The condition after 2.5 years on NDT

[Grechka]

Hello everyone!

I'm taking NDT for 2.5 years, take 2.375 tablets divided into 4 times in a day. I was taking only thyroxine during 24 years and the biggest dose was 125 mcg.

Using NDT I feel much better, I lost 10 kg. But what bothers, that looks like I have not enough fat, especially in the upper body. My chest is almost transparent and my face looks like too skinny for me, because it's unusual for me after all years when it was very hard to lose weight.

My current test results:

TSH - 0.0104 (0.35-4.9)

Т4 - 10.21 (9-19.05)

Т3 - 3.89 (2.43-6.01)

Looks like it's not enough T3 and especially T4.

So I would like to ask how do you think whether it's the normal situation and should I add something?

[humanbean]

Are you taking any other prescribed drugs or hormones?

For example, are you taking statins? They won't help because the body needs cholesterol to build cell walls.

[Grechka in reply to humanbean]

No, I'm taking only different vitamins and minerals, that we need with hypothyroidism and Hashimoto, like omega-3, vitamin D, iron, selenium, zinc and so on.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 levels too

Do you have autoimmune thyroid disease aka Hashimoto’s

[Grechka in reply to SlowDragon]

I tested D, folate, ferritin and B12 levels sometimes, everything looked fine. Also I'm taking these vitamins and minerals sometimes.

Yes, I have Hashimoto's disease.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Grechka]

Please add most recent results and ranges on vitamin levels

Are you on gluten free or dairy free diet?

[Grechka in reply to SlowDragon]

I'm not on gluten free, but almost excluded dairy, except for cheese sometimes.

Vitamin D - 65 ng/ml

Vitamin B - 550 (187-883 pg/ml)

Folate - 12 (3,1 - 20,5 ng/ml)

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Grechka]

So these are good

Iron and ferritin results?

[Grechka in reply to SlowDragon]

Sorry, forgot to add it.

Ferritin - 48 (10-150)

Iron - 28.9 (10.7-32.2)

[healthkiwi]

When you lose weight, it's very common for it to go off you "from the top down". Always happens that way with me - my cheekbones look like I've been starved, but my bottom remains the size of Wales*. (*Pick country of choice)

And my legs were like tree teunks, solid with mucin, and that fatness is taking a long time to reduce. I'm still at least one size larger from the waist down. But it does (slowly) get more balanced.

I take some comfort from Catherine Deneuve who said as we reach a certain age, we ladies have to choose between face and bum - i.e. if one end is just right, the other will be too thin or too rounded.

[Grechka in reply to healthkiwi]

Oh yes! Thank you! Actually I always was like a pear with a refined top (but with good cheeks) and big bottom. Now I'm 10 kg less, but anyway my bottom is more appetizing than the top And I don't dream of loosing weight else, I'd like to be more fit, but don't want my chest to be like x-ray photo.

So according to my results I don't know whether I should some Levo to the NDT.

[healthkiwi]

Adding Levo? You'll get great advice here. And then it may be trial and error until you find balance. The dopiaza calculator might be useful to see where your T4 and T3 levels are at your best.

[Grechka in reply to healthkiwi]

I don't know. Because I feel not bad, but my T4 and T3 are really low and I don't want to lose weight more.

TSH is around 0 on NDT, it's ok.

Test results

[pennyannie]

Hello Grechka :

The fact that you say you are ' not too bad ' and have lost some weight leads me to think that you are likely on an good dose for you.

Splitting your dose into 4 is going to give a very different blood test results to someone who doses once or twice day.

On NDT it's general for and TSH to be low suppressed and we track on the T3 and likely see a T3 proportionately higher than the T4 - so checking in with that calculator print out someone kindly shared your T3 is coming in at around 40% with your T4 at round 12% :

However - I think your ferritin could do with building up to at at least over 70 :

I have been on NDT getting on for 6 years now and after 10-12 hours from my one and only dose my TSH is as yours - and my T3 at around 100/110 % with by T4 following behind at around 25/30% through the ranges.

My top half excess started to lessen around 6 months into taking NDT and my bottom half almost caught up - but overall I guess I've dropped around 2 dress sizes - though still prefer to wear my ' old clothes - leggings and layers of jumpers ' and haven't really purchased anything new - maybe I now need to see a ' shrink ' !!

I know now I feel best with a ferritin at around 100 : folate around 20 : active B12 75++ ( serum B12 500++ ) and vitamin D up at around 100: