I did a private blood test with monitor my health on Tuesday 2nd January 2024, It was done at 9.30am, no levo that morning, no B complex for a week before.The test for folate, B12, ect had clotted in the phial so they are sending me another one.
The results I have are:
VITAMIN D 80 mnol/L
CHOLESTEROL 7 mmol/L
THYROID ANTIBODIES 163 IU/mL
TSH 0.69 (0.27-4.2)
FT4 18.8 (12 - 22)
FT3 4.2 (3.1 - 6.8)
I would be grateful for advice on these trsults
Thank you
Sorry forgot to add, I am on 125mg of levo, I increased this by 25mg after my last blood test on 7th November 2023 against GP’S advice
How are you feeling? Any better....
Free T4 (fT4) 18.8 pmol/L (12 - 22) 68.0%
Free T3 (fT3) 4.2 pmol/L (3.1 - 6.8) 29.7%
T4:T3 Ratio 4.476
Not really any better, tired, constant buzzing in my ears, concentration isnt good, high anxiety levels, feels like my hearts thumping, resting heart rate this week between 52 - 54.Not sure what I should be doing.
Heart pumping better is a good thing, though it feels weird as we are so used to a weak pulse, 52-54 is still on the low side, they say 60-100 unless an athlete!
So things are moving in the right direction, your fT3 is still on the low side
I can't remember are you on HRT?
No I'm not on HRT, I was on it for 5 years then.my GP told me I had to stop taking it, i wish I'd stayed on it but did what the GP advised, should I try it again ? I must have stopped it 5 or 6 years ago.Is there anythingbI can do to increase the FT3 ?
If you felt worse after stopping HRT it rather suggests you would still benefit from it, being an under treated Hypo will likely have dropped you sex hormones even lower
I'd ask for it back! There is no reason to stop and every reason to keep your levels up 🤗 it got rid of my tinnitus and many other issues that I blamed on my thyroid
For good conversion we need good levels of B12, Vit D, folate and ferritin... some people find by splitting their daily dose they achieve slightly better levels, might be worth a try, that and also another small increase 12.5mcg
Thank you so much for the detailed information , I will give my GP a call on Monday, I don't hold out any hopes of getting a increase in my levo, I'm only managing to get the extra 25 mg I increased to 2 months ago because I had a box of spare 100mg levo, I'm cutting those into quarters, if I increase by 12.5.mg I'd have to try and cut the quarter into another half and its very tiny as it is.Can you buy levo privately?
You can but you shouldn't have too! You could add an extra 25mcg every other day.... how about put in for an early prescription... holiday, lost packet? 😏 Sometimes getting well requires a few tactics and then you have the strength to demand proper treatment 🤗
Thank you, I will yry the lost prescription tatic and see if I can get some extra levo.if I have no joy with the GP on Monday.It shouldn't have to come to this to feel well, I'm so glad I found this site.@
I must confess I have used "lost" pills as an excuse to get the extra Levo, I'll probably get arrested now 👮♂️
Thete might be a few of us that will get arrested 🤣Seriously though it comes to something when you have to resort to these things to try and make yourself feel well again.
These are similar symptoms to me when my levels were too high.
What did you do to try and feel better?
Hi Dawney63, I only felt better when i stopped taking the levothyroxine.
Lifestyle changes I made were:
I started taking a daily food based Mens multi vitamin (together health).
I started taking Myo-inositol and folic acid powder twice daily (by a Viridian). (Read up about Myo-Inositol it sounds very promising for hypo thyroid issues)
I started exercising 5 days a week by cycling to work (approx 10miles per day total)
I have been feeling like my old self again - it was just horrible on the levothyroxine medication even at only 50mcg per day .
The only drawback is my cholesterol is high as is my TSH , but I am working on these with diet while getting bloods done every 6months.
Sounds like you never got up to a full replacement dose which leave you feeling awful? High TSH and cholesterol are hypo red flags
You are likely going to come unstuck when your body can't keep up with this punishment as at the moment your adrenals are picking up the slack 😕
Thanks Eeyore. I wasn’t aware of that regarding the adrenals. I will keep an eye on that thanks.
I was feeling so terrible on the medication I just couldn’t go back on them again and like I mentioned, I have been feeling fantastic off them!!! (So far after about 2-3 months)
It would be great if the changes you have made are enough but if you have Hashimoto's then your thyroid is under attack and will continue to struggle and decline
I would recommend getting a full thyroid panel done now so that you know what well looks like... most people feel pretty horrendous on and off with Levo until getting up to the correct dose, assuming they can convert it to the active form of fT3, making sure you have found a brand that doesn't contain things that might aggravate issues... If you started on Teva it could be the culprit!
E.g. I became dairy intolerant when starting Levo, which is apparently quite common as it can shut down the stomachs lactase mechanism.... wasn't until I joined the forum I realized Levo contains lactose 😳 also many people struggle with mannitol and acacia
It certainly takes a while to find what works, but at least here we give each other the heads up that medics don't 🙃
Yes but sadly I'm sorry to say it won't last when your adrenal tire which they will. Did you try different brands of levothyroxine? The fillers can cause so many problems. If the other Co factors were optimised then it could mean you have a conversion problem or on too low a dose. But it's difficult to say now you've stopped.
Thanks waveylines, I had a couple of different brands but never felt well to the point I had been prescribed antidepressants (which I didn’t take).
I will keep an eye on the adrenals as I didn’t know they would be taking the brunt of it, thankyou for your advice.
Paul
Sorry to hear this. Shame you weren't given better advice and the problem resolved rather than not taking a vital hormone replacement. Please be very careful. And try to source a good Endo who could work with you rather than not treating it at all.
Difficult to comment on isolated total cholesterol.
Have you seen B12d.org?
I knew I had been struggling for quite a while, but I didn't realise how long until I thought i would put hrt into my wattsap search.My partner died in May 2022 and this photo was a wattsap conversation on 18th December 2018, I'm not sure what TSh levels were at that time but I do remember very high antibodies.
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