Latest results and changes to regime.

[Bigthensmallthenbig]

since my last post:

Dropped my levo from 225 to 100. This by way of looking to reset the failures of the past 3 and half years.

And at my last test my TSH was too low to register whilst my T4 was 22 so well above range. T3 not recorded.

I have also reduced/monitored carb intake more so than previously.

I have now started a range of supplements:

Selenium 200mcg

Mag 400mg

Calcium 1000mg plus 20mg D3

Vitamin E 180mg

B complex

DHEA 25mg & pregnonolone 100mg

Oregano 56mg x2

Latest bloods from 26th July taken at 08:30 fasting and 24 hrs since last levo: (ranges in brackets

FT4 9.3 (7.8-18), FT3 4.57 (3.5-6.8), TPO Ab 28 (50), B12 568 ng/l (110-900), serum folate 11.3 ug/l (5-19), Serum ferritin 176ng/ml (10-337), TSH 1.72 mlu/l (0.2-4.3).

So my view is: it’s all better than I thought it would be. I’ve cut my levo slightly too much, my TPO antibodies are way high.

I feel generally a bit better but still have a lot of fatigue after light exercise. Weight stable at 113kg.

Your kind Trenton and comments please.

I have not read up on the antibodies and their effect yet.

Thanks

Paul

[Jaydee1507 Administrator]

Can I ask which B complex you are taking.

Free T4 (fT4) 9.3 pmol/L (7.8 - 18) 14.7%

Free T3 (fT3) 4.57 pmol/L (3.5 - 6.8) 32.4%

Usual adjustments in Levo dose are by 25mcgs. It is a large reduction that you have made and will need to go back upwards gradually to allow your body time to get used to the new doses. So you need to increase by 25mcgs.

Thats a lot of supplements to add all at once. Did you get D3 tested?

It's recommended to take K2 along side D3 to help it go to your bones. Works better than calcium.

Its not usually recommended to supplement calcium. Have you tested your level and discussed it with a doctor?

Magnesium needs to be taken 4 hours away from your Levo.

Your TPO antibodies look in range to me. There is a different sort of antibody - Tgab (Thyroglobulin) that you can test for privately. 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 London, Kent, Sussex & Surrey areas. Check to see if there is a blood test company near you. onedaytests.com/products/ul...

Only do private tests on a Monday or Tuesday to avoid postal delays.

[Bigthensmallthenbig in reply to Jaydee1507]

Apologies range for TPO should have read <9

[Jaydee1507 Administrator in reply to Bigthensmallthenbig]

So your TPO antibodies are just over range meaning that you have autoimmune hypothyroidism aka Hashimoto's. Very high results would be in the hundreds and thousands.

It may well benefit you to try a strictly gluten free diet to see if it helps any of your symptoms.

[Bigthensmallthenbig in reply to Jaydee1507]

I will have to digest the rest of your reply. Thank you very much for your feedback. I will read and do as suggested. On the levo dose: I was aware the dose would need to go up again but wanted the confirmation the test has provided.

Thank you

[greygoose]

I’ve cut my levo slightly too much, my TPO antibodies are way high.

Way too much, I would have said. But, that has nothing to do with your antibody level, which is negative, anyway.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Which brand is your 100mcg levothyroxine

Make sure 25mcg is same brand

Rather than taking calcium with small dose vitamin D

Get tested and just take vitamin D

Test twice yearly via NHS private testing service when supplementing

vitamindtest.org.uk

[Jazzw]

Your last post was apparently 20 days ago. When exactly did you drop more than half of your levothyroxine dosage (and why??). Because, if it was straightaway, those results do not reflect your current status on less than half of your levothyroxine dosage—they’re only showing the beginning of the drop in hormone levels. It takes 4-6 weeks for a dose change to fully show up in blood work.

Don’t worry about your antibody levels—they’re a red herring because they appear to be absolutely normal. (Edited to add—just seen your message about the range being wrong, but even so, that number isn’t very high and levels don’t tend to tell you much about whether your dosage is correct anyway—it just tells you how active your autoimmune disease is). However, your FT4 is already rather close to the bottom of the range and the effect of dropping your dose won’t really have started to kick in yet—it will soon. There wasn’t really a lot of point in testing bloods so soon into a dose reduction.

Your FT4 wasn’t very far above the top of the range—you didn’t need to cut your levothyroxine dosage by more than 25mcg and even that might have been too much.

[Bigthensmallthenbig]

on the grounds that I felt I couldn’t go on with my existence the way it was. I know it’s only been 20 days and that the dose will have to go up. However, I’d got to the stage where I felt I needed to start again. I do feel better but the facts are: I had no idea what my T3 was doing as it was no longer being tested and it came as no surprise to me that my T4 was over range previously.

I will have another test in 6 weeks and subject to a chat with my gp, increase the levo dose.

Knowing a little more than I had over the previous 3.5 years, I felt able to act rather than drift, ignorantly along as my over all state deteriorated. Now, I will be involved and informed as the levo dose is managed. It will not feel as though the inevitable levo dose increase, after each test is the only lever. This also allows the closer monitoring of T3 going forward. As someone who suspects lifelong hypothyroidism prior to graves, I feel I need to be top of range. If there is a correlation between the two T’s, my reading of the % within range (thanks Jaydee) leads me to think that a relatively small increase in levo will achieve this.

Thanks for your and everyone’s continuing help and insight.