Poor converter hoping for better

[Rambling9]

Hi above is my latest Medichecks full thyroid test - taken 9th July 9am fasting (so no meds + no biotin taken for over week) just water

I've had tests done in March by Medichecks plus beginning of April (GP) Both showed that T4 is out of range at top end plus T3 is low (GP test showed it just below range)

GP consulted Endo who advised increasing Levo by 25mcg per day (so up to 225 daily)

I have another GP blood test on August 2nd but did the Medichecks one to see if vitamins and minerals optimised.

I feel a lot better than I was but still have hypo symptoms (tired, brain fog, muscle weakness, post nasal drip, dry hair, dry eyes plus a lot of the mental symptoms - depression, lack of confidence etc.) Plus I feel quite 'wired' - the racing thoughts and anxiety.

Thyroid meds complicated by the raft of other meds I take - including PPIs - these I now take at night as far away from levo as possible plus at reduced dosage.

Rather disappointed with my progress on the vitamin/minerals front though

Ferritin seems to have gone down slightly - I take 1 x Simply Supplements 14mg ferrous fumarate plus green leafy veg with citrus literally every day. I can increase the supplement to two per day

Folate - I am more pleased with - I take Health Leads 1000ug L-methylfolate

B12 - seems to have gone down slightly but I haven't been supplementing it - I'm moving onto the Thornes B complex soon

Vitamin D seems to have increased slightly - I've worked hard at that and take Better YouD3000+K2 spray plus 4 x peak supps magnesium bisglycinate

Any thoughts welcome

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Do you always get same brand levothyroxine at each prescription

Have you tried taking levothyroxine as two smaller doses…..splitting dose to take half waking and half at bedtime

Are you on, or tried strictly gluten free and/or dairy free diet

You almost certainly need less Levothyroxine and addition of T3

Request List of thyroid specialists and endocrinologists via link in this post

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[Rambling9 in reply to SlowDragon]

Hi Slowdragon - I seem to have Wockhardt added in now for the 25mcg and Accord for the 100s (that's been pretty a standard supply)

Ah - splitting the dose worth a try - although it's complicated by need to avoid iron and PPIs (those could go into the middle of the day though) What's the reasoning behind splitting the dose please?

I'm getting there with GF diet and cut right back on dairy - still a way to go though

many thanks

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Rambling9]

Looking at your very helpful profile info your obviously not going to persuade them you can get off current cocktail of heart drugs

You may need to get heart specialist to give the ok to endocrinologist to getting T3 prescribed

Heart needs good levels of T3

[Hidden]

crickey that is some very poor conversion, you definitely need to get some t3 by hook or by crook.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

jimh111 has info on why high Ft4 is worse for health and why your endocrinologist should consider reducing Levothyroxine to lower high Ft4, adding a little T3 instead

[TammyAnnMajka]

I'm exactly where you are, above range T4 and low T3. My doctor had a compounding pharmacy lower my T4 and add 5mg of T3. The high T4 gave my hyper symptoms, anxiety, heart palps, sweating, hair loss, but the low T3 made me feel bad too. I'm feeling a little better but I think another boost in T3 would help me more. I did start IF and lower carb eating about a year ago and wonder if that had anything to do with bad conversion. My vitamins are ok. This is not a fun disease. I do have Hashimoto's. Menopause isn't helping the situation either. My biggest complaint is heart palpitations. They've lowered my dose because I couldn't take the pounding elevated heart rate. Now my heart rate is normal but I'm having skipped beats. So seeing a cardiologist on the 24th to rule out heart issues. I still need to get blood work on this dose. 65 mg levothyroxine and 5 mg of T3. I'm feeling tired on this dose. I'm on my 3rd doctor because the other 2 just kept raising my Levothyroxine to the point I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Lots of bad doctors out there unfortunately. Oh and my TSH was very high even though my T4 was out of range high. I don't know what is happening!

[Rambling9 in reply to TammyAnnMajka]

Sympathies TammyAnn... are you outside the UK? What is a a compounding pharmacy please?

[TammyAnnMajka in reply to Rambling9]

Yes I'm in the US It's Precision Compounding