 1 grain each?
What is surprising is the the drop in the FT3. And that's the most important number. Especially as you think it might have been a false 'low'. And, it's possible that your FT3 is now too low.
Does your doctor know you are taking Thyroid S? And does he not know that taking T3 suppresses TSH? And that that is not in the least a problem. The TSH is suppressed because you don't need it any more. And TSH does not affect hearts or bones, so it is perfectly fine where it is.
Is your doctor going by just a TSH reading as that will likely stay low suppressed since you are taking NDT which contains T3 which is known to lower / suppress the TSH reading.
The TSH was originally introduced as diagnostic tool to help identify a person suffering with hypothyroidism and was never intended to be used once the person was a patient and taking any form of thyroid hormone replacement.
NDT has been used successfully for over 100 years and long before we knew of blood tests, ranges and gudelines and you simply dosed to the relief of symptoms.
The blood tests, guidelines and ranges were all introduced when Big Pharma launched it's T3 and T4 thyroid hormone medications, on the back of NDT in around the middle of the last century and then went about getting market share by fair means or foul.
Thank you so much for all for your comments, they are very helpful. Yes, my doctor does know that I take NDT and that I buy it 'abroad'. I thought she must have been doing some research to accept that I wanted FT3 and FT4 tested but she is obviously still stuck on the TSH measurement. I have sent her some information and will arrange a telephone appointment next week.
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