Please could someone comment on my results, should I be concerned?

[Wrayofsunshine]

Hi all,

I've just had results of a medichecks advanced thyroid test come back and am unsure what, if anything, I should do about them. I'm feeling ok, no particular symptoms of being hyper. I get palpitations (ectopics) but have had them throughout the year when TSH was high and they don't seem to have increased. Should I be worried about these results or looking to lower levo? I'm currently on 75mcg, am gluten and dairy free. Should I be looking at doing anything about the folate and ferritin which both look on the lower side?

I took the test 8.45am, no food and no levo for 24 hours.

Any advice gratefully received . The medichecks comment was to consider a lower dose of levo but I'm reluctant as I'm currently feeling the best I have for a while.

[Wrayofsunshine]

Wasn't sure how to post another image...

Results

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Wrayofsunshine]

Folate very low

What vitamin supplements are you taking

Ferritin could be better

Look at increasing iron rich foods in diet

Which brand of levothyroxine are you using

Do you always get same brand

[Wrayofsunshine in reply to SlowDragon]

I take vit d, zinc, selenium and b vitamins (the lipsomal one recommended often here). I always get the same brand of levo, Teva because I'm lactose intolerant. I try and eat iron rich foods, liver pate and red meat as well as green leafy veg. Should I be worries about the low tsh and high t4?

[Gingernut44 in reply to Wrayofsunshine]

If you look at the first page of your results , at the top right, just under your personal details, you will see an icon for a printable PDF, click on that and you’ll get all your results on one page (confusingly, it’s the second page) hope that helps 😊

[TiggerMe Ambassador]

I'd be looking to drop a small amount of T4 because if it goes too high it can actually lead to less converting to fT3... how about dropping 12.5 or 25mcg per week and see how that goes.... Levo is a storage hormone so you could just have one day a week that is a slightly lower dose without issue

Little tweaks are best 🤗

p.s. my folate and B12 weren't great on the B complex even though they are big doses so I have added in separate methyl folate and sublingual B12 which I find works better, switched away from the liposomal as the B6 version isn't the best and I was low on that too! P5P is the more accessible B6

[Wrayofsunshine in reply to TiggerMe]

That sounds sensible. Do you think I should speak to my gp or just cut tablets up to take a lower dose once a week? Should i test again in a few months? Sorry for lots of questions, I'm finding it all rather confusing and the gp very little help!

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to Wrayofsunshine]

Think you answered yourself there about the GP 🙃

I wouldn't worry their little heads about it else they will just mess up your prescription and possibly get all narky that you are interfering... I think most of them assume people are a bit hit and miss with remembering to take their pills anyway

I would make the reduction and retest in a couple of months and be mindful of how you feel in that period it generally takes at least a month to notice an adjustment with T4.... of course nothing stays the same and going into the Autumn you might find it will drop a little bit anyway so I'd just try a little reduction to hone your fine tuning skills 🤗

[Wrayofsunshine]

Thank you! I have some 50mcg tablets left from when they upped my dose last so for now I'll take one of them once a week instead of the 75mcg and retest in a few months and see where things are then.

[McPammy in reply to Wrayofsunshine]

I think you should reduce to 50mcg twice a week. Once a week I feel is too tiny to make hardly any difference. As long as you are not going over your T4 level you should feel better with an in range TSH.

[Wrayofsunshine]

Thanks McPammy, I've not got many 50mcg tablets. I was thinking about twice a week taking half a tablet, do you think that would be a good start? Or would that mean too much of a drop on the days I only took a half? I'm not entirely sure how the medication works, whether it would cause an issue on the days I only take half or if it would balance out over the course of a week. So grateful for advice!

[Stourie in reply to Wrayofsunshine]

Personally I would leave your dose as it is. If you’re feeling good why risk anything and if you do start to feel not quite so good then that’s the time to get bloods done. Just my opinion. Jo xx